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Monday, August 12, 2013

E21 Baur Hazard Switch Repair: The Ghost In The Machine

August 10, 2013
The day before the big trip to Boston for the Larz Anderson Auto Museum BMW Day

The Ghost in the Machine:  Saturday midday, the day before I am scheduled to take the Baur 110 miles to Boston, my wife Cathy called me to the window, and asked what is wrong with your car?   Although the car had sat untouched since the night before.... the emergency flashers were flashing!  Being an experienced E21 owner.... I knew immediately what the problem was:  the dreaded, and inevitable, Hazard Switch failure!  There is a spring inside that fails, and sets off the flashers.... and you cannot turn them off!  

That German sense of humor is just HILARIOUS, isnt it?   ;)  

My first thought was "Day um, I hope I haven't killed the battery.  I REALLY don't need this today, of all days!  How the hell long have they been ON?"  I hustled right out to the car, and happily discovered that it would crank right over and start.... so no harm done.  

Luckily, I happened to have my E21 Emergency Hazard Switch Repair Kit in my pocket.  Seriously.  ;)  So I quickly whipped it out, and in about two seconds, that hazard switch was safely and permanently secured so that it could do no further harm.
As you can see above:  FIXED!  

E21 Emergency Hazard Switch Repair Kits (Pocket Version)  In recognition of its value and importance, you can see that I have my name engraved on the kit at left.
The deluxe kit on the left will repair about a dozen or more E21 Hazards, while the more compact (but pocket clipped) kit on the right will repair 8.  You basically just jam the toothpick in to hold the switch in place, and keep it from popping out.
If you are an E21 owner, you know what I am talking about here. DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT ONE!  

:)

BTW, in addition to being a 'car guy', I am also a 'toothpick guy', as you may have surmised.  Some things just go together too perfectly!  ;)



ADDENDUM:  The ironic thing is that, since I have owned E21s for many years, I have never even TOUCHED the hazard switch on this Baur! My wife just happened to look out the window and see the hazards flashing on their own ---- untouched by human hands! POP goes the weasel! ;)

Anyway, on the off chance that someone reading this may actually be looking for a serious answer to the problem, I should have included the write up in the E21 bimmerforums FAQ on this:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1159184-Hazard-Switch-Removal

Since I have an ample supply of toothpicks... err, I mean pocket emergency hazard switch repair kits --- I am probably gonna let mine alone for now. I also have a couple of other E21s.... I may just swap a different one in there, and then look at doing the fix.  Good Luck!   ;)

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