So I was replacing the rear view camera. Unplugged the rear brake light and the camera power and video connectors. Unplugged the two sockets to the rear wiper although this wasn't necessary.
I have had the car on a battery maintainer via the white tow hitch/caravan socket. Have charged before like this with no issues. I disconnected the battery maintainer before I started the car.

Just temporarily wired up the camera video and power leads and switched on the engine to see if it worked ok before soldering it all up and to get the camera the right way up.
The car started but all the lights went bonkers, headlights flickering, indicators flashing, light switch wouldn't do anything.
The new camera worked great.
Turned it off and tried again but same thing. When I turned off the engine the second time the left hand headlight stayed on with the key out of the ignition.. So I disconnected the earth lead on the battery.
Any ideas on how to proceed welcome. I have put the charger directly on the battery and its showing fully charged
What did I do?
have I fried the module that controls the lights somehow....don't see how I could have done?? All the best
Chris

Last edited by Paddy X350 on 9th Mar 2025 11:52am. Edited 1 time in total

So it seems that failure of the LCM (Lighting Control Module) on the L322 and BMW's of the same era (which have a similar module) is something that can just happen. There's a guy in Harrogate that you can find on Ebay who specialises in repairing them. His company name is Autoelectron. He has a 100% positive feedback score. From what I've read one of the chips/processors on the board goes bad and has to be replaced.

So have contacted the guy (called Merv), took out my LCM (located in the drivers footwell behind the A pillar trim) sent him a picture of the part number label and he got right back to me and confirmed he could repair it.

So it will be in the post to him on Monday.

Another bit of interesting information is that apparently the LCM also contains information on the cars spec and is used as a back up memory for the mileage. So if you put in a different one it has to be coded to the car, otherwise you get a dot next to the odometer reading indicating that either the instrument cluster or the LCM has been changed and the mileage readings between the two do not match.
So although there are many used LCM's available the way to go is to get yours repaired..

Click image to enlarge

So I sent my LCM off for repair.

Unfortunately Merv from Auotelectron couldn't fix it as the failure was with the main chip and this can't be replaced. To be fair I think he spent some time on it and them gave me a full refund. He seems like atop guy. Anyway I now have a Range Rover with no LCM.

There are lots of second hand ones available on Ebay or a new one might be available for around 600 euro.
Has anyone got any ideas on what is my best course of action? All the best
Chris

So there actually weren't too many second hand ones on Ebay that would fit my car, different units depending on the year. Second hand cost by the time its shipped to Ireland was working out at 450. New genuine form LandRover was 650 Euro, so I have ordered a new one and have arranged with a local indie guy to programme it to the car.

The part number on mine which is shown in the photo in my previous post is actually a Ford Part number. The part number quoted by LR for my VIN is YWC500760. Crossed checked with LR parts that this is the correct replacement part for my Jeep.

Interestingly looking at the tracking data for the parcel the unit has been shipped from Stuttgart. So it is a BMW part, not a LR one All the best
Chris

Hi Chris, that's quite some extra work when replacing the rear view camera... Do you have an idea why the PCM broke? Did you disconnect the battery before disconnecting the camera etc.? Do you know how the PCM is programmed?

Hi tracker,

It's the LCM (Light Check Module) not the PCM that failed. And yes, a bit more to do than I had bargained for!! The car runs and drives fine, just no external lights..

No I didn't disconnect the battery, although I've working on cars a long time and have done lots of similar work like this without frying a module! Maybe something I did caused it but who knows, I think it's unlikely.

The guy that tried to repair it for me (Merv from Autoelectron) says he gets on average 160 of these failed LCM modules a year from BMW and LR owners, and he's been repairing them since 2008. Occasionally he gets one that can't be repaired. Unfortunately mine fell into that category.
If you google LCM failure BMW or L322 you will get quite a few hits.

The LCM serves as a backup for the mileage and service interval and also holds the VIN. So that's what has to be programmed to the new replacement module. If you don't do this you will get a 'tamper dot', which is literally a dot that appears next to the mileage readout on the instrument cluster that shows that the IC and LCM mileages don't match and maybe the mileage of the car has been fooled with. All the best
Chris