Software upgrade fried my electrical system -anyone else?
Discussion
A few months ago I posted how my M135i was running rough when cold. A couple of posts I got suggested thermostat, which was replaced by BMW and duly didn't fix the fault.
As usual, main dealer then charged me for wheeling it into the garage and telling there was no fault that could be found. So, it took it to an independent BMW specialist who diagnosed an injector coil failure, changed it for less than the price of BMW just having a look. I have to say, for a couple of weeks that did fix the problem, but unfortunately it returned, so I took it back to the Indie for another look.
I was expecting to get another call saying it was all done and the car was ready. But when I called the garage, they said that diagnostics had actually detected all 6 injectors weren't working; which was clearly a nonsense as the car did run, and ran well when warm, so they had decided to do a software upgrade, which unfortunately wasn't going well.
Define not well I asked, they told me it had been going for 3 hours and was reporting it would take another 5! So it was left running over night.
I got a call the next day to say the upgrade had failed and blown most of the fuses in the car,but not to worry they had been replaced.
To cut a long story short, that was over three weeks ago since then, there has been no auxiliary power to anywhere in the car (which is now an empty shell while they crawl all over the wiring loom) and they can't start the engine or power any if the components.
Is it normal for a software upgrade to wreak this kind of damage? Anyone else had this issue - they have replaced the JBE, rear fuse box wiring loom and several other components.
As usual, main dealer then charged me for wheeling it into the garage and telling there was no fault that could be found. So, it took it to an independent BMW specialist who diagnosed an injector coil failure, changed it for less than the price of BMW just having a look. I have to say, for a couple of weeks that did fix the problem, but unfortunately it returned, so I took it back to the Indie for another look.
I was expecting to get another call saying it was all done and the car was ready. But when I called the garage, they said that diagnostics had actually detected all 6 injectors weren't working; which was clearly a nonsense as the car did run, and ran well when warm, so they had decided to do a software upgrade, which unfortunately wasn't going well.
Define not well I asked, they told me it had been going for 3 hours and was reporting it would take another 5! So it was left running over night.
I got a call the next day to say the upgrade had failed and blown most of the fuses in the car,but not to worry they had been replaced.
To cut a long story short, that was over three weeks ago since then, there has been no auxiliary power to anywhere in the car (which is now an empty shell while they crawl all over the wiring loom) and they can't start the engine or power any if the components.
Is it normal for a software upgrade to wreak this kind of damage? Anyone else had this issue - they have replaced the JBE, rear fuse box wiring loom and several other components.
Its actually easily done if you apply a charger to the car and a diagnostic tool independantly at the same time.
If either the diagnostic tool power supply or the charger power supply have an earthing problem such that they aren't at the same potential then a lot of current passes through every circuit on the bus.
BMW don't have this problem as they have an all in one item. But indie garages sometimes use a conventional laptop.
My particular case was one of the windings on the transformer of my charger rubbed against the outer casing of the power supply until it made contact.
I had to replace a lot!
If either the diagnostic tool power supply or the charger power supply have an earthing problem such that they aren't at the same potential then a lot of current passes through every circuit on the bus.
BMW don't have this problem as they have an all in one item. But indie garages sometimes use a conventional laptop.
My particular case was one of the windings on the transformer of my charger rubbed against the outer casing of the power supply until it made contact.
I had to replace a lot!
The car is 4.5 yrs old so out of warranty, hence the £150 per visit to find nothing wrong!
I'm in IT, so I'm horrified (and sceptical) about the amount of damage this has done.
I expected just injector coil replacement, and if they had asked me first about the software upgrade I would probably have said "no".
The latest from the BMW garage my indie shipped it off to is that there are two blow modules, JBE and another I didn't catch over the sound of my teeth grinding.
I'll let you know how that goes....
I'm in IT, so I'm horrified (and sceptical) about the amount of damage this has done.
I expected just injector coil replacement, and if they had asked me first about the software upgrade I would probably have said "no".
The latest from the BMW garage my indie shipped it off to is that there are two blow modules, JBE and another I didn't catch over the sound of my teeth grinding.
I'll let you know how that goes....
Nyj said:
The car is 4.5 yrs old so out of warranty, hence the £150 per visit to find nothing wrong!
I'm in IT, so I'm horrified (and sceptical) about the amount of damage this has done.
I expected just injector coil replacement, and if they had asked me first about the software upgrade I would probably have said "no".
The latest from the BMW garage my indie shipped it off to is that there are two blow modules, JBE and another I didn't catch over the sound of my teeth grinding.
I'll let you know how that goes....
Wasn't the F20 and M135 in particular introduced in 2012, making it at most 2.5 years, not 4.5 years? I'm in IT, so I'm horrified (and sceptical) about the amount of damage this has done.
I expected just injector coil replacement, and if they had asked me first about the software upgrade I would probably have said "no".
The latest from the BMW garage my indie shipped it off to is that there are two blow modules, JBE and another I didn't catch over the sound of my teeth grinding.
I'll let you know how that goes....
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