E9x Christmas Light Mode
Discussion
Greeted with this within a mile or so when I got back to the car tonight and set off homeward.
Headlights were coming on and going off
Windscreen wipers ran constantly at full tilt, stalks did nothing to change mode
Windows intermittent
Vents running at full pelt intermittently
Speedo not moving
Gearbox locked/unlocked from changing position
Power steering intermittent
I foolishly used the indicator, it came on once but wouldn’t cancel
A bit of a burning rubber smell when i stopped, which doesn’t seem good.
I’m assuming this is BMW’s ‘you’re battery has something wrong’ feature? Alternator issue? Anyone else had this? 2007 e9x failure++ special edition.
I’ve parked it up somewhere safe and will call assist in the morning, sigh.
Edited by cgauk on Saturday 7th December 02:23
Had similar on mine (also 2007, no Idrive but also the Christmas tree/ wipers/ vents/ abs/ tpms/ indicators etc).
I managed to dump it at my local indie suspecting battery/ alternator etc... They couldn't find anything other than stacks of codes, reset the computer and 6 months later it's still behaving - odd!
I managed to dump it at my local indie suspecting battery/ alternator etc... They couldn't find anything other than stacks of codes, reset the computer and 6 months later it's still behaving - odd!
As you'd expect when the BMW tech turned up the system had no faults stored and appeared ok.
Luckily the pictures I took last night convinced him I wasn't dreaming.
We moved the car backward a few feet and it went crazy again, not as many lights but quite a few.
His computer says that the alternator is putting out a high voltage - about 15.6v vs 14.x expected. The car has headed off on the back of a flatbed truck to a dealer somewhere.
I found a thread on the internet where sombody had the same; on an n52 I think there is a regulator of some sort that can be changed but on the n53 it is built into the alternator. Apparently a faulty battery can't cause the overvoltage, but the high voltage can damage lots, including the battery.
I look forward to the fun with the dealer as they diagnose the fault and the inevitable bill. Hopefully the BMW warranty will cover most of it, but it doesn't cover the battery and that's quite a few pennies I believe..
Luckily the pictures I took last night convinced him I wasn't dreaming.
We moved the car backward a few feet and it went crazy again, not as many lights but quite a few.
His computer says that the alternator is putting out a high voltage - about 15.6v vs 14.x expected. The car has headed off on the back of a flatbed truck to a dealer somewhere.
I found a thread on the internet where sombody had the same; on an n52 I think there is a regulator of some sort that can be changed but on the n53 it is built into the alternator. Apparently a faulty battery can't cause the overvoltage, but the high voltage can damage lots, including the battery.
I look forward to the fun with the dealer as they diagnose the fault and the inevitable bill. Hopefully the BMW warranty will cover most of it, but it doesn't cover the battery and that's quite a few pennies I believe..
Car is back from dealers. New alternator fitted. Also a new boot light due to the previous one having melted.. Despite this, apparently no other side affects to the overvolting. My fear is they will present slowly and erratically over the next few months.
Here’s a question: when the car went in it had a quarter of a tank.
When I picked it up, it was empty, range showing 11 miles.
The odometer had only advanced 6 miles.
Do they empty the tank when changing an alternator?
Here’s a question: when the car went in it had a quarter of a tank.
When I picked it up, it was empty, range showing 11 miles.
The odometer had only advanced 6 miles.
Do they empty the tank when changing an alternator?
cgauk said:
I found a thread on the internet where sombody had the same; on an n52 I think there is a regulator of some sort that can be changed but on the n53 it is built into the alternator.
Sorry to have missed this previously Hopefully the BMW warranty covered your new alternator, but if it didnt, please take this link to BMW and ask them for a refund:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=VV32...
Lying t0ssers. I had a similar issue with my 335i recently. New alternator for £35 from Germany solved it.
With regards to the missing fuel, the "miles to empty" would reset, but the actual guage would show how much fuel was in the tank correctly.
Edited by Sir_Dave on Tuesday 17th December 15:16
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