E36 Switches wtf?!

[Erick]

Alright, so I'm trying to understand what's going on here.

I wired up my e36 switches according to the DIY sticky thread, and although some wire colors are different, I can still manage and figure out which ones are which. But nothing was working out... so I bought a test light to see if I'm getting the connections right.

I hook up the e36 switch again. Instead of cutting my harness, I am inserting the wires into the sockets of the factory e30 window base.

So far nothing works. Alright, so let's test the wires so see if it's getting power.

I open up the insulation before the window base (meaning on the e30 harness, not e36 switch). The commands are working perfectly. When I press down on the e36 switch, the ground becomes a positive, sending the signal to send the window up. Yet nothing happens.

I disconnect the e36 switch, plug the e30 one back in, press the up button and... once again the polarity changes to positive, and this time, the window goes up perfectly.

I'm not very electrical-savvy, so it makes no sense to me. Help?

- Erick

[nando]

did you get one touch switches by mistake?

[Erick]

I highly doubt it. They only have one "click" to it, they are blue base, and their wiring colors correspond perfectly with the diagrams on the stickied thread.

[Erick]

Bump, ideas, thoughts, suggestions?

[E30Nova]

I'm too lazy to read the DIY, but how are you wiring the switches up? Are you just matching colors?

I have blue base E36 switches, and mine work perfectly. Here's how I wired them:

PIN 1 = BROWN 1 =4
PIN 3 = PURPLE = 8
PIN 4 = BLACK = 1
PIN 5 = GREEN / GRAY =3
PIN 6 = BROWN 2= 5

* BOLD are e30 switch

It's been a while since I put the switches in, but I think one of the switches had an extra wire or two. And the wires weren't exactly the same color, but as long as you match the pins correctly, everything will work fine.

Hope this helps.

Matt

[Erick]

Not really man. I got it all correct. The only possible thing I could've mixed up are the two brown grounds (if it mattered), but I switched them around and nothing worked.

I really have no idea.

[Aptyp]

Hm, very weird... have you considered that maybe switches are somehow bad? Plug them into an e36 and check.

I'm sure you've replaced the fuse on numerous occasions already, but I really can't find anything on 318 that's different from all other models.

[Erick]

I'm starting to think that all four switches are bad. Because other than that, I'm really lost.

Even though the colors are mis-matched, it's not by much. The grounds are still correct as is the always positive green/gray wire. The ground window down and window up commands are the only different colors, but the up is usually like black/gray instead of just black and the violet is violet/gray, instead of just violet.

But go figure. I need another set of window switches to check it out.

Oh, and FYI, you definately do not need a dremel to fit in these switches. I did it with a razor blade in less than 3 seconds. (You never need to reach the metal in the console)

[E30Nova]

I'd check the voltage/grounds to see how my switches compare to yours but my DMM got stolen so I can't.

Are you still just unplugging the E30 switch and just inserting the wires of the E36 switch? That could be your problem right there. I've done that a LOT of times to test stuff without cutting wires and things didn't work (I'm assuming because of excess resistance). After cutting the wires and connecting them the right way, it usually works fine.

Just sayin.

Matt

[Erick]

I'll have to give that a shot, even though I already cut up the driver's side harness to hook them up wire to wire already. I was not about to commit the same mistake with the passenger side when I realized I should've just used the wires to the base method instead.