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2004 e46 320d obc retrofit

21K views 45 replies 9 participants last post by  edber 
#1 ·
with the recent cold spell, have become aware that there is no outside temperature display on my car.

Contacted the stealers who are looking £89 for the part (just an indicator stalk with a button) and then a further £195 for fitting and coding it :jaw-dropping :jaw-dropping!!

by searching forum i have seen posts that suggest the required stalk can be obtained from a breakers or ebay and can be easily fitted as a diy.

What i want to know is do you have to use a stealer to have it coded to work or could an independent bmw specialist code it to work using their diagnostic equipment??
 
#2 ·
I do hope this isn't misinformation, but assuming it's the same as VAG cars, any independent witht he bmw computer software (sorry, I don't know the name) will be able to code it for you. Can't see it taking more than 10 mins, it should just be a case of telling it you have the stalk.
 
#4 · (Edited)
This is the switch part number 61.31.8.363.668 (BC stalk)

Then this is what cars it fits http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partxref.do?part=61.31.8.363.668&showeur=on

It takes about 30mins to install the stalk for a amateur with common sense, some cars though are missing a wire so it won't work, have a look at the plug you remove from the stalk, if it has 4 wires you will be fine, if it has 3 then you will need to add a wire, see below in the PDF for wiring info......................You want the yellow/red 0.35mm wire marked as A3 - A4. It runs between the mentioned plug (X32) and a plug in the instrument cluster. After taking your cluster out you will see that it is connected with two plugs, you will need to use the left plug.

You then after fitting need to take the car to a main dealers or good BMW specialists and have them program the ZCS with Autologic,GT1,DIS/MODIC diagnostic equipment so it recognises the BC stalk(indicator stalk). :thumbsup
 
#5 ·
It takes about 30mins to install the stalk for a amateur with common sense, some cars though are missing a wire so it won't work, have a look at the plug you remove from the stalk, if it has 4 wires you will be fine, if it has 3 then you will need to add a wire, I will post the wiring up later.
Cheers Ronnie,

why the difference in the wiring, and how hard is it to wire in the 4th one if needed?
 
#23 ·
That will be more stealer specific :thumbsup

DIS is Stealer equipment more, but you may find a Indy that has it or can use the Autologic to do it, I've never done it so it's new to me, if you do get it done then update us and we can safely say that this will be a very good guide :thumbsup

It will be "a bit" like the "coding" shown later on in here, http://www.bavauto.com/Assets/inst_pages/ins229.pdf

This is the MODIC coding menu.

1)Go to ZCS Coding
2)Select E46 Series
3)Select Recode or retrofit
4)Select Kombi
5)Select Turn Signal
6)Enable OBC

If you get an error touch the OBC button to complete the procedure.

The dealer should charge you around half a hour.
well i've drew a blank with my 2nd indie.

Have had to book my car in with a stealer for wednesday who "will see if they can do it".

Am worried about the cost now and if i'll be charged for them pottering about my car.

Any advice on what i should say when i'm leaving car in to ensure i'm only charged the relevant time (around 15 mins) for the coding, and not for the time they spend figuring out their own equipment?
This should give them a good idea :thumbsup I know some dealers have actually had to install old software to get it working :frown

My friend who has a AUTOLOGIC machine said they could probably do it, I can check with him to be sure if you want to search a Autologic machine out :hihi
 
#13 ·
Thanks again Ronnie,

Hopefully new OBC stalk purchased on Ebay should arrive within next couple of days. Then the fitting.

Have a couple of independents scoped out for the coding so will update when everything is successfully fitted and activated. :goodvibes:goodvibes
 
#14 · (Edited)
Well, OBC stalk received in post today, and have just finished installing it. :D
Was easier than i expected, only difficullty was removing cowling and that was because i was scared of breaking it.

Indicators and full beam work fine so must have done it right!!

All that remains is to go tomorrow and get it coded.


:frown:frown Oh no!! Seems I've ballsed something up. Started car to drive to shop and DSC light and brake lights stay on yellow. Pushing DSC button has no effect. Any ideas on what i've done to cause this??
 
#15 ·
unless you've knocked a connection somewhere, if you've followed the instructions in this thread re installation then I would have to wonder if it might be coincidence?

Alternatively the dash has recognised a new input and has got confused.

Ask the indie, see what they say.

and don't forget to update the thread when you resolve it!
 
#16 ·
On getting up today, was expecting the yellow dsc lights and brake lights accompanying me on the drive to work.

To my surprise and relief, they werent there!! Happy days.:hihi Don't know why, but dont really care.

However, have to wait until saturday to get the stalk coded. :mad
 
#18 ·
The saga goes on!!

The indie i had lined up doesn't have the correct equipment to do the recoding, after assuring me he had :confused:confused

have been given name of another indie near where i work so will try him on monday.

Failing that will have to bite bullet and go to a stealer to have it done :eek
 
#21 ·
Many places have machines like that, it's only really the garages that specialise in certain manufacturers that keep equipment to code/recode items as the outlay on them is huge :frown

A standard scanner that will read a good quantity of manufacturers will cost you around £2000 upwards.

A scanner/diagnostic machine that does coding as well as read codes can costs over £5000 easily. And if you don't use it much then it's dead money, then when someone does come in they complain why it costs so much to code/program things :hihi
 
#22 ·
well i've drew a blank with my 2nd indie.

Have had to book my car in with a stealer for wednesday who "will see if they can do it".

Am worried about the cost now and if i'll be charged for them pottering about my car.

Any advice on what i should say when i'm leaving car in to ensure i'm only charged the relevant time (around 15 mins) for the coding, and not for the time they spend figuring out their own equipment?
 
#25 ·
Well car has been left into stealers this morning for the coding!!

Girl on service reception said they had never done it before so i handed over the instructions for the MODIC coding listed above and now await a telephone call bearing hopefully good news :eek:ptimist:eek:ptimist
 
#26 · (Edited)
Well Stealers say they have successfully coded OBC on cluster.

Invoice says -

Connected using ISTAP system - OBC retrofit unsuccessful
Connected using SSS system - OBC retrofit successul

The problem is, the button on stalk is not cycing through the options.

This is what the final report says:

Operations:
CKM backup successful
Instrument cluster successfully encoded
CKM restoration successful
! could not completely clear fault code memories
! the following ecu(s) contain(s) further entries in the fault memory
-GM 0x0048 (72)
Adaptation of ZCS/VO successful​

Could this fault code be what is stopping stalk cycling through items?

I have the 4 wires connecting to the stalk so dont think i need to worry bout laying a wire as it is already there and all four wires connect to cluster.
 
#30 ·
Thanks Ronnie, I have pm'd NealP also!

Seems wiring is all there as i checked cluster and there is a yellow/red wire going to chamber 13 on it.

Here are 2 final reports for coding. First one was a successful coding and the second one is mine. I also think it hasn't been coded properly but need to be sure before i enter into a scrap with the dealer!!! :punch
 
#32 ·
Yes, it says 0x0048 (72)

I asked about it but was told it was nothing. Tried to push for an explanation but got nowhere.

Think it maybe cos they coded cluster but then loaded old settings back into it, overwriting the new coding and causing the error
 
#33 ·
Well after speaking to Service Tech , my car is booked back into stealers on monday for them to "check the coding".

Am justing building myself up for the battle when they try to charge me for correcting the mistake that they made first time around!!
 
#35 ·
Oops!, should have updated this.

In short i have become deeply illusioned with the BMW dealers aftersales policy.

Car was booked back in for them to check their initial coding, however they wanted another £100 :eek to check what they did first time although they still insisted it was coded correctly.

I refused to pay this and insisted they told me what the error showing was. They wheeled out Tech who did the coding who said it was coming from the interior lights (which all work fine and dandy) and to find out what was causing it they would have to strip the whole system and check it bit by bit. :jaw-dropping

At this point i lifted my keys and walked out :mad
 
#39 ·
:thumbsup

Well finally, nearly 2 years on from starting this thread i've managed to get my OBC working!!!!!!!

Despite so called "Professional" BMW dealers looking at the car and charging £100 an hour to code the OBC they could''t activate it.

On reading many threads online I got interested in the self diagnosing and coding software, and after battling my reservations about a lack of knowledge and fear of bricking the car I purchased a Diagnostic cable and software on ebay for £20 on thursday.

After a long installation to my laptop of the software, i used Progman SSS v32 and was able to activate it in 5 mins.

Sorry for reactivating this thread but just thought i'd post on my success.
 
#41 ·
No apology required vb its just great that you didn't give up on the task and you've finally cracked it :thumbsup

any further info or method on how you did this via SSS will be greatly received? :)
Strangely SlowTech, i went into the Car/Key Memory screen for a nosey before trying the retrofit coding menu.
When i activated the "Temp below 3 degrees" warning beep, my cluster went through a kind of test function and when it stopped the OBC was working!! :confused
 
#43 ·
Glad you got that working, especially after doing battle with the dealer! Seems like they were simply not interested in helping you. OBC button is very handy, not sure what i'd do without it.

Did you happen to notice if there was an option in SSS for activating the "intensive" wash feature from a retrofitted wiper stalk?

Steering part Vehicle Steering wheel Car Luxury vehicle
 
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