Is there something that I am missing???

chriseast18 · 05-30-2010, 03:07 AM

So I'm at my gf's house and leave the parking lights on for about 3.5 hours. When I return to my car it will not crank up. The doors unlock and the lights come on just fine but no luck cranking. All I hear is a click when I push the button. I proceed to get the jumper cables and jump it off. No luck there either. Even after 2 hours trying to jump it then I tried charging it. Still nothing. So finally I call BMW assist to get somebody to jump it for me. Maybe they know something I don't know. Well, the guy arrives and he can't jump it either. And he had the jumper cables hooked up AND a quick start jumper box. What gives?? Am I missing something. Was I supposed to push some combination of buttons to make it crank up? Also, I tested the battery with a multimeter just before the guy left and it read 12.46 volts! WTH is going on?? Any ideas, suggestions. This is really giving me a headache.

And the car was in park and I was pressing the brake. I did however notice that the brake was difficult to press. Usually when I get in the car and put the key in the brake softens up a bit prior to pressing the start button.

chriseast18 · 05-30-2010, 01:10 PM

nobody has had this problem??

John 070 · 05-30-2010, 01:17 PM

Something is definitely wrong. I didn't have a starting problem but I did have my IBS (intelligent battery sensor) replaced under warranty as it was not communicating with the DME. Our cars are so complicated it's no longer that we can simply add gas, jump start, etc. Some electronics fail and the entire vehicle cannot be driven...

mike3000fl · 05-30-2010, 01:40 PM

wouldn't hurt to remove and clean up the connector posts and clamps on the battery. then retighten. use a wire brush or tool made for this, in a pinch just scraping it shiny with something sharp will do. even though a battery shows 12v when it is under load that can crap out.

whats the voltage up front at the terminals?

when you charged the battery what did the charger read? does it have an amp gauge? did the gauge show it taking a charge then leveling off?

starter may be stuck, try tapping it with a rubber mallet

solenoid could be fucked too from 2 hours of jump starting, lol.

are you sure you didnt reverse the polarity at any point and fry anything?

brake will stiffen up as you keep pumping it because you are using up the vacuum boost, it will be fine once it runs again.

MalM3 · 05-30-2010, 01:49 PM

difference between volts and amps

you may still see a current of 12v, but the battery doesnt have the start amps to turm the starter/flywheel

mabey the battery just needs a good charging up?

chriseast18 · 05-30-2010, 06:41 PM

I have it on the charger now. 12v 2amp deep cycle...hopefully this will do the trick. If not then its going to the dealer Tuesday. (I did hit that start button quite a few times. Hopefully I did not screw anything up. I was getting kinda pissed)

GenePoole · 05-30-2010, 11:26 PM

Are you charging at the battery terminals, or the jump-start terminals under the hood? I've heard that the IBS system will effectively disconnect the battery from the system when jump-starting the car (from the terminals under the hood). It seems to reason that a voltage source at those terminals (i.e. from a charger) would likewise disconnect the battery from the circuit so the charger would be useless. Do you show a significant amperage draw (a dead battery should peg a 2 amp charger) while the charger is connected?

mike3000fl · 05-30-2010, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GenePoole

Do you show a significant amperage draw (a dead battery should peg a 2 amp charger) while the charger is connected?

i asked this earlier, he wont tell me. its a secret.

chriseast18 · 05-31-2010, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

i asked this earlier, he wont tell me. its a secret.

lol....I had a guy come over this morning to check it out. It took him about 5 mins to fix it. He wiggled the wire going to the starter and it cranked right up

I never would have thought that the wire going to the starter would have been loose and I damn sure knew the starter was not dead. Thankfully I'm not stuck at the gf house anymore.

Shieldze1025 · 06-01-2010, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mallard

difference between volts and amps

you may still see a current of 12v, but the battery doesnt have the start amps to turm the starter/flywheel

Hahaha the difference between volts and amps huh? Current = Amps, Voltage = Volts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chriseast18

Thankfully I'm not stuck at the gf house anymore.

Just wait til your married! Lol

Thud · 06-01-2010, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chriseast18

Also, I tested the battery with a multimeter just before the guy left and it read 12.46 volts!

12.46 volts under no load doesn't tell you whether the battery is charged. It could be almost completely discharged and still show over 12V on a meter. But under load the voltage will drop severely.

chriseast18 · 06-01-2010, 11:41 PM

The story gets better. That was Saturday... Fast forward to 4:50PM today (June 1st). It's June in Mississippi, 95F and 100% humidity. I'm leaving the coffee shop when the battery light comes on. I think, no big deal, I'll just take it to the stealer and get a new battery. I start heading that way and the ABS and brake light come on. I'm like, yeah ok. They can fix that too. Start driving and ALL of the lights come on. Every damn one of them. Lights that I didn't even know existed came on. So I'm driving about 45 MPH and notice that the car has not shifted out of 1st. WTF??? I try to shift manually. No luck. Then the speedo starts going from 0-60 and back. over and over. Radio shut off and the A/C stopped working. Still in 1st gear. After damn near smashing into the back of an explorer because I was so fascinated by the light show on the dash, I come to a stop at the red light. Green light comes on. I mash the gas and it dies. Try to crank it. No luck. I'm in the middle lane of traffic, 1 lane on either side in 5:00 traffic. Car will not crank up at all. There I am sitting in the car, dripping in sweat and people honking the horn at me. I hit the SOS button. It disconnects several times before I can get somebody. I get to talking to the lady and it cuts off. 10 mins later the lady calls back to the car. She manages to get my cell number before it cuts off again. The cops were called and the tow truck but I ended up sitting in the traffic for about 40 mins. Cop tried to push the car but when I attempted to take it out of park, no dice. The car was stuck in park and would not budge. Tow truck had to drag the car up on the flatbed. Brand new rear tires too. What a lovely day....... Anybody want to guess what the problem might be??

Alexander · 06-01-2010, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chriseast18

The story gets better. That was Saturday... Fast forward to 4:50PM today (June 1st). It's June in Mississippi, 95F and 100% humidity. I'm leaving the coffee shop when the battery light comes on. I think, no big deal, I'll just take it to the stealer and get a new battery. I start heading that way and the ABS and brake light come on. I'm like, yeah ok. They can fix that too. Start driving and ALL of the lights come on. Every damn one of them. Lights that I didn't even know existed came on. So I'm driving about 45 MPH and notice that the car has not shifted out of 1st. WTF??? I try to shift manually. No luck. Then the speedo starts going from 0-60 and back. over and over. Radio shut off and the A/C stopped working. Still in 1st gear. After damn near smashing into the back of an explorer because I was so fascinated by the light show on the dash, I come to a stop at the red light. Green light comes on. I mash the gas and it dies. Try to crank it. No luck. I'm in the middle lane of traffic, 1 lane on either side in 5:00 traffic. Car will not crank up at all. There I am sitting in the car, dripping in sweat and people honking the horn at me. I hit the SOS button. It disconnects several times before I can get somebody. I get to talking to the lady and it cuts off. 10 mins later the lady calls back to the car. She manages to get my cell number before it cuts off again. The cops were called and the tow truck but I ended up sitting in the traffic for about 40 mins. Cop tried to push the car but when I attempted to take it out of park, no dice. The car was stuck in park and would not budge. Tow truck had to drag the car up on the flatbed. Brand new rear tires too. What a lovely day....... Anybody want to guess what the problem might be??

Wow that thing is fucked. Sounds like maybe the ECU got fried. Happened to my FJ.

chriseast18 · 06-01-2010, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aonarch

Wow that thing is fucked. Sounds like maybe the ECU got fried. Happened to my FJ.

Hmm... sucks for them. Thank god it's still under warranty.

ENINTY · 06-02-2010, 06:17 AM

I think you just have a dead battery. Sometimes batteries just break.

Shieldze1025 · 06-02-2010, 09:03 AM

Bad alternator too possibly? I would guess just the battery, but since it happened while you were driving I think the alternator may be bad.

chriseast18 · 06-02-2010, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shieldze1025

Bad alternator too possibly? I would guess just the battery, but since it happened while you were driving I think the alternator may be bad.

Yeah the SA said it sounded like it was the alternator but I never knew one going out would cause the car to go nuts like it did.

chriseast18 · 06-21-2010, 08:54 AM

BMW determined that it was the alternator so they replaced it along with the battery. This was 3 weeks ago. About a week after the repairs the battery light, both orange and red started coming on AGAIN! Then I'm on the highway and the A/C decides to cut off completely and my car felt like it didn't have much power. I just brushed it off and kept driving. Well, the light kept coming on occasionally so this morning I decide to take it to the stealer and guess what?? The damn thing would not start. As if it knew I was taking it in. lol...WTH could be the problem? I have had this car 6 months and have had more problems out of it than I had with my 2000 323i in 2.5 years.

chriseast18 · 06-22-2010, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shieldze1025

Bad alternator too possibly? I would guess just the battery, but since it happened while you were driving I think the alternator may be bad.

I notice your location as McLean, VA, do you work in the IC?

05-30-2010, 03:07 AM	#1
chriseast18 Private 13 Rep 50 Posts Drives: 07' 335i Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Arkansas iTrader: (0)	Is there something that I am missing??? So I'm at my gf's house and leave the parking lights on for about 3.5 hours. When I return to my car it will not crank up. The doors unlock and the lights come on just fine but no luck cranking. All I hear is a click when I push the button. I proceed to get the jumper cables and jump it off. No luck there either. Even after 2 hours trying to jump it then I tried charging it. Still nothing. So finally I call BMW assist to get somebody to jump it for me. Maybe they know something I don't know. Well, the guy arrives and he can't jump it either. And he had the jumper cables hooked up AND a quick start jumper box. What gives?? Am I missing something. Was I supposed to push some combination of buttons to make it crank up? Also, I tested the battery with a multimeter just before the guy left and it read 12.46 volts! WTH is going on?? Any ideas, suggestions. This is really giving me a headache. And the car was in park and I was pressing the brake. I did however notice that the brake was difficult to press. Usually when I get in the car and put the key in the brake softens up a bit prior to pressing the start button.
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05-30-2010, 01:10 PM	#2
chriseast18 Private 13 Rep 50 Posts Drives: 07' 335i Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Arkansas iTrader: (0)	nobody has had this problem??
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05-30-2010, 01:17 PM	#3
John 070 Lieutenant General 1705 Rep 14,829 Posts Drives: 335i cpe Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: ZSP/ZPP/ZCW iTrader: (0)	Something is definitely wrong. I didn't have a starting problem but I did have my IBS (intelligent battery sensor) replaced under warranty as it was not communicating with the DME. Our cars are so complicated it's no longer that we can simply add gas, jump start, etc. Some electronics fail and the entire vehicle cannot be driven...
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05-30-2010, 01:40 PM	#4
mike3000fl Banned 138 Rep 2,731 Posts Drives: 06 330i Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Tampa iTrader: (0)	wouldn't hurt to remove and clean up the connector posts and clamps on the battery. then retighten. use a wire brush or tool made for this, in a pinch just scraping it shiny with something sharp will do. even though a battery shows 12v when it is under load that can crap out. whats the voltage up front at the terminals? when you charged the battery what did the charger read? does it have an amp gauge? did the gauge show it taking a charge then leveling off? starter may be stuck, try tapping it with a rubber mallet solenoid could be fucked too from 2 hours of jump starting, lol. are you sure you didnt reverse the polarity at any point and fry anything? brake will stiffen up as you keep pumping it because you are using up the vacuum boost, it will be fine once it runs again. Last edited by mike3000fl; 05-30-2010 at 01:47 PM..
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05-30-2010, 01:49 PM	#5
MalM3 4 pot warrior 37 Rep 1,307 Posts Drives: E90 318I Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: DENMARK iTrader: (1) Garage List 2006 e90 [10.00]	difference between volts and amps you may still see a current of 12v, but the battery doesnt have the start amps to turm the starter/flywheel mabey the battery just needs a good charging up? __________________ Been there, done that, wanna do it again
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05-30-2010, 06:41 PM	#6
chriseast18 Private 13 Rep 50 Posts Drives: 07' 335i Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Arkansas iTrader: (0)	I have it on the charger now. 12v 2amp deep cycle...hopefully this will do the trick. If not then its going to the dealer Tuesday. (I did hit that start button quite a few times. Hopefully I did not screw anything up. I was getting kinda pissed)
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05-30-2010, 11:26 PM	#7
GenePoole Lieutenant 46 Rep 541 Posts Drives: 2012 F30 328i Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Brighton, IL iTrader: (0)	Are you charging at the battery terminals, or the jump-start terminals under the hood? I've heard that the IBS system will effectively disconnect the battery from the system when jump-starting the car (from the terminals under the hood). It seems to reason that a voltage source at those terminals (i.e. from a charger) would likewise disconnect the battery from the circuit so the charger would be useless. Do you show a significant amperage draw (a dead battery should peg a 2 amp charger) while the charger is connected?
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06-01-2010, 11:41 PM	#12
chriseast18 Private 13 Rep 50 Posts Drives: 07' 335i Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Arkansas iTrader: (0)	UPDATE!!! The story gets better. That was Saturday... Fast forward to 4:50PM today (June 1st). It's June in Mississippi, 95F and 100% humidity. I'm leaving the coffee shop when the battery light comes on. I think, no big deal, I'll just take it to the stealer and get a new battery. I start heading that way and the ABS and brake light come on. I'm like, yeah ok. They can fix that too. Start driving and ALL of the lights come on. Every damn one of them. Lights that I didn't even know existed came on. So I'm driving about 45 MPH and notice that the car has not shifted out of 1st. WTF??? I try to shift manually. No luck. Then the speedo starts going from 0-60 and back. over and over. Radio shut off and the A/C stopped working. Still in 1st gear. After damn near smashing into the back of an explorer because I was so fascinated by the light show on the dash, I come to a stop at the red light. Green light comes on. I mash the gas and it dies. Try to crank it. No luck. I'm in the middle lane of traffic, 1 lane on either side in 5:00 traffic. Car will not crank up at all. There I am sitting in the car, dripping in sweat and people honking the horn at me. I hit the SOS button. It disconnects several times before I can get somebody. I get to talking to the lady and it cuts off. 10 mins later the lady calls back to the car. She manages to get my cell number before it cuts off again. The cops were called and the tow truck but I ended up sitting in the traffic for about 40 mins. Cop tried to push the car but when I attempted to take it out of park, no dice. The car was stuck in park and would not budge. Tow truck had to drag the car up on the flatbed. Brand new rear tires too. What a lovely day....... Anybody want to guess what the problem might be??
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06-02-2010, 06:17 AM	#15
ENINTY Banned 173 Rep 3,415 Posts Drives: 2006 325i Sport Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Virginia iTrader: (0)	I think you just have a dead battery. Sometimes batteries just break.
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06-02-2010, 09:03 AM	#16
Shieldze1025 Keepin' America Free 72 Rep 1,260 Posts Drives: F10 535i Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Haleiwa, HI iTrader: (7)	Bad alternator too possibly? I would guess just the battery, but since it happened while you were driving I think the alternator may be bad. __________________ F10 535i \| Retired: E60 ///M5 \| E92 335i "If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough" -Mario Andretti
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06-21-2010, 08:54 AM	#18
chriseast18 Private 13 Rep 50 Posts Drives: 07' 335i Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Arkansas iTrader: (0)	UPDATE BMW determined that it was the alternator so they replaced it along with the battery. This was 3 weeks ago. About a week after the repairs the battery light, both orange and red started coming on AGAIN! Then I'm on the highway and the A/C decides to cut off completely and my car felt like it didn't have much power. I just brushed it off and kept driving. Well, the light kept coming on occasionally so this morning I decide to take it to the stealer and guess what?? The damn thing would not start. As if it knew I was taking it in. lol...WTH could be the problem? I have had this car 6 months and have had more problems out of it than I had with my 2000 323i in 2.5 years.
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