Cigarette Lighter doesn't work?!

[mjc85]

Hey all, ever since i've had the car (318iS) the cigarette light hasn't worked afaik. I bought a iPod charger as i'm going on a long drive soon and need my music :roll:.

I checked the fuse guide in the owner manual and believe the cigarette lighter uses the same fuse as motorised aerial. My aerial works fine so is it something else ? Where should i start?

[325is_e30]

check to see if the plug came apart behind it

[mjc85]

There is no voltage to the cigarette lighter at all, and the fuse i was talking about is fuse 28 and is in perfect condition. Where does the cigarette lighter wires goto next ? I removed the two screws that hold the ashtray in place and the two terminals are connected to the bottom of the cigarette lighter, i removed them and tested for current directly on them. The wires then run under and in behind the centre dash area. Am i going to have to start removing some dash to follow the wires ?

[mjc85]

I opened up the fuse box and it looks as if there is a solid connection there so the problem must be somewhere between fuse and battery or lighter and fuse but i got no idea where the wires are inbetween these things. Grr i don't want to have to pay someone to fix this for me

[jht3]

i had my + connector fall off at the track this weekend. really threw me b/c my ipod was workign fine on the drive down, but when i tried to listen to tunes on the way home i couldn't. checked the fuse and it was good, so i pulled the ashtray out and saw it wasn't plugged in. silly s14

now, if you are really really sure your fuse is ok (check for voltage at the box too) then i don't know what to tell you. the wires in my m3 run up to the wiring harness behind the radio, i don't think there are any connections anywhere to come loose. as a solution i'd suggest going to radioshack and getting a lighter socket and wiring it into the flashlight charger in the glovebox