Electrical fault?

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:01 am

A few years back, when driving my old Baur home from buying it, I noticed a feint glow with brake wear? light & battery light. I thought the alternator was failing but the guy who sold me the car said it had always been that way. This feint glow even remained when the car was off and the keys removed.

Anyway, the same thing happens with MIB.

Does this happen to anyone elses e21?

petroscf · Post by **petroscf** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 8:08 am

Now that you mention it, I think I remember this to have happened with my car in the past....I may remember wrong, though..

Jeroen · Post by **Jeroen** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:17 am

Yep I know of serveral E21's that have been doing this for years, no further problems and usually you only see a slight glow in the dark lol no worries

TopCat · Post by **TopCat** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:30 pm

Had exactly the same problem with Big Red my E30 Hartge

now I have fixed up and tightened fan belt and it now has full charge - problem has gone away

(bearing in mind my poor technical input!) I would suggest a charge test on your alternator etc and see whether the belt is slipping?

nas80 · Post by **nas80** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 12:38 am

Hmmmm.

That looks like the brake light wear indicator? Take the bulb out lol

Jacko · Post by **Jacko** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 2:49 pm

Yep, i'd just remove the bulb as i'm sure you don't have any sensors fitted.

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 5:26 pm

It's all 3 red warning lamps not just the brake one or battery. Alternator is charging fully and no slippy belts either. It's not a real problem, just strange. Especially as it seems quite common.

Jason_323i · Post by **Jason_323i** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 6:05 pm

i will have to look through the wiring but could be an earth fault, a bit of earth leakage either from a cable chaffing or a component breaking down

Jason

petroscf · Post by **petroscf** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:23 am

Jeroen wrote:Yep I know of serveral E21's that have been doing this for years, no further problems and usually you only see a slight glow in the dark lol no worries

Probably BMW had thought of the MAC "sleeping+breathing light" long before Apple did , lol !!!!!

Jeroen · Post by **Jeroen** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:31 am

my Baur has this issue as well and right from the 1st day I got it, and the past 3 years this has not developed into an alternator issue so I would not worry too much

btw what we found out a couple of years ago is that this issue is seen with most cars that have an electrical cooling fan installed as well, driving at high speeds the thing probably starts to turn and act as an alternator. We tested and blocked it, another test drive and the light stayed off. So this could be an issue with some of our cars as well.

Reck · Post by **Reck** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:17 pm

Of the two E21's I've had, it seems the alternator just about puts out enough juice to keep everything going - especially apparent when I've got the blower on, rear demister, wipers and stereo - my headlights start dimming until I put my foot down. And that's with a new alternator/battery/fan belt.

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:10 pm

I'd check your earths & battery size/condition. There shouldn't be any drop in brightness even if you have all the leccy bits turned on.

m3gaz · Post by **m3gaz** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:38 pm

You know the red light on K.I.T.T.?...............they never sleep,you know.

E21meister · Post by **E21meister** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:05 pm

m3gaz wrote:You know the red light on K.I.T.T.?...............they never sleep,you know.

It'll go all HAL9000 on him when he least suspects it...

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