El Karacho1647545492 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 I'm gonna be helping my dad who is not in town replace the 11-button OBC and brake light switch that have failed on his '96 E36 M3. There's a lot of guides online but most of them relate specifically to the 18-button units. My questions that hopefully someone can answer: 1) Where can I find an 11-button OBC? I see them online for $250, hoping to find one local for less, but I'm obviously not plugged in to parts sources. Rockauto doesn't have what I need. 2) Re: brake light switch, do I need 2-pin or 4-pin and/or how do I find out which one I need. I don't have the car handy, and though I have access to it I'm hoping that I can do all this work at once rather than disassemble, ID parts, order parts, wait for parts, replace parts, reassemble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeto67 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 1) Where can I find an 11-button OBC? I see them online for $250, hoping to find one local for less, but I'm obviously not plugged in to parts sources. Rockauto doesn't have what I need. The 11 button OBC's are known for dead pixels and back-lighting. There are fewer of them and most of them are dead by now. There is a chance you can find a good one in junkyard but I wouldn't call it a good chance. I would consider upgrading to the 18 button unit as it is way more common - you can then wire it so only the 11button functions work (plus the average speed making it a 12 button) or you can run the rest of the wires so all 18 buttons work as the car already has the sensors. When you get the unit, make sure you get the connector. BMW has this part listed as NLA and when they were available new they were about $500. What's wrong with your 11 button? is it just back-lighting? I would take the unit out and have a look as it uses 4 blubs to illuminate the unit and if they are blown - you won't be able to see the display. This happened on my E30 where the back-lighting when dead and when I replaced the bulb the thing became readable again. 2) Re: brake light switch, do I need 2-pin or 4-pin and/or how do I find out which one I need. I don't have the car handy, and though I have access to it I'm hoping that I can do all this work at once rather than disassemble, ID parts, order parts, wait for parts, replace parts, reassemble. I hate to say it but even BMW's info on this is sketchy. I think you are going to have to remove the switch and then look at and order the correct part. If you don't want to be down, you can always order both and then return the one you don't use - just don't buy from a place that has a restocking fee. I think these switches are $60 new from BMW but aftermarket has them as cheap as $7. If you don't have bavarian auto works and pelican parts bookmarked on your computer for BMWs then I don't know what to tell you. bavauto.com pelicanparts.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizin01 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 If it has check control for the lights its a 4 pin. Iirc it was only like 318's that didn't have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 I believe OBC is a dealer-only part. About the brake light switch, if it's the simple one (electrical contacts instead of a Hall-effect), it could be "revived" by cleaning the contacts (add a very small amount of dielectric grease to the contacts after cleaning). The switch type that's likely to fail is the 2-pin type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted November 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 The 11 button OBC's are known for dead pixels and back-lighting. There are fewer of them and most of them are dead by now. There is a chance you can find a good one in junkyard but I wouldn't call it a good chance. I would consider upgrading to the 18 button unit as it is way more common - you can then wire it so only the 11button functions work (plus the average speed making it a 12 button) or you can run the rest of the wires so all 18 buttons work as the car already has the sensors. When you get the unit, make sure you get the connector. BMW has this part listed as NLA and when they were available new they were about $500. What's wrong with your 11 button? is it just back-lighting? I would take the unit out and have a look as it uses 4 blubs to illuminate the unit and if they are blown - you won't be able to see the display. This happened on my E30 where the back-lighting when dead and when I replaced the bulb the thing became readable again. I hate to say it but even BMW's info on this is sketchy. I think you are going to have to remove the switch and then look at and order the correct part. If you don't want to be down, you can always order both and then return the one you don't use - just don't buy from a place that has a restocking fee. I think these switches are $60 new from BMW but aftermarket has them as cheap as $7. If you don't have bavarian auto works and pelican parts bookmarked on your computer for BMWs then I don't know what to tell you. bavauto.com pelicanparts.com I really appreciate the depth of your response. The BMW is my dad's and he usually goes to the dealer for stuff, but they want $600 for the OBC alone before labor so even at $250 it's a much better deal. I don't know exactly what the failure on that is, but if it's the backlights I'll definitely try that. He says the brake switch thing is signaled by an intermittent "Brake Light Circuit" warning, possibly on the OBC itself. This was all explained to me in a long rambling email so I have yet to get in the car to toy with it. That's next Tuesday's project. Appreciate all the advice, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeto67 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 the first fiche I looked at said NLA, after you said the dealer had it I went to Real OEM and it turns out it is still available but is $775.35 at that site. Holy Shit snacks, There is a reason people joke that BMW stands for Break My Wallet. I know it is fun to have everything working on a car but thinking back to my E30 and E34 I don't think I ever used the OBC for anything other than telling time. Might be something you just wait till a nice replacement comes up on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted November 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 the first fiche I looked at said NLA, after you said the dealer had it I went to Real OEM and it turns out it is still available but is $775.35 at that site. Holy Shit snacks, There is a reason people joke that BMW stands for Break My Wallet. I know it is fun to have everything working on a car but thinking back to my E30 and E34 I don't think I ever used the OBC for anything other than telling time. Might be something you just wait till a nice replacement comes up on ebay. Yeah I'll probably just put a couple lines out with local repair store to see what they might find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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