Davo5774

Yes it was the porkupine resistor. It is now working fine. I went to a superb place in Sheffield called Quarry Motors. Genuine bmw used resistor £15 or £45 new (OEM standard). The company is excellent to deal with and deals with BMWs only. They do repairs and M.O.Ts also. 01142-725108 for service and repairs and 01142-755916. They Have their own comprehensive website and sell on ebay as well. Thanks Guys, Dave.

I have a similar fault with mine in that it has lost all sound on drivers side and having researched it is my head unit which is at fault. I checked fuses which were fine, I then removed the head unit to check wires, which is an easy task (click on following link or read below). 1, Open flap in front of cassette player, 2, Pull volume knob away from radio and you will see a small screwdriver slot at 12 o'clock where the knob was. 3, Using a thin, flat bladed screwdriver, turn a quarter turn anti clockwise and withdraw the unit. This will allow for checking the wiring behind. ( I checked all wiring to speakers as well and tested the speakers as well) Apparently, the standard business radio cassette is known for this problem as well as pixels going missing. There are people offering a repair service for sound problems on ebay at £100. If you decide your head unit is at fault and you want the same replacement, bear in mind there are different types of unit which all look identical and both types cost between £60+. Main thing to check is pin configuration at the rear as some early models have round pins and later models flat pins. Some also have a power amp in the boot alongside the cd changer which can also go faulty. There are some on ebay both flat and round pin. There are also standard fit radio units with adapter plates usually about £120+ and have all the necessary wiring adaptors with some even being able to hook up with remote control on steering wheel. One more option is double din ones with satnav and TV but are the most expensive at £300+. Hope this has helped and you get sorted soon. ;)

Hi folks, I parked up my car (520se) while out yesterday for about a hour, when I came back to it and started the engine the heater blower fan was not working. The display shows as normal and the bars go up and down if I adjust the speed. Everything else works fine. I checked the 40 amp fuse in the boot and it is fine. I would think maybe the hedgehog resistor. Anyone else had this problem, or any Ideas? Thanks, Dave.

Hi Guys, Got a 520se with BMW Business standard fit Radio cassette with 6 disc multi changer. The fault is this: No sound from drivers side regardless of settings. I looked into buying a new head unit but whilst looking on ebay I saw for sale seperate amplifiers for the Becker unit apparently these are in the boot. I dont fancy replacing the head unit if it has a seperate amp which may in my case be faulty. My Questions: 1, Does the standard Becker radio/cassette have a separate amplifier? 2, Where is it located? 3, Anyone else suffered similar problem? 4, Any recommendations? Cheers for any help, Dave.

Hi Jack, Hope you and yours are well. I think that I have sussed the problem!!! I removed the MAF sensor and housing which was absolutely spotless looking almost new but while it was off, I sprayed it with maplin electrical contact cleaner as it is safe with plastics and evaporates leaving no residues but takes with it any small debris into the atmosphere. I thought what I would do also is check all connections throughout the induction section. This is what I found and it makes perfect sense. Just after the MAF sensor, underneath there is a branch of about 40mm in diameter which was perished with small chunks having fallen off at the connection which I think has been letting in air as the engine 'relaxes' causing the afore mentioned symptoms. I am a plumbing lecturer and in my plumbing tool box I have an amazing 'all purpose putty' called milliput (Its more than worth the 3 quid it costs). Its a two part epoxy putty and when set can be tapped, filed etc. I filled the cracks with this, put everything back together and took the car for a test drive. I drove it on the motorway took it to about, 80mph and when safe to do so, let my foot off the throttle and it slowed down nice and smooth then I floored it still in fifth and it went up to 70 with no problem whatsoever. The throttle response is back and dave is a very happy man. So if it was in fact an air leak that would explain why the diagnostic would read absolutely fine. Whatever it was its now cured so thankyou very much for your help Dave. :) :) :)

Thanks for your speedy reply, Its last stamp in the BMW service book is at 80000 and it was for just an oil service. the car has now done 87000 miles. I was going to look at the throttle body as I thought that it may be sticking but what you say makes perfect sense so I will do a full service including cleaning the trottle body and I will also check and clean the MAF sensor. Many thanks for your help, I will post the outcome. Dave.

Hi Folks, My name is dave and I am a new member. I have a y reg 520se with 2.2 engine and manual transmission. The car returns the expected fuel consumption with no bother. It is also fine at speeds of up to say, 50 mph. However, when on the motorway, when I let my foot off the accelerator at speeds above 50, the car judders as if it has a misfire. Sometimes if I dip the clutch during this juddering either the revs rise to around 3500 rpm then drop to tick over or they will drop to tick over at around 700 rpm as normal. It also does the same when I use cruise control. It is not a noisy misfire in that there are no pops or bangs. At tick over it is as smooth as anything and revs freely up and down at tick over. I have done a diagnostic with no faults shown whatsoever. Does anyone have any ideas? (sorry for the chapter and verse story!!)