Car dead, not sure what caused it
#1
Members
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2004 E60 525d M Sport, Mystic Blue Adaptive Xenon's (Visibility Package), Grey Dakota Leather, Professional Navigation System, BMW Professional Radio/6 Disc CD Changer, Bluetooth Telephone Prearation, (Media Package)Automatic Air Conditioning-Advanced, Auto Dim Interior and Exterior (Electric Folding) Mirrors, Front Seat Heating
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Monday night woke up to the car alarm going off, although it wasn?t the normal alarm, it was beeping ? weird.
I turned it off with the key fob. An hour later it happened again, and then the normal security alarm went off as well.
Anyway I checked out the car later in the day, and it was completely dead. No power whatsoever, wouldn?t even unlock with the remote.
A call to the local BMW garage and after an initial refusal to check it out until after Christmas, they agreed to have a look. The AA came and gave the battery some power and I drove to the garage.
They reckoned they needed to leave it on the diagnostics machine overnight. 24 hours later, they still need it for another day as the battery needs to be fully charged.
Here we are 48 hours later and still no word ? sounds like something is draining the battery, buy they?re not sure what. In the meantime they?ve given me a Mini Cooper to run about in. Cool car, bit small though.
Anyone experienced something similar?
I turned it off with the key fob. An hour later it happened again, and then the normal security alarm went off as well.
Anyway I checked out the car later in the day, and it was completely dead. No power whatsoever, wouldn?t even unlock with the remote.
A call to the local BMW garage and after an initial refusal to check it out until after Christmas, they agreed to have a look. The AA came and gave the battery some power and I drove to the garage.
They reckoned they needed to leave it on the diagnostics machine overnight. 24 hours later, they still need it for another day as the battery needs to be fully charged.
![Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/rolleyes.gif)
Here we are 48 hours later and still no word ? sounds like something is draining the battery, buy they?re not sure what. In the meantime they?ve given me a Mini Cooper to run about in. Cool car, bit small though.
Anyone experienced something similar?
#2
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Thought I would add my story to make you feel a little better. I had one battery in my 750il (the car has two batteries stacked side-to-side with access in the right trunk area) that decided to 'spill itself' all over the adjoining electrical system and fusebox. It cost me more than $3k to fix the mess and get it back to normal driving condition.
I read your post about the goofy alarm activity and recalled my own experience with these 'beeps' when my 750 decided to add joy to my life. (it did so on many occassions)
Sounds like you have a much easier problem ahead of you -- maybe a short that's draining the battery?
Anyway, good luck!
I read your post about the goofy alarm activity and recalled my own experience with these 'beeps' when my 750 decided to add joy to my life. (it did so on many occassions)
![Embarrassment](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/ohmy.gif)
![Crying](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/crying.gif)
![Bashwall](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/bashwall.gif)
![Barf](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/barf.gif)
Sounds like you have a much easier problem ahead of you -- maybe a short that's draining the battery?
Anyway, good luck!
#3
Senior Members
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Ft.laud FL
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Originally Posted by converted2bmw' post='508733' date='Dec 20 2007, 06:06 AM
Monday night woke up to the car alarm going off, although it wasn?t the normal alarm, it was beeping ? weird.
I turned it off with the key fob. An hour later it happened again, and then the normal security alarm went off as well.
Anyway I checked out the car later in the day, and it was completely dead. No power whatsoever, wouldn?t even unlock with the remote.
A call to the local BMW garage and after an initial refusal to check it out until after Christmas, they agreed to have a look. The AA came and gave the battery some power and I drove to the garage.
They reckoned they needed to leave it on the diagnostics machine overnight. 24 hours later, they still need it for another day as the battery needs to be fully charged.
Here we are 48 hours later and still no word ? sounds like something is draining the battery, buy they?re not sure what. In the meantime they?ve given me a Mini Cooper to run about in. Cool car, bit small though.
Anyone experienced something similar?
I turned it off with the key fob. An hour later it happened again, and then the normal security alarm went off as well.
Anyway I checked out the car later in the day, and it was completely dead. No power whatsoever, wouldn?t even unlock with the remote.
A call to the local BMW garage and after an initial refusal to check it out until after Christmas, they agreed to have a look. The AA came and gave the battery some power and I drove to the garage.
They reckoned they needed to leave it on the diagnostics machine overnight. 24 hours later, they still need it for another day as the battery needs to be fully charged.
![Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/rolleyes.gif)
Here we are 48 hours later and still no word ? sounds like something is draining the battery, buy they?re not sure what. In the meantime they?ve given me a Mini Cooper to run about in. Cool car, bit small though.
Anyone experienced something similar?
#4
Senior Members
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Ft.laud FL
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Originally Posted by trboda6' post='514866' date='Jan 7 2008, 07:31 PM
what was the out come of this??? im going thru it now... have been without my car for 3 weeks now they still cant figure it out.... iv'e had plenty loaners like z4's 328i's ect... none = to my car.. i just want my car back.. schime in and let me know whats up with your car...
#6
Contributors
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 962
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
My battery died 4 times within a few weeks and/or days of each other. The fourth time battery acid was found under the battery. The acid ate through the battery pan and then spilled and ate through the floor pan. The battery pan had to be replaced and the car pan repaired as well. The car was in for 33 days. I filed for CA Lemon Law as my warranty would have run out in mid '08 and I did not want to pay for any further battery failures. I turned the car in back to BMW the day before X-mas...and now am waiting for the new E93 to arrive in a couple weeks or so! I hope you have better luck than I did.
#7
Members
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2004 E60 525d M Sport, Mystic Blue Adaptive Xenon's (Visibility Package), Grey Dakota Leather, Professional Navigation System, BMW Professional Radio/6 Disc CD Changer, Bluetooth Telephone Prearation, (Media Package)Automatic Air Conditioning-Advanced, Auto Dim Interior and Exterior (Electric Folding) Mirrors, Front Seat Heating
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Sorry for the delay in replying, not been about recently!
It's all sorted - They didn't actually say what the problem was, however they charged up the battery and as soon as they connected it, it would drain.
After about a week in the garage they ended up replacing pretty much all of the dash including iDrive Screen, AAC controls, dial cluster (speedometer etc) and light switches. I think they mentioned something about the wiring loom too... Looks like they updated iDrive, the theme is a different colour, and things look a bit better. Also the new speedometer/fuel etc dials look clearer. Nice.
Anyway seems fine now!! It had just run out of warranty, but luckily the lease company paid!
It's all sorted - They didn't actually say what the problem was, however they charged up the battery and as soon as they connected it, it would drain.
After about a week in the garage they ended up replacing pretty much all of the dash including iDrive Screen, AAC controls, dial cluster (speedometer etc) and light switches. I think they mentioned something about the wiring loom too... Looks like they updated iDrive, the theme is a different colour, and things look a bit better. Also the new speedometer/fuel etc dials look clearer. Nice.
![Stuart](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/stuart.gif)
Anyway seems fine now!! It had just run out of warranty, but luckily the lease company paid!
![Thumbsup](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/thumbsup.gif)
#8
Senior Members
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Ft.laud FL
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Originally Posted by converted2bmw' post='515637' date='Jan 9 2008, 04:39 PM
Sorry for the delay in replying, not been about recently!
It's all sorted - They didn't actually say what the problem was, however they charged up the battery and as soon as they connected it, it would drain.
After about a week in the garage they ended up replacing pretty much all of the dash including iDrive Screen, AAC controls, dial cluster (speedometer etc) and light switches. I think they mentioned something about the wiring loom too... Looks like they updated iDrive, the theme is a different colour, and things look a bit better. Also the new speedometer/fuel etc dials look clearer. Nice.
Anyway seems fine now!! It had just run out of warranty, but luckily the lease company paid!![Thumbsup](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/thumbsup.gif)
It's all sorted - They didn't actually say what the problem was, however they charged up the battery and as soon as they connected it, it would drain.
After about a week in the garage they ended up replacing pretty much all of the dash including iDrive Screen, AAC controls, dial cluster (speedometer etc) and light switches. I think they mentioned something about the wiring loom too... Looks like they updated iDrive, the theme is a different colour, and things look a bit better. Also the new speedometer/fuel etc dials look clearer. Nice.
![Stuart](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/stuart.gif)
Anyway seems fine now!! It had just run out of warranty, but luckily the lease company paid!
![Thumbsup](https://5series.net/forums/images/smilies/imported/thumbsup.gif)
#9
Members
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2004 E60 525d M Sport, Mystic Blue Adaptive Xenon's (Visibility Package), Grey Dakota Leather, Professional Navigation System, BMW Professional Radio/6 Disc CD Changer, Bluetooth Telephone Prearation, (Media Package)Automatic Air Conditioning-Advanced, Auto Dim Interior and Exterior (Electric Folding) Mirrors, Front Seat Heating
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Originally Posted by trboda6' post='515710' date='Jan 10 2008, 12:49 AM
do you have any aftermarket hid's ect... im trying to see if thats my prob... or is your car stock??
Have you taken it to a dealer yet to have it inspected? Good luck!
#10
Senior Members
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Ft.laud FL
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
![Default](https://5series.net/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif)
Originally Posted by converted2bmw' post='515894' date='Jan 10 2008, 06:00 AM
The car is entirely stock, nothing aftermarket. The only extras are those from the standard BMW optional extras.
Have you taken it to a dealer yet to have it inspected? Good luck!
Have you taken it to a dealer yet to have it inspected? Good luck!
ok, thanks .. yes the car is at the dealer now... it has been there for about 23 days and counting... so far they have gone thru 2 batteries, swapped my cluster and a couple other modules ect... im still waiting spoke to the tech that i know at the dealer and he told me that they are not touching it anymore because they have spent too much time on it with no resolve.. they are having some BMW specialist fly in to look at it.. they do that for very complicated cases.... I bet my car is having the same prob yours had...