[tabascom16]

So I was driving to work today and the car just decided to completely die while I was just coasting along without even my foot on the gas pedal. I got it coasted into a business parking lot. It flashed something about the transmission on the gauge cluster, but that is all I noticed.

It would not start after that, usually wouldn't crank, but one time it cranked without firing. I got it towed in the afternoon and it was still in the same mode. Ironically after they got it off the flatbed in my driveway it fires up and drives just fine.

Any help on codes and where I may begin my search to repair would be greatly appreciated. The car is getting old enough that trying to go to the dealership just isn't worth it. I am trying to post just applicable codes, as some may be related to the battery going dead and not cranking after not driving for a few months during the winter.

CF33 - No message, receiver EGS, transmitter DME-DDE
CED4 - No message (0xAA), receiver EKPS, transmitter DME-DDE
E2C7 - CON: K-CAN communication fault
E717, E71A, E71B.E720: Related to communication for climate system from DME-DDE transmitter
A3AD - Message faulty (engine data, 0x1D0), receiver KOMBI, transmitter DME-DDE
A3AE - same as the one directly above for some other engine data
D113 - message missing (drive train data 0x1D0), RDC receiver, DME DDE receiver

I would say that I am probably looking at a new DME-DDE receiver?

Thanks guys!

[ptpending]

the power to your DDE is switched off during drive
that means that fuse and/or relay is burnt
and that means that something which is connected to DDE has a short circuit
this can be injectors or glow plug relay
or ground straps are corroded and broken
also the wiring to the lambda sensors can be damaged by wear and shorted to the ground (exhaust pipe or body)

[maryjane]

Id look at the exhaust back pressure sensor....when they fail they can BURN the wiring above them and cause all sorts of issues.

[lnxguy]

Yup, engine harness melting due to the pressure sensor coming loose would be a good bet.

That being said, check the ground strap first. If it started up and ran fine, probably not a engine harness issue.

[tabascom16]

I will start looking at some potential wiring issues this weekend when I get a chance. Thanks guys.

[tabascom16]

I finally got to looking. No issues with the back pressure sensor melting any wires. I did a thorough look over of all wires in the top of the engine bay and I do not see any issues.

The car would not start, but this time it was that the batter was almost completely drained after just sitting for a few days. It is a brand new battery from last year. Does that lead to any hints of where to look next?

After charging the battery it started up just fine, I let it idle for about 10 minutes with no issues, and finally drove it into the garage from out in the driveway.

Once it cools down I will jack it up and remove the bottom engine bay cover and look at things from the bottom end.

Thanks in advance!

[nonford]

Test the battery! Like everything else, batteries can go bad too! Also, check your charging and see if all reads right. If the batteries aren't holding charge on these BMW's, all sort of bad sheet happens. You just might be lucky and its a bad bad battery....

[tabascom16]

It is not the battery. It holds a good charge. But I did remove it to check the positive post connections in the battery box since water intrusion before corroded one away. They both look good.

I tried to put everything back together this evening without finding any smoking gun, only to have it decide not to work again while it is now sitting in my garage. I did clean the codes before I started digging around, so here is all that popped up since I tried to fire it up tonight. It would occasionally crank, but would not fire.


Module 1 - Car Access System: A0B3 Starter motor terminal 50
Module 2 - Transmission Control Unit EGS: CF33 - No message, receiver EGS, transmitter DME-DDE
Module 3 - EFP Control Module EKP: CED4 - No message (0xAA), receiver EKPS, transmitter DME-DDE
Moldule 10 - Climate Control: E717, E71A, E71B: Related to communication for climate system from DME-DDE transmitter
Module 11 - Instrument Cluster: A3AD - Message faulty (engine data, 0x1D0), receiver KOMBI, transmitter DME-DDE
A3AE - same as the one directly above for some other engine data


Doing some additional looking around tonight and I have confirmed with my scanner than there is no communication with the DME as it calls it in the basic BMW scanner I have. Worthwhile to try a new DDE relay? That is the path I am leaning on at this point.

Any other things worthwhile to check out? Thanks for all the support thus far.

[maryjane]

It was suggested to check the grounding strap....Have you done that yet?

[tabascom16]

Yes. Checked that as well. All is good.

Originally Posted by maryjane

It was suggested to check the grounding strap....Have you done that yet?

[lnxguy]

Could be a failing CPS (Crank position sensor). Common problem.

Another thing I'd check is the battery connections behind the rear passenger wheel well lining. This is where they leave the battery compartment and head towards the engine bay. If you pull that off and the wiring is geen and corroded, you can get a repair kit.

[ptpending]

then probably alternator failure
did you tried to measure voltage when engine is running ?

[GReddy97]

I have the code D113 as well. Screen shows electrical system failure fault. Car runs fine otherwise. Let me know what you figure out! I'm thinking its a failed RDC module. I have an extended warranty so will be sending to the dealer to figure it out.

[tabascom16]

Soooo....the plot thickens. So the DME-DDE relay did nothing.

To answer some others, the cable connections at the battery are good. I made sure to check them. I had corrosion on them years ago from the battery box filling with water, so I replaced them.

I decided to jiggle all the wire connectors in the DME-DDE white box, as well as some stuff behind the glove box that apparently connects with it reading some other posts from a Google search. And....well...it is doing something different now. It doesn't immediately flash up any errors when you put the key in, and when you push the start button it will try and crank for a split second, then it stops.

It is so frustrating that it ran perfectly fine after it got off the rollback at the house for TWO days! Now I can't get it fired back up again. Something tweaky is going on. Can't really give it much focus until the weekend. Will report back then, but keep some thoughts of things to check now with the update!

[krashDH]

Originally Posted by nonford

Test the battery! Like everything else, batteries can go bad too! Also, check your charging and see if all reads right. If the batteries aren't holding charge on these BMW's, all sort of bad sheet happens. You just might be lucky and its a bad bad battery....

I agree with this. It doesn't matter if it "holds a charge".
Load testing it is the only way to know. A bad battery can cause a lot of problems. Just went through this myself. Load testing is easy diy if you have a friend.
Have them hold a multimeter over the posts. Turn headlights on, HVAC, anything that draws power. Then crank er'. If it drops below 9 ish V, battery is toast

[tabascom16]

Finally getting a chance to mess around with the car today. I swapped a battery in from another vehicle last Sunday and let it sit. After a week it did not have enough power to perform a proper crank.

I jumped it and ran it for about 20 minutes. Tried to start it up again in about 20 minutes and it cranked for a few seconds but never fired up. Had to jump it again. Battery was as just 12.1V. Getting the 4121 code relating to the main relay.

Seems like possible alternator woes. Also at the same time I really don't think it was my initial problem as those codes have gone away since I have squeezed and wiggled all the plugs in the DME box.

[krashDH]

Originally Posted by tabascom16

Finally getting a chance to mess around with the car today. I swapped a battery in from another vehicle last Sunday and let it sit. After a week it did not have enough power to perform a proper crank.

I jumped it and ran it for about 20 minutes. Tried to start it up again in about 20 minutes and it cranked for a few seconds but never fired up. Had to jump it again. Battery was as just 12.1V. Getting the 4121 code relating to the main relay.

Seems like possible alternator woes. Also at the same time I really don't think it was my initial problem as those codes have gone away since I have squeezed and wiggled all the plugs in the DME box.

WHEN was that 12.1V measured? Really, voltage reading stagnant doesn't mean anything. Was this the voltage measured while cranking? The only way to tell if a battery is bad is to load test it as I mentioned before. If that's the CRANKING voltage (while you are trying to start it with a/c, headlights, and anything else that draws a significant amount of amps) then you can rule out the battery. If this is just a measured voltage you took randomly, the battery still isn't out of the question

[tabascom16]

It's fixed! So after having the battery tested perfectly fine, it further lead down the path of some connectivity issues.

I went back into the battery box again and decided to take off the small cable that goes out into the wheel well. I removed the big one and inspected it when I first had troubles. I just did a visual on the small one before since it completely corroded off from water intrusion just 3-4 years ago and visually it looked just fine. Corrosion between the eyelet and post was pretty bad. Cleaned it all up nicely, and low and behold it starts up like a charm.

[krashDH]

Originally Posted by tabascom16

It's fixed! So after having the battery tested perfectly fine, it further lead down the path of some connectivity issues.

I went back into the battery box again and decided to take off the small cable that goes out into the wheel well. I removed the big one and inspected it when I first had troubles. I just did a visual on the small one before since it completely corroded off from water intrusion just 3-4 years ago and visually it looked just fine. Corrosion between the eyelet and post was pretty bad. Cleaned it all up nicely, and low and behold it starts up like a charm.

Thanks for coming back and following up with the fix, always very helpful when people close their threads with the solution. Glad it was something so simple, but maybe tricky to find.

[lnxguy]

Crazy how fast those battery connections can corrode

[ptpending]

Originally Posted by lnxguy

Crazy how fast those battery connections can corrode

the e9x cars have this area covered by rear arch cover
and in the same time the last e9x manufactured 13 years ago this is not unusual
so if you use such a car in humidious and salty environment you will have this failure earlier
before the e6x and e9x generations the BMW simply haven't run any battery cables outside of the car

[lnxguy]

Originally Posted by ptpending

the e9x cars have this area covered by rear arch cover
and in the same time the last e9x manufactured 13 years ago this is not unusual
so if you use such a car in humidious and salty environment you will have this failure earlier
before the e6x and e9x generations the BMW simply haven't run any battery cables outside of the car

Yes, as per post #11 I've already experienced this