General Module (GM) Replacement
By Ken Howell (masermn1284@[Link]) 05/25/2009
This is a guide (not BMW authorized) on how to replace the GM on a 1991 850i, your model and
year might be different than this document, buyer beware.
The GM is located in the steering footwell, upper left side.
This module is sometimes related to problems with the
operation of the windows, trunk, wipers, alarm, door locks
and other activities not related to the engine. Sometimes the
GM is affected by low battery (drain, sitting for extended
lengths), and relays (in trunk and under dash), loose
connections and temperature, loose or broken wires. The GM
is specific to your car in the respect that it is coded as to the
destination of your car. If it was sold in the US, it is coded
for US, If your car was sold in Japan, it is coded for Japan. In all other respects the module is the
same. Purchasing a new module ($$$$) is not necessary, they can be repaired.
Go to [Link] and search for “GM or General
Module” you will find a lot of useful information.
This job is a fairly simple DIY weekend job and should take about 4 hours to complete. Your
time may vary due to missing / broken parts (your gonna break a few) that are easy to get from
the dealer ahead of time, They are cheap and you’ll probably need them on your next project so
put them in your toolbox for later use. My experience with 15 year or older plastic connectors,
covers, screws and fittings is that they are designed to be used once and if fiddled with later they
break, so get some in advance. The two connectors you’ll need from the dealer are the Quik
Screw and the white push thingy (BMW has a name and a part number for them) I just take them
to the parts guy and show him, then he goes and gets um, they are cheap, buy a handful. These
two connectors are common for a whole lot of BMW models so the part guy should know them,
if not show him the picture.
Reminder, you are going to remove old plastic parts, and moving old wire bundles, be gentle, a
guy speaking German put them in a long time ago, and he is probably retired now sitting in his
living room watching Germany beat Italy in the Euro Cup, so you can’t call him to ask questions.
Tools you’ll Need
Phillips and slotted screwdriver, 10mm box end wrench, Socketwrench, 10mm socket, Long
extension for socket. 4” Plastic Putty knike, “Z” shaped screwdriver thing, Plyers, Zip Ties,
Light and a Mirror.
Let’s Begin
Start by removing the phillips head screw from the Hood release handle and pull off the handle.
There are two Quik screws that hold the speaker/footwell cover on, one is behind the handle.
Quik screws are removed with a half turn with a slotted screwdriver to “unlock” them. Next
we’ll tackle the “boomerang” piece located at your knees, It is leather covered and shaped like an
Australian boomarang. The connectors are the “white thingies” that accept a threaded stud into
them, so the connectors are hidden, The long end that goes from the right of the steering wheel
around to the end of the center console is old velcro, so give a little tug at that end first. Be
careful, this piece is leather/plastic and can break. The “boomerang” and under dash cover are
connected by two Quik screws. Look along the bottom of the boomerang to see them, one set on
top and another set of hand twist screws on the bottom near the pedals, remove the top screws,
and the bottom screws twist to release and stay in the piece.
Pull out the lower piece. Just above this piece is the heater duct that can come out with it. I just
wiggled it and it fell out, but I think that it had been removed before so the screws were gone, so
your results may vary. Now wiggle the boomerang near the left end until a gap starts between it
and the support behind it. To loosen more I used a plastic putty knife. Push it into the gap
between the boomarang and the support structure, wiggle some more. What you’re doing is
pulling the threaded studs out of the white thingies. The studs are about an inch long and there
are two on the back of the boomerang right under the steering wheel. Your going to replace the
white thingies anyway so worry more about damaging the boomerang. Wiggle wiggle and it
should release, pull the right side to release the velcro, it will sound like it is tearing.
What you’ve just exposed under the Boomerang looks like a structural part of the dash, and
looks like metal, but it is another piece I call the “Lower Knee Structure” that needs to come off
to get to the GM. This piece is an Aluminum/Foam structure shaped like a two humped camels
back. The picture shows it superimposed
over the lower dash pieces. There is one
10mm nut on the left side and three other
bolts. Two bolts are exposed and one is
hidden. The exposed nut to the left side is
easy, get a 10mm and remove it. Then
remove the other two bolts that are deep
inside this structure with the 10mm and an
extension. When you remove them nothing
happens. One more bolt is left. It is behind
the cosmetic plastic panel to the right of
the steering wheel. Pull this plastic cover
out a little at the bottom and you can see
the hole where the bolt is. But, pulling
anymore will break this plastic cover and it is not coming off to easy, so I did it the DIY way
(bitch and twist), I pulled down on the camels back piece a little and got the left side released
enough to wiggle it and then pull down on the right side a little. This exposed the hidden bolt
hole enough to get the bolt loose with the socket. It also bent the bracket a little that it was
attached to, but it is easy to bend it back in place.
Still nothing happens and it feels like it is still attached to something, but it is ready to come out.
Wiggle, pull down, wiggle wiggle pull down, and then get a cup of coffee. Ok, wiggle, pull
down, wiggle out it comes. This is the hardest piece to get out, but it will come out.
Ok, the GM is exposed. It is to the left / top of the footwell and has three electrical connectors
attached to it, white, black, yellow. The other two modules have six electrical connectors
attached to them. I don’t know what those other modules are. What you are looking at is a box
with 3 plastic cases that are each about the size of a VHS tape (remember those!). The center one
(Picture with yellow connector) is the GM. The electrical connectors are easy to remove once
you have done it once. I’ll try to explain.
You see a white plastic
vertical thing on the back
of the blue connector.
This is a “lever” that will
move to the right. You
see a little ridged tab
looking thing just to the
right of the white lever.
Ok. get a little
screwdriver and a bigger
screwdriver. Take the
little screwdriver and
push down on the ribbed
thingy a little, keep
pushing a little, then take
the bigger screwdriver
and place it on the left
side of the white thing
and push to the right. The
white lever moves a little, release the ribbed tab thing. Push the white thing more to the right and
the connector is released, pull the connector out. Great, two more to go. Everything is color
coded and reconnects in only one direction so you can’t get it wrong unless you are color blind
(hey, my friend is color blind so he has to mark everything).
Now you have a choice which way you want to go, remove just the GM module or remove the
whole box!
The easy way is to remove just the center GM case, to remove the whole case go to the
“Removing the Whole Thing” section. OK, first remove the four connectors on the bottom
module. They are from left to right, Black, Green, Brown and Blue. The Green, Brown, and Blue
ones remove like I just explained above, but the little black connector is different. It has two
“buttons”, one on top, one on bottom. I know, it is a little tight, but you need to squeeze the top
and bottom of the connector and then pull it. Now go after the next three, from left to right, they
are White, Black, and Yellow. The White one is tight, but use the screwdriver(s) technique and
they will come off. A word of caution. These are fifteen to twenty year old connectors and the
wires are just as old and probably have never been moved since leaving Germany. With that
being said, move the wire bundles as little as possible and pull them together as best you can and
zip tie them out of the way. Now that the connectors are released you need to get one of those
“Z” type screwdrivers, they have phillips on one end and slotted on the other.
The picture shows the back of the box that holds the 3 module cases. You see 2 rubber grommets
for each module. Ok, what you are going to do is get your light and your mirror. Ready? Now
look at the front of the case, on the left and right of the module are release tabs. Take a
screwdriver and push the left tab a little left it pops the case out a little. Ok, you got the first part
of this multi task. Now place your light and mirror so you can see the back of the case with the
grommets. Find the grommets for
the middle case (GM). Insert the
screwdriver thing into the
grommet on the left side of the
case and push a little, then push
comes out a little more. Do the
same for the right grommet, and
the right tab, just push it right a
little and the case pops out, now
you can just wiggle it a little,
more and move the connectors
out of the way. It is tight, but the
case will slide out.
Slide the new module back in
and replace all the connectors.
Replace the connectors from left to right. The white slide thing should be all the way to the right
to start and then push the connector in, the white slider will move back to the left as you push
and then lock in place. Before doing anything else, start your car. The Clock and Date need to be
set but everything else should work.
Finishing The Job
Replacement is reverse order, first the Knee-support-aluminum-foam-camel shaped thing. Then
the lower cover/boomerang Quik screws. Next is the Boomerang, the white connector thingys
pop out of the support structure. Use the new ones. First take plyers and pull them out. Push the
new ones into the slots, they will snap tight, so push hard. Be careful with the Boomerang. Check
the velcro, this is where the boomerang will come loose first. Ok, line up the studs onto the white
connectors and push the boomerang on, push the right end of the boomerang onto the velcro.
Replace the speakercover with the 2 quik screws, screw the hood release back on and your done.
Other Pictures
When I removed the lower cover (pedals to knee support) the heater ducting was just sitting in
position and not connected to anything. I am in San Diego so the temerature here is 75, if it is
not, it is something else! Anyway I just put it back where it was and went on.
This picture shows the right bracket that holds the Knee-support. To remove that hidden upper
bolt the bracket gets bent a little, but you can bend it back easily.
This picture shows everything removed. See the little velcro square on the lower right. This stuff
doesn’t work after 19 years and my “Boomerang” kept popping out. I got a 1” drywall screw
(black) and just
screwed it through
the boomerang and
into the side of the
center console. I
used a punch and
made a plastic cover
and glued it on the
screw, sounds
brutal, but it works
and you can’t see it,
since the seat covers
it too.
This is a picture of the Case with 3 modules installed. The GM is the one with white, black and
yellow connectors. The case is held on with 2 brackets, one on the bottom held in place with 2
nuts, and the top one with one nut, all 10mm. Each module has a set of tabs, one on each end, By
pushing left on the left tab and right on the right tab the module will pop out a little. The back of
the case has two rubber grommets for each module that when pushed helps remove the modules.
Removing The Whole Thing
Ok, you want the whole
thing out. First get your
10mm socket with a long
extension. Bracket #2 is
up between the case and a
silver controller. The nut
may be covered by sound
deading felt so you might
have to probe with a
screwdriver to expose it.
Loosen the nut, but do not
remove it yet. The other
bracket is on the bottom
of the case on the left side
and has a z shaped silver
bracket attached to it with
two 10mm nuts. Loosen,
but do not remove the
nuts. Now remove the
connectors for the bottom
module, Blue, Brown, Green and the little black connector. Now remove the 3 connectors for the
General Module, Yellow, Black and White. The last 2 connectors are removed a little differently.
Carefully move all the connectors to the side and put a zip tie around them and tie them back.
OK, back to the brackets, remove the nut to the top bracket and the two nuts on the bottom
bracket and set the silver Z bracket to the side. Wiggle the case and it will drop down a little.
The two top connectors (black, white) come off by sliding the connector about an inch. The
white one slides to the right and the black one slides to the left. Try holding the case with one
hand, then push the white connector to the right with your other hand, it will slide about an inch
then come out. I know, it seems weird, but try it. If it does not want to slide, try this. Look
closely at the white connector from the bottom. It looks like the connector is inside a plastic box.
Look on the right side of this “box” you will see the outside edge of the inner box sitting against
the inside edge of the outer box. I know, this is getting even worse. OK, take a small screwdriver
and put it between those 2 edges and twist the screwdriver, it should separate the walls and then
you can slide it over. Once you get it, the black one is easy, just that it slides in the opposite
direction. Now you can remove the whole case with the 3 modules intact. Replace the GM with
your new one by releasing the tabs and pushing it out. To install the case, attach the large black
and white connectors, slide direction is reversed. Then push the top bracket onto the stud and
start the nut, do not tighten. Cut the zip ties and put the GM connectors on, first the white one,
then the black, and last yellow. If you try yellow first the lever locking it in place will not work.
Then put the bottom 3 connectors, first green, then brown, then blue. Make sure the levers are all
“locked” like the photo above. Lastly push the small black connector in place. It will “click”
when it is locked, you are almost finished. Place the lower bracket on the studs and tighten the
TOP bracket nut, yes tighten the TOP nut first, it will hold the case onto the lower studs for you.
Don’t forget the silver bracket, place it over the studs and tighten the nuts. To finish the job go
back up to “Finishing The Job.”
Use of this guide is at your own risk. Go slow, step by step and of course
Good luck.
Please contact me for modifications, feedback or errors to this guide.
Masermn1284@[Link]
