$50 broken part leads to $3,200 repair

[gxg]

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Hey guys,

Just want to share this interesting tadbit.

I have a M3 CS that I picked up back in November from a private party. A week or so into ownership I started having issues with front left high beam throwing a stabilization error as well as the battery dying over night. The first thing I did was replace the battery. The previous owner had an AGM battery instead of a lithium Ion so I replaced it with a Re-start battery hoping it would remedy the string of electrical issues. Nope.

I brought it in to do a parasitic draw test, they found that the instrument cluster was turning itself off and on and pulling about 5 amps. I ended up buying a new cluster, having it programmed, but still no cigar.

I brought it to the dealership to address the line of issues as well as a random check engine light.

Knowing the main parts couldn’t be the issue they began tracing wires trying to find a fault. They ended up finding a broken connector, and viola, fixing it solved all my issues. No clue how it became broken but I figured I’d share my story.

Photos attached with diagnostic information. The $3,200 number is the cost with battery and cluster + previous labor not pictured

[MisterF80M3]

Jesus Christ. $3000 for that? An indy couldn't fix this?

[N1rve]

Wait… so an instrument cluster messed up your batterie(s) or was it the connector that messed everything up?

Why did you have to buy another battery if you had one from Anti-Gravity?

[reprod]

Do you think the previous owner may have had some work done on it that caused the broken connector, or was this connector something that wouldn't have normally been touched?

[gxg]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

Jesus Christ. $3000 for that? An indy couldn't fix this?

Surprisingly not. Tried Indy all until the last diagnostic that actually got it fixed. Indy had ISTA software but I guess still couldn’t be lead to the source of the issue.

[gxg]

Originally Posted by N1rve

Wait… so an instrument cluster messed up your batterie(s) or was it the connector that messed everything up?

Why did you have to buy another battery if you had one from Anti-Gravity?

The battery was probably fine. I had a generic AGM battery when the car was given to me. Because all three of my issues were electrical related, it made sense to first replace the battery to an OEM Lithium Ion with the correct amperage.
Instrument cluster was probably not messed up either but it made sense to try and replace that as it was not going to sleep correctly.