E60 - Really didn't like Scotland!

[ymwoods]

First of all, hanks in advance for your help!

So...got a weird one, since going to Scotland and starting the car in -11 weather (it struggled and took about 30-50 seconds of cranking to actually kick in) I have had the airbag & Seat belt lights permanently lit on the dashboard along with two other issues that are intermittent...I cant work out how the three are related however...

The first issue is that on a cold start in the morning the dash needles don't work for around 20-30 seconds and then suddenly come to life. They don't cut out at any other time. Also, does not happen EVERY morning!

The second is that the fan (interior heater fans) will pick and choose when they want to work. Sometimes they are fine, other times they wont work at all or will suddenly cut in, or out, whilst driving.

Before the very cold start the car had no issues, but i'm struggling to work out how these could all be related? I have one of these bluetooth OBD2 readers and the car is showing no fault codes, resetting the codes has also not cleared the dash lights for the seat belt and airbags.

Anyone have any insight or ideas? Is it just a coincidence that all three things have gone wrong at the same time?

I'm now trying to decide if its worth the potential cost of repair (electrical problems always seem to lighten the wallet in previous experience) or if I should just chuck it and move on, but I absolutely love the car!

Edit - Car is 2005 530d M-Sport E60

[helix402]

1st step: get your battery tested (properly, not by using a voltmeter, using a decent battery tester).

[trickywoo]

I had an alternator problem on an e60 which caused all kinds of error lights due to over and under voltage issues.

My climate fans were erratic also.

As above I’d get the battery and charging system checked as a first step and go from there.

[OldGermanHeaps]

A set of glow plugs probably wouldnt go amiss as well.