Wiring harness caught fire!

[imjusthere]

The unthinkable happened yesterday when my 89 325is caught fire while driving home from work. I managed to put it out with a bottle of water so it only burned a couple minutes. After taking a look at it tonight, it appears that the wiring harness burned at the front of the engine. Everything else except the wiring looks unscathed. Is it possible that I could just replace the harness and be ok? Or is it likely that there is much more unseen damage? Anyone ever heard of this happening before? Not sure what my next steps are.

[Dirty325ix]

Pics!!
Did you have ghetto wiring or something?

If it wasn't bad than I don't see why you can get a new harness or patch in a section of harness

[Das Delfin]

Just patch in a new harness where it was on fire. The fire happened because it short circuited somewhere. Check all your wiring, especially around the engine bay. You don't want a spark igniting a leaking fuel line, etc. Also check your fuel lines :P

[cgk_iii]

Happened to me about 4-5months ago. Unfortunately it burned a lot longer for me.

Change out the wiring harness and you should be good.

[imjusthere]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm looking into getting it fixed now. Oddly insurance covers fires under comprehensive coverage so I'm having them take a look at it. If that doesn't work out, I'll find a new harness and do it myself. I just hope it didn't fry any other electronics.

[stonea]

This happened to my dads '87. He just bought a wiring harness and fixed it.

[imjusthere]

I've been told that if it isn't grounded well enough they can catch fire. Perhaps that is what happened to me. Hoping to get it all fixed up soon and back on the road.

[E30NJ]

Pics?

[imjusthere]

Update... Car caught fire again... Twice. Wiring harness was replaced then the exact same thing happened. Car stalled then burst into flames. It burned much longer this time so much more work has to be done.

[cgk_iii]

Oh dam. Are you sure it's your harness catching Fire and not a fuel leak somewhere, where something is creating a spark and igniting the fuel?

[efficient]

Pics