E39 remote not working, fuse 53 keeps blowing

number6photo · Aug 20, 2011

I had this same problem a year or two ago, and based on advice from the forum, I unplugged the fuel door motor. The problem was gone ever since, but came back again this week. The fuse blows whenever I lock/unlock using the remote. All the door locks and deck lid lock seem to work properly when I insert the key in the door lock cylinder and manually lock or unlock the system, so I don't think it's a shorted lock motor.

I checked the wiring harness going from the trunk into the deck lid, and the wires/insulation inside the boot appear to be in great shape.

Any other advice on where to check for common chafed wires or shorted components? There was an old post in this forum that showed only a portion of where Fuse 53 connects to other components. if you have a complete wiring diagram of everything that gets fed from fuse 53, I can track down the shorted wire and/or component.

Thanks!

NoVI Photos
2001 530i
5-speed manual
Sport/Premium pkg

JimLev · Aug 20, 2011

Fuse 53 feeds the following.
Rear lid motor relay K70
Central locking & fuel door relay K121
Window motor relay K90
Diversity amp or antenna amp.

It's probably your fuel door lock cylinder above the battery. Unplug it and see if F53 stops blowing.

number6photo · Aug 21, 2011

It was the fuel door actuator, but ...

I found the black box with the blue and white wires above the battery. I felt around the back of the black box and it seemed to have a rod going toward the fuel door, so I figured it must be it. I unplugged the connectort, replaced the fuse, and that fixed it.

Thanks JimLev!

QSilver7 · Aug 21, 2011

number6photo said:
I had this same problem a year or two ago, and based on advice from the forum, I unplugged the fuel door motor. The problem was gone ever since, but came back again this week. ...

number6photo said:
I found the black box with the blue and white wires ... I unplugged the connector, replaced the fuse, and that fixed it.

Hmmm, so what was this "fuel door motor" that you disconnected a year ago? From what you wrote in the orig post...I assumed that you had already disconnected the electrical harness from the fuel door actuator (fuel door motor?).

If you were confused as to what was actually the fuel door actuator in the suggestions from the forum...perhaps others are too...and we need to be more descriptive of what to actually check and disconnect when this issue arises.

number6photo · Aug 21, 2011

Confusion

That's the weird thing. When I initially read JimLev's reply, I was going to write back that I had already done that a few years ago. But, I decided to go out and verify what I had done to see if some wires had chafed or something. As I approached my car, I realized that I couldn't remember exactly what I had done (!). That's embarrassing and little bit scary but anyway, I seem to recall doing something in a difficult-to-reach area; certainly not as easy as the fuel door actuator's electrical connector above the battery. I also vaguely recall doing the procedure to avoid having to pull the mechanical back-up fuel door release line in the trunk every time I wanted to fill up. I know I was following some advice I got a one of the Internet forums, but when I searched for that post, I couldn't find it.

Regarding the confusion to locate and unplug the correct device, I must say I find it difficult to get anything useful from the search feature on the forum sites. If you type in something too specific, you get nothing. If you type in something like "fuel door" to open up the search, you end up with 100's of hits and many of them have nothing to do with my vehicle's issue. Last night when trying to figure where the fuel door actuator connector was, I couldn't quickly find a good description of the fuel door lock actuator connector (e.g., two wire connector plugged into a black box the size of a small fist, located above the battery, blue and white wires.), which is why I mentioned it in my initial reply. A photo would have been even better, so I'm posting this description with a photo in hopes of helping others down the road.

Thanks, again.

NoVI Photo

JimLev · Aug 21, 2011

Your back in business. Sometimes they are intermittant so maybe last time you got lucky when it started working again.
Mine hasn't died yet, can you do us a favor and open yours up so we can see what's inside that shorts out?
Thanks.

bluebee · Mar 14, 2013

For the crosslinked record, this was posted today:

moosewks said:
Since i have used the forum for a long while, i thought i would "give back" some of my recent experiences..

1) CLS: Central Locking System failure.. Diagnostics showed clear, so the tech's thought all my keys (3x) were bad due to the age and faulty batteries.. so, i paid for a nice new key ($250/ea)..
2) Discovered that the EWS module, Xmitter, and new+old keys are not the issue.. F53 was blown (CLS Fuse) and thus killed remote entry, trunk operations, etc.. after a closer look, the fuel door flap lock motor was the issue (~$43 Rock Auto) and would blow the fuse.. say what? i totally forgot about this little gimmic and should have known better!

Fuel door lock is on the passenger side batter compartment.. pls check operation next time you have an apparently confounded CLS operation problem.. this situation seems plain enough as written, but baffled a few highly competent techs for a bit..

ztom · May 3, 2014

I also had fuse 53 blow due to gas door actuator jam. When fuse blows, remote key sometimes needs reprogramming after fuse replacement. I did not need to move the fuse panel. Just undid two torx screws and removed entire bracket assembly for inspection.

When I pulled out the actuator assembly it all looks and moves fine, including cable/rod good and what it passes through. No signs of wear or places to jam up. No odd sounds. I actuated with a 12V battery fine. I intentionally jammed the rod to see if that would blow the fuse - it didn't. Like someone else experienced, I messed with it a bunch, reassembled and now the fuse isn't blowing (but the problem will probably happen again).

To reassemble you can reach up from the trunk to guide the rod back into the rubber boot it goes into near the gas door.

flyride · Jun 13, 2014

my key recovery saga

Car: 2001 530i

Situation: One of my two keys appeared to stop taking a charge so I set it aside. Eventually my second key quit also.

Recovery: Tried to reinitialize each key, but it didn't work.

Double-checked with my wife's E46, still neither key would initialize.

Changed the battery in one key - wouldn't work in the E39 but it worked with the E46 immediately.

Troubleshot fuse 53 (tested good with multimeter), fuel door (successful lock/unlock with key in door), still couldn't get the key to initialize.

I exercised the locks about 20 times and finally the fuse blew. Unplugged the door actuator, exercised the locks. Fuse good. Plugged actuator back in, fuse immediately blew.

Replaced the fuse again, tried to initialize the key to no avail. Disconnected the car battery for 30 seconds, and tried a final time - SUCCESS! Second key was still dead. Replaced the battery in the second key and it finally initialized.

Moral of the story: if your keys start failing, don't wait - fix them right away. Otherwise you may end up with multiple things wrong which makes troubleshooting much more challenging.

Oh, and don't forget to close the trunk lid in addition to the doors before trying to initialize the key.

E39 remote not working, fuse 53 keeps blowing

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