Hi guys,

i just bought a 530i - 2003 - 124K new shape from an auction. i test drive it and it drives amazing, then i bring an independent mechanic and he checked it for an hour and he said all good, then we left the car and returned back after just 60 mints when the auction started we were the highest bidder and we bought the car.
once we got out of the auction yard and drive the car ALL sort of error message [ABS, gearbox, steering wheel .... etc] started to appears on the Idrive screen and the dash board error lights for [ABS, oil, ..everything ] keeps turning on and off even the air con start and stop by itself the speed gauge go back to Zero and then up to the current speed and lots lots of funny things like that.
we tried to unplug the battery for 5 mints hoping that will reset the idrive or something but no luck, i really dont know what happened, it was fine in there and just after the auction it went crazy like that. it drives normally though,
i called the agent and i should meet them on Monday.

Any thought guys on what happened?? the car is in front of my house now and i am totally disappointed

Thanks

 

Bad battery or bad alternator. Voltage is either low or high.

 

i knew it is something in the car electricity because very weird stuff is going on and all at the same time, like:- once u start the car you see the steering wheel error, then once you drive all the other message starts to pop up one by one.
anything thing i can do while waiting for the sales man meeting on Monday?

Thanks

 

If you have a multimeter and know how to use it measure the battery voltage under the hood at the jump terminal and ground terminals. Then start it and measure the voltage again. Fully charged battery should be 12.5V-12.6V before starting. Healthy alternator should be putting out 14.2-14.6V about 15 seconds after starting.

Or take it to an auto store who will test the battery and alternator for free (at least they do in the US).

Undervoltage is Ok. Alternator overvoltage can be serious. When the voltage regulator in my alternator was starting to fail I was seeing it pump 17V, plenty to start frying computer modules.

 

make sense of course, i think you are completely right.
i will ring the guy who checked it this morning and will let him do the voltage checking.

thank you so much mate

 

Since this is an '03, check the battery located in the trunk behind the right side interior panel. There's a date stamped into the battery, I think on the - end. If your battery is older than 10 years, REPLACE IT.

I would get a ton of these errors while driving, and even after an autozone check the guy said my battery was good. After a few months, the battery finally quit and after replacing with an AGM one + recoding through an independent mechanic, everything's fine.

Hope you enjoy your car!

 

Thanks Peachykonan and BimmerFan52 , i really needs ur advice on this matter, what happened is the auction house took the car to a mechanic and what he said is there was a low voltage issue because the car was setting in the auction for a month so he said that the car needs to run and he cleared the error from the idrive system, when i took it for a test drive it was soo good at the first 15 minutes and after 5mints from turning on the AC it happened again, [ABS error, steering wheel error, the idrive screen go black and back on again] surprise is the car still drives well a part from the streeing wheel sometimes losses power but other than that the car drives well, my mechanic checked the battery and said its new [July 2012] and the alternator works fine he said, after telling him what happened he said give it to the action again and tell them to take it to BMW they will know whats wrong.
One of my friends advised me to return it to the auction and get my money back but i love the car [its my first Bimma] and my mechanic checked the car and said its a good car and has no mechanical problems. my only hope is the problem is just a software issue and BMW will be able to somehow reinstall the idrive system and that solves the problem. What do you think?

Thanks

 

Good luck with that man.