I have a 2001 330i that I'm starting to believe is possessed. It was at a very reputable independent repair shop for six weeks and at a BMW dealership for three weeks and niether place can correctly diagnose the problem. Between the two places I've spent over $2,400 and the car is as broke as it has ever been.

Here are my symptoms. I get a "Service Engine Soon" light, a caution light (yellow circle around a triangle), a transmission light (looks like a gear), an "ABS" light, and a "Brake" light. The lights are intermittent and can come and go in just about any combination--all, some, or none. I also intermittently lose my air conditioning, tachometer, cruise control, and the temp gauge pegs high (into the red). The independent insists the problems were caused by a Sirius radion installation I had done back in Jan 2007 at Best Buy. They claim Best Buy tapped into a bus or wiring harness that is common to everything causing my fault lights. (BTW, I've made a claim with Best Buy, but they deny any responsibility.) The independent removed all the Sirius radio wiring--it is gone.

The ABS control module has been replaced (twice) and the steering angle sensor has been replaced. The dealership claimed the next most logical thing to try is the instrument cluster, but they were only giving me a 70% chance that would fix the problem and it is a $700 repair. (The problem with replacing these parts one at a time and hoping that it fixes it is that they have to be coded to my VIN (anti tampering) when they're installed and once they're coded they can't be coded to another VIN. In other words, I own the part whether I need it or not. It can get real expensive real fast--the dealer said we could continue playing that game for 1000s of dollars. In fact, he advised me to sell the car and cut my losses, but I don't think I can sell it in its current condition for anywhere near its true value. I have a car I can't afford to sell or fix.

I picked the car up at the dealership on 18 Aug and I'm driving it as is until I can figure out the best next course of action. I'm considering finding someone who will install used parts, but I'm not crazy about that idea either. (You can find used parts on the internet for about 1/4 the cost of new.)

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Suffering the Beemer Blues in Dayton....

• 2001 BMW 330i With Electrical Problems - kogerjj 2007-08-19 16:46:11 (1156 views)
  • Re: 2001 BMW 330i With Electrical Problems - jray 2008-06-13 16:00:12 (165 views)
  • Someone else had something similar to yours a month or so ago - Logun 2007-08-23 09:55:07 (440 views)
    • Re: Someone else had something similar to yours a month or so ago - kogerjj 2007-08-23 16:09:07 (399 views)
      • Look just down this page... Newnovice is the poster.... - Logun 2007-08-24 09:51:51 (388 views)