Help! My 318ti is slowly dying...

[Owen]

Ok, I just drove from sunny california to sunnier-yet-humid Boston. Right about Denver, I turned off the car, filled her with gas, and turned her back on. All of a sudden, the Gas Gauge said empty, the temp gauge wasnt registering, the cruise control was out, and that little screen that lists the outside temp etc. wouldnt turn on. In Omaha, they replaced a fuse, which kept blowing everytime the car was started. By the time I hit chicago, the radio was stuck on 920 AM, couldnt turn it down, off, or change the station. And finally, when I arrived in Boston, the brake lights went out. Clearly, there is some sort of electrical shortage that is slowly consuming my car. She still runs beautifully, and is a dream to drive, but I need to know if any of you have any idea where to start, here. How much is this going to cost me to get fixed? Where could my problem be? Shortage? HELP!

[SDKmann]

Uh, replace the entire computer? Im not really sure but I know other people have had to replace their computer when their car went crazy (not people with tis but I think it was a E36 coupe that had these kind of problems). Its going to be expensive.

[ClubSport]

Maybe it's a wiring harness that's slowly getting burned or chafed through?

[klatu2235]

Suffering similar problems. Full fuel tank, fuel guage registers empty. Temperature guage going to hot when accelerating and cold when breaking. Clock completely dead. Car would not start. My mechanic had my car for two days. He says corrosion of wires under driver side carpeting causing my problems.

[aceyx]

I say you've possibly got a bad ground. No joke, a loose bolt can cause a lot of this.

All on the driver's side: 1. under the hood, 2. behind the kickpanel, 3. behind the trunk carpeting. There may be more, but that's what I know of off the top of my head.

Look for clusters of brown wire attached to the body on the interior, and under the hood it is a single nut.


Remove, clean with a brass brush then give the key a turn.

[drkblu318ti]

THis is what happend to me....
Turned on the car gas gauge shot to empty... had half tank last time idrove... then heat went to red and beyond!!!!!! Clock was messed up... wouldnt go past clock.... Bought some fuses... and noticed. the one with the brake light, OBC, Cluster was blown... I replaced it but kept blowing... Took her to the shop... ( found out that i didnt have brake lights either) after 180 bucks they found that someone had put a copper? bulb i think instead of a umm aluminum or something and it was creating a short... Weired problem... but sounds just like mine... try replacing the fuse start it without pressing the brake. Then press the break. with mine you could hear the fuse blowing... then you know that it is atleast connected to the brake lights...


not sure what else it could be since thats what mine was but maybe that will help!