My 05 525I is acting wierd. I started it Sunday fine, pulled it up to the garage, stopped it. I then proceeded to detail it and then an hour or so later it barely started. Monday morning it wouldn't start at all, so I cranked a few more times and all the electrical stuff made noises and then on the fourth try it started. Once started the clock and date were reset. It started a little sluggish but fine on the first try that afternoon and completely fine last night. This morning the car started fine, but just now at lunch I had the same problem as yesterday morning, with no starting, bunch of electrical items making noise, and then finally on the 4th or 5th try it fired up, but the clock was reset again.

I would think battery, but on Monday morning my headlights (xeon) were bright and everything in the car was lit up. Maybe the battery is ok for powering stuff, but it's crapped out in reality and the cold cranking amps to start the car just aren't there? Or is it something other than battery?

If it is the battery, do I have to get a BMW replacement or will something like a yellow or red top optima be an upgrade?

Thanks

 

It does sound like a battery problem - your battery could need replacing. I usually get 4 or 5 years out of a battery before I need a new one. What is the build date of your car? Check the plate on the driver's door sill.

When you were detailing your car, did you have the keys in your pocket the whole time? Do you have comfort access? If yes to both, it could be that the car never "went to sleep", and so it was draining the battery the whole time. Once you closed it up for the night, it should have gone to sleep but that could still explain the starting problems you had the next day. It should have charged the battery OK once you finally started it, but I suppose there could be some gremlins left over from the low battery condition.

If I were you I'd take it to the dealer and ask them to check the battery and look for any fault codes. The result of that will tell you what your next move should be.

 

I got lucky and the dealer had a spot open up tonight. The are going to check out the power issue (started up just fine going to the dealer). They are also going to fix my sunroof. It's making a nasty sound when you go from vent to close.

My guess is that it's not the battery. My second guess is that they will say it's the battery and upon replacement it will be fixed, but because the terminals were corroded .

 

Good luck - please let us know how it goes.

 

They replaced the battery for the electrical issue and adjusted the sunroof to get rid of the crunch sound.

They must have got BMW to pick up the cost of the battery, as I walked away paying nothing and I am at 51,000 miles Looking at the work order, it looked like the total with the sunroof fix was aroudn $550.

 

So I take it replacing the battery resolved your starting issue? Congrats...

 

Thanks for the update!