BMW E36 320i Electical Issue

[ecooney]

I was wondering if anyone can help me with a wierd issue I'm having with an E36 320i convertible.

I'm getting it ready to sell but it has a few electrical issues and I thought I'd have no problem sorting these out but I'm stumped.

The issues are as follows
Front electric windows will not work, rear windows work fine
No central locking at all
No interior Lights

I've read that all of these issues can be caused by a bad body control module.
I've since replaced this but still nothing works.

Other common areas to check are the connections under the passenger side carpet where the wires can corrode and disconnect.
Took a look and found 2 red and brown wires disconnected from the block connector. I sorted these out but still nothing.

Next I checked the wiring in the bootlid as this is known to cause all sorts of issues like the ones I'm seeing.
Again, wiring was perfect and in really good condition.

Next I checked the wiring in the drivers door and it was also perfect.

Should have mentioned, I obviously checked (and replaced even if they looked good visually) all fuses related to these component.
All checked out.

My only possible assumption is that I purchased another fault BCM but I'm not convinced.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen this before or has any bright ideas as to what my issue could be???

[Ketron]

Cant help you much, but regarding central locking, I had an issue on the 328i, was related to a third party alarm, ripped the thing out and all was good.

These a relatively simple machines (I know its a serious pain with an electrical issue!) but your best bet is grabbing a multimeter and working your way back to the fuse box. Wires may look good visually but you'd be surprised what can happen internally due to flexing/corrosion. It will give you an indication of where the fault lies (may be a module, but you'll spot that too) and you can rerun the faulty wire.

As you think its a module do the issues share a commonality (been a fair few years since I was at an e36) or is there a central location that would logically cause these issues, ie fuse etc.s

Not much help, just my 2c.

[kdevitt]

Loads of window issues on my E36 - all caused by the sunroof fuse.

(edit - I know yours is a cabrio - by the same fuse must control more than just a sunroof given my issues!)