ron_cb550

Brought my 550i for service on Friday, my SA sent me on my way, and mentioned that my battery was low ( he said it was because "I dont take long trips", which isn't exactly true.. I suspect it has something to do with sleep-mode).

I told him that, on weekends, I regularly drive up North and he said "that should be more than enough," so I took a nice trip (~100mi) up here into the mountains.


Now,

When I hit the ignition button, I get a click'ing noise-- everything flashes once-- another click-- followed by a clock and an onslaught of errors:


or



And, I have no idea what to do.

I have a small battery charger here that I keep handy, connected it for a few hours, on the following settings (in bold) but nothing has changed
<Normal/Deep Cycle>
<Charge/Start>
<70AStart/12A(12v automatic)/2A(12v automatic)/12A(6v manual)>

Help?

The view up here is lovely, but I'm kinda stuck right now.

Gilgorm

You seem to have the charger set correctly based on your post. Have you tried the 70A start feature. i.e. will the car start? All the error messages are probably?? related to the battery. If it will start you may be able to get it home but your battery or alternator is probably toast. If the battery won't charge using the charger, the battery is probably gone. How old is it?

ron_cb550

Thanks Gilgorm,

No I haven't tried the start feature yet, it's been sitting here, charging for approximately 3 hours now, and showing "70% complete" on my charger.

I bought my e60 in December, 2009.. and I'm questioning something; wouldn't my SA have notified me of a screwy alternator? He simply said 'battery's gettin' low, drive more or charge it'.. so I'm going to assume that this just needs a bit more time...

I want to disconnect the charger and give it a shot, but I can't get the saying out of my head: "patience is a virtue," "patience is a virtue," "patience is a virtue."

luigi524td

Unless it's evident that a car is driven fewer than 5-10 miles a day / 360 days a year, the Service Advisor auto-response = "You don't drive your car enough!" is a weak wrist excuse used to avoid BMW's problematic electrical system supply / demand & battery issue. Certainly if you drive only a few miles a day and then every weekend drive 100+ miles I would expect even a BMW to have an adequate electrical system to ensure the battery remains adequately charged.

It is more likely that some system malfunction is causing a steady discharge even after the car is put to rest. That often requires more diagnostic exercise than some SAs are willing to expend - thus, the easy (and lame) excuse, that you don't drive your car enough!

IMHO, you should push back (probably to the Service Manager) and have a proper diagnostician examine your car and correct all faults and NOT get in to the battery replacement ping-pong game.

BTW, there a rumor that BMW will not produce a hybrid vehicle ... seems they have been experiencing battery failure problems unless the vehicle is driven downhill with a 15 knot tailwind at least 74% of the time

ron_cb550

I've had more than ample time to sit around a browse the net for quick diagnoses.. in regards to steady discharge.. could it be the issue of leaving my keys too close to my car at night, never allowing it to enter sleep/constantly being awoken from sleep? (read this on SI B 61 13 05 - General Electrical Systems - April 2008)


Seems like it. They've been 50/50 in respect to helpfulness. I definitely won't hesistate to pay them a visit if the issue persists after today (hopefully another hour of charging + a 100mi drive home should remedy the problem)

With the last electrical 'issue' i had, the dealership ran a diagnostic on my electronics system and the report shows "no problems detected, to be re-verified"


Sir, you haven't been driving downhill with enough tailwind. A warranty claim will not be submitted.

Thanks Lui

ron_cb550

this is it! i can make my escape! now time for a 100+mi drive back home.. wish me luck

luigi524td

Good luck on your return trip ... remember, keep the wind to your back

krisaowa

Seems like it is a battery issue. How old is the battery? One should consider 2-3 years as a typical life-cycle of a battery. I had a similar situation as far as errors go- I was installing my rear cam and multimedia kit, for which had the doors open and closing for several hours while I worked on the vehicle. Interior lamps, trunk lamps, etc were on a lot and I did not drive the car in 3-4 days while I was working on this project. By the end of the 4th day, when i tried switching on my car, it hiccupped with a lot of clicking noises, flashing lights, lowbeams also flashed, and then got errors for- transmission failure; abs failure; brake disc failure; etc etc. I was scared shitless at one point. However, after jumping the car and charging it for a day at the dealership, I was good to go. So i would suggest you look into the age of your battery and how often this problem recurs. If it happens quite often then you may want to consider a change or battery test. I am assuming you have not added any aftermarket / satellite equipment into your car...

ron_cb550

problem only seemed to be low/dead battery. i'm going to let it charge overnight and it should be top-shape by the morning.


i just wasnt expecting 15 error messages for a low battery


the battery is coming up on 2-3 years now, so if it is an issue of it being crap and unable to hold its charge, then i have no choice but to swap