I see a lot of posts on this forum by people asking for help with electrical problems and I’ve created this post to help others understand how much information is available in the wiring diagrams (BMW WDS). The wiring diagrams often contain more information of how a component works than the actual maintenance manual (BMW TIS).
You can find the WDS here WDS BMW Wiring Diagram System - Model Selection
Please note, The WDS web page uses Java to run thus you must say yes to the pop-up
In my example I’m going to pretend I’ve got an issue with my parking distance control where the left sensor has been replaced but I’ve still got and issue so I want to carry out some wiring checks between the left rear sensor and the PDC control module.
To find the PDC wiring diagrams we need to expand the “complete car” menu on the left. The PDC is located under “Complete Vehicle > Body > Signal and Warning Functions”
Most components have detailed text description of how an item works
Here you can find the relevant wiring diagram. Note each item has an “equipment number” in this example the PDC control unit is A81
The left rear sensor is B34
To find both the location of each piece of equipment and information on each connector navigate on the left menu from the “Complete Vehicle” to “Component and Signal Information>Component”
You can now see the location of the PDC module and identify the connector on the module
You’ll also find tables which detail each wire on the PDC connectors
And a diagram which further identifies the wires in the connector
From this table I can see I need to carry out a continuity check between pins 3,11 and 12 of connector X18013 on the PDC module
And the plug at the rear left sensor X18020
Pin 12 of X18013 should have continuity to pin 1 of X18020
Pin 11 of X18013 should have continuity to pin 2 of X18020
Pin 3 of X18013 should have continuity to pin 3 of X18020
I hope this helps.
You can find the WDS here WDS BMW Wiring Diagram System - Model Selection
Please note, The WDS web page uses Java to run thus you must say yes to the pop-up
In my example I’m going to pretend I’ve got an issue with my parking distance control where the left sensor has been replaced but I’ve still got and issue so I want to carry out some wiring checks between the left rear sensor and the PDC control module.
To find the PDC wiring diagrams we need to expand the “complete car” menu on the left. The PDC is located under “Complete Vehicle > Body > Signal and Warning Functions”
Most components have detailed text description of how an item works
Here you can find the relevant wiring diagram. Note each item has an “equipment number” in this example the PDC control unit is A81
The left rear sensor is B34
To find both the location of each piece of equipment and information on each connector navigate on the left menu from the “Complete Vehicle” to “Component and Signal Information>Component”
You can now see the location of the PDC module and identify the connector on the module
You’ll also find tables which detail each wire on the PDC connectors
And a diagram which further identifies the wires in the connector
From this table I can see I need to carry out a continuity check between pins 3,11 and 12 of connector X18013 on the PDC module
And the plug at the rear left sensor X18020
Pin 12 of X18013 should have continuity to pin 1 of X18020
Pin 11 of X18013 should have continuity to pin 2 of X18020
Pin 3 of X18013 should have continuity to pin 3 of X18020
I hope this helps.