Electrical Issues '08 e93

I know others have experienced this problem and I am hoping for a solution. While driving, the check engine light comes on. Stays on. Next time I take her out, same thing, only this time, other warning lights start to pop up, like check emissions, & ABS Braking not working?

Next time out, check engine light goes on, then 20 minutes into my drive, all hell breaks loose, all the warning error messages start blinking through, wipers start going and can not shut off, odometer starts bouncing back and forth and the car dies. I get a tow back to the house, jump the car and it starts right up like nothing happened. Got it to my mechanic the next day and car is running fine. He keeps it for a week (not my every day ride) to see if it will duplicate what happened. Battery checks out good and charging, Alternator same. Finally get car to duplicate issues, but by the time he gets it back to the shop, car running fine. Battery charging, alternator fine. There is some sort of electrical short or wiring malfunction, but it could be anywhere? The error codes are not pointing to any one direction? Has anyone experienced this and if so, what's the solution??? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Brink231 wrote

I know others have experienced this problem and I am hoping for a solution. While driving, the check engine light comes on. Stays on. Next time I take her out, same thing, only this time, other warning lights start to pop up, like check emissions, & ABS Braking not working?

Next time out, check engine light goes on, then 20 minutes into my drive, all hell breaks loose, all the warning error messages start blinking through, wipers start going and can not shut off, odometer starts bouncing back and forth and the car dies. I get a tow back to the house, jump the car and it starts right up like nothing happened. Got it to my mechanic the next day and car is running fine. He keeps it for a week (not my every day ride) to see if it will duplicate what happened. Battery checks out good and charging, Alternator same. Finally get car to duplicate issues, but by the time he gets it back to the shop, car running fine. Battery charging, alternator fine. There is some sort of electrical short or wiring malfunction, but it could be anywhere? The error codes are not pointing to any one direction? Has anyone experienced this and if so, what's the solution??? Thanks in advance for any advice.

I had the same problem from 2 issues. Your throttle actuators and a fuel purge valve. Both are very common issues and cause a bunch of check engine lights to come on.

Start with those. Hope this helps!

Thanks TM. After replacing, the issue never came up again?

I know you said the battery checks out fine but...How old is it? If more than 3 years old replace it and reset codes. I don't think TA's or fuel pressure sensor would trigger ABS lights. A dying battery can trigger almost anything and everything.

Replace your battery and have the alternator checked for good measure. Even if the alternator is bad, your battery most likely took a dump too.

Brink231 wrote

Thanks TM. After replacing, the issue never came up again?

After those fixes, car runs great. Mines a 09 with 105k miles. The problems started for the fuel purge valve around 77k and the throttle actuator at 85k miles.

Sounds battery related. Try pulling codes, clearing and see what shows up. If its TA related, some very specific codes will come up. If you get a bunch of random codes, that seems to point to the battery. From what I have read here its a very common cause of the christmas tree lights. This post helps translate the codes.
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=928325&highlight=TA+codes

It's not going to help, just wanted to say that I had multiple electrical issues with my '08 e93. Not as bad as yours, but still very annoying. Replaced battery several times, replaced actuator and alternator, fixed grounding problems when identified, checked wires as much as we could, etc. but my shop could not figured out what was going on. Unfortunately I totaled the car last year. Got '11 e93 and have no electrical issues so far.

Thanks all for replying. I don't think it's the battery. But then again, you never know? I will keep you posted at the progress.

Brink231 wrote

Thanks all for replying. I don't think it's the battery. But then again, you never know? I will keep you posted at the progress.

Wipers coming on by themselves would not be a low battery. I'd start troubleshooting before throwing money at the problem. Use the wipers as a clue, don't have Bentley in front of me but see what module or power distribution controls the relay/power and look there first. Could be a fried FRM module or shorting wires in main fuse box? Seems like it's intermittent and vibration causes it to rear it's ugly head. Check grounds and for wires with nicked insulation.

Thanks EC. That's kind of where we are at the moment. Trying to duplicate the event to see where the problem is originating from. Something is draining the battery and then it charges right back as if nothing happened. I will keep you all posted as to what we find.

Hello. I have the same problem than the one you had. Could you tell me if you succeded to determine the origine of the problem. Many thanks.