porche944

Hi,

During the past 2 weeks have had some weird electrical issues with my E60 (2003).

Basically, I noticed that after starting up;

1. My mp3 track would start in a different place to where I left off or a completely random track would start playing.

2. iDrive would come up and say set time and date.

3. Twice now the clocks and center section (miles, time, date, etc) all stopped working!

Points 1 and 2 were just annoying 3 was worrying.

To fix point 3 I removed fuse number 10 and 29 from the glove box section and that would bring the speedo clocks back to life.

I've had the following work done by a highly recommend guy;

1. Re-map for economy,

2. HID - main beam only,

3. LED fog's,

I've spoken to him about these issues and he's not experienced them before on any e60 or X5 that he's worked on.

Looking through the control messages I did notice a message that said the battery had been removed (not by me). Could these issues be caused by a weak / faulty battery?

Any ideas welcome.

Thanks.

twobeemers

Yup!

How old is the battery? Check the voltage. In fact, when you get someplace where the car is going to sit for a few hours, check the voltage when you first hop out and again before you hop back in. Low batteries show up as all sorts of weird symptoms on E60's, just like they did on E39's.

porche944

I've had the car for nearly 3 years and not changed the battery. So I think that its factory fitted so now 8 years old.

I've been doing some tests, like switching on the lights manually and that did try the speedo's / console so it might be to do with either the HID's or other LED's iv'e installed.

So I'm going to put the original 501 angle eye bulbs back and later the fog lamps.

JayArras

Not to get technical, but isn't a 2003 a E39?

neil.d

No, there was a crossover. Late 2003 can be an E60 SE.

Also, check your battery recess and the depths of your spare wheel well for water. This can totally mess up your systems and drain the battery.

nomis_nehc

It clearly sounds like a dying battery.

luigi524td

For our cars 8 years is two lifetimes for a battery. I'd definitely have it tested. Auto Batteries are stamped with a date code, either on the case or an attached label. The vital information is usually in the first two characters-a letter and a digit. Most codes start with the letter indicating the month: A for January, B for February, and so on. The digit denotes the year: 0 for 2000, say. For example, B3 stands for February 2003. Some BMW original equipment batteries have the date stamped on the negative battery terminal (week and year) as in the attached photo.

porche944

Thanks guys. I'll check out the battery.

gwf545

BTW, if you find the battery is going, get a replacement from Autozone or similar. The dealer will charge you way too much for a BMW labeled battery. There is a "requirement" to reset the charging controller (forget the exact name) which I ignored without any problems. Search for details if you are interested or concerned about it as well as alternative replacement batteries like Werker.