nmc

Went to start yesterday morning as usual, to find the battery totally flat. Barely enough power to start warning lights but not iDrive screen or move the seat etc. Briefly saw an icon which resembled a red car on a pole, then blank. I tried using jump leads, but had no response. Called out the breakdown people who were not BMW. The guy turned up with a power pack, connected it to the terminals and then surprisingly (to me at least) turned on the lights and then she started without problem.

Then the warning icon for assisted steering came on, plus the car on the pole and then an iDrive warning that she had to go to BMW to repair assisted steering. When manoeuvering to the tow truck it was very evident that steering assist did not function. Anyone have a similar experience ?

mrjames

Hi, Washed my car yesterday while listening to the car radio .. I took approx about 2 hrs to wash/clean, however this was enough time to completely drain the cars Battery !!! (didnt hear any warning) All i got was a Yellow warning sign on my instrument cluster with a picture of a battery.

Called the BMW Servicemobile to at least get me started, when they jump started the car all sorts of problems came up : Active Steering Faulty, Steering alignment out, Active Restraint System faulty, Airbag system failure, cruise control failure, windscreen wipers went to some sort of breakdown mode and wouldnt turn off, horn didnt work, remote control didnt work.. etc..

Took the car into the dealership this morning.. Without any booking they put the car straight onto their computer diagnostics.. after about an hr they came to me and said it doesnt look good.. the central control unit(computer) cannot find about a dozen other control units it should find.. Left the car there and went home..

Got a call about 30 mins ago to say that they are replacing the central control unit, which will arrive into the dealership tommorrow and they will have to completely reprogram the car. (Was already at 21.02) Cross fingers this will work and fix the problem.

Cant believe a car so sophisticated, a flat battery can permanently cripple a car requiring so much corrective action to fix.

BTW: The BMW Breakdown guy who came out said something about definately needing to go to a dealership to get the Active Steering aligned.. there is a special tool that the dealer will use to do this.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: . DONT USE YOUR RADIO or ANY OTHER ACCESSORY WHILE YOUR ENGINE IS TURNED OFF FOR ANY LONG PERIOD (Like Over 30mins)

keith84_uk

Hi


Sad to hear that mate!I had the same problem with my 530i, then i called the local BMW's and they towed my car back to their garage for future inspection. The starter and battery needed to replace they said and it will cost me over HKD$ 14,000 inc labour(about USD $1800). But fortunately they gave me a discount on the starter and labour cost as the car is so new, so i ended up with HKD$ 3500.

Keith

amigo525

No warranty?

vishwen

Hi Guys,

Very bad to hear all this stuff. I had the same problem yesterday . Had flat battery then i jump the car , it starts and then nothing on I drive.I remove the cable on the battery leave the car idle for 30Mins AND THE I restart the car the idrive was ok., But the active steering was faulty. i leave it like that , call the dealer got appoin. for Tommorrow , b ut while driving the car now all the fault gone.

mrjames

Got my car back from the dealership after the Brain transplant.. Everything fixed, and car is back to the way it was, except my auto headlights come on during bright sunshine.. (Think they may have changed the default setting on sensitivity when they reset the car's computer..)

Despite a great job done by the dealership, I am concerned that a car like this can be so badly affected by a simple flat battery.. Why doesnt the car shutdown the car's accessories (when the key is in the ignition) if the battery is getting to a point where there is only enough power to re-start the engine..
(BTW: I thought the E60 already did this, however i was told by the Dealership "if you have your key in the ignition it bypasses this self protection mechanism ". )

Anyway, Moral of this story is not to have the keys in the ignition when i am washing my bimmer next time..