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2001 E53 Positive Cable Replacement

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13K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  TanjeeRides  
#1 ·
Hello all of you intelligent BMW lovers. I have a problem. My positive (Red) battery cable is no good. The red cover has melted!!! and I think I saw light smoke in the area. The wires are no good. I have ordered a new positive cable. I'm opting to replace the entire cable I do not want to splice the cord. Meanwhile, I was able to follow the chord from the trunk of the car to under the back passenger side seat to under the carpet behind the passenger side front seat but after that my hands were weak and I could not do it any more. I did not want to break a nail but in the end I know I will have to. Meanwhile, my understanding is this is a DIY project but I would like to know, does anyone know where this cable ultimately stops. I will do it if I have to but I'm not really a mechanic type chick. I did fix the broken lock tumbler and a few other things but pulling on the carpet is lots of work. Do you know where is leads to and can I realistically access it to connect the wire at the front of the car? Also, any warnings for me? I heard if I allow the metal portion of the connector touch the car I can short the new positive cable? Is this true? I wonder how do shorts come about anyway. Any help is appreciated.

2001 E53 X5 4.4i that I'm loving to hate!
 
#2 ·
something new to me, am not quite sure but then i think you should wait for the arrival of the new cable then it should give you rough idea about how far it goes or how long it goes in the car but do make sure you disconnect it from the battery first or else you'd see sparks.
good luck
 
#3 ·
I have the new chord. Kinda funny thing because in some areas there is "slack" so it's hard to locate the actual location. I've seen other forums and it leads to the back of the car seat. I read it leads to the junction box, some have said the starter...it's hard for me to know exactly where.
 
#4 · (Edited)
The positive battery cable runs from the engine bay (starter/alternator/pos battery jump start post) back to the battery. Then there's a 2nd cable that also has the BST (battery safety terminal) attached that runs to the high amp fuses..then up to the regular fuses near the glovebox & to the fuses in the rear right cargo area:


Image


(The BST is designed to disconnect power to the alternator/starter (the engine bay)...but keep power to the fuses so that the doors can be unlocked and interior lights come on and power windows can roll down and BMW Assist can be called (if so equipped) etc.

Image
 
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#5 ·
Wow QSilver7 this is amazing. You are a rocket scientist, I really mean that because no one seems to have a clue and right now, for me, this is a very big issue. I will try to post pictures but the positive cable from the battery area is melted, fried and burned...I plan on taking pictures to post. The cable that runs to the glove box area do you know if I will need any special access or tools to run it myself. I'm ready to break all my nails for this one lol.
 
#6 ·
So I'm looking at this map of the car and I still need a little guidance. There are two positive cables. I will NOT be rewiring the one that leads to the front glove box fuse panel. I will rewire the BST chord that attached to both the rear fuse box .....and this is where my confusion start. Once the wire reaches the front DRIVER SIDE (BST WIRE) does it need to actually be connected to the alternator as this picture suggest? ORRRRR, does it connect to something else?
 
#7 · (Edited)
From the diagram...it looks like the (long) positive cable should run up into the engine bay where it then junctions...with an offshoot running to the remote positive (jump start) terminal (B+) and to the alternator. Then another short positive cable runs to the starter.

Hopefully someone who has worked in this area will chime in for more details. If not, do a search for e53 alternator replacement...there may be some images/pics of the positive battery cable and how it's attached to the alternator...and may even indicate how it junctions off to the remote positive post in the engine bay.
 
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#8 · (Edited)
So I finally figured it out. The BST cable connects from the trunk of the car battery (the cable with the pyrotechnic box on it) to the front driver side foot of the car. If you remove the plastic foot rest and lift the carpet you will find the cable connects to the floor of the car. This cable DOES NOT lead to the engine bay. I guess, based on that map those are the other cable. You must remove the driver chair which is really easy, just unscrew the four screw covers and unplug the chair. Once you do that you can easily lift the carpet after removing the plastic foot rest. Pull the carpet back in the area of you gas a break pedal and wallah the cable connects to the floor of the car. Amazing. Please see my photos. You will notice one long red cable but I put a whole in the engine bay and ran the BST positive cable on to find the cable was too short it could not reach it's destination. I started to look harder and realized the connection is NOT in the engine but actually inside the car and the tip of my toes. LOL. See attached photos.
 

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#9 ·
Thanks for the update. Good work, great info, & nice pics. :thumbup:
 
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