Hey everyone, I suspect the answer to this, but wanted some input first.

I recently went on a trip and left my 550i at the airport for 8 days. I had zero issues before the trip.

When I got back, the car started as normal, but i got an "Active Steering! Initializing" warning and then a DTC warning and "brake" is illuminated in yellow on the dash. The active steering light and the DTC caution light are also illuminated. Sometimes I can get this to clear by resetting the active steering, but it always comes back. The active steering warning is always first and if it resets it clears the other faults. I have driven over 40 miles a day the last 4 days and it has not cleared on its own. I put a trickle charger on the battery last night from 1am until 10am and it indicated more than 80% charged, but the faults remained this morning. I know this car has a big battery, but I did expect it to fully charge, especially since drove 20 miles and then put the charger on it. I suspect my battery is toast, any ideas?

My cruise control also does not work when this occurs, but I believe that is due to the DTC caution.

 

is your power steering fluid level ok?

how old is your battery? manufacture date is stamped on top of negative post.

 

Power steering fluid is to the max line and my battery is stamped with 38 09. If I remember correctly, that means the battery was manufactured in the 38th week of 2009. Honestly, that is a lot newer than I expected to find.

With all the failed systems, I still am thinking a battery or charging issue. I plan on getting both checked this weekend and then worst case, off to the dealer next week.

 

it's possible that you may have a bad or weak cell in the battery.