jsmi

There's a car alarm going off this morning, so I look out of the bedroom window. The lights on my 2003 530D SE Auto aren't flashing, but when I go outside it's definitely me!

The key fobs do nothing, so I manually unlock the drivers door with the key, and go for ignition. Nothing. I try with the other key. At some point the alarm stops which maybe because one of th ekeys is that master key (I don't know which).

The battery is dead, but there's a rhythmic tapping sound coming from the trunk, near where the battery is located. The only thing on the instrument panel on the dash is an exclamation mark inside a triangle. This is flashing on/off in synch with the tapping. Tap...tap... tap...tap... You get the picture.

There no sign of an attempted break-in, and the alarm was only going off for a short while, so I'm thinking that something has drained the battery to the point where the alarm kicks in. And that the tapping maybe the cause of the batery drain.

I had to leave it and go somewhere. Hours later, the tapping is gone. I've tried jumpt starting from a neighbour, but the car wouldn't start. There was some laboured turning of the engine, but nothing. Possibly due to lack of power from the neighbour's 1.9 diesel.

I've got the batter on a trickle charge now. Does anyone have any ideas as to what my cause is?

jsmi

The battery is reading 12v, and the car is turning over nicely, but no start.

I've seen some posts about a noise in the trunk caused by the fuel pump. Maybe some faulty electrics have caused the fuel pump to go?

I'm away for a couple of days, so hopefully someone from the forum can rescue me by the time I get back

Jeff

ODB

"there's a rhythmic tapping sound coming from the trunk"

ex-wife in trunk?

Rudy

Since we're known for being a helpful bunch and even though the repost police will likely give me a hard time, I thought I'd offer some advice to any fellow forum member who finds himself needing to maximize the available trunk space...

JerseyGeorge

Rudy,

This information is priceless

Rudy

You gotta love how the fat chick makes the rear suspension sink a bit...