Greetings! Hi - I'm a newbie to this forum. First time post! Anyhow, I was wondering if someone could help me. I have an 05 - E60 w/ 61k miles. Last night, as i pulled out of my garage to go somewhere, my car just completely shutdown. Engine died, and all electrical component turned off - dashboard, dome light, iDrive....etc. It was completely dead, unresponsive to key fob also. I thought it was battery issue so i check battery via voltmeter and it showed 12V. Decided to jumpstart just in case it was battery but to no avail. i've researched it and found some threads about IBS (internal Batterry Sensor) failure on mostly e90 but not on e60. Has anyone experienced this before? Thank you in advance for all your replies.

 

do you have power after the ibs?

 

This is just a thought.! Use your meter to check for voltage at the charging point under the hood. Here is what I am thinking. If the Air Bags go off on the car the car also cuts the power to the car's system to prevent fires?? t

The cutoff may have activated for some reason. It is located on the positive terminal of the battery.
Just a guess.

 

Cricket//Turbo - i think there is power after the IBS becuase I used the grounding post under hood to check battery load. As a matter of fact, i used same post to jump start my other car that night to go somewhere.

Crickett might be onto something here - couple of weeks ago, i got error code on my dashboard abot a failed passenger restraint system. i havent fix yet either.

 

How would i deactivate power cutoff?

 

+1
Here is a pic of an activated Battery Safety Terminal. Notice the silver part sticking out of the plastic housing. If yours has been activated it will need to be replaced.
Remove the cover from the passenger's side of your trunk and have a look.

 

You'll still have power even with no IBS but some things like acceleration may not works. Disconnect it and you'll see. I had an X5 that had power cuttoff after a rearend and there was no power at all so I would assume that complete power would be out and starting of the vehicle would not be possible.

 

My IBS failed quite some time ago and when IBS dies the entire car will not "shut down." The dome lights and some things still work with a faulty IBS - but the one thing that will not work is trying to crank/start the car.
Check fuses behind the glove box and in the trunk (more likely where the problem is).

 

Sorry about your problem. Please do keep us updated to what you try as you troubleshoot. Good luck, hopefully it is something not too expensive or difficult to fix!

 

I had this happen to me last night. I tried to start my car and it was dead. Nothing worked, I heard of others having the same problem and they say it was because of a bad battery connector. The e60 actually sent out recall letters to have this fixed, i just got mine. Ill take it in and see if that the problem. By the way i got it start up again messing with the wire in the trunk..