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      09-08-2012, 01:50 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tranquility View Post
For those that did the 'master reset' aka 'touching battery cables together', how long have you been prb-free? Any side effects? Thx.
Bump for this.
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      09-09-2012, 12:13 PM   #24
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I have a separate thread for this but will post it here... Took my car in to the dealer with the HVAC panel dead....happened thrice in the last few months but not since July. They looked and said that they could not find the cause or any error codes.....Now I am worried if it happens post warranty and is unfixable with the battery reset...
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      09-09-2012, 07:16 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redhot View Post
I have a separate thread for this but will post it here... Took my car in to the dealer with the HVAC panel dead....happened thrice in the last few months but not since July. They looked and said that they could not find the cause or any error codes.....Now I am worried if it happens post warranty and is unfixable with the battery reset...
Can you contact BMW NA ?
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      09-10-2012, 10:43 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by cuddapah View Post
Can you contact BMW NA ?
How would that help? Dealers are the first line of defense in an escalation path and BMW NA will reach back to the dealer as they are the eyes and ears in the field.

The only way I see this getting resolved is if the occurrence becomes statistically significant OR one of us decides to take the legal route.

Given that several folks have had the same issue, it seems there is a communication glitch causing the CAN system to kill the entire panel, but why no error thrown is beyond me.

Wish i had the K CAN Cable and SW to run my own diagnostics..
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      09-10-2012, 03:57 PM   #27
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This is a concern because in another BMW forum I asked this same question and 1 poster said that even though he did a 'master reset', it still happens.
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      10-19-2012, 12:17 AM   #28
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'Tranquility Fix'

Ok, guys, I may have stumbled upon a possible solution. You know how presumably everyone starts the car by pressing the brake, and then pressing the start/stop button? I've been doing it the other way around, i.e. holding the start/stop button and pressing the brake to start the car. So far, no more HVAC prbs (knock on wood). Pls note that if you do it the 'normal' way and the HVAC malfunctions, you can't try to restart it using my way afterwards as the HVAC needs time to recover (as per usual whenever it malfunctions).

I'll leave it up to you guys to field-test this to see if my solution actually does work. Just call it the 'Tranquility Fix' if this does work.
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      10-19-2012, 03:52 AM   #29
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Then to me that would suggest a voltage drop issue. Have your battery checked or changed.

Pressing the start button before the brake allows the ignition to come on, powering the car systems before the engine starts. Pressing the brake then start powers up the car systems as well as starting the engine. We all know that the engine draws a lot of power to start, therefore a voltage drop to other systems. All being well this won't be an issue, but if there is an issue with the battery (or any of the electronics) it could cause initialisation errors.
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      10-19-2012, 05:26 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ManiacGT View Post
Then to me that would suggest a voltage drop issue. Have your battery checked or changed.

Pressing the start button before the brake allows the ignition to come on, powering the car systems before the engine starts. Pressing the brake then start powers up the car systems as well as starting the engine. We all know that the engine draws a lot of power to start, therefore a voltage drop to other systems. All being well this won't be an issue, but if there is an issue with the battery (or any of the electronics) it could cause initialisation errors.
Good idea. I'm sure that my dealership's techs have checked the battery before but I'll remind then again. Pretty sure that the battery should still be ok and is not the prb. Supposedly, they even did the 'master reset' w/ the battery cables to no avail as well.
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      03-31-2013, 03:02 PM   #31
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Ok, decided to revive this thread because there still is no official fix from BMW. I had thought that the recent recall replacing the battery cable would indirect fix this HVAC prb, but, alas, it has not. So, for now, it's still the T-Fix to get around this prb.
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      03-31-2013, 09:46 PM   #32
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My 2012 35is has done this three times over the course of a year. The last time was about 2 weeks ago. It always fixes itself the next time I start the car, if I leave it alone for a half an hour or so. Darned if I can figure out what causes it. It is inconvenient, but it is not the end of the world so far since it has only happened three times ever since I have owned it.
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      03-31-2013, 10:51 PM   #33
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Just a thought here. My e46 M3 had a similar A/C problem that was rectified by replacing the Final Stage Resistor. Obviously I am unsure if it could be the same on the Z4, but perhaps a discussion with the dealer?
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      04-01-2013, 03:42 AM   #34
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Well thats one issue I've not had... out of many lol..
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      04-01-2013, 08:27 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redhot View Post
How would that help? Dealers are the first line of defense in an escalation path and BMW NA will reach back to the dealer as they are the eyes and ears in the field.

The only way I see this getting resolved is if the occurrence becomes statistically significant OR one of us decides to take the legal route.

Given that several folks have had the same issue, it seems there is a communication glitch causing the CAN system to kill the entire panel, but why no error thrown is beyond me.

Wish i had the K CAN Cable and SW to run my own diagnostics..
I suggest you contact BMW NA and insist you talk with a supervisor there. My Z4's Engine Malfunction indicator turned on 3 times. All the dealer did was blamed Shell V-Power gas. Third time I pressed 'BMW Customer Relations' from iDrive and talked with Supervisor. He talked with the service manager at the dealership and replaced transmission and injectors under warranty. It will help if you talk with BMW NA.
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      04-02-2013, 01:11 PM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tranquility View Post
Ok, decided to revive this thread because there still is no official fix from BMW. I had thought that the recent recall replacing the battery cable would indirect fix this HVAC prb, but, alas, it has not. So, for now, it's still the T-Fix to get around this prb.
Well, just happened to us. We are on a road trip, about 400 miles between home and our destination. Used the SOS button, but the only thing they can suggest is to tow the car if we think it's unsafe to drive. They offered to give us directions to the nearest dealer, but we declined. Using the navi to find the nearest dealer that is on our route (see, iDrive is good for something after all ).

We drove mostly highway speeds (at least!). Car is less than a year old. Really don't think it's the battery.

We stopped to get gas... Think it worked after that. Then drove about 60 Seconds to a eating place. Came out and had the issue with the car nicely warmed up in the sun.

Our rear (or front) defroster doesn't work either, so not sure if it is exactly the same problem. Maybe just a fuse after all?
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      04-02-2013, 02:23 PM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CeEl View Post
Well, just happened to us. We are on a road trip, about 400 miles between home and our destination. Used the SOS button, but the only thing they can suggest is to tow the car if we think it's unsafe to drive. They offered to give us directions to the nearest dealer, but we declined. Using the navi to find the nearest dealer that is on our route (see, iDrive is good for something after all ).

We drove mostly highway speeds (at least!). Car is less than a year old. Really don't think it's the battery.

We stopped to get gas... Think it worked after that. Then drove about 60 Seconds to a eating place. Came out and had the issue with the car nicely warmed up in the sun.

Our rear (or front) defroster doesn't work either, so not sure if it is exactly the same problem. Maybe just a fuse after all?
Fuse was fine. Dealer did a module reset (?) and it came right back to life. Did not even have to restart the car. He said next thing after that - if that had not worked - would have been to replace the HVAC panel. They said this had been the first time they saw this.
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      04-02-2013, 03:12 PM   #38
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It's still a mystery. If you see my OP, I've had numerous things replaced to no avail.
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      04-02-2013, 06:29 PM   #39
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The A/C issue happened to me the first day of ownership. Talked to my sales manager when I got home and he said it was the first time he headr about this problem. It auto-fixed itself overnight and next day everything working normal. After 5 weeks of ownership the problem had not duplicate. Hopefully doesn't happen again.
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      04-02-2013, 06:43 PM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tranquility View Post
It's still a mystery. If you see my OP, I've had numerous things replaced to no avail.
Yes, sorry, we may be saying the same thing, but my understanding was they were talking about the panel. I assumed they meant the board all the buttons and controls for the HVAC are mounted on. Is that the control unit (or something else) you had replaced?

The funny thing is the module reset did the trick without restarting the car. They really seemed to think it was probably just a software bug triggered by the right set of circumstances.
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      04-02-2013, 10:18 PM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CeEl View Post
Yes, sorry, we may be saying the same thing, but my understanding was they were talking about the panel. I assumed they meant the board all the buttons and controls for the HVAC are mounted on. Is that the control unit (or something else) you had replaced?

The funny thing is the module reset did the trick without restarting the car. They really seemed to think it was probably just a software bug triggered by the right set of circumstances.
I've never actually been able to to get all the way to the dealer and replicate the issue. The times it happened to me, it started working again by itself less than half an hour later.
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      04-02-2013, 11:06 PM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CeEl View Post
Yes, sorry, we may be saying the same thing, but my understanding was they were talking about the panel. I assumed they meant the board all the buttons and controls for the HVAC are mounted on. Is that the control unit (or something else) you had replaced?

The funny thing is the module reset did the trick without restarting the car. They really seemed to think it was probably just a software bug triggered by the right set of circumstances.
I have no idea...I'm not a technical guy so you'd have to just read what I wrote about what was replaced and go from there lol.

It must be some sort of software glitch because my T-Fix basically solved the prb: i.e. press/hold the start button and then press the brake (I've *never* had a failure since doing it that way). It's not a perfect solution because I would still like to start my car the 'proper' way, being the opposite sequence. Some other poster way more technical than me surmised that pressing the brake activates something different in sequence vs pressing the start button first, so that is a hint. We really need some electrical guru to figure out this longstanding prb. My dealer has been stumped.
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      04-03-2013, 07:43 AM   #43
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Originally Posted by Mayhem View Post
I've never actually been able to to get all the way to the dealer and replicate the issue. The times it happened to me, it started working again by itself less than half an hour later.
We had the problem for at least 1 hour.
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      04-03-2013, 07:44 AM   #44
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Ok, understand, same here ... I am not a mechanic or car systems software engineer!
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