when's the last time you changed/checked your car battery?

 

Just bought the car and it has a new battery.

 

I had the same problem with my car too. The second day it rolled out of the dealership. I have an 04 545i with a 12/03 production date. I think I turned on my signal light and the electrical freaked out. I-Drive screen said I had an elctrical failure and take it to a BMW service center. I-Drive went out then came back on. I think my tach needle went to zero also, But amazingly the car still ran!. My odometer went out. basically everything electrical. I wasnt sure if my tail lights were working either. My active steering went out also.(Harder to turn than normal.) Oh yeah I-drive knob also spun freely. Windshield wiper also got stuck right in the middle of the windshield. I took it in the dealer and the TCU was fried and got it replaced. Hope this helps. BTW I have no Nav.

 

TCU replaced, hope that was under warranty, that's a pretty penny to pay if not....

5r1

 

Yeah it was under warranty. It was brand new and went kaput on 2nd day of ownership.

 

I had similar problem twice after bought my 05/530 DAT. The (embarrasing?) story is as follows:
Bought the car early april this year and on the trip back home from the dealer the screen/Idrive was dead after a quick pit stop.
I checked the fuses but they seemed OK. Tried rebooting, no help. A couple week later I stopped at BMW workshop which could tell me that there were no fuse in position 34(think it was 34...). I really dont know what has happend but one explanation could be that I removed a OK, but loose fuse, and misplaced it when putting it back. Happend again after one or two weeks. I then pressed the fuse inwards and think I felt it moved. Anyhow everything was normal when restarting the car. Has not happend since then....

I found a few similar indications of fuses moving out of contact on an german forum, which I cant recall the URL for anymore.....

So is it a hardware problem or is it only a minor production weakness of that fuse position?? I dont know, but surely hope for the latter......

 

Started it up this morning and Idrive did not boot up. Then I got the SOS not working alert.

After about five minutes of driving the Idrive cranks up and works fine but, the SOS warning is still showing.

 

Latest update....

I leave work tonight and the Idrive doesn't boot up. Also the radar detector was on even though the ignition was not.

When I get home I unhook the negative battery cable to try to reset the system and upon re-start the active steering system warning comes on as well as the SOS warning.

Not to mention, this did not reset the Idrive.

WTF??

 

It honestly sounds like you're gonna have to bite the bullet on this one and call your SA and set-up an appointment. Seems like your whole electrical system is out of whack. With all the sporadic electrical issues it would seems it has to be something central, like the TCU or some type of hardware/software problem. In any case it would seem all roads lead to the dealership/service department. Last thing you want to for it to die in the middle of transit or you get stranded somewhere....

 

I agree.

There is too much going on to feel comfortable while driving my car.

I bought an extended warranty when I got the car but, I have yet to see what it will actually cover.

I'll keep you guys posted and I really appreciate the comments and feedback!

This is why the forums stay alive and are relied upon.

Sincerely, Scott