Bmw lights all flickering !!!

[colcroud]

Hi any help will be appreciated, have a 2008 bmw 320d........it has developed a fault where all the lights flicker.....
Headlights, side, fog brake lights, interior lights, footwell lights ,door handle lights.....
The car does it with engine running or not ......
Seems to be worse with the engine on.....
Battery is 12.4 v idle
And 14.5 running with the alternator charging.
I have reconnected and cleaned battery connections, main boot area earth to chassis, main chassis earth underneath car engine Bay Area .....
Looked at earths under bonnet all seem good .....
Main switch to turn lights on seems ok too....
looked at fuse box pushed fuses in relays etc.....
Any suggestions guys????? Thanks

[Eddieslofart]

Main fuse in boot ?

[scott10005]

Hi, have you got anything plugged into the power sockets?

[helix402]

Maybe a faulty FRM.

[colcroud]

Thanks guys will check those, I thought the frm module....... sorry for slow reply..... dropped phone and ruined that ......bad luck comes in threes 😮😮

[colcroud]

No Scott nothing in them...... ta

[Spanglepants]

I don't know what a FRM is but on my 2008 530D , which had flickering back lights ( all the time) and headlights when the brake pedal was pushed it turned out to be the Light Control Module (LCM).
Was quoted £500+ fitting but got a 2nd hand one from eBay . It MUST have the same number code on it as what is already fitted. Paid £50 for it and read to have it coded to car.
Sorry no idea if that is your problem as well but worth investigating.

[helix402]

Frm is footwell module. Does the same job as your 5 series part.

[osdecar]

Hi guys.

I bump the thread, cause i have exactly the same problem here.

2008 325d e91, recently purchased. All lights flicker when on, whether engine is running or not, makes no difference.
Everything else in the car seems to work fine.

I have an OBD reader. Is it possible to diagnose a faulty FRM using this? What codes will it throw in this case?

Thanks!

[E-bmw]

While you are waiting for an answer you could always try it.

[helix402]

OBM reader will only read engine ecu fault codes.

[Fore Left]

The FRM generally fails due to software corruption. There are a number of sellers on eBay and elsewhere who will re-programme your original unit for as little as £40. Obviously you need to remove it and post it to them but their feedback is generally positive.

Unfortunately I only found this out after I'd paid £200 for a secondhand unit to be fitted and coded to my car

[simpow]

Hello, did you get to the bottom of this issue? Was it the FRM or the light control module or something else?
I have a 2008 BMW 320D that is doing the same thing with all the bulbs front and rear flickering like it is fluctuating the voltage. It has halogen bulbs fitted all round so nothing to do with having fitted LED bulbs. I have noticed that the lights also flicker around the light switch itself but only noticeable at night, but all the other console lights are static so it is definitely something to do with the lighting circuit.

Just to add, I checked the voltage supply to one of the tail light bulbs with the others removed only to find the voltage jumping about between 14.4V and 8V. I couldn't determine the lowest value as it was fluctuating too quickly. I've not come across a system that uses a positive +ve type earth rail before for lights.

Edited by simpow on Friday 19th March 14:45