What does this mean? My battery went dead on my 1993 740i so I jump started it. I then took it to the dealer to have the electrical checked out and they found a power drain and repaired it. They then put in a new battery and now the trip computer reads "PPPP." What is this and how do I fix it? They said that as a result of the battery being disconnected that sometimes the trip computer can get hosed. Their cure was to once again disconnect the battery for about 20 mins and then reconnect in the hopes that the computer will clear. Otherwise, the computer needs to be replaced. That seems pretty darned flaky to me. I take it in to get the power drain fixed and in the process they conk out the trip computer! That is a seriously bad design in my opinion if all it takes is a minor change in voltage and your computer fails...

What does this mean? My battery went dead on my 1993 740i so I jump started it. I then took it to the dealer to have the electrical checked out and they found a power drain and repaired it. They then put in a new battery and now the trip computer reads "PPPP." What is this and how do I fix it? They said that as a result of the battery being disconnected that sometimes the trip computer can get hosed. Their cure was to once again disconnect the battery for about 20 mins and then reconnect in the hopes that the computer will clear. Otherwise, the computer needs to be replaced. That seems pretty darned flaky to me. I take it in to get the power drain fixed and in the process they conk out the trip computer! That is a seriously bad design in my opinion if all it takes is a minor change in voltage and your computer fails...

Did disconnect the battery as they said? Is it still showing "PPPP"?

Don Gale's E32 website has a write up for resetting the OBC when PPP appears in the display...here's a link to the specific page about OBC stuff...and you might want to save his site to your favorites....he has some pretty good write ups for e32 repairs & fixes: http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_35.htm

I haven't actually tried it yet. I wanted to throw it out there first to see what the concensus was. I jsut found another thread on Google for a 530i with a similar problem. The solution there again was to disconnect the battery to reset it. I guess Ill try that.

Ok, I tried resetting it by disconnecting the battery. Did it twice...no dice. Any other suggestions?

Have you reset date and time? Usually after setting the correct time and date it should work again.

sometimes, the internal ROM where the milage is store can get corrupted. a replacement is generally the fix.

On a 1993 E32 the code plug is standard EPROM, and it sits on the back of the cluster. The BC IV does not have a ROM or something, at least not on an E32, only on E34 with 'low version cluster'.
On the 1993 model you can even make a cluster selftest.
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/johan/299960/299960.html

I can't reset the date and time because the LED readout is still all "PPPP." If I hit the S/R button, it flashes once quickly and then goes back to "PPPP."

I can't reset the date and time because the LED readout is still all "PPPP." If I hit the S/R button, it flashes once quickly and then goes back to "PPPP."

Blast from the past. I'm having the same problem. Put a new battery in my Touring tonight and now I have the same issue, "PPPP" on the OBC. S/R button does nothing other than making it flicker for a second.

Noticed nobody respond to this guy way back when when he posted this, so does that mean I'm screwed? :confused

PPPP also measn no communication between the different parts and the OBC. Have you tried to push the left stalk on the steering wheel to see if the check control shows any OBC data?
Also remove the check control module, spray the pins and replug it. Remove the OBC, do the same, same do with the cluster and check the 4 plugs at the rear of the cluster.
http://home.iae.nl/users/bts/obc.htm
http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/obc_removal.jpg

What to do if you get PPPP displayed on the OBC
I've heard that disconnecting the battery for a long time (like 1 hour) will make this go away.
I lived with this problem for several (3) years. I tried disconnecting the battery for the 1+ hours or so to no avail. The ultimate solution was to disconnect the computer itself from its multi-pin connector. I left it unhooked for approximately 24 hours. Upon reconnecting the computer.....viola a full up and running OBC II.

Jeff Wilcox
So here is what works most of the time.

With the key in the "Radio" position (Radio and OBC light up, but not the instrument cluster), press the "CODE" button. Then push the little reset-hole with a Pen and hold it, 'till the computer blinks in the display, and it will ask you for a time and date entry. - You now have re-adapted the coding plug to the computer. - Normally the computer goes into a PPPP mode when the car has been boosted, or some other very drastically voltage changes have occurred.

I had this problem on my 7 when I first bought it and a mechanic figured it out and reset the code.It might be worth the call to Canada.Simply Imports,Burlington Ont,Ask James, tell him Kevin told you.They will help you,it is just a code.I think it goes by date of production or something.