2005 U.S. spec rear fog light installation

[kishinoa]

OK, to - Gr8Dain

After installing everything, I went to the dealer, but now they say they they can't connect to the car's computer at all. So, my questions are:
- Did you get any info on how to set the codes?
- Your note says Sterling Mini - where is that ?
- Did they have any problem setting the codes on your car? According to the dealer, the car therefore should not have been working at all, and that I likely caused this. My point to the dealer was that the car works properly, including all of the switches on the new ( factory ) switch panel. So, now I'm going to have to put the original switch panel in so they can troubleshoot it.
Mine is an Oct 04 build with the socket so your car and mine should be fairly similar.

Thanks,

Ashley

[Gr8Dain]

Ashley,

Great additions to the instructions. You are right on all points. I also grabbed deeppp on the knee bolster. But luckily, I felt the diffent parts and went further back before attempting and did not get the 'crack'ing sound .

As for the activation, I guess I was lucky. Sterling Mini is in Sterling, VA. This is in Northern VA (next to AOL headquarters). They had it done in less than 30 minutes and also activated the chime for the low fuel indicator. So, unfortunately, I did not get any other info about the actual process to activate. I assume it is like my Audi. My understanding is that there is proprietary software that BMW uses to communicate with the on board computer through the OBD-II port. Unlike my Audi, there is currently no aftermarket version of this software available. Thus, only the dealer can do it.

Are you sure you gat the correct switch panel? I know that sounds dumb, but that would be the first place to look for issues, but if the computer is made to allow the lights, it should work with a simple programming. Does your dealer know how to use the software to reprogram the computer? They may not. You may be their first asking for this. Not sure. Mine went seamlessly.

Sorry. I hope that they are not just trying to get you to pay up since you did the install yourself. Is there another Mini dealer within a reasonable proximity?

Dain

[kishinoa]

Thanks, I'll look up the number of Sterling Mini and have these guys call them.
The part numbers are as listed in this thread, although the dealer says the switch panel number is for an '04. In fairness, I asked only for the number here, and did not ask specifically for an '05 ( I thought they were the same ). But, this part number worked for you and you have an '05 too, so it should work for me. The number off the box is 61 31 6 917 993 .

They definitely have not done this before and told me that up front. So, I had already contacted Mini and asked what I could tell the dealer to help them out and so that I didn;t have to pay extra labor while they used my car as the learning example. Mini's reply was not useful - the dealer has lots of resources and can figure it out etc etc. Right.

The dealer kept challenging me about where I got the parts, how did I know, etc because they had no info at all on how to do this, oh and by theway the fact that it doesn;t work now is not covered by warranty because I did it etc. I'll tell them you have done exactly the same thing, with the same parts , in an '05 and it works and where it was done.
Unfortunately this is the only dealer close by and is very close to work. The other one is 50 miles north of where I live.

Thanks,

Ashley

[Gr8Dain]

Sorry to hear that your dealer is having issues with this. Here is the website for
MINI of Sterling

Their number is 571-434-1944. I hope they are able to help. The Service Advisor asked me if I had any problem installing it. When I said no, he had mentioned that he had known a few that had done it themselves and had brought it in for activation.

By the way, how do they do the base programming on the MINIs when they are delivered? I would assume it is all the same process. Good luck on getting this resolved.

Are you going to put the old one back in and then take it to them?

Dain

[kishinoa]

I think the base programming is done the same way. What they said was that the initial programming was done and so it worked at that tme, and now it doesn't so it must be something I did. (?).
So, my plan is to re-install the old panel but leave the bits off to allow parts swapping. Then I'll say OK guys, here the's plan:
1/ Test. If it works, go to 2. If not go to 4.
2/ Detach the switch panel completely and see it works ( to show that the switch panel probably has nothing to do with it ).
3/ Put in the new switch panel and test. If it's the switch panel, I want a new switch panel or a refund ( of course they claim it's electrical, sorry no refund...)
4/ Test the test equipment itself.
5/ If it still isn't working, have them call Mini of Sterling. I will likely call Sterling first though.
Steps 1-3 should take all of 3 minutes.

Ashley

[Gr8Dain]

Let us know how it goes. The Mini of Sterling service advisor's name is Tradd.

Dain

[kishinoa]

So, I took the car in again and they tried again with the same result. After a couple of hours they came back and said they had decided that there was some kind of problem communicating with the car, and that yes, it was under warranty, and no, it had nothing to do with me plugging the switches in.
They kept the car and continued to work on it, apparently also involving Puma (?) or whatever the internal BMW/Mini tech center is. Anyway, they had the car for 9 ( Nine ) days! When I got it back it, they said it " Gee, after all that, it was just a loose connection or something; we plugged and unplugged one of the connections behind the dash and it it started working, ha ha !" By this point I just wanted the car back, so I did not point out that this sounded like a failure to do anything resembling systematic troubleshooting.
In the end, they didn't charge me for activating the fog lights.

So, the lights work fine now and the switch bank looks better. The rear fog appears to be quite bright and fairly focused as well.

Thanks for the help,

Ashley

[Gr8Dain]

Sorry to hear about the dealer problem. Glad to hear that you have your car back and working properly. Thanks for the update. Now go drive the heck out of it!!!

Dain

[twouptons]

We finally hit 10,000 miles and the first scheduled oil change. I asked the service guy to turn on the rear fogs.

When I was ready to pick up the car, he said the bulb was blown and had to be replaced (and went into a long story about the lousiness of European light bulbs).
I asked if they'd had to do anything else, but he said, no, just replace the bulb.

I don't know if the bulb was really blown or not (hard to believe since they'd never worked at all), or if that was some way of bookkeeping the activation without actually charging me anything for it.

At any rate, the rear fogs work great, and I'm not looking forward to a great big thunderstorm in which to try them

-Eric

[rimplestultskin]

i'm having trouble getting full (6 switches) the switch panel...any stores near new york that sell the euro-spec panel?