TRANS FAULT, EGS CODES, PLEASE HELP ME TRANSLATE!!

[donaldj79]

Hi Guys, will try to be as brief as I can. Bought an 04 530i with 177K Miles over the internet sight unseen. When the car arrived, Trans Fault was on the display. Mechanic saw the Trans Pan was cracked at the rear and almost all the fluid was gone. Replaced the Trans Pan along with the sleeve and filled it up with BMW trans fluid. Did the adaptation and the car shifted smoothly. LIKE NEW!!

Next morning, I get in the car, drive it for a few miles and it goes into limp mode (Trans Fault) after going down the road a few miles. Actually at first the Cruise Control Warning light pops up for a few secs, then Trans Fault Appears along with Service Engine Soon Light. I'm able to pull over, reset the codes using my generic scan tool. Restart the car and it drives fine for the rest of the day. This exact same event occurs anytime the car is left off for over and hour or two. Drive for a few mins/miles Cruise Control warning light(yellow) then Trans Fault. Sometimes you can cut the car off for a few mins and restart and the it will drive smoothly without resetting it with the scanner. As long as I don't let the car sit up too long, it drives fine. Just took it from Atlanta to Alabama and back with no problems.

I have an Independent Mechanic with AutoLogic. He's an excellent General Mechanic, but he has only been working with BMW's for 2 years. So I would rate him between a "Freshman and Sophomore" as far as knowledge.

Here are the Codes AutoLogic pulled up, along with the screen shots below.

514A-No Message from the centre console control panel, receiver EGS, transmitter SZM

5142-No Message, receiver EGS, transmitter KOMBI

5144-No Message from the Car Access System, receiver EGS, transmitter CAS

CF07-PT-CAN Communication fault

5146-Message from the driver's seat satellite missing, receiver EGS, transmitter SSFA

299A-CAN fault management EGS

CD99-Message(torgue request EGS, 0xB5)faulty, receiver DDE, transmitter EGS/HIM

CD9D Message(transmission data, 0xBA) faulty, receiver DME, transmitter EGS/SMG

In addition, when we went into the Energy Menu, here is what we got:
Battery 86%

SLEEP MODE PREVENTED
Vehicle Does not Assume Sleep Mode
Instrument Cluster
Frequency 1 Periphery of Control Circuit
Defective Control Unit-Dash
Wake -Up Line


Where do I start? Obviously there is a communication problem with the EGS or the Dash Cluster. Is it the EGS or the wiring that goes into it? I have no idea!! Tried searching the codes, not much out there. Hoping you guys can point me in the right direction. Mechanic can fix it, once I point him towards the problem. Last resort is take it in to BMW and have them diagnose it.

[Greydog]

I think there may be a clue at the bottom of your post, BMW's are sensitive to low voltages. It is common for them to throw spurious fault codes when the battery is on the way-out or alternator is not charging correctly just the cars way of testing the condition of your heart and wallet. 

If your car is not going into sleep mode then there is a parasitic drain over night or when its parked for a length of time causing a low voltage hissy fit. Once the engine has been running for a while and you reset the codes it runs without fault. Try disconnecting the battery and fully charging it overnight then in the morning re-connect and start the car if there are no issues it will be a strong indication of what the issue is.

The difficult bit is finding the cause of the drain, pulling system fuses one at a time until it stops is one way? Is the car standard or have there been any accessories fitted? Always a good starting point. You can open the bonnet sorry hood lock the car and leave it for 15mins or so then measure any drain at the engine bay jump points then its isolate systems and repeat till you find it GOOD LUCK.

[Bimmer Owners' Club]

I would agree totally with Greydog with his diagnosis and rectification....great advice!

Generally, the first port of call with any electrical diagnosis is to start with the Battery and check it's condition. If you can get your Mechanic to carry out a Heavy Duty Discharge Test on it to determine the overall health of the battery and if it is dubious, replace it.

Let us know how you get on with it.

Cheers,   Trevor