We recently purchased a 1998 BMW 740il and have had weird electrical issues from the beginning. ABout 50% of the time the radio won't work. And if the radio does not work, the horn is out. Recently when the radio would not turn on, the steering wheel would go up and down and the inside right door light would come on. Sometimes when my wife pulls down the visor vanity mirror (driver's side) the radio will turn on. To hard to explain and to weird. You almost have to see it. When we took it to a repair shop, they were baffled? Any ideas or suggestions? Something is going on that controls the radio, horn, steering wheel, inside door light and when one does not work, they all have issues. Thanks for any suggestions.
Tony

The problem isn't that baffeling to a certified BMW technicican avalible at any approved service center. These cars have been out for a while, and the oler techs are very capible of fixing this problem. This sounds like a Bus or networking problem only diagnosisably with very exspensive BMW "scan tools". (Seriously) Bus systems make small problems seem outragous, but the fix is still quite simple.

whow, i wasn't aware of the fact that BMW has chosen to put the mirror vanity lamps and horns on the 'I', 'K' or any other BUS and didn't know they were networked. i enjoy learning new things every day.

i had exactly same problem , it turned out to be the switch in the steering column - into which the key goes

replaced it and all ok

rgds chris

whow, i wasn't aware of the fact that BMW has chosen to put the mirror vanity lamps and horns on the 'I', 'K' or any other BUS and didn't know they were networked. i enjoy learning new things every day.

I took the car to a BMW Service Center and they replaced the ignition switch. Everything appears to be solved (hopefully). Thanks for taking the time to investigate this for me and for all the responses.

i had exactly same problem , it turned out to be the switch in the steering column - into which the key goes

replaced it and all ok

rgds chris

Thanks Chris. Took it last week and they found the same problem. Replaced the ignition switch and everything seems to be fine now. That was some crazy stuff going on and am happy that it was just a $200 repair when all was said and done. Happy driving.

thanks for the update 'ajpepsos', best to you......jb.

I took the car to a BMW Service Center and they replaced the ignition switch. Everything appears to be solved (hopefully). Thanks for taking the time to investigate this for me and for all the responses.

just out of interest how much did they charge you ?

it cost me US$ 95 for the switch and abt US$ 40 for fitting.

rgds chris

This sounds like a start! Thanks for the info!!!