99 740il, no controls on steering wheel work!!

CAN ANYONE GIVE ADVICE OR POSSIBLE HELP? MY 99 740IL STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS DON'T WORK! SOME ADVICE I HAVE RECIEVED SO FAR...IT'S CALLED MY CLOCK IS NOT WORKING AND NEEDS REPLACED WITHIN THE STEERING WHEEL!! TRUE OR FALSE? ALSO MY AIRBAG DUMMY LIGHT IS ON!! LOVE THE CAR HAVE HAD IT 1 YR AND 10,000 MILES...OTHER THAN THIS PROBLEM,GREAT CAR!!! THANKS FOR ANY HELP. LEO...

My first thought would be the slip ring. This may also be the cause of the Air Bag light.

Did you ever get solved??? Same problem here.

Slip ring is horn only. Take off the wheel and shroud and check the plugs are clean and secure. Replace clock? - I don't think so - Some one is pulling your 'chain' on that one. Air bag light frequently the pad in the front passenger seat. Cannot tell with out codes, and that needs a special tool.

Originally Posted by Kevin Halbleib

Did you ever get solved??? Same problem here.

My first call would be the ignition switch. The airbag light and non working MLF buttons points me to check that first. If you get even more odd and seemingly unrelated electrical gremlins...then that tips the scales even further to looking at the ignition switch (a very common e38 & e39 malady).

There's even an excellent DIY write-up on www.e38.org which gives detailed instructions on how to change the ignition switch (the e38 & e39 use the same switch and steering column set-up).

See my video below from 2009 that shows signs of a failing ignition switch:

...and the follow up video after replacing the ignition switch