My wife left my car door open and the battery drained . I was (just) able to get it started but i-drive is completely dead (and of course Nav, Radio and CD). At first the warning picture (car on ramp) in central dashboard display came up but now that the car has been run for 30 mins or so it no longer appears on start up. So, will i-drive reappear once there's enough power in the battery or is it a trip to the dealer?

Have tried to find an answer elsewhere but couldn't...hope you can help!

 

If your battery goes dead, your alternator will not charge the battery because it cannot create sufficient magnetism. Your only solution is to charge the battery with a charger at least part way.

 

Try calling road side assistance. maybe they have a tool to reset the problem.

Actually funny thing is that my friends 545 was at his shop when it died, so he basically tried to jump it with his battery charger tool, everything powered up including idrive, but AM FM and WB didnt work, however, SAT and NAV did work, I dont know how this is but thats how it was. I really dont know, cause I was not in the car before the battery died, but I drive did turn on, and some of its option worked.

 

Thanks for the help. Have now taken the car for a blast along the motorway and it seems to have charged the battery so that it starts completely normally. Then locked myself in the car and watched...the nav disk is whirring, the illumination of the nav/cd is flickering on/off, there are various whirring/clicking noises from the front and rear, there is a kind of groaning sound from behind the dash which is immediately followed by the green rear window isolator light flashing!! Hopefully this is some kind of reboot...time will tell.

Nick

 

I hope there is nothing in the air as mine is playing up to and I'm about 20 miles from you !

 

Just checked...still no i-drive. Looks like a dealer visit. Car was due to go in for eye brow rectification anyway and the steering clunk I thought was my imagination now seems to be a known problem. Nick

 

At least you can make it to the dealership Im sure they will fix the problem. I just thought that if you hook up a charger to it, it should be no problem.

 

Mine seemed to clear itself over night

 

I have a flat battery right now ! I've been out in the good weather to hole day, and polished the car with Autoglym polish and extra gloss protection. I did not listen to any music in the car, and I turned off the interior lights - BUT !! the battery is now flat! I guess it's because I've opened the doors many times to wash, polish etc, so the car never "fell a sleep"

A battery charger is connected now, but it's only a 6Ah battery charger, so its gonna take some time... :thumbsdown: