Big kudos to passing the bar! I feel the same on the overall turnout. I was driving home yesterday with no radio and was very pleased with how the car has turned out thus far. I can't wait to start modding the car and will start with M style bumpers after getting the functionality items complete.

This morning on the way to work, there was slight rain and I turned on the auto wipers with low expectations. The thing worked just fine Taking it to the carwash though I've noticed a small leak letting some water droplets in next to the battery compartment. I assume it's a trunk lid seal.

 

One other thing that's been bugging me is a loud drone coming from the rear. At first I assumed it was due to lack of seats int he back and carpeting in the trunk, but now that at least the seats are back in, I think it's worn/corroded rear bearings. The next immediate task is to replace the rear wheel bearings.

 

Sounds costly, did you check to see if they can be greased? That could also be an issue. I have no idea what I'm talking about, just guessing, bearings and grease usually go together. Did you get any coding done? I have the cable and software but can't get it to run. I drove some distance today got it up to 90 mph. I have a steering error but I think active steering is working the steering got real hard when I was going fast. Also, i bought a new battery yesterday and as I was tightening the cable on the battery the bolt broke. The cable is just sitting on the battery rightnow. The bolt is unique and I couldn't find it at autozone or anywhere called the dealer they said I have to replace the entire negative cable for $250 just because of a simple bolt. Couldn't believe that crap.

 

Wooow!!! You and I have the EXACT same problems lol. About a month ago I had been having trouble tightening my battery bolt and would use quite a bit of force to get it tight and lose until it snapped off too. I went to autozone/Oreiley's and could not find it either. I called the dealer and got the same $250 quote. BUT my dealer stated that the only other place he'd found one similar that did not quite fit was from a VW part. He was going to sell the VW part that they still had in stock to me for $40. So I would recommend visiting a VW parts store and checking with them to see if they have a T bolt with a nut for the battery.

What I actually ended up doing was remove the negative cable assembly from my E46. Take the T bolt and nut out of that and use that on the E60. I then replaced the negative cable on the E46 with a 'normal' negative cable from autozone

So what you should do is look for someone/junkyard that has bimmers being stripped and ask for the negative cable There's a local guy parting out an E46 if you'd like me to check for you.

 

Problem solved!! I just remembered that early on I purchased a fuse box and it came with the nagative cable attached I checked and there it was.

 

I'm down for the count. I had a "electric system malfunction" today. Every error was on, transmission, brakes, wipers, DTC, DBS, etc, wipers won't go off unless car is off. I was able to get it into my garage. Disconneticng the battery clears the errors for a minute, It still starts but after a minute or two then I get all the errors again. I recently changed the battery, I used one from autozone, it was never coded. I was also getting a high battery drain for some time now. Battery voltage with car off is 12.7 with car on 13.XX.

 

oh no!!! Sorry to hear that. That explains why the previous tinkerer/shop disconnected the wiper motor. It must've been to keep the wipers off. I wonder if there's a fuse that could be removed instead of unplugging the wiper motor. Did you match up the amps on the batteries? Also, is there some other module that was recently replaced? What happens if you turn it on (without starting the engine) and let it sit there. Does it take a minute or two for the errors to start going off again?

Also 13.XX I believe is too high for the car while running. So it could be too much output from the battery. In a quick search it seems like it should be 12.2 - 12.7. Did you check the voltage at the posts in the hood?

Update: Nevermind I see the other posts where it seems you've got it figured out with fuse/registration.

 

I also had some drama myself. This past Saturday we had some heavy rains in the area. All day the car sat out in the pouring rain while at work. I then drove all over town for various errands. I made it home and parked it in the garage while I entertained some guests. When that was done I decided to drive to rent a movie and the car would not start. I was really lucky this happened at home as I'd have been soaking in the rain trying to jump it and figure out what was going on. So at home I tried to jump it and still no luck. I removed the trunk compartment to get to the battery and the area was soaked. So now I have to figure out what's wrong with the drains. Anyway, I thought something was fried because of the water. Tried the battery off my E46 (that I had literally just covered up with a car cover) and got same results. From the sound of the horn and trying two batteries, I thought it might be the steering lock as that was not sounding when I inserted the key. I decided to uncover the E46 and use that for the remainder of the weekend while I tried to rationalize what could be wrong. I was banking on the steering lock being fried and simple coincidence of the rain because I'd been driving it all over the place in the pouring rain and more so I did not want to think of what could be fried due to the rain. So I took the steering lock apart and put direct voltage to the motor and to my dismay the motor in the steering lock worked fine. I put direct voltage to the circuit board and the whole unit responded. I reassembled the unit and plugged it back in and tried starting it up again. The first try did not work. I took the key out and inserted it again to try one more time, and this time the steering lock responded and the car fired up.It might be that the battery compartment had a full day to dry up and clear out, so I'll have to pay close attention to this.

I was really hoping it was the steering lock as I'd seen one for sale on eBay while buying my various other parts and had not bothered to buy that as mine was working. I've since purchased the part and when it gets here, I'll swap that out and get back to using the e60.

Although comparatively my E46 sounds like I'm driving a truck, I think I'll simply keep that as an emergency vehicle as the thing simply goes. I've owned it for 5+ years and even when the serpentine belt went out the thing still drove like a champ.

 

To be honest all I did with the battery was tell them the year and make and that i need the AGM, that was it. The car was fine for about a week and a half, except for the high battery drain. When I connect it it is fine for a minute or two then everything goes haywire. The cooling fans drive me nuts they are on full blast and loud as hell, sounds like a damn airplane. I checked the fuse nothing blown so far. I am going to check to see which fuse to pull instead of disconnecting the wipers. I really hope its just registering the battery, funds are real low rightnow. I just bought an amp and both seat modules.

 

You should probably test it again and see how it does. Given the instability of the E60 rightnow, I would say definately holdon to the E46, if all it is costing you is insurance, you need a secondary ride. I have a jeep and a 300C, not letting any of them go. I think I'm gonna let the E60 go in about a year, my brother has a MB E350, I really like it, I'm either gonna go for that or the Jaguar XF. I know some people might bash me for saying this but my 300 rides just as nice as the E60 and has more power. ofcourse its not a BMW but it is comparable on the inside, the only thing I noticed is that the E60 shifts a lot smoother, but handling and excelleration are comparable.