Dreaded Front Motor Temporarily Disabled Fault

[Jason71]

Could it be booked as a ranger visit?

I booked mine in specifically for this to be done as a known issue with water ingress affecting the wiring loom. Think they have a service bulletin on it.

Didn't experience any problems beforehand, just wanted it proactively addressed as I had read of the problems it causes and didn't want to have to deal with it when it eventually happens.

Good idea its a ideal job for a ranger but I have never been offered ranger as an option for service where I live. I guess it depends what you are asking for maybe. When it first happened I thought ranger but nope. they wanted me to come to the service centre before cancelling it altogether.
is there a way to do it not via the app ( blasphemy I know)

 

[Andy_T_73]

The water ingress re-work was done on mine as an SC visit. Ranger not offered as an option and I have had them out to me before for other minor stuff, so it's not distance related.

 

[Envchem]

I would be taking a closer look into this if I were you. First time I got an error message was last November (electric system powering up). Then SC replaced the battery harness below the back seats and did the water ingress work on the wiring loom too.
When I got the full version of the error messages like you did the car was stranded and they ended up replacing the full motor and the 12V battery. You mentioned about water being a potential culprit and my issue derived during a storm. They never told me what the issue with the motor was but I wonder if somehow water got into it. Crazy I know but too much of a coincidence.

 

[m3p_uk]

As I understand it it’s an inspection and then application of some sealant or coating to prevent water ingress.

It’s probably a bigger job if your car has already failed and needs a new connector etc.

Would be interested to know if anyone has any more details please?

 

[Envchem]

Job Number	Description Of Work	Amount (GBP)
1	Concern: Rework Electrical Harness Due To Water Ingress R1 Carried out front harness re-work as per bulletin. Correction: Inspect Connector, Apply Dielectric Paste, And Seal CAN Splices Pay Type: Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty	0.00

Straight from the invoice.

 

[Zai Xuda]

The M3's have only been on sale for 2 years here so unless you do star ship mileage they are all still in warranty.
Ever since this happened we have been in lockdown so am only using the car for 5-6 short trips a week but so far no re-occurrence after 2 1/2 months.
The early RHD cars like mine had a badly positioned connector which suffered from water ingress so I am thinking that may be the reason since I don't think mine has ever been fixed even though I have had one visit to a service centre.
I washed it with a pressure washer on Christmas Eve then let it sit 2 days in cold wet weather before this happened on the 26th. So my leading theory is that it was water ingress. Next time I have to go to the service centre I will ask them about the harness but until then or it happens again not sure there is much else I can do .

I have had a few touchless car wash sessions Minnesota during October to November that never caused any alerts. I moved to Arizona two months after my 2020 M3 LR AWD delivery in October 2020, and it wasn't until March of 2021 when I had experienced the front motor disabled alerts with all of the other alerts like Regen breaking disabled, traction stability disabled. I will jump the gun and say that it is not water ingress. I am having mine towed tomorrow morning to the service center. There was only a week and a half of perfect operation before the series of these alerts came back. The scariest part is not having enough acceleration from a full stop to clear your turn in time away from an intersection's on coming traffic.

 

[Adopado]

I have had a few touchless car wash sessions Minnesota during October to November that never caused any alerts. I moved to Arizona two months after my 2020 M3 LR AWD delivery in October 2020, and it wasn't until March of 2021 when I had experienced the front motor disabled alerts with all of the other alerts like Regen breaking disabled, traction stability disabled. I will jump the gun and say that it is not water ingress. I am having mine towed tomorrow morning to the service center. There was only a week and a half of perfect operation before the series of these alerts came back. The scariest part is not having enough acceleration from a full stop to clear your turn in time away from an intersection's on coming traffic.

I understand that the water ingress is related to the right hand drive configuration of uk cars. The wiring had to be routed differently.

 

[bhanorthy]

2nd Feb I had these errors.
Did the lock and unlock and it cleared.

Done multiple drives through stormy conditions and pressure washed many times. Not come back so I’m not convinced it’s water ingress.

That being said I may book a service app anyway to get the work done as I’ve never been to the service centre. I’m at 25k miles so need it doing before 50k of course. I picked up my car September 2019 so I’m in the time period for this problem.

 

[bhanorthy]

2nd Feb I had these errors.
Did the lock and unlock and it cleared.

Done multiple drives through stormy conditions and pressure washed many times. Not come back so I’m not convinced it’s water ingress.

That being said I may book a service app anyway to get the work done as I’ve never been to the service centre. I’m at 25k miles so need it doing before 50k of course. I picked up my car September 2019 so I’m in the time period for this problem.

Service appointment today at Heathrow. Great service and all done and dusted in two hours.

Water hadn’t got into mine but they did the fix to make sure it didn’t anyway. Worth doing if your car is in the affected time range and definitely during warranty IMO.

 

[Itsame]

Good luck hope you get it sorted.

 

[Zai Xuda]

Work was done to electrical harness and wire connectors. So far so good since I picked it up from the service center. My first occurrences of regenerative breaking disabled, traction stability disabled, front motor disabled, etc were at around 7.5k miles. I lost a lot of acceleration (at a full stop), enough to make it dangerous to pass through an intersection. I got it serviced at 8.7k. Now at 9k miles without any problems so far.

 

[NRajis]

Good idea its a ideal job for a ranger but I have never been offered ranger as an option for service where I live. I guess it depends what you are asking for maybe. When it first happened I thought ranger but nope. they wanted me to come to the service centre before cancelling it altogether.
is there a way to do it not via the app ( blasphemy I know)

Did your car ever get fixed?

 

[Jason71]

Did your car ever get fixed?

Issue never came back so not really.

 

[kpanda17]

Guys
I just got it
DI_a138 front motor disabled.
I followed the online advice
Did reboot one still had issue, did second reboot and exited the car, entered and error gone, test drove 10 miles, gone
I’ll report back if it happens again
Btw, this was a few hours and one 1/2 drives after 2024.3.10 yo 2024.3.15 upgrade, maybe UG bug

 

[Jason71]

Guys
I just got it
DI_a138 front motor disabled.
I followed the online advice
Did reboot one still had issue, did second reboot and exited the car, entered and error gone, test drove 10 miles, gone
I’ll report back if it happens again
Btw, this was a few hours and one 1/2 drives after 2024.3.10 yo 2024.3.15 upgrade, maybe UG bug

hopefully you will be as lucky as me and it never comes back. I would be tempted to raise a service request anyway given the seriousness of the issue. They probably won't do anything but at least there will be a record if it does come back.

 

[kpanda17]

hopefully you will be as lucky as me and it never comes back. I would be tempted to raise a service request anyway given the seriousness of the issue. They probably won't do anything but at least there will be a record if it does come back.

Good point
I’ll do that