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      01-30-2023, 09:34 AM   #1
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F36 Powered Tailgate soft-close

Hi all, intermittently the soft-close doesn't work on my boot (tailgate/trunk). Instead, it slams without the nice electronic soft-close.

Is there an obvious/straight forward DIY I can look into, or would you suggest I take it to my local BMW specialist (indy) to investigate the root cause? It's really no big issue, but it'd be nice to have to resolved.

Thanks in advance

[Sorry if this is in a thread somewhere. Did quite a bit of searching; pls don't shoot me if I missed a thread!]
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      01-30-2023, 09:02 PM   #2
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https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1881277&page=2

Should be pretty easy with bimmercode!
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      01-31-2023, 02:43 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prak903 View Post
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1881277&page=2

Should be pretty easy with bimmercode!
Thanks mate. So I guess the suspicion is the speed of the close. Maybe the hydraulic struts will need addressing at some point?

I've not used bimmercode at all so will research what I need to do that.
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      01-31-2023, 11:16 AM   #4
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I've only had it slam - so I am not sure if your struts are going out, mine look to be fine. After this modification - soft close all the time.

Try it out and report back! Curious if that is the case.
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      01-31-2023, 11:18 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prak903 View Post
I've only had it slam - so I am not sure if your struts are going out, mine look to be fine. After this modification - soft close all the time.

Try it out and report back! Curious if that is the case.
Yeah cheers - will be a delay whilst I investigate bimmercode & any adapters required
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      02-01-2023, 11:01 AM   #6
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I've had my F36 for a little over 3 years now and didn't even know the soft-close was an option! Thanks for sharing!

The slam doesn't sound too loud from the outside, however it's much more noticeable when sitting inside the car. E.g., when I'm picking up groceries or whatever using curbside pickup.
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      02-03-2023, 05:07 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prak903 View Post
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1881277&page=2

Should be pretty easy with bimmercode!
Do you know if E-sys can be used instead? I would prefer to use existing laptop/Enet cable set-up; and it looks like Bimmercode only runs on mobile apps, not Windows Laptop.

(haven't had much success connecting phone to OBD via adapter, and don't really want to buy a bluetooth adapter on top)
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      02-03-2023, 05:34 AM   #8
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There is no soft-close out of factory Neither on the tailgate, nor on the doors.
Personally it does not bother me that occasionally it slams a bit harder than other times. Reducing the speed of closing however WILL have an impact on the electrical actuators and their life-expectancy. That's why I am reluctant to modify at this stage.
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      02-03-2023, 06:10 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyhigh View Post
There is no soft-close out of factory Neither on the tailgate, nor on the doors.
Personally it does not bother me that occasionally it slams a bit harder than other times. Reducing the speed of closing however WILL have an impact on the electrical actuators and their life-expectancy. That's why I am reluctant to modify at this stage.
No soft-close? What's the electronic 'pull-in' to close the boot at the end of the close? Makes a small electronic sound similar to an electronic handbrake.

Interesting about the actuators, I was wondering if it was worth looking into the mechanical parts
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      02-03-2023, 06:13 AM   #10
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That’s just the lock.
Ref also the user manual.
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      02-03-2023, 06:22 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyhigh View Post
That’s just the lock.
Ref also the user manual.
Interesting. So what is causing it to slam sometimes? A spring in the lock?
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      02-03-2023, 06:33 AM   #12
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I have no explanation why sometimes it slams harder.
But there surely isn't any "soft-close" as in the higher models. Just sometimes the actuators seem to close it a bit faster. For whatever reason. But at least in my case, even when it slams relatively hard, it is still softer than how it would have been closed if it wasn't an automatic tailgate. My manually operated hatchback Audi tailgate is "slammed" every time, although I drop it down very gently So it is all subjective.
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      02-03-2023, 08:09 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SirBiggles View Post
Do you know if E-sys can be used instead? I would prefer to use existing laptop/Enet cable set-up; and it looks like Bimmercode only runs on mobile apps, not Windows Laptop.

(haven't had much success connecting phone to OBD via adapter, and don't really want to buy a bluetooth adapter on top)
Not too sure as I did it via BimmerCode. But if you are able to access the same menus via ESYS I don’t see why not.
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      02-03-2023, 10:32 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyhigh View Post
There is no soft-close out of factory Neither on the tailgate, nor on the doors.
I disagree. It is not as fancy as the door soft close systems of higher end models but BMW's own technical documentation refers to the tailgate lock system to have soft close operation:
...
The electronics for controlling and monitoring the soft close function are located in the tailgate Automatic Soft Close system drive. The sensor system for the Automatic Soft Close system is located in the tailgate lock. The sensor system consists of a group of microswitches (locking pawl switch and rotary striker switch). The position of the rotary striker is recorded with the locking pawl switch (open, preclosed, closed).

The drive is connected to terminal 30B. The fuse is located in the rear power distribution box.

When the locking pawl switch is actuated by the tailgate being lightly pressed into tailgate lock (the tailgate is then in the preclosed position), the tailgate Automatic Soft Close system drive is triggered. The drive electronics initiate the tailgate lock closing action. The drive moves the rotary striker via a Bowden cable far enough for the locking pawl switch and rotary striker switch to indicate a change in status. The lock pin is then engaged in the rotary striker and secured. Activation of the drive is stopped. In order not to obstruct the opening procedure, the drive reverses and again releases the Bowden cable.

...
It could of course be that this described system is not part of F36 but TIS is listing it for my car and it has a picture of the actuator which is identical to part 51247269516 which at least my car has.

In my car you can clearly hear and see that sometimes when it just happens to close with slightly less speed then there is a buzzing sound of actuator and you can see the lid moving just a bit. In my case it is about 50/50 and I can get the "soft close" to activate every time if I slow it down at the end of the motion with my hand.
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      02-03-2023, 11:36 AM   #15
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Stand corrected then!
Either way - consider the impact on the actuators when you slow down the closing. It is impossible to say how much they are affected, but they certainly are in the long run.
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      02-03-2023, 11:40 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyhigh View Post
Stand corrected then!
Either way - consider the impact on the actuators when you slow down the closing. It is impossible to say how much they are affected, but they certainly are in the long run.
Just wondering if I could replace the actuators and would sort it out
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      02-03-2023, 11:54 AM   #17
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To start with - probably not worth it financially. And if you would want to do so nevertheless, wait for yours to fail first

It all depends on how much the slamming is bothering you really. I also think there is quite some difference between the individual cars, so yours may indeed be harsher than other people’s….

There are two rotateable “bump-stops” on the tail gate… I wonder if they can be used to regulate the closing in any way?
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      02-03-2023, 12:26 PM   #18
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This is what TIS says about the bump stop adjustment:

Screw out stop pad (1) left/right until they are in contact with the tailgate.

It must be possible to pull out paper strips with moderate friction resistance between the tailgate and stop pad (1).

Then screw out stop pad (1) one-half rotation further.
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      02-03-2023, 12:45 PM   #19
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Yeah, we have soft-close for the doors and tailgate.

These extra parts of the F36 Soft Close TIS shown below are also insightful. It’s easy to see that with both the precise real-time measurements in the motor electronics, and the open & closing start and stop motor profiles data that’s being discussed work together to provide Soft Close.

Also, from the small amount of info I’ve seen, it seems the motor profiles data changed from Pre-LCI to LCI, with the former having a faster default ‘stop’ profile speed which was made slower in LCI…

“Location data is stored in the drive motor's electronics. Thus the control system always knows what the motor position is and can operate it in order to move it to a defined position. When the motor is running, the stop conditions are checked every 23 milliseconds. If the electronic circuitry fails to detect arrival at defined positions within 5 seconds the drive motion is cancelled, i.e., the power supply to the DC motor is deactivated. After that, a change in status signalled by the hall effect sensors is sufficient to start it up again.

Slamming the door shut would make closing with the Automatic Soft Close system unnecessary. However, since it is necessary to ensure the door is really closed, the drive motor is operated nevertheless for safety's sake. The drive unit's electronic circuitry detects door slamming based on the rapid status change at the locking pawl switch and the rotary striker switch.

It is still always possible to close the tailgate by hand.

The tailgate Automatic Soft Close system drive has a repeat lock which prevents the drive from overheating. After activation and 10 operations (counter up to 10 increments), the drive is electrically blocked for approx. 20 seconds. The drive can then be reactivated.“
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      02-03-2023, 02:56 PM   #20
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No soft close for the doors, that’s absolutely certain not offered for 3/4 Series. 5 and above.

There was a thread here for retrofitting in the F-series, but that’s a non-factory installation.
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      02-03-2023, 03:49 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyhigh View Post
No soft close for the doors, that’s absolutely certain not offered for 3/4 Series. 5 and above.

There was a thread here for retrofitting in the F-series, but that’s a non-factory installation.
Yeah, I know the doors aren’t. So I don’t know why I included doors there. Lol — my bad…
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      02-10-2023, 07:00 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prak903 View Post
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1881277&page=2

Should be pretty easy with bimmercode!
Got my adapter working and had a look through the tailgate menu but it must be different been 2016 and 2017 LCI. I'll need to find the 2016 equivalent of:

Tailgate Function Module > 3011 APPL_PLG_SPEED_PROFILE
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