Time for an overhaul of my 1.9 '98 BMW Z3 Individual

[Matt Barnes]

well .. Another day off wasted... sorry... "invested" in trying to trace my Terminal 30 Not Ok fault

After convincing myself it was the ignition switch I purchased a new one........there was new hope new faith

Upon removing all the driver footwell trim I was greeted with this.... it looked old, it looked crusty and I hoped it was broken

So this all looks straightforward, two screws and a connector..... what could POSSIBLY go wrong....... oh... stay tuned !!!

oh by the way, this is the EWS immobiliser under the steering column

and this is how it plugs into the ignition, the black plastic cowl is the immobiliser "aerial" which picks up the chip in your key to release the immobiliser and allow the engine to crank

and here my problems started... the two screws that hold the switch in are grub screws. First one came out like a champ, second one slotted head split open and I had to drill it out. half of it broke off in the bracket ,I had to "fashion" a drill bit to get to it

And here's the old ignition switch, looks refreshingly old and hopefully burnt out

New ignition switch in

connected up my scanner full of glee and hope an got....

Key in ignition - Terminal 30 Ok Terminal R Off
Position 1 - Terminal 30 Not Ok Terminal R On
Position 2 - Terminal 30 Not Ok Terminal R On

so, exactly the same as I had before..... select option 1 to enter Depressed mode....

Key in Ignition Key in Position 1 and Position 2

Released means the EWS Immobiliser has recognised the key and allowed the Starter Motor to crank
Terminal 30 Not Ok means a vital 12v line is missing or grounded.

I took the ECU out .... again.. and pins 26 and 27 checked out for 12v and I cleaned up the ECU ground wires

The next stage was to pull every single fuse... I re inserted the ones that drove the onboard computer (so I could read it!)... and the immobiliser...

interestingly when I pulled the immobiliser fuse... Terminal 30 went to "Ok"... when I put it back it went to "Not Ok"... so I'm now thinking it's something in the immobiliser circuit... one of those is the clock. I did also notice that Fuse 31 that serves a lot of circuits made a little spark when I plugged it in... so something is not right.

 

[Matt Barnes]

ok so another four hours hunting down the issues.

decided to pull down the EWS module that sits behind the steering wheel under the footwell panels

and I have the worrying feeling someone has been in there before !

The EWS 3D has different pinouts than the EWS2 as it does away with the Transmit Module

So I started back probing every pin in every key position, but when I googled it, it suggested my pinouts weren't standard and the reason the car won't start is because my Terminal voltages are too low. Think my battery must have been suffering as earlier it was 12.1v on Pin 7.

Pin 1 is the thick Green/Black wire which goes to the starter circuit and Pin 15 is the small Violet/white which permanent 12v

anyway this is what I got, evidently both Pins 7 and 15 should both be 12.5v, pin 8 should be Ground but I was using a seat runner bolt as an earth so not ideal. BUT google suggests my Immobiliser is working but the voltages on Pins 7 and 9 are too low

Had enough of chasing voltages for one weekend.... Garden Parasol winder mechanism repair tomorrow !!

 

[Matt Barnes]

well that's another weekend of getting no further with the no start issues......I followed as much advice on line as I could and did find a couple of current draggers.... more of that in a bit...... right.. where to start

Put my freshly charged battery (13.7v) back in so there would no red herrings from a weak battery. Did a parasitic draw test and was a bit shocked by....

What the ???????....... then realised the modules were still awake from turning the key...... waited 30 seconds for everything to calm down with the key out.

and got..

78mA is still waaaay too much for..... oh... hang on... still got my scanner connected !!.. ooops

19mA... that's more like it !..... right... we're off diagnosing.... let's go !

I measured all the voltages again from yesterday and it was all the same... apart from the two 12.6v now reading a healthier 13.05 v on Pins 7 and 15 of the EWS connector.

the strange thing is, when I remove Fuse 45, my scanner reads Terminal 30 Ok in ALL key positions which is great but of course the EWS Release has now been disabled... BUT.. it's reading the correct voltage now for all key positions... so this is positive stuff

Google suggested one of the things which might drag Fuse 45 down is a short in the Instrument Cluster.... so I removed it

now then, this DID give me 12v on Pin 10 of the EWS, so there IS something wrong with the cluster that needs investigating

so.. I now have all the correct voltages at rest. Critically 12v on Pin 10 (yesterday was around 7v).

However, when I turn the key to Position 1, this drops to 6v. Not good. Google then tried to tell me this is a catastrophic failure of the EWS module as the relay is shorting inside the box. When I turn the key back off. when the relay de energises, Pin 10 goes back to 12v

So I'm losing 6 volts somewhere when I turn the key. This is my now infamous EWS 3D Immobiliser

I can't find an EWS 3D wiring diagram that matches my car, as evidently not all EWS 3Ds are the same !

oh the joys

So I decided to leave my bench like this..........

and go a drink a Hawkstones cider....

 

[Matt Barnes]

I know it's on my other thread about the EWS immobiliser, just just so I have the story all in one place. I bought the Foxwell NT510 Elite, which every BMW forum suggests is the go to scanner for BMWs (outside of things like INPA) and I was convinced I was all set to do a DME-EWS Alignment to get the car running. However it turned out not all OBD to 20 pin adapter cables are not the same. and the Scanner wrires to the ECU on Pin 7.... and on my adaptor cable, pin 7 is not wired up !

so I've ordered another port adaptor that has these connections

Hopefully this will enable me to complete a DME-EWS Alignment and allow the car to start...

 

[Matt Barnes]

Just an update on this. After I think about 5 weeks now of trying to get the car started, it does look like now a code mismatch between the EWS3D and the DME. And the best part, scanners won't fix it..lovely!.. so I've ordered a K DCAN adaptor and a cheap laptop off ebay amd when that arrives I'll download INPA for the next round of fun!

 

[ChrisD]

Just an update on this. After I think about 5 weeks now of trying to get the car started, it does look like now a code mismatch between the EWS3D and the DME. And the best part, scanners won't fix it..lovely!.. so I've ordered a K DCAN adaptor and a cheap laptop off ebay amd when that arrives I'll download INPA for the next round of fun!

Keep us updated on your progress. INPA might be a great tool but the thought of getting it running on an old Windows laptop is the stuff of nightmares for me.

 

[Matt Barnes]

Keep us updated on your progress. INPA might be a great tool but the thought of getting it running on an old Windows laptop is the stuff of nightmares for me.

cheers @ChrisD .. it's a refurb laptop running W10, so hopefully not too bad...failing that I'll have to nick my wife's one!.. or drag my desktop out to the car! .... I've got loads of exposed wiring under the dash, all of which was a complete red herring in the end, but it's been a good learning process if nothing else..

 

[Delk]

My car did the same years ago. Stopped in the drive and tried to restart it and nothing. Got an antique laptop from a college and it was back on the road. Never knew why it happened.

 

[Matt Barnes]

My car did the same years ago. Stopped in the drive and tried to restart it and nothing. Got an antique laptop from a college and it was back on the road. Never knew why it happened.

I'm tempted by the EWS Bypass service some companies offer. It happens again I probably will!.. mind you I would have bought the stuff that fixes it

 

[Andyboy]

EndTuning charges about 50 quid iirc. No more EWS dramas, ever!

 

[Matt Barnes]

EndTuning charges about 50 quid iirc. No more EWS dramas, ever!

That's great to know mate cheers !.... if this all gets too emotional with INPA I might just do that.

 

[Duncodin]

EndTuning charges about 50 quid iirc. No more EWS dramas, ever!

That's great to know mate cheers !.... if this all gets too emotional with INPA I might just do that.

Bargain. I'd be straight round there.
On the other hand, where are they? Mobile?

I feel EWS is the problem, but I fear it might not be. But that'd be 50 quid very well spent to confirm/eliminate it.

I might look into doing it on mine even though I've never had an issue but it sounds like a total nightmare that can be easily and cheaply avoided.

 

[Matt Barnes]

Bargain. I'd be straight round there.
On the other hand, where are they? Mobile?

I feel EWS is the problem, but I fear it might not be. But that'd be 50 quid very well spent to confirm/eliminate it.

I might look into doing it on mine even though I've never had an issue but it sounds like a total nightmare that can be easily and cheaply avoided.

yeah the laptop I'm getting off Ebay was 50 quid (arriving today hopefully) , so I'm going to give that a try with INPA....... if that doesn't work or I can't fix it, then I think it's the end of the road for the EWS. This has literally cost me 5 weeks since I first tried starting the car. Missed Summer now, and my mate want his axle stands back, after lending me a pair 2.5 years ago .... the cheek of it !

 

[Matt Barnes]

Action shot.... laptop arrived !!!

 

[Matt Barnes]

I now have INPA!

 

[Althulas]

Best of luck with it.

 

[Matt Barnes]

So here we go !...........

so I get the ISN from the DME as "f5d"

I then go to the EWS page and write in "f5d".....

it then defaults to a prefix of 0x.... "0xF5D"

Accepted it, but there's no option to Sync the EWS with DME ? not sure if there should be for the E36?

anyway the upshot is the car still won't start. Cranks but no start.

I did notice this on the EWS page though

not sure where I go from here now...

 

[Matt Barnes]

ok so here we go. INPA recognises the car and that the serial number code for the EWS is "f5d"

go into the EWS page and write in the code

The software defaults the 0x and puts the values in Upper case.

I noticed there is no sync DME EWS option for the E36, not sure if there's supposed to be ?

anyway turned the ignition off for the values to be written. Turn back on again and........ nothing.... just cranking....

I went back and tried again and still no joy... tried to find anything on INPA 5.0.2 to do with syncing and there's nothing.. I did find this though... not sure if it's just a red herring

 

[Duncodin]

Are you saying you wrote it in as
0000-0F5D

 

[Matt Barnes]

Are you saying you wrote it in as
0000-0F5D

no I put it in as "f5d" exactly as per the DME... google is now trying to tell me you can't write to an EWS3D.. you can only try and sync it through EDIABAS..blimey!