Footwell replacement

[FastCletus]

So in a previous thread i asked about my taillight issue. I replaced bulbs, sockets, and whole taillight til I ended up taking it to local BMW mechanic. He deduced that it was the footwell module that is FUBAR. Unfortunately I am out of warranty by a year
I plan on buying a new or maybe used footwell, but am curious about these folks that do remote footwell programming. (connect pc to OBD2, and they come in via skype and make adjustments) anyone have any experience with one or another?

[Sophisticated Redneck]

Originally Posted by FastCletus

So in a previous thread i asked about my taillight issue. I replaced bulbs, sockets, and whole taillight til I ended up taking it to local BMW mechanic. He deduced that it was the footwell module that is FUBAR. Unfortunately I am out of warranty by a year
I plan on buying a new or maybe used footwell, but am curious about these folks that do remote footwell programming. (connect pc to OBD2, and they come in via skype and make adjustments) anyone have any experience with one or another?

You should still be covered, it's an extended warranty item through BMW, I had mine done last year free of charge when it blew out. had 120,000 miles on it at the time and was 6 years old. Had them do the airbag recall at the same time.

[laselvasurf]

The footwell module is covered under an extended warranty, see the attached service bulletin. If for some reason they don't cover it, you can get it fixed for around $200 instead of having to buy a new or used one and have it coded to your vehicle.

[FastCletus]

DAMN, do I owe you all some beer $$ Just called Concord BMW and confirmed it is covered under warranty. AND, they are giving me a rental car. Winner winner chicken dinner!!

[laselvasurf]

Originally Posted by FastCletus

DAMN, do I owe you all some beer $$ Just called Concord BMW and confirmed it is covered under warranty. AND, they are giving me a rental car. Winner winner chicken dinner!!

Happy to help! I'll be having this fixed in a couple weeks, out of curiosity how far out did you have to make an appointment at the dealer for them to take care of it?

[FastCletus]

Originally Posted by laselvasurf

Happy to help! I'll be having this fixed in a couple weeks, out of curiosity how far out did you have to make an appointment at the dealer for them to take care of it?

Called Friday and I got in for Wednesday the following week.

[FastCletus]

Originally Posted by FastCletus

Called Friday and I got in for Wednesday the following week.

By the way. I went to dealer to get warranty covered footwell. As they did the key code scan the VANOS came up. I knew it would. The dealer said there is a no ending date for this replacement. Compliments to BMW. So not only am i getting a new footwell module but also both VANOS valves replaced. FOC (Free of Charge)
Winner winner again!!

[FastCletus]

So update to the issue. Dealer said the issue wasn't Footwell so they didn't replace. They did fix issue though. Probably end of Nov / First Dec issue came back. just random. I was parked in the car not moving and it says "Left brake lamp Malfunction" I got out of the car with engine running and wedged a piece of wood on brake pedal. All lights work fine. Dealer wanted a $150 to check it. If it was footwell they would replace, but if not I get the bill. I said no. I went home home and got my OBD2, and cleared the codes thinking that would solve problem. It did not. Its not the worst the lights all work just the irritating DING every time I start the car. Any other ideas?

[Sophisticated Redneck]

Originally Posted by FastCletus

So update to the issue. Dealer said the issue wasn't Footwell so they didn't replace. They did fix issue though. Probably end of Nov / First Dec issue came back. just random. I was parked in the car not moving and it says "Left brake lamp Malfunction" I got out of the car with engine running and wedged a piece of wood on brake pedal. All lights work fine. Dealer wanted a $150 to check it. If it was footwell they would replace, but if not I get the bill. I said no. I went home home and got my OBD2, and cleared the codes thinking that would solve problem. It did not. Its not the worst the lights all work just the irritating DING every time I start the car. Any other ideas?

I would just go ahead and replace the bulb, it might be just enough out of spec to set off the alarm. The footwell measures the resistance of all the bulbs and that is how it "knows" if one is out, howeverI have seen bulbs start to go and the coil still is making a connection so it lights up, but its internal resistance will be off and cause a false failure indication on the infotainment screen.

[BXMMMMMW]

Getting my footwell module replaced now. Unfortunately, they also found that my upper oil pan gasket is leaking. I'll see how much that repair costs before I look into replacing it myself.

[95wildtt]

Originally Posted by Sophisticated Redneck

I would just go ahead and replace the bulb, it might be just enough out of spec to set off the alarm. The footwell measures the resistance of all the bulbs and that is how it "knows" if one is out, howeverI have seen bulbs start to go and the coil still is making a connection so it lights up, but its internal resistance will be off and cause a false failure indication on the infotainment screen.

Or... maybe you could code out the bulb check "feature" and that should remove the annoying error.
This was a very early coding option that a lot of us used when we went to LEDs to replace all of our bulbs.
You could do it for just that bulb.

Should be pretty easy to find the details, and was very easy to do... Think you can do it through Carly.

[FastCletus]

I went ahead and ordered some bulbs from pelican. I assume whatever the factory bulb is/was should be the best replacement. If that doesn't work then I will do the code out task

[FastCletus]

New Bosch bulbs fixed the issue. Jeez all of that for an effing bulb??

[95wildtt]

Glad you were able to resolve the problems.