I have a strange fault with my EDC system, The EDC switch only lights up in the S (sport) position, when switched over to P (program ) the switch does not light up, and the suspension feels rock hard the same as in the sport mode. Sugesting that the system goes in to failsafe mode which is sport.
Has anyone suffered a similar fault ? from reading previous post in most cases the system when it goes wrong stops working all together.
Can someone tell me the exact location of the EDC control unit and the likely routing of the wiring to the switch and shocks so i can check the wires for continuity in case of a poor connection or broken wire, which is what I am hoping is all that is wrong with it.
Any help or sugestions on the subject are most appreciated.
The fact EDC is not lighting 'P' program does indeed mean that the program has locked out in failsafe mode, which as you have discovered means the car is in sport full-time.
The two things to check first before digging around in electronics are the shocks. Get the car up on a ramp and look for any leaks (measure the power steering level) as even a small one will cause a hydraulic pressure loss which the system will detect and lock out.
The second is the wiring of the EDC system. Search for Alan Archer's post as I'm sure he described the underside pathway in some detail. The problem area is the wiring loom for the rear EDC shocks is exposed to the elements owing to the right angle it makes to the rear of the car (passenger seat area) resulting in broken wires with a high propensity to short. Again check this while under the car.
If it is the 'brain' the EDC box is located near the battery under the rear seat. It's a black box with a large heat sink and in your case will have EDC+ written on it. There is a mass of wires going into the box (from memory) and an inline fuse, in addition to the one in the fuse box.
If all the above checks out pull the power to the car and leave it for an hour. This way you have forced a reset on both the ECU and EDC system. The engine will sound like crap for a while but at least this way you have eliminated a spurrueous software glitch!
Hope that helps
M5 Powered
__________________
1995 M5 Limited Edition (02/50)Rosso Red
Pilot Sport 2 Rubber
Valentine One With Conceal
Twin Head LRC100 IR Jammer System
Origin Blue B2 GPS
Last edited by M5 powered; 27th August 2003 at 13:29.
Yup, the EDC box is screwed onto the battery bracket under the back seat. I had to remove it to replace the battery recently. To be honest it looks like an afterthought...........it was a relief when it still worked.
I was truly staggered at the amount of wires under that back seat......its a worry!
I intend to put the car on the ramp this evening and have a look, on odd ocassions I have had the EDC warning come up on the check control panel, either after driving through deep puddles or after jet washing the car, but turning the ignition off and restarting the car has always restored the system to normal.
only once whilst driving have I had a warning not exceed 160 km/h i think due to EDC fault which again disapeared by turning the engine off and restarting the car.
I will check the obvious connections to the shocks and hydraulic fluid level
go to the right hand side rear of the car (battery side)
you are looking for the point where the wiring loom comes
through the body (from the edc near the battery) and turns
90 degrees upwards and over the rear subframe.
Access is tight but can be improved by unclipping the wiring
heading for the rear axle & fuel pump.
Its a job that requires patience (and in my case 3days off work)
but when you remove the insulation you'll find various wires have
worn through, or worse still, are touching.
I had the same EDC problem, stiff but no errors,
Munich Legends tested it & confirmed exactly where the fault lied.
I dare say yours is the same, however a diagnostic test will reveal
all.
I put my car on the ramp last night and had a quick look, replaced my front pads, managed to wear out this set in 6 months and only 10.000 kms, possibly due to the fact that they were Lucas/Girling pads ( the only ones available at the time off the shelf), replaced pad sensor, checked for an oil leak that had become worse over the last couple of weeks, found sump plug not very tight, replaced sumpo washer, seems ok now.
ok moving on to my EDC fault, checked the conectors from the shocks to the rear wiringt loom, they appear ok, checked the wiring around the rear subframe and the grommet through which its passes in to the car, the insulation appeared to be intact, moved the wiring about to see if I could see anything amiss, unpluged a sensor with three wires mounted on the rear subframe and checked the wiring loom inside the car under the seat, nothing obvious, but its very hard to see well around the rear subframe as access is so limited.
Drove the car home last night and 5 min in to my journey home found that the self levelling warning now comes on the check control display, turn off engine and restart engine, system resets itself, but the warning came on again twice. So Alans theory apears to be correct that the wiring is possibly at fault as thats the only thing i have touched under the car, The car has lived since new in the south of spain and rain and dampnes is not an issue so I would surprised if the fault is caused by corrosion , but good weather does not prevent wires chaffing or breaking.
I will keeps you guys posted, thanks for the tips.
I think the wiring is the culprut owing to your discription. If it was the black box the fault would remain on full time. The fact its so variable indicates a wire break or short. Given enough time, electrical cable plastics do break down, not helped by BMW's stupidly tight routing .
My advice would be to wait for the weekend and buy a bundle of roughly the same gauge cable, running a temporary patch from inside the car to ALL the cables past the bend on the underside. Use 3M connectors if you don't want to cut anything.
If this was the problem, it should now work with the by-pass in place. To find the exact wire / circuit just disconect each patch until the fault appears again.
I would however recommend changing all the cables and use only solder with shrink for the repair. I'd also add some slack so it never bothers you again.
Hope that helps.
Regards
M5 Powered
__________________
1995 M5 Limited Edition (02/50)Rosso Red
Pilot Sport 2 Rubber
Valentine One With Conceal
Twin Head LRC100 IR Jammer System
Origin Blue B2 GPS
Last edited by M5 powered; 29th August 2003 at 13:51.
having read your comments i'd just like to say
that it isnt really possible to bypass the rear wiring harness
as there are no make or break connections within it.
The loom runs continously from behind the rear seats...
and we are talking 20 plus wires !
EDC (3 per damper)
Diff speed sensor,
Fuel pump,
Self levelling sensor.
ABS sensors.
Yep, this is one crucial harness !
If you start getting self levelling errors on the Check control
then the time to fix it is now !!!
EDC fault !
Linear Mode
