iDrive melt down
12-07-2009, 11:44 PM
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It happened to me about 6 months ago. I was driving in heavy traffic. About an hour into the journey the screen flashed up transmission failure, drive slowly. A second later ABS failure flashed up. The the screen itself turned itself on and off intermittently. I drove slowly for another 15 minutes to my destination. I noticed the gear changes were particularly clonky and that it was probably starting from standstill in 3rd gear. I parked up and switched off the ignition. I tried to restart the engine. It was dead. Nothing at all. I tried jump starting it. The starter motor hardly turned over. I left it for about half an hour. When I switched on the ignition the screen started going through a sort of reboot cycle, checking things off, like battery ok, transmission ok, ABS ok, etc. Eventually it returned to the usual screen. I turned the ignition and the car burst into life as if nothing had happened. I drove home without any problems.
The next day I took it to my garage and they said the diagnostics showed an electrical failure. They said they could not find anything wrong and the battery checked out fine. I have been driving the car since without any trouble.
Yesterday on the short commute to work, a similar thing happened. Transmission failure flashed up and gear changing became clonky again. ABS failure flashed up but soon went out. I drove slowly a further 10 minutes to my destination, turned off the ignition. The battery symbol remained on . I turned the ignition on and it fired up perfectly, all warning signs disappeared and its been running fine since. I renewed the battery about 2 weeks ago because of difficulty starting, so I know the computer melt downs are not battery related.
Has anyone else experienced similar?
The next day I took it to my garage and they said the diagnostics showed an electrical failure. They said they could not find anything wrong and the battery checked out fine. I have been driving the car since without any trouble.
Yesterday on the short commute to work, a similar thing happened. Transmission failure flashed up and gear changing became clonky again. ABS failure flashed up but soon went out. I drove slowly a further 10 minutes to my destination, turned off the ignition. The battery symbol remained on . I turned the ignition on and it fired up perfectly, all warning signs disappeared and its been running fine since. I renewed the battery about 2 weeks ago because of difficulty starting, so I know the computer melt downs are not battery related.
Has anyone else experienced similar?
12-08-2009, 12:41 AM
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My Ride: Alpine White 2006 530Xi (SLD)
Alternator maybe? is it - the alternator, I mean - making a sort of mechanical wining noise?
EDIT: Blood, you beat me to it LOL
EDIT: Blood, you beat me to it LOL
12-08-2009, 01:10 AM
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well a similar thing happened to me but without the bells and whistles of the total car malfunction albeit temporary....
In my case, the i-drive intermittently restarted and ultimately ended up unable to read any discs. When the dealer hooked it up to the diagnostics it reported an electrical fault but was untraceable.
As they couldn't pin point the fault but were convinced that it was to do with the m-audio controller (it's the central dash mount DVD drive that accepts nav DVD and MP3 media in e60-2004) they went ahead and replaced the unit for a very heavy price as the car was out of warranty (it's a very long story) but on the promise of buyback if it didn't fix the fault. Thankfully. I have had no restarts since then but with a big gaping hole in my pocket
.
Also, while the unit was being replaced the car SW was upgraded to the latest version too, so I'd never know what actually went wrong in the first place!!
good luck with your fact finding but if your car is under warranty, then I'd suggest that you get to a stealer PRONTO!!
In my case, the i-drive intermittently restarted and ultimately ended up unable to read any discs. When the dealer hooked it up to the diagnostics it reported an electrical fault but was untraceable.
As they couldn't pin point the fault but were convinced that it was to do with the m-audio controller (it's the central dash mount DVD drive that accepts nav DVD and MP3 media in e60-2004) they went ahead and replaced the unit for a very heavy price as the car was out of warranty (it's a very long story) but on the promise of buyback if it didn't fix the fault. Thankfully. I have had no restarts since then but with a big gaping hole in my pocket
.Also, while the unit was being replaced the car SW was upgraded to the latest version too, so I'd never know what actually went wrong in the first place!!
good luck with your fact finding but if your car is under warranty, then I'd suggest that you get to a stealer PRONTO!!
12-08-2009, 01:23 AM
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Thanks for your thoughts.
The alternator is not making strange noises and has a healthy output. Whether or not it throws a wobbler every now and again is a different matter.
The car is nearly 6 years old with no warranty.
I don't have sat nav.
If this is as bad as it gets, a tantrum every 6 months, I can probably live with it.
I'll keep an eye on the alternator.
Thanks.
The alternator is not making strange noises and has a healthy output. Whether or not it throws a wobbler every now and again is a different matter.
The car is nearly 6 years old with no warranty.
I don't have sat nav.
If this is as bad as it gets, a tantrum every 6 months, I can probably live with it.
I'll keep an eye on the alternator.
Thanks.
12-08-2009, 01:42 AM
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I'm glad that you are more assured than I was ;-)
I was worried that it was a sign of worse things to follow and consequently didn't want to take the chance and cough up a lot more for something else later down the line. I can't profess that 1.5k was cheap but it was a dicision I took at that time and can't deny that I've regretted it at times since then ;-)
I was worried that it was a sign of worse things to follow and consequently didn't want to take the chance and cough up a lot more for something else later down the line. I can't profess that 1.5k was cheap but it was a dicision I took at that time and can't deny that I've regretted it at times since then ;-)
12-08-2009, 02:23 AM
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My Ride: Alpine White 2006 530Xi (SLD)
There are no "random events" in cars, as my friend likes to say, but also, in this case, I think "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" works just as well.
I'd take it to the dealer and have them run a diagnostic - should not be too outrageous cost-wise. If they don't find anything wrong, I say, just drive it and forget about it until it happens again (if it ever does). But having a dealer run a few checks could go a long way toward making sure you don't get stranded on the side of the road due to this issue some time later.
I'd take it to the dealer and have them run a diagnostic - should not be too outrageous cost-wise. If they don't find anything wrong, I say, just drive it and forget about it until it happens again (if it ever does). But having a dealer run a few checks could go a long way toward making sure you don't get stranded on the side of the road due to this issue some time later.
12-08-2009, 03:43 AM
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Originally Posted by KeithL' post='1070074' date='Dec 8 2009, 03:44 AM
It happened to me about 6 months ago. I was driving in heavy traffic. About an hour into the journey the screen flashed up transmission failure, drive slowly. A second later ABS failure flashed up. The the screen itself turned itself on and off intermittently. I drove slowly for another 15 minutes to my destination. I noticed the gear changes were particularly clonky and that it was probably starting from standstill in 3rd gear. I parked up and switched off the ignition. I tried to restart the engine. It was dead. Nothing at all. I tried jump starting it. The starter motor hardly turned over. I left it for about half an hour. When I switched on the ignition the screen started going through a sort of reboot cycle, checking things off, like battery ok, transmission ok, ABS ok, etc. Eventually it returned to the usual screen. I turned the ignition and the car burst into life as if nothing had happened. I drove home without any problems.
The next day I took it to my garage and they said the diagnostics showed an electrical failure. They said they could not find anything wrong and the battery checked out fine. I have been driving the car since without any trouble.
Yesterday on the short commute to work, a similar thing happened. Transmission failure flashed up and gear changing became clonky again. ABS failure flashed up but soon went out. I drove slowly a further 10 minutes to my destination, turned off the ignition. The battery symbol remained on . I turned the ignition on and it fired up perfectly, all warning signs disappeared and its been running fine since. I renewed the battery about 2 weeks ago because of difficulty starting, so I know the computer melt downs are not battery related.
Has anyone else experienced similar?
The next day I took it to my garage and they said the diagnostics showed an electrical failure. They said they could not find anything wrong and the battery checked out fine. I have been driving the car since without any trouble.
Yesterday on the short commute to work, a similar thing happened. Transmission failure flashed up and gear changing became clonky again. ABS failure flashed up but soon went out. I drove slowly a further 10 minutes to my destination, turned off the ignition. The battery symbol remained on . I turned the ignition on and it fired up perfectly, all warning signs disappeared and its been running fine since. I renewed the battery about 2 weeks ago because of difficulty starting, so I know the computer melt downs are not battery related.
Has anyone else experienced similar?
I have the same problem with warnings ABS/ Transmission faults on my Idrive screen, but clears by switching the ignition on and off again. Like you thought it was the battery as my carsoft software comes back with voltage to high errors, but buying a new one made no difference. The fault even appeared this weekend when I had just started the engine not even moved, and reved it a little. I think it could be the alternator sending a surge through the electrics, but at ?400 to replace, its a lot of money to spend if it isn't. It's never really stopped the car, but annoying that it cuts your power and you have to pull over to turn the ignition off and on again to get your engine working correctly. Think I'll have to live with it, unless it gets worse.
12-08-2009, 04:21 AM
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Originally Posted by flashit1' post='1070119' date='Dec 8 2009, 12:43 PM
Hi,
I have the same problem with warnings ABS/ Transmission faults on my Idrive screen, but clears by switching the ignition on and off again. Like you thought it was the battery as my carsoft software comes back with voltage to high errors, but buying a new one made no difference. The fault even appeared this weekend when I had just started the engine not even moved, and reved it a little. I think it could be the alternator sending a surge through the electrics, but at ?400 to replace, its a lot of money to spend if it isn't. It's never really stopped the car, but annoying that it cuts your power and you have to pull over to turn the ignition off and on again to get your engine working correctly. Think I'll have to live with it, unless it gets worse.
I have the same problem with warnings ABS/ Transmission faults on my Idrive screen, but clears by switching the ignition on and off again. Like you thought it was the battery as my carsoft software comes back with voltage to high errors, but buying a new one made no difference. The fault even appeared this weekend when I had just started the engine not even moved, and reved it a little. I think it could be the alternator sending a surge through the electrics, but at ?400 to replace, its a lot of money to spend if it isn't. It's never really stopped the car, but annoying that it cuts your power and you have to pull over to turn the ignition off and on again to get your engine working correctly. Think I'll have to live with it, unless it gets worse.
Hi Flashit1,
How often has it happened? I've only had it twice in 3 years of ownership. The second time was cured by just by restarting. The first time I had to wait about a half hour before restarting. Both times I have not been stranded, but the gear change is very lumpy and it pulls away in 3rd gear.
12-08-2009, 04:52 AM
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Originally Posted by KeithL' post='1070134' date='Dec 8 2009, 09:21 AM
Hi Flashit1,
How often has it happened? I've only had it twice in 3 years of ownership. The second time was cured by just by restarting. The first time I had to wait about a half hour before restarting. Both times I have not been stranded, but the gear change is very lumpy and it pulls away in 3rd gear.
How often has it happened? I've only had it twice in 3 years of ownership. The second time was cured by just by restarting. The first time I had to wait about a half hour before restarting. Both times I have not been stranded, but the gear change is very lumpy and it pulls away in 3rd gear.
It happens every couple of weeks, usually first thing in a morning pulling out of junctions. It then locks you out of the transmission, so you can't go into DS mode, and you have to rev like hell to get the car moving from stand still. Hence I pull over as soon as possible to turn the ignition off and on again. Never had to wait 30 minutes to reset touch wood. Car is 530D 2003 with 92,000 on the clock, been doing it since i bought it in June 2008, so I guess thats why the last owner got rid of it because otherwise its a beautiful car. Mentioned it to the dealers once, but they couldn't find anything wrong. Deep down I feel it is the alternator, it probably keeps spiking out a higher than normal voltage which shorts the system, when it happens the IDrive screen goes blank for a few seconds before the warning lights come on.
Regards,
David