About 8 months ago I was changing out my wheel set and replacing the plastic piece that holds the turn signals, taillight and licence plate due to it being cracked. Also around same time I went from the Strada front fender to Terra fender and added the Terra fork guards. I did all of this without disconnecting the battery. So when I finished all of this I went to start the bike and got the dreaded EWS error. Removed the battery and put it on the charger overnight. Put the charged battery back in and still had the EWS error. So after some research I checked the key transponder and associated connector. The connector was tight and the ring and wiring were undamaged. I did unplug the connector and checked antenna resistance (20 ohms), sprayed the connector with contact cleaner. Still had the EWS error. Found a BMW dealer that was willing to look at the bike so off it went. They hooked it up to their diagnostic computer (moss?) but couldn't get to recognize the bike. One of the techs has a GS-911 which they hooked up but that didn't help. So after about a month I went picked up the bike. I can't complain they only charged me $30 and I really appreciated their time and effort. Decided to check the turn signal and taillight wiring and everything looked good. At this time I removed the dash and opened it up and didn't see anything obvious. Put it back together and installed after spraying the connector with contact cleaner. I have pretty much had it by this time so I moved the bike to a corner of the garage walked away. So after a couple months and cooling off I decided to try again. Took out the ECU and opened it up but found no signs of it being shorted or anything open. Sealed it up and installed but still had EWS error. Pushed the bike back in the corner and walked away. I had to buy a new battery for another bike so I decided to try that but still had the EWS error. Put the original battery back in, tried again and still had EWS error. It was at this time I tried the ground strap between the ECU and negative battery post and the bike started. Since Wednesday I've put 120 miles on the and its started every time I've tried.
Having a problem posting a pic of the ground strap. Took a 12 gauge stranded wire with appropriate size ring terminal on each end and attached one end to the negative post of battery. The other end I attached ECU by removing one of torq screws that holds the cover in place. I used the screw closest to the negative battery post.
So glad to hear you got your bike running! Please do post an image of the ground strap for future reference. If you don't know how to link images PM me and I will try to help.
sounds simple, my terra runs well but thanks to this thread I added a wire from the ecu body to the -terminal of the battery just to play safe
Some ECU's need to be isolated from the vehicle frame usually indicated by rubber mounts around the mounting bolts as the case may have a electrical potential either +ve or -ve. I found this out with a diesel engine I was servicing when I dropped a bolt between the engine block & ECU. I suspect your ground wire is sinking an internal short inside the ECU.
The normal is for the case of an ECU to be earth which is in part for RFI and noise protection, the rubber mounts are for protection from vibration Completely incorrect, perhaps a little more knowledge of electronics would be in order
I'm a diesel mechanic with 25 years experience servicing Detroit & MTU diesel engines with class leading electronic systems in varied & harsh applications. I've established my bonafides, what are yours? So what do you think the ground wire is doing to prevent the EWS error?
Great info....Should be standard procedure to get neg connection from case to frame. Bad design and risky.
Sounds like you blew the gossamer like neg connection from CPU to bike. Great work around. Could save someone a whole lot of angst when the TR650 is forgotten by those that dont own one.. Viva le Terra!!
Thanks a bunch! Mine has been sitting all winter with an EWS error that just showed up one day out of the blue after cleaning/getting ready for storage. Probably shorted to the ecu case with a battery clamp or something. This solved the issue right away.
I'm glad that info helped out. Have to give thanks and credit to WayneC for posting the link initially.
mysery1 you are my champion... After shorting my ECU I have tried: 1- cracking it open soldered one wire couldn't manage the second broken one (too deep). 2- buying a new ECU from Poland (ebay) £220- but BMW couldn't get their system to talk to it and recommended ECU experts told me it was not possible to use it (refunded). 3- KTM just quoted me this morning £2000- that's over $2000 US for a coded ECU, Key and Dash. But thanks to you my friend I now have her up & running again. Also thanks from my wife as we had planned a two week tour of the UK which can now go ahead. Cheers from Scotland
Simon Raw, I’m glad the ground strap worked for you. I don’t know if there is a recall in Europe for the stalling issue like there is here in the states or Canada and Australia. If so be aware that when my ECU was sent off to be flashed by Magneti Marelli they couldn’t get it to communicate. They had the dealer replace the ECU, dash and ignition switch but I’ve been told there is no odometer and speedometer function now. I almost didn’t take it in for the recall because I was worried that something like this might happen. My Strada saga continues. May you and the wife have a nice and safe tour.
UK recall is here, they have the numbers for the machines in the UK wrong & left out the Terra's, a DFT error on the recall, 62 registered in 2015
The continuing saga of my Strada. I took my bike in on May 22nd for the recall and finally got it back on the 18th of June. I’m the guy that had the EWS error that installed the ground strap to the ECU to get it to run. My understanding is that when they tried to flash the ECU it wouldn’t communicate. I was given the option of putting the original ECU back in or installing a new one which also means the dash and ignition needed to be changed out. I opted to replace the ECU, dash and ignition. So now I’ll have to carry two keys, one for the ignition and one to remove the seat and gas cap. I’ll have to look and see if I can get the gas cap rekeyed for the new key. Also found my headlight loose from when it was put back together, 2 screws were left out. Replaced the screws and rode the bike but I had no odometer/speedometer function which I was told about before I picked it up so I just used a GPS app on my phone. I received a call from the people who worked on it before and was asked to drop the bike off again. So on October 23 I did. On December 21st I got a call saying the bike was ready but because of life I didn’t get to pick it up till January 15th. It now has the new ECU with the original dash and ignition. I rode it around the parking lot and it seemed fine so I loaded it up on the truck and brought it home. I went to ride it yesterday but wasn’t happy with the way it was running so I put it back in the garage. So today I pulled it out and was letting it idle when it died. I found the positive battery cable loose at the battery and the main fuse blown. Apparently they had a problem because the spare fuse was missing and instead of a 30 amp that should have been in there it was a 10 amp. I put a 30 amp in and started the bike and let it idle thru 2 fan cycles. Went for a short ride and everything was good. Hoping to put a couple hundred miles this weekend. We will see how that goes. I thought about having them change the oil before I picked it up but I’m so glad I didn’t.
WayneC could this be a broken earth inside the ECU..? If so, I have one I can take a pic of to show the damage pin and it can be repaired by someone with god skills.
Yes it is likely it is a broken or degraded earth pin inside the ECU but without inspecting it is difficult to be sure, the aspects to note from mysery1's recall update saga is that they appear to have realised the dash only stores temporary EWS data and hence does not need to be replaced but that they have not realised that the BMW Dealer system should be able to program the original key into the new BMS-E, the allowance on the TR650 BMS-E is 4 keys, down from the 10 on other BMW EWS equipped models
