Re: E30 Interior Light Delay BA

["Brett Anderson" <bretta@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From: "Vetere" <cvetere@domain.elided>
>Subject: E30 Interior Light Delay
>
>After reading the FAQ about the delay relay, I took the kick panel off
to
>find the relay.  I won't have a chance to get to the dealer to replace
the
>part for a few days, but would like to make the lights work if
possible.
>What I would like to do is disconnect the relay and have the lights
come on
>and off when the doors open and close, if possible.  How would I do
this?
>Currently, the lights come on when the doors open but never shut off.
If I
>turn them off with the driver's door closed, then open the passengers
door,
>they turn on and off with the passenger's door.  Also, can someone
please
>describe the relay?  There are several wires and connections in that
area
>and I do not want to disconnect the wrong thing.  Thanks for any help.


You don't bother mentioning what year or model it is, so the following
is only 50% likely to apply.

The timer relay is below the left front speaker.  Remove the speaker, in
the bottom of the pillar, at floor level, is a black plastic cover with
wires running past it. Pull this cover up and out of the pillar. It may
or may not be secured by a couple of screws.
A few inches below the opening are two gold Phillips screws, remove
these and you can lift out the timer relay and central locking control
unit.  The interior light timer is the smaller of the two.

You need to remove the relay and jump the .75 mm brown / yellow wire to
the .75 mm brown / violet wire.  The former being  from the drivers door
switch, the latter going to the lights.

These are ground wires, so there is no risk of shorting them out,
however, you will still need to insulate them because if they hit the
body anywhere, your interior lights will come on.

The reason the lights work correctly from the passenger door is because
that door is not hooked to the timer, only the drivers door activates
the timer.


Brett Anderson
BMW and ASE master technician
http://frontpage.bestweb.net/~bretta

Please include all correspondence when replying
to avoid confusion - Thank you

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