Can someone please remove my electrical gremlin?

[nismosx08]

My '96 328iS has a Gremlin, much like my E30 did. Occasionally, with seemingly no pattern, my entire electrical system seems to reset itself, almost like the battery was disconnected for a spilt-second and then reattached. I usually know when it happens because my radar detector (cigarette lighter) loses power and it beeps when it turns back on.
I also know it happens because my aftermarket stereo loses all stored settings and starts playing from the beginning of a cd i wasn't listening to.

It has happened once while I was driving. All indicator lights on the dash flashed on, gauges went to zero, then back to normal, engine never faltered though. Usually it happens when getting into or out of the car though, and sometimes one-touch-up windows won't work for a while (don't know why these start working again either) Ever heard of anything like this?

[bboyvek]

u need to do an electrical tune-up (spark plugs, spark plug wires,, clean the grounds,, check ur battery n alternator)
N see if that fix it... Also, but very unlikely to be the culprit, check the loop of wires that goes from the trunk to the trunk lid.
N good luck!!

[tds036]

I had the same symptoms on another vehicle. The alternator needed to be replaced. No more problems after that.

[Franky goes]

First thing to check
Trunk harness - search the forum you will get lots of hits...

Second thing to check
Ground fault
At the batterie
At the jump pole (Back right of engine bay)
Or under the carpet below the driver seat. Need to remove the seat for this one. At that point you shoud know when to quit and leave it to a shop with the correct diagnostic computer.

Good luck

[nismosx08]

I'm starting to think it's the alternator, at least part of the problem. Trunk lid harness is fine, had to check it when I lost my interior backlighting a month ago. Occasionally my headlights and some interior lights (LCD Clock display, dome light) will flicker, and this always goes away when I restart the car. Any other logical things to replace if I'm doing the alternator?

[MrAbbs325is]

Belts...If you havnet changed it in awhile you might as well replace them as they are a bia to put back on.

[nismosx08]

any special tools I need to replace the alternator? Bentley recommended one that holds a pulley in place to remove the fan, is this necessary or can it be avoided?

[bboyvek]

nah!!
u need nutting, except for a good set of wrenches and a 8mm Allen wrench. it'll be a pain to work ur alternator out but u can do it.

[bboyvek]

did u take ur car to Autozone to check ur alternator I reccomended?

[nismosx08]

They do alternator checks for free or no?

[amrrashad]

nismosx08,

I guess they do the checks for free.

Also, I would recommend you have the battery checked; when the battery's about to die, the electronics seems to go crazy. I'm not sure if this is the case in BMW's, but I've had this issue with 2 cars before

Good luck

Amr

[nismosx08]

Battery and alternator were checked and Autozone thinks they're fine... :(