E28 Electrical Troubleshooting Manuals (ETM)

ETMs are the go-to resource for tracking down electrical issues in E28s. They appear to only have been printed for US market vehicles, so euro cars may have some minor differences.

• 1982 E28 - Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• 1983 E28 - Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• 1984 E28 - Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• 1985 E28 - Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• 1986 BMW 528e - 535i Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• 1987-1988 BMW 528e - Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• 1988 E28 - Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf

E28 Schaltplänes

The Schaltplänes, German for "circuit diagrams", are the BMW factory wiring diagrams. These can be very useful, however they are drawn for a technical audience and not for the faint of heart. We recommend using the ETM unless that doesn't solve your problem.

Scanned copies, originally from the BMW Group Archive, are available in German below. German print copies can occasionally be found on German eBay. English print copies are rare, if you have any please contact "Galahad" on the forums.

[files to be added later]

E28 Related Electrical Info and Diagrams

• BMW ECU Wiring diagrams Menu.pdf
• Euro E28 electrical diagrams
• bmw-cruise-control-actuator-technical-data.pdf
• bmw-cruise-control-e23-e28.pdf
• Bosch M-Motronic Technical Instruction.pdf

Other Model ETMs

• E30 ETM
• BMW 635csi - M6 Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• BMW 525i - 525it - 530i - 530it - 540i Electrical Troubleshooting Manual.pdf
• e34_90_etm.pdf

E21 Wiring Diagrams

The wiring diagrams are between the more traditional ETM layout and the Schaltplänes.

• 1981 E21 320i ETM Introduction.pdf
• 1979 E21 320i Wiring Diagram.pdf
• 1980 E21 320i Wiring Diagram.pdf
• 1981-1983 E21 320i Wiring Diagram.pdf

The E21 Schaltplänes have drawing errors in the fog light wiring in the fuse box, current best info is the wiring diagrams are correct to the cars.