Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ocean County, NJ
    Posts
    7,273

    Ignition Switch: Symptoms/Replacement

    Greetings from the past, mia familia.

    Quick post to relay my recent issues and fix in the event anyone ends up with the same problems.

    Mileage: 101,800ish

    Symptoms:

    While driving on the highway, I noticed my green cruise control light was illuminated. I never use cruise control and hadn't depressed the button. I pressed the cruise control master on/off, but the green light remained on. A few miles later, the airbag light illuminated.

    Once I exited the highway and had to start shifting, the car would buck during shifting-- like I didn't know how to drive a manual. As soon as I depressed the clutch, I would get a clunk, the RPMs would drop out, and when I completed the shift, I'd get another clunk on reengagement.

    Really weird.

    I got her home and put her in the garage. She had been sitting for about 4 weeks prior to that, and I didn't have her on the battery tender, so I thought maybe I had some low-voltage gremlins going on. Put her on the Battery Tender and came back to her 4 days later. Checked voltage via hidden OBC menu and she looked good. She started right up, and I drove her about 70 miles that day mixed highway/surface streets with no issues.

    A few days later, I went to start her up and noticed there was about a 1 second delay between when I turned the key to the start position and when the starter engaged...

    I backed her out of the garage and started driving and immediately got the green cruise control light, airbag light, and bucking condition again. Pulled off into a Wawa to shut her down and hoped the gremlins would disappear on a restart.

    Rookie error...

    The starter wouldn't engage at all. Good voltage via OBC, but nothing at all when you turned the key.

    I sat and Googled the symptoms on my phone while I waited for someone to come scoop me up. About 10 minutes later, I turned the key for the umpteenth time and she fired.

    Limped her home with the previous symptoms plus random interior lights illuminated.

    Got her in the garage. From there on out, I was not able to get the starter to engage again.

    Troubleshooting:

    Googling yielded several suspects-- corroded engine ground strap, ignition switch, bad battery, clutch switch...

    After running through some differential diagnosis, it seemed that the random lights illuminating in combination with the failure of the starter to engage with good voltage pointed to the ignition switch as the most likely candidate.
    I ordered one up from Tischer and got to work on her this morning.

    The DIY:

    Very easy DIY. Loosen the plastic skirt below the dashboard and remove the bottom clamshell of the steering column. Loosen the two little set screws for the ignition switch and remove. Release the wiring harness.

    Reverse to reinstall.

    Problem solved.

    She fired instantly and I've had no issues after several startups and about 50 miles driven today.

    Hope the family is doing well.

    Back to the grind...
    -Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
    ZHP Pre-Ride Briefing

    2005 ZHP, Alcantara, Silver Cube, Nav, Sharked, BMW Perf Intake, BMW Perf CF Strut Brace, CF Valve/Fuel Rail Covers,
    Shadowline Grills, CF Splitters, Fog Light Inserts, Euro-mirrors, CDV Delete, Beisan vanos, GAS DISA, BP Coded

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Jacksonville, Florida
    Posts
    2,202
    I've never heard of anyone having this issue before, I'm glad it was an easy fix and didn't leave you stranded anywhere!

    Don't be a stranger Keith, it's good to see you around here!
    2005 Jet Black 6MT ZHP "Family First"
    ~Rob~

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Austin TX
    Posts
    7,606
    Good to hear from you. When I had the sporadic no-start issue, I replaced the ignition switch as part of the troubleshooting. At the end, the fix was to replace the EWS unit.
    2005 IR / black / 6MT
    157,000 miles

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    18,064
    Hey Keith! Glad you figured it out. Welcome back and thanks for sharing an interesting one.

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
    Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
    "ZHP or not, I still like you"


    ZHP Performance Package, Cold Weather Package, Leather, Jet Black/Black/BlackCube, NAV, Anthracite Black "my individual" interior trim
    ESS Stage 1 Twin Screw Supercharger, Sprint Booster, BMW Perf Intake, Magnaflow Exhaust, Dinan TB & STEP S/W, UCC Sway Bars, Apex EC-7 18x8.5 ET38
    Suspension: AST 44100 dampers, Bimmerworld front adjustable end links, Swift springs (8K front, 10K rear), Vorshlag camber plates
    Dynavin D99+, Hardwire V1 (w/V1 Connection), BSW Stage 1 Speakers, Kicker Amp/Subwoofer
    BMW Performance Strut Brace, Orion V2 Angel Eyes, No-holes License Plate, SMG Paddle Shift Mod, Besian VANOS, Gold DISA, Fan Delete, M3 Side Mirrors
    Note: Actual car no longer resembles signature picture

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ocean County, NJ
    Posts
    7,273
    Quote Originally Posted by Newjack View Post
    I've never heard of anyone having this issue before, I'm glad it was an easy fix and didn't leave you stranded anywhere!

    Don't be a stranger Keith, it's good to see you around here!
    Thanks! Always feels like home when I drop in.

    Quote Originally Posted by fredo View Post
    Good to hear from you. When I had the sporadic no-start issue, I replaced the ignition switch as part of the troubleshooting. At the end, the fix was to replace the EWS unit.
    I saw the EWS come up in some threads. THe weird dash/interior lights saved me from chasing this one with lots of parts, thankfully.

    Quote Originally Posted by johnrando View Post
    Hey Keith! Glad you figured it out. Welcome back and thanks for sharing an interesting one.

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
    Always great to be back, Rando. Hope you're doing well, my friend. You guys are doing a great job keeping the place going. Cool to see the new faces mixed in with the OGs.
    -Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
    ZHP Pre-Ride Briefing

    2005 ZHP, Alcantara, Silver Cube, Nav, Sharked, BMW Perf Intake, BMW Perf CF Strut Brace, CF Valve/Fuel Rail Covers,
    Shadowline Grills, CF Splitters, Fog Light Inserts, Euro-mirrors, CDV Delete, Beisan vanos, GAS DISA, BP Coded

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Charleston SC
    Posts
    6,149
    Great to see you here my friend! Some day we'll have to catch up!

    We had that happen in the X5... all kinds of bizarre things started happening...
    Dinan CAI &Throttle body, ESS Tuning TS2, Bimmerbrakes gen3 headers, UUC SSK & DSSR. Achilles oil pump, VAC oil pan baffle
    M3 Motor mounts, UUC Trans mounts, Modified clutch style LSD 3.15, TMS front subframe reinforcement, Koni Yellow sports,
    H&R sport springs,
    UUC sway bars, BMW Perf. Rotors, UUC SS brake lines, Hawk HPS pads, CSL replica wheels,
    Rotora strut bar, FXR HID conversion, M3 Mirror conversion, BSW stage 1 speakers

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    3,130
    What a bizarre set of symptoms. Great work and thanks for sharing the solution.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ocean County, NJ
    Posts
    7,273
    Quote Originally Posted by Sockethead View Post
    Great to see you here my friend! Some day we'll have to catch up!

    We had that happen in the X5... all kinds of bizarre things started happening...
    Miss you guys!! Love following things on FB seeing the kids and that awesome new ride!!

    Quote Originally Posted by ZHPizza View Post
    What a bizarre set of symptoms. Great work and thanks for sharing the solution.
    It was definitely a curve ball. I rolled the dice on the solve. Better to be lucky than smart!!
    -Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
    ZHP Pre-Ride Briefing

    2005 ZHP, Alcantara, Silver Cube, Nav, Sharked, BMW Perf Intake, BMW Perf CF Strut Brace, CF Valve/Fuel Rail Covers,
    Shadowline Grills, CF Splitters, Fog Light Inserts, Euro-mirrors, CDV Delete, Beisan vanos, GAS DISA, BP Coded

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