[MrSpeedy87]

Hi Folks,

As 05/06/07 reg cars are getting on a bit I thought I would quickly share with you a small issue I had with mine yesterday evening.

I'm aware this was an issue on the E46 saloons as well as a few others.

Unfortunately because of the rush I was in to fix it, I haven't taken any photographs but I'll run you through what happened and since this is going to get more common, this should save some people money and time too!

It all started out with some error messages saying that I had lost a few lights and that my bootlid was open, I went round to the back to inspect.
I had lost all of the left cluster (tail, reversing and fog) and also my number plate lights.
I tried to get into the boot and the motor release wasn't working either.

I used the key to gain entry into the boot and found that the interior light was also not working.

FIX - the wiring loom has an inherent design flaw whereby it is continually bent and straightened within the rubber casing that protects it between car and bootlid. You will find it to the bottom right of the rear window.
As the boot opens and closes, this bends and straightens and fatigues, in my case, the main 12V supply. (Other cables could fatigue first giving different symptoms or loss of rear lights).

First things first, disconnect the negative on the battery.

I removed the boot lid cover by using a trim removal tool to pull the clips out.
You will need to then undo the connectors on the loom that connect to the left fog cluster and the left numberplate light to give you some slack to work.
You will also need to remove 3 little black clips that hold the loom onto the bodywork.

Once that's done, peel back (without cutting) the black loom protector whilst sliding the excess into it. This way you don't have to cut the rubber protector but can access the cable that would usually reside within it.
You will find a fracture in one or more of the cables. Bear in mind that the outer sheath of the cable may well look OK but the inner cores are damaged.

I'm working on a more permanent fix for this but my temporary fix was to crimp a length of cable in where the 12V hado fractured. This gives it some extra length to bend too.
Other ways to fix it would be to solder the cable back together but you'd need to appropriately insulate the joint using Heatshrink (not pvc electrical tape!).

Once you've fixed the cable, plug everything back together, connect the battery and test (before reassembling the car).

By disconnecting the battery, you'll lose the time, date and trip mileage (that's all).

I hope this helps some drivers of 05/06/07 e90's as I can see this becoming more common as the cars become older!

Cheers
Tobes