Need help with location of the fuse boxs and overview of fuse positions for 528i?

Originally Posted by bluebee

Are these the seven fuse locations in the typical E39?

Thanks to a pointer by JimLev, I belatedly realized Bentley, Volume Two, pages 610-29 to 610-37 shows the 88 fuse spots (F1-F5, F1-F114 inclusive) in the 6 fuse locations listed below (spots F67 to F74 & F77 to F99 don't exist & F1 to F5 exist in two different locations):

• Fuse panel 1: F1 to F45 <= in the glove compartment top panel (45 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 2: F46 to F66 <= directly above the battery (21 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 3: F1 to F5 <= at the back of the ebox under the passenger side cabin air filter housing (5 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 4: F107 to F114 <= under passenger side front seat carpet (8 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 5: F100 to F106 <= above the battery positive terminal (7 fuse spots)
• Fuse panel 6: F75 to F76 <= behind the glove compartment (2 fuse spots)

Originally Posted by JimLev

The fuse functions are in Bentleys, but depending on the year and model you have they don't always match the Bentleys description, see page 610-34.
This is fuse panel 3 for F1 to F5
According to Bentleys:
F1 open (no fuse)
F2 30 Amps, Fuel injectors, Engine control module
F3 20 Amps, Cam sensors, MAF, Crank Sensor, Thermostat
F4 30 Amps, Heated O2 sensors, Tranny control module
F5 30 Amps, Unloader relay, power to coils

Here is what my 2000 540/6 really has. (might be more that below, this is what I could trace out)
F1 30 Amps, MAF, Cam sensor #1, DME, T-Stat, Evap emission valve
F2 30 Amps, Fuel injectors, Both Vanos solenoids, Cam sensor #2, Secondary air injection pump electrical valve.
F3 30 Amps, Cam sensors, MAF, Crank Sensor, Heated O2 sensors.
F4 30 Amps, DME
F5 30 Amps, Unloader relay, power to coils

For the record, this thread today points out why, when you install an electric fan, that you need to consider finding a BIG fuse to connect it to:
- E39 (1997 - 2003) > Power fuse issue

In particular, this thread shows a nice routing of wires when you need to ADD big fuses for an electric fan:
- Mechanical Fan Exploded! Is another one Justified?

For the cross-linked record, today cn90 put a nice closeup picture of the airbox fuses in this thread:
- E39 (1997 - 2003) > Immediate need!

Originally Posted by cn90

This is from E46 M3, but it looks virtually identical to E39.

Again, it is from E46 M3, so read it with a "grain of salt":

PICTURE 1:





PICTURE 2:




Fuse 1 - 30A - DME, Injectors, SMG Hydraulic unit
Fuse 2 - 30A - DME, Idle control valve, Fuel tank ventilation valve, Fuel pump
Fuse 3 - 20A - E-box fan, Transmission RPM sensor, Camshaft positioning sensors, Mass airflow sensor, Fuel pump relay, Secondary air pump relay, A/C Compressor relay, Fuel tank leakage diagnostic module, SMG selector lever
Fuse 4 - 30A - Oxygen sensors and oxygen sensor heater circuits.
Fuse 5 - 30A - Fuel injector relay....

For the record, while researching this thread just now:
- Do we have a good description of how the BMW E39 Secondary Air System (SAS/SAP) works

... I ran into this excellent cn90 thread showing some of the best pictures ever of the under-seat fusebox in the 528i:
- DIY: Troubleshooting S.A.S. and How to Replace the Famous Fuse # 107!

Here are some of cn90's excellent fuse-related pictures from that thread:

Originally Posted by cn90

...
* Fuse #107: 50A Special Fuse: BMW PN 61138365901 ($4.00); Napa PN 782-1144 ($4.00). The BMW Fuse is covered in black and you cannot check it with your naked eyes (need Voltmeter or Ohmmeter to check). The Napa Fuse is see-through: within a glance you can see the fuse is good or not. I prefer the Napa Fuse. See pic:


...
- In the case of the S.A.S. Air Pump, the 30-87 circuit is controlled by the Fuse # 107, which itself is under the passenger's seat, thanks to the BMW engineers who designed this car with beer and bratwurst!!! In any other car, replacing this fuse is not hard because it is usually located under the hood. In the E39, Fuse 107 is a bit tricky to get too, but not too bad.
...
- Before getting to Fuse #107 under the passenger seat, check the S.A.S. Relay and its connector first!!! The Main Fuse Box is under the passenger side Cabin Filter. Remove the Passenger Cabin Filter Housing.

- Using Allen keys, open the Plastic Cover and you will see the setup below with all the main relays and some fuses here. To check the S.A.S. Relay, remove it & check for continuity between 30 and 87a, it should be 0 Ohm. Now apply 12V to 85 and 86, 30 and 87 (not 87a) is now connected.

- Now check the Relay Connector, take note of the relay pinout, then copy it to a piece of paper because when reading relay upside down, it is very very easy to get all the connector terminals mixed up! By copying the terminals numbers (basically mirror image of the relay) to a piece of paper, you eliminate error! Over the years, I have learned this the hard way, so trust me with this copying to a piece of paper. There should be 12V to #30 terminal all the time. See pic:




PROCEDURE TO REPLACE FUSE #107 UNDER PASSENGER SEAT:
Now that you have determined that there is no power to terminal #30 in the Relay Connector itself, time to check and replace the 50A Special Fuse.

1. The Trim piece: using flat screw driver pry it up, it is held by 3 White clips.



2. The Seat is held by four (4) Torx #50 bolts, remove them but no need to take the seat out of the car.



3. The Vertical Trim piece: undo the bottom part only to allow the carpet to be folded back.

4. Note how the carpet fits (the front carpet piece slides under the rear piece).

5. Fold the carpet back and place a brick on it to hold it there to free your hand. You will see a Styrofoam insulation piece. In order to remove the Styrofoam in its entirety, you have to remove the plastic tunnel (HVAC Tunnel), which is more work! I bypassed this step: I leave the plastic tunnel alone but break the styrofoam at where it meets the plastic tunnel b/c it is a only a piece of insulation, nothing fancy about it.

- Use a short piece of wood to prop the seat up about 12".



6. Now you see the Electrical Distribution Center, remove the white plastic covers to expose the Red (+) connections. Ground (Brown Cables) is just to the Left of this distribution box.

7. Fuse Block has a total of 8 fuses. Fuse #107 is on the far Left. See picture:



8. To test the Fuse, use a Voltmeter (not Ohmmeter for now).

9. Note the Large Red Feed Cable side, it feeds power to the electrical block where it branches out. So probing on that side must read 12V or so. Now probe the other side of the fuse, it should read 12V as well, if it reads 0 volts, the fuse is bad.

10. To replace the 50A Fuse, it is held by 8-mm nuts and square washer. Use a small hook to hook it out. Remove the fuse and confirm that it is bad with an Ohmmeter: when a fuse is bad it reads infinity Ohms (open circuit).
* CAUTION: this circuit is always "hot" with 12V, even with key out of ignition! If you are not comfortable working with "hot" wire, then disconnect the red cable from the trunk battery. I did this whole thing with the battery connected, just pay attention not to touch any ground while removing the 8-mm and 10-mm nuts.



11. The medium-sized red cable feeding separate electrical items in the car is held by a single 10-mm nut.

12. NOTE the torque for these nuts, basically tight and snug a bit:
* 8-mm nut: 8 Nm
* 10-mm nut: 15 Nm...

Originally Posted by Mr.Howie

I don't have a service manual

Thank you for any help!

Here is a link to BMW's
1 dealer service manual - TIS
and
2 wiring diagrams - WDS

http://spaghetticoder.org/

And I noticed one of the other posts gave you a link to the owner's manual.

EDIT: and you have now seen there is LOTS of help here in this forum.

EDIT2: the Bentley manual can be useful too. But for wiring, I recommend WDS every time. Bentley often omitts circuit diagram changes that evolved over the E39 platform lifecycle.

Good luck

Originally Posted by rdl

I recommend WDS

So that folks can find fuses and the WDS easily, this is in the bestlinks:
- Where to find E39 fuse boxes (1) (2) (WDS) (WDS.ru) & how to find the front passenger seat undercarpet fuse panel (1)

Also, today there was a related thread looking for fuses over here:
> E39 (1997 - 2003) > 528i fuse diagram

Originally Posted by holmeng

Need a glovebox fuse diagram for a 1998 5281

This information posted today on another thread may be useful:

Originally Posted by ztom

Last night I worked on my car & I may have crossed wires on my O2 and this post (hopefully) shows the fuse I need to change since after the O2 was fixed, the fuel trim is running open loop. Thanks much, I think this is a valuable photo.

==

Also found this wiring diagram at..
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...t=41222&page=2
..not sure if applies for e39 528, looks to be a valuable thread.



..also contains this wire color cross reference, I think if hand-wiring an O2 sensor, not sure if correct..
Info compliments of Dale Burdette.

Added the O2 sensor wire colors to the following print.

-------------------------------X62xxx
Fuse 204 rt/ws = red/white---pin 1---Sensor ws = white
DME bn = brown---------------pin 2---Sensor ws = white
DME sw = black----------------pin 3---Sensor gy = gray
DMW ge = yellow--------------pin 4---Sensor sw = black

==

..also found this info at..
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...=524363&page=2

Originally Posted by JimLev View Post
The fuse functions are in Bentleys, but depending on the year and model you have they don't always match the Bentleys description, see page 610-34.
This is fuse panel 3 for F1 to F5
According to Bentleys:
F1 open (no fuse)
F2 30 Amps, Fuel injectors, Engine control module
F3 20 Amps, Cam sensors, MAF, Crank Sensor, Thermostat
F4 30 Amps, Heated O2 sensors, Tranny control module
F5 30 Amps, Unloader relay, power to coils

Here is what my 2000 540/6 really has. (might be more that below, this is what I could trace out)
F1 30 Amps, MAF, Cam sensor #1, DME, T-Stat, Evap emission valve
F2 30 Amps, Fuel injectors, Both Vanos solenoids, Cam sensor #2, Secondary air injection pump electrical valve.
F3 30 Amps, Cam sensors, MAF, Crank Sensor, Heated O2 sensors.
F4 30 Amps, DME
F5 30 Amps, Unloader relay, power to coils

update - There is a 20A fuse in F3 and that was blown, so not like either of above. Replaced, clear codes, fuel loop working again. The fuse box is hard to work with, poor design IMO. First need to bend long plastic tab and lift the bezel up just enough so it doesn't reclip, then I needed needle nose pliers to grab the bezel and wiggle the fuse module up and out. Then to get the bezel off there's good photos here:
http://blog.bavauto.com/5677/bmw-e46...derhood-e-box/

..but I slid it off by prying sideways underneath. Inspected but really didn't see the actual tab or mechanism keeping it from sliding.

For the record, JimLev kindly posted a DME fuse picture in this thread just now:

Originally Posted by JimLev

Here's the fuse block you are looking for.
If the fuse is blown I'd take the cover off the black plastic box above the valve cover just to make sure the wires aren't melted and possibly shorted out.

For the record, I reorganized the fuses for the E39 over here while debugging parasitic drain:
> E39 (1997 - 2003) > In progress: Step by step diagnostic DIY ... dead battery ... parasitic battery drain

For the record, DME ground wires and other ground wires are covered here:
> E39 (1997 - 2003) > Tighten your ground wire today

Great pictures of the underseat and glovebox fusebox wires are in these threads:
> E39 Electric Memory Seat Install Guide 'How to' PIC HEAVY
> DIY Retrofit Rear Electric Blind
> How to: OEM Front heated seat retrofit
> The fun I had fitting electric comfort seats