Wiring harness fire, what to do next..?

[Dino D]

Will try and keep this short as really feeling deflated about this.

Coming back from a great weekend with fellow zorgsters at Santa Pod the car decided it would try and roast us just as we pulling into Canterbury.

I smelt acrid smoke and thought brakes but then saw smoke from the glove box area.
Stopped and got my son out, ripped the glove box off and pulled he carpet to see spark/small flames on the big bunch of wires going to the fuse box. The control modules for the car also seem to reside in this area.

Managed to put it out with what I had to hand.
Went to open the boot and disconnect the battery and was greeted by more smoke and an awful smell.
The boot light had burnt itself and the wiring for it was burnt to a crisp.
The wires for it are not actually insulated well and just run along a channel in the body with edges in it...googling shows many BMW's from this era (and newer) have died from fires starting in the boot area..

Car has been recovered to the local garage to look at it when they can. Not hopeful they can undertake this.

I believe the only proper fix is a full new loom.
Probably fuse box too.
The car was running fine until I stopped. The ABS/ASC lights came on though...
I was able to reconnect the battery to close the windows. Hopeful the control modules and ECU are not toast too.

I don't have much idea what do from here that will be affordable. Insurance would probably just write it off. I've blown the budget and some on the important chassis bits to get it just right.

I'd take blown engine or gearbox over this, plenty about and easy enough for any garage to change. Electrical stuff seems to kills cars though, just so labour intensive and fiddly chasing down problems.

Could I even attemp a loom replacement by doing the labour intensive stuff like stripping the car and having an auto electrician do the technical bits?

I fear I may be at a crossroads with this car now. Very gutted about this, spent a lot of time and money to get the car right this year and we've had great days out with it. We all very attached to it but it may not viable anymore.

 

[Bozzy]

Jesus ! I'd be gutted
Glad you and your son are ok, that could have been nasty.
I hope you find a viable solution @Dino D,keep us in the picture.
Got me worried now as when i got my zed the boot light didn't work,turned out it just needed a new bulb and re-connecting to the loom....question is why had it been disconnected ....may be to avoid this problem.

 

[andyglym]

Will try and keep this short as really feeling deflated about this.

Coming back from a great weekend with fellow zorgsters at Santa Pod the car decided it would try and roast us just as we pulling into Canterbury.

I smelt acrid smoke and thought brakes but then saw smoke from the glove box area.
Stopped and got my son out, ripped the glove box off and pulled he carpet to see spark/small flames on the big bunch of wires going to the fuse box. The control modules for the car also seem to reside in this area.

Managed to put it out with what I had to hand.
Went to open the boot and disconnect the battery and was greeted by more smoke and an awful smell.
The boot light had burnt itself and the wiring for it was burnt to a crisp.
The wires for it are not actually insulated well and just run along a channel in the body with edges in it...googling shows many BMW's from this era (and newer) have died from fires starting in the boot area..

Car has been recovered to the local garage to look at it when they can. Not hopeful they can undertake this.

I believe the only proper fix is a full new loom.
Probably fuse box too.
The car was running fine until I stopped. The ABS/ASC lights came on though...
I was able to reconnect the battery to close the windows. Hopeful the control modules and ECU are not toast too.

I don't have much idea what do from here that will be affordable. Insurance would probably just write it off. I've blown the budget and some on the important chassis bits to get it just right.

I'd take blown engine or gearbox over this, plenty about and easy enough for any garage to change. Electrical stuff seems to kills cars though, just so labour intensive and fiddly chasing down problems.

Could I even attemp a loom replacement by doing the labour intensive stuff like stripping the car and having an auto electrician do the technical bits?

I fear I may be at a crossroads with this car now. Very gutted about this, spent a lot of time and money to get the car right this year and we've had great days out with it. We all very attached to it but it may not viable anymore.

Sorry to hear that mate. At least you and your lad got out OK. Just googled this site who have loads of Z3 looms from part to whole if any help?

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...ePhAPI&usg=AFQjCNHe91nbC7MwOAdWbkppgUszogy-vA

 

[Brian H]

Wow Dino, gutted for you. The main problem will be what caused the issue in the first place, replacing a loom is not difficult just time consuming. The main ecu is under the bonnet so hopefully all is OK at that point. The modules under the glovebox are wash wipe, alarm etc.etc. The loom of doom in the boot lid is springing to my mind though.

Be careful when going forward, if you do involve your insurance company they will most likely write it off and you will lose everything you have put in to the car.

Keep us updated.

 

[Dino D]

It was terrifying indeed.
Got him out and far away. Lucky we were outside a hotel so I grabbed their fire extinguisher but was ready to just leave it go up in smoke if it got serious, not worth the risk of life.

It really shook me up as my son was with. Had to stay calm though. At least he thought it was a great adventure having chips in the pub waiting to be recovered and driving in the recovery truck!

Fitting fire extinguishers in all our cars now.


Good to hear the ECU is not in that area...
The car won't turn over so probably the alarm module got hit.

Boot loom seems to have affected newer BMW's too, scary stories here: https://bmwproblems.wordpress.com/bmwownersbeware/

Looking at the boot light in hindsight it's just a disaster waiting the way it sits on the bare frame with the wires just lying there and the terminals totally exposed.
Best to get rid of it totally and fit a torch instead..

I'm thinking if I take on a loom change then to go brand new and change everything to eliminate whatever it was the caused it. All that work would be wasted if a used loom had a problem some In it.
I'm assuming a new loom comes with all the connectors so it's actually a case of plugging in connectors and not splicing/joining wires.

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

Mate, gutted for you, the car looked great when I saw it the other day.

It's hard to take, but might be worth selling off the good parts and keeping the rest (your lovely wheels for example) for another Z3.

I know its probably not what you want to hear.

You could almost certainly get it written off through the insurance, and buy the car back.

Just glad you and the minecrafter are safe and sound!

 

[GazHyde]

A scary experience for sure, and glad you were on the ball when it happened!

As for moving forwards, a difficult decision for sure. Figuring out what caused it is the obvious priority, I and certainly wouldn't recommend fitting a second hand loom - lord knows how much care would have been taken in removing it.

Perhaps a quick word with Sopers parts department would give you the answers about how a new loom is laid out. I would certainly hope it would be plug and play...!

 

[BMBabe]

Oh mate no way!! Reading this has made me cry I know how much you love your zed and all the work that has gone in to it

I am soooo glad you and your son are all ok

Fingers crossed you can get your zed fixed

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

Wow Dino what a horrible thing to happen. Chances are its not all the loom that is affected and its only the loom to the rear of the car that needs replacing, the front loom may well still be serviceable.

Mike

 

[Mnbrennan]

Dino that's a horrible turn of events.

Hope you can get her back on the road!!

 

[Redline]

Must be heart-breaking to see all the hard work ruined like this.
Incredibly scary moments when confronted with fire in a car. The important thing is no-one was hurt.

You walked away from it - everything else can be fixed (somehow)!
Buy back from the insurer and new loom if you want to keep the car. Painful but do-able.

Had a similar but thankfully less serious experience many years ago - just leaving work in a battered old mini on bonfire night of all nights. A bang and then the steering column burst into flames as I stopped by the security lodge to wait for the barrier to rise. Thought it was fireworks outside for a moment. Ran into security and grabbed a CO2 fire extinguisher, back to the car and pulled the trigger - EMPTY!!!! Thankfully the security guard followed with another. Only a few switches burnt out and melted plastic - nothing like the extensive damage you suffered. It was only a mini after all.
Different car, but also had a 100A service fuse blow (apparently they do exist!) with an colossal explosive bang and then absolutely nothing but smoke inside the car. No engine so no steering and brake servos - 30mph down a narrow hill as darkness fell. No electrics so no lights and with a string of cars behind and travelling down toward the sea in Jersey with the kids in the back. Had no idea what was happening. All normal driving experience had been suspended. Bailing out into traffic just added to the confusion.

 

[DavidM]

Very shocked to hear of your unfortunate experience Dino, but so glad you and your boy got out of the car safely. It will be interesting to hear where the problem originated, if that is possible. If a new loom is needed, buy new! I wish all goes well in getting it sorted what ever route you take to get driving the car again. You've probably alerted a lot of members as to what could happen in any car. My intention is as soon as possible, to buy a car fire extinguisher and hammer!

I hope all gets sorted as soon as possible for you.

Best wishes.

David.

 

[pgunter]

Sorry to hear this Dino.. Just as you got your Zed sorted too. Thank god you were not still on the motorway when it happened.

I would say, fingers crossed. Speak to sopers about a new part loom. One thing I did learn is that most insurance companies will not let you buy your car back for some reason. I still can not find where my old z3 was taken.

 

[Brian H]

I'm thinking if I take on a loom change then to go brand new and change everything to eliminate whatever it was the caused it. All that work would be wasted if a used loom had a problem some In it.
I'm assuming a new loom comes with all the connectors so it's actually a case of plugging in connectors and not splicing/joining wires.

Correct a new loom would be plug and play although they will not be cheap and will require the interior of the car to be stripped, It would be cost prohibitive to pay someone to do this.

Really do hate to say this but as others have said maybe time to move on to another and take your bits with you.

 

[Dino D]

I would say, fingers crossed. Speak to sopers about a new part loom. One thing I did learn is that most insurance companies will not let you buy your car back for some reason. I still can not find where my old z3 was taken.

That's not good to hear, as if I went that route I'd want to buy it back and do something with it (fix it slowly, transfer bits to another etc).

I've always been under the impression that they'd happily let you have it for percentage saving them costs of recovery, auction etc.

Maybe depends on the value?

We need agreed insurance value on these cars as the non M's are just so low it take very little to write off..

 

[Dino D]

Must be heart-breaking to see all the hard work ruined like this.
Incredibly scary moments when confronted with fire in a car. The important thing is no-one was hurt.

You walked away from it - everything else can be fixed (somehow)!
Buy back from the insurer and new loom if you want to keep the car. Painful but do-able.

Had a similar but thankfully less serious experience many years ago - just leaving work in a battered old mini on bonfire night of all nights. A bang and then the steering column burst into flames as I stopped by the security lodge to wait for the barrier to rise. Thought it was fireworks outside for a moment. Ran into security and grabbed a CO2 fire extinguisher, back to the car and pulled the trigger - EMPTY!!!! Thankfully the security guard followed with another. Only a few switches burnt out and melted plastic - nothing like the extensive damage you suffered. It was only a mini after all.
Different car, but also had a 100A service fuse blow (apparently they do exist!) with an colossal explosive bang and then absolutely nothing but smoke inside the car. No engine so no steering and brake servos - 30mph down a narrow hill as darkness fell. No electrics so no lights and with a string of cars behind and travelling down toward the sea in Jersey with the kids in the back. Had no idea what was happening. All normal driving experience had been suspended. Bailing out into traffic just added to the confusion.

This was nothing as dramatic thankfully!
It wasn't massive amounts of smoke and the wires don't look so bad but that's deceiving as the temps they'd have sustained to make smoke must have been high.

What car has 100A fuse?

 

[pgunter]

@Dino D I had a very big debate with the insurance assessor over the value of my Zed. I was offered £2250. Told them to sod off, they came back with £2500. Still not happy, so got several similar Zeds for sale and said to him, ok you get me a replacement car for that amount. In the end they agreed that I should find a replacement, then subtract my excess from the cost. I ended up with £3490. Just a little up from the original offer. I would always say.. Do not take the first offer and if they say, well that's what the Glasses Guide values it at ... Argue. You have nothing to loose.

One comment the assessor did say was.. People like you make my job a pleasure... I think he might have been being sarcastic lol..

 

[oldcarman]

That's everyone's worst nightmare! So glad you and your son are safe there will always be another car to be had but it's impossible to replace a life. Another thing to present to your insurer is all your receipts for parts and work you've done. That way they can reevaluate their offer accordingly. Our insurance here is mandatory in a write off that the owner be offered first right to the car at a set percentage which makes it much easier to decide whether or not to buy it back or not and allows time to source replacement parts. Good luck!! JIM

 

[t-tony]

Hi @Dino D , I'm really sorry to hear this news about your car, it looks stunning. From past experience I know that electrical fires create a bad smell and appearance. It might not be as bad as it first looks mate. Agreed the Insurance Co. might want it as a total loss but there is a chance you may be able to buy it back from them. A PM to @Sailorbaz might be worth your while as he re built his ///M after a similar problem.
Either way I hope you get it sorted one way or another, in the grand scheme of things you and your little boy both are OK and that's the main thing.

Tony.

 

[Redline]

This was nothing as dramatic thankfully!
It wasn't massive amounts of smoke and the wires don't look so bad but that's deceiving as the temps they'd have sustained to make smoke must have been high.

What car has 100A fuse?

Renault Megane Scenic. Battery was under the passenger seat if I recall. The fuse must have been in-line on the connection to the battery.