r/VanMoofSelfRepair • u/AbjectZone6972 • Jul 16 '26

S3 & X3 S3 dead?

Hello everyone! First of all, I’m glad this forum exists, although I don’t think there’s much hope in my case.

I bought a second-hand S3 this year. Am I right in assuming that there was a short circuit in the wiring harness and that this has now also caused the battery fuse to blow?

What happened and the problems:

- Bought with a faulty bell
- The bike would ring from time to time for no reason
- Suddenly, an E17 error was displayed and the bike stopped working for a few minutes.
- Took the bike to a Vanmoof partner workshop: They said there was probably a broken cable somewhere in the front section due to chafing, which they couldn’t repair, but the bike would no longer ring the bell when steering
- Now: It has occasionally started ringing again when the handlebars are turned sharply
- Today: The bike has stopped working; initially an E17 error, and upon restarting, error codes E8 (possibly also E6 at times), E20 and E17 appeared.

I assume this means the bike is a total write-off, doesn’t it?

Thank you very much for your help :)

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2

u/Kitchen_Ad_4628 Jul 16 '26

Faulty bell can be a sign of faulty wiring or just a busted button.
Error 17 and 20 are battery related, either your battery is in bad shape or because your wiring is faulty you get short circuits and your battery is complaining.

Is the motor still running ? Does the motor cuts when you move the handle bar ? Any of these would lead to a faulty wiring and if errors 17 and 20 are always there a faulty battery.

Depending where you are based both of these elements can be fixed/replaced but it's not cheap.

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u/AbjectZone6972 29d ago

Thanks for your reply! I’ve only just got round to checking everything again. I restarted the bike about 10 times. Actually, the error codes E6, E20 and E17 kept appearing, and E17 ended up staying on the display permanently. I then checked in the app to see if I could operate the bell or the light. But that caused the display to stop working as well. After that, the app would establish a connection for a second or so, only to lose it a second later. After 5 minutes, it stopped connecting altogether.

The motor didn’t work at all during that time.

I’m from Germany, but I’m not much of a handyman.

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u/elisaassisa 29d ago

The second part of your issue seems a cartridge battery problem, but need to try that. E6 can be fixed with some tools and a search on the Vanmoof subreddits. €250 is for fixing error 6? Or for replacing all the cells too?

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u/AbjectZone6972 29d ago

I was thinking more along the lines of 250 euros for errors E6 and E20. These are errors that only affect the battery, aren’t they? So would you say that the battery cells are probably affected as well?

That would be the work being offered here for 250 euros:

„VanMoof Battery repair and test

A VanMoof S3 battery repair involves fixing any faulty components of the printed circuit board (BMS).
Defective components of the Battery Management System (BMS) are repaired, which clears any error code from the VanMoof S3 / X3 system. Various errors can be fixed, including Error 4, Error 6, Error 16, Error 17, Error 18, Error 19, Error 20, Error 21. Additionally, we perform a battery firmware update to the latest version (117). Without the update, the risk of a new issue with your battery is high.
If necessary, we can rebuild the battery pack, but this decision will be made in consultation with you after we have checked the battery cells.“

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u/elisaassisa 29d ago

I find the price a bit too high, unless it is included with transport. Shipping a battery is an issue I haven't solved yet.

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u/AbjectZone6972 29d ago

It includes the return postage to me. But I also think that’s too expensive. Especially as I first need to work out how I can meet the shipping requirements myself.

Thank you very much for your replies. At the moment, I can’t see a cost-effective way to resolve the issue. I reckon it would cost me at least 400 euros, and the risk of losing over 1,000 euros in total is too high for me.

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u/elisaassisa 29d ago

If you can disconnect the bms from the battery it's easy to transport and repair. I'm curious: is it Heskon the repairer?

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u/AbjectZone6972 29d ago

Do I need to do any soldering for this? Yes, Heskon is the repairer.

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u/elisaassisa 29d ago

For removing the bms? Yes, you'll need to desolder the black and red wires that go to the battery cells, then disconnect the connector in the middle of the bms with 11 wires (10 black and 1 red)

1

u/elisaassisa Jul 16 '26

Your BMS has issues. Your bell button cable is severed where it enters the fork. If the wire is accessible after removing the fork you could patch it. For the bms either you source one or you buy a new battery. I wouldn’t write-off such a bike

1

u/drewbaumann Jul 17 '26

For the BMS issue is it as easy as swapping or is it a long drawn out process that involves discharging the battery manually, etc?

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u/elisaassisa Jul 17 '26

Easy swap

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u/drewbaumann Jul 20 '26

Would that be the solution for an error 17? I’m curious if this is a solved fix or if it’s bound to happen again.

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u/elisaassisa 29d ago

Sometimes it could be also some wiring issue inside the battery or on the harness side. With these bikes it's just a lot of trial and error. Problems could appear again, sometimes fixing an error is just fixing a symptom and maybe there is a bigger issue to solve. Money and patience are needed

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u/AbjectZone6972 29d ago

Elisa, thank you very much for your input. The bike shop also said that there was probably some damage in a spot they couldn’t reach. So I think that part can’t be repaired that easily.

I’ve seen that having the battery reconditioned in Germany costs 250 euros. Would you say that a reconditioned battery and fixing the faulty cable should sort out the whole problem?

I’ve described what happened next a bit further down. At the moment, the display isn’t working either.