amit1947

Okay so it happened tonight. I was in a parking lot, ready to drive home, put the key in and hit the start button. I get a quick and weak crank and then everything dies. I try it again a few times and finally I get a bunch of failure messages on I-Drive. I've read about the infamous battery problem so I knew what was going on.

Luckily a friend of mine had a portable jump stater thing that got my car started. When I got home a few minutes ago, I shut down the engine and started it right up without any issues. Hmm...so I guess at least the car's charge system/alternator works and the battery can hold some charge (not sure about tomorrow morning though).

The interesting thing is that I just got my car back from the dealers for an low mile oil change and the window seal replacement (after they "lost" my car but that's another story) on Monday. I noticed that the time/date were reset when I started my car up at the dealership. I also noticed tonight, that the red plastic cover was not covering the "+" terminal under the hood...I know for a fact I never touched the thing. So that leads me to believe that the dealership had to jump start my car, forgot to reinstall the red cover, and of course didn't do a damn thing to actually fix the problem.

Anyways, what should my next move be? Will the dealership replace the battery? Also could the alternator be bad too? If its bad, then even a jump start wouldn't help right?

FYI : I have a 2006 530i , bought CPO and currently has 42.5k miles. I still have another year of factory warranty and maintenance. My first test drive of the car (the same day I bought it) needed a jump starter, because the battery was dead...go figure, I should have seen this coming.

xoeightx

i had this problem as well when i came back from a short vacation. i got my battery replaced under warranty

theXman

Some dealers might change the battery for free under CPO sometimes, some might not. So no guarantee. GL

amit1947

Actually I still have another year of the original BMW warranty left. So CPO shouldn't be an issue...but I'm wondering if there's a way to tell if its the alternator and battery or just the battery...I want to be armed before I go into this battle with the dealership.

VHHDT

It's usually the battery.... and they can download what kind of driving you are doing ie how long, how often etc. I had mainly short trips so opted for a stronger AGM battery as I live close to work. Won't stop the problem so now I drive the long way around and am looking for a battery charger.... there's heaps of threads on this issue.... inc poss sources of battery drain eg faulty video display 'waking car up' all the time

Cheers

J

amit1947

So I took the car to the dealership yesterday and I got a call today from the SA saying they replaced the battery. I'll be picking it up later today.

So I guess they just replace the battery without having to fight about it.

txag_530i

You might want to invest in a battery tender to prevent this from happening again. It all depends on your driving style, of course.

Battery tender discussion

porsche911targa

Actually, if you dealer is as reputable and customer oriented as my dealer (Herb Chambers / Foreign Motors West, Natick, MA), you shouldn't have do go into any battles. Just tell the SA what happened or get the car towed there if it doesn't start again and the will do the right thing, including replacing the battery under warranty. My dealer just changed my battery on the complaint that it took 3 or 4 seconds of cranking in the morning before it starts. Good luck.

Ps. Car is back to its normal 1 split second cranking in the morning.

Pps. I've just read your last post and now realize you got a new battery. Congratulations, you've got yourself a reputable and customer oriented dealer. Happy to hear it worked out.

porsche911targa