Bloody M5 battery - dead AGAIN!
Discussion
Can somebody please give me some pointers here: I've just left the bloody thing parked up in the garage since Monday night having used it every day since, well, the last damn battery!
Yep, resolutely refusing to start.
What a load of complete sh1t, this car seems to go through batteries every six sodding months and if you can't leave a modern car for five nights, fully tucked up without it dying then it seems to me inherently floored.
Any pointers/experience with this problem?
Murky bucket, DeR.
Yep, resolutely refusing to start.
What a load of complete sh1t, this car seems to go through batteries every six sodding months and if you can't leave a modern car for five nights, fully tucked up without it dying then it seems to me inherently floored.
Any pointers/experience with this problem?
Murky bucket, DeR.
Left the TV on? Or fridge?
Apparently the car phone can drag ar5e out of battery which is why there is some sort of timer (according to my 540 literature) which shuts if off within a couple of minutes of turning ignition off. Maybe your timer is set differently (assuming the car is armed with phone). Failing that, a couple of thousand other electrical gremlins are possible, or your new battery was a duff one.
I'd have one more go with a replacement battery, if it does it again swap for that nice B10 V8.
Apparently the car phone can drag ar5e out of battery which is why there is some sort of timer (according to my 540 literature) which shuts if off within a couple of minutes of turning ignition off. Maybe your timer is set differently (assuming the car is armed with phone). Failing that, a couple of thousand other electrical gremlins are possible, or your new battery was a duff one.
I'd have one more go with a replacement battery, if it does it again swap for that nice B10 V8.
gdr said:
I'd have one more go with a replacement battery, if it does it again swap for that nice B10 V8.
Chief, all was switched off and there's no phone in it: this will be something like my 5th battery in 2 years which is simply not good enough.
Are the B10s any better in this respect?
{Every day, in every way I regret more the abandonment of the old, 101%Lexian barge!}
Something is draining it. :statingtheobvioussmiley:
You need to drop it off to a decent aouto electrician and see what the drain is before putting another battery in. Normal things are items such as lights not switching off, aftermarket alarms, trackers, phone installs etc.
DAZ
BTW Batterys normally come with a warranty.......
>> Edited by dazren on Saturday 26th November 09:26
You need to drop it off to a decent aouto electrician and see what the drain is before putting another battery in. Normal things are items such as lights not switching off, aftermarket alarms, trackers, phone installs etc.
DAZ
BTW Batterys normally come with a warranty.......
>> Edited by dazren on Saturday 26th November 09:26
derestrictor said:
[quote=gdr]
Are the B10s any better in this respect?
Not sure what general reliability of E39 electrics is but in my limited experience its been good. Perhaps you have a bad 'un. I had E39 535 for 2 years, left for several weeks at a time at airports and never failed to start on original battery. Recently acquired 540 touring seems similarly secure in the electrical department. Would expect B10 to be as sound as 540 in that respect.
dazren said:
Something is draining it. :statingtheobvioussmiley:
You need to drop it off to a decent aouto electrician and see what the drain is before putting another battery in. Normal things are items such as lights not switching off, aftermarket alarms, trackers, phone installs etc.
DAZ
BTW Batterys normally come with a warranty.......
Boss, quite paranoid about these things, like locking doors, octuple checks an' all that! I think this is a genuine design fault, like pre Arnage Bentleys - a week and it's deed!
Right, 400 horsepower rice chariot, where art thou!
dazren said:
BTW Batterys normally come with a warranty.......
If BMW battery warranties are anything like their supposed 6 year anti-corrosion cover then they ain't worth the paper...
I get sick of dealers ripping me off with all this sharp intake of breath bollox bullsh1t: this is why a levitation Japwards seems ineviatble.
Only Porsche seem to have long term quailty paintjobs outside of Europe (sorry, somewhat orf thread there.)
And batteries that last more than three episodes of Monkey.
My old Z3m started doing this. It was only because as I walked past the garge one day and heard the radio ON (having definitely turned it off 2 days ago) that I realised what was happening. Apparently some relay thingy (Im not exactly v. technical) that allows the unit to stay on after ignition is switched off had failed/played up.
Try disconnecting the power to the radio and leave for a few days. Proved my problem and allowad me to fix.
Good luck - bloody frustrating though!
Boshly
Try disconnecting the power to the radio and leave for a few days. Proved my problem and allowad me to fix.
Good luck - bloody frustrating though!
Boshly
Have you got 'Traffic Master' fitted? they have been rewired on some models to switch its permanent feed to ignition feed to reduce battery drain.
Also 'Tracker' batteries can die and cause a drain.
Get an auto electrician to check the 'Ignition off current draw' remind him to let the bus system go to sleep first, so connect up an ampmeter and after approx 30 minutes read the current draw,
More than 40milli amps/ 0.04 amps is high, more than 70 milliamps/ 0.07 amps is critical.
I would reccomend getting a trickle charger to leave on whilst it is left in the garage for long periods.
Also 'Tracker' batteries can die and cause a drain.
Get an auto electrician to check the 'Ignition off current draw' remind him to let the bus system go to sleep first, so connect up an ampmeter and after approx 30 minutes read the current draw,
More than 40milli amps/ 0.04 amps is high, more than 70 milliamps/ 0.07 amps is critical.
I would reccomend getting a trickle charger to leave on whilst it is left in the garage for long periods.
A decent auto-electrician should be able to tell what is drawing the current, tracing it via the fuse box. I had this on old Ford Zodiac once, absolutely impossible to spot the problem myself but 'Sanderstead Auto-Electrical' found the horn relay was live in about 5 minutes flat.
Not sure if 'decent auto-electricians' include your local BMW dealer though.
Not sure if 'decent auto-electricians' include your local BMW dealer though.
What kind of use does the car get? Maybe its a BMW trait...
If its in use most days then there is almost certainly something up somewhere.
An aquiantance has had problems with the battery on a 330Ci, and has got through about 3 batteries in just under three years. I must add that the car is not in daily use, but is used at the weekends. The last time BMW rescue visited he was advised to ensure the car is given a lengthy run at least once every two weeks. He mentioned something about some heater that comes on after the car is switched off incase the driver should come back to the car.
HTH
Regards
If its in use most days then there is almost certainly something up somewhere.
An aquiantance has had problems with the battery on a 330Ci, and has got through about 3 batteries in just under three years. I must add that the car is not in daily use, but is used at the weekends. The last time BMW rescue visited he was advised to ensure the car is given a lengthy run at least once every two weeks. He mentioned something about some heater that comes on after the car is switched off incase the driver should come back to the car.
HTH
Regards
spnracing said:
Not sure if 'decent auto-electricians' include your local BMW dealer though.
If my experiences with my "old" (1994, E38) 7 series were anything to go by, the answer was a definite "Nein!".
A good auto-electrician is a must - dealers will just be there swapping modules out, at your expense, while you "run it for a few days and see how it goes". Can you tell that my contempt for dealers knows very little in the way of bounds?
As already said, a decent auto-electrician is the way forward. To be honest it could be anything from the alarm system to a faulty switch somewhere.
The complexity of modern auto electrics means that there are cables everywhere. It could be something as simple a cable which has had the insulation rubbed off and is shorting out on some body electrics. But, the E39 was the second generation bus-electric system that BMW used. The first was the older 7 series (e38?) and was proven to be reliable. But the E39 can have faulty electrics as pretty much everything else is reliable. Tracing the issue can be hard, but a faulty relay or bus connector can be drawing power from the system and eventually killing the battery.
Worth getting the yellow pages out and phoning around - making sure they can do E39's though. However, since they have been around for a few years it should be fine - bus electrics are in everything from the new Mini to all BMW's since the early 7.... so shouldnt be an issue.....
Definately something draining the battery though - know a few people who have / had E39's and have left their cars for weeks without an issue.
Car electrics - curse of the modern motorcar....
The complexity of modern auto electrics means that there are cables everywhere. It could be something as simple a cable which has had the insulation rubbed off and is shorting out on some body electrics. But, the E39 was the second generation bus-electric system that BMW used. The first was the older 7 series (e38?) and was proven to be reliable. But the E39 can have faulty electrics as pretty much everything else is reliable. Tracing the issue can be hard, but a faulty relay or bus connector can be drawing power from the system and eventually killing the battery.
Worth getting the yellow pages out and phoning around - making sure they can do E39's though. However, since they have been around for a few years it should be fine - bus electrics are in everything from the new Mini to all BMW's since the early 7.... so shouldnt be an issue.....
Definately something draining the battery though - know a few people who have / had E39's and have left their cars for weeks without an issue.
Car electrics - curse of the modern motorcar....
Thanks again, chaps - the 'black eye' on the battery indicated total flatness (according to the manual) so a few minutes connection via jump leads with the trusty old Audi Coup soon had things fired up.
Went for a bloody great m-way blast and when I came back, took no chances and left it for a few hours de-alarmed (but garaged!)
Started again, later on last night so went for another 'Pirelli bedding in session' and left it fully alarmed overnight: started fine today so risked bringing it in, just hoping the snow doesn't thicken.
Will certainly look up a recommended auto-'leccy.
Went for a bloody great m-way blast and when I came back, took no chances and left it for a few hours de-alarmed (but garaged!)
Started again, later on last night so went for another 'Pirelli bedding in session' and left it fully alarmed overnight: started fine today so risked bringing it in, just hoping the snow doesn't thicken.
Will certainly look up a recommended auto-'leccy.
Why do all you people keep telling him to go to an electrician? Come on, this is one of the simpler things to do for yourself. Its also a complete black hole given to an electrician as its low cost high labour. This is meant to be a website for car enthusiasts not dealer visiting enthusiasts.
Connect two wires, one to the battery positive and one to the positive lead to the car. Connect the two wires together and disconnect the positive off the battery. Keep continuity all the time and feed the wires out the back boot and shut the boot.
Using an ammeter connect to the two wires dangling on the floor and part them to see the current flow across them. Fix it in this position because the current flow will only settle down after about ten minutes.
Chances are your current flow will remain high and come back to let us know. Alternatively start removing fuses until it suddenly drops.
Unfortunately BMW, or any company for that matter doesn't always show their best at electronics, some designs are just daft. Take my old 8 series for instance, two large batteries connected in parallel!?! That had a 150milli amp drain as standard.
Connect two wires, one to the battery positive and one to the positive lead to the car. Connect the two wires together and disconnect the positive off the battery. Keep continuity all the time and feed the wires out the back boot and shut the boot.
Using an ammeter connect to the two wires dangling on the floor and part them to see the current flow across them. Fix it in this position because the current flow will only settle down after about ten minutes.
Chances are your current flow will remain high and come back to let us know. Alternatively start removing fuses until it suddenly drops.
Unfortunately BMW, or any company for that matter doesn't always show their best at electronics, some designs are just daft. Take my old 8 series for instance, two large batteries connected in parallel!?! That had a 150milli amp drain as standard.
Julian64 said:
Why do all you people keep telling him to go to an electrician? Come on, this is one of the simpler things to do for yourself. Its also a complete black hole given to an electrician as its low cost high labour. This is meant to be a website for car enthusiasts not dealer visiting enthusiasts.
Really?
I thought it was a place inahbited by chaps who had men standing idle.
The day I go near a spanner is the day le tricoleur flies above the palace of Westminster!
derestrictor said:
Why do all you people keep telling him to go to an electrician? Come on, this is one of the simpler things to do for yourself. Its also a complete black hole given to an electrician as its low cost high labour. This is meant to be a website for car enthusiasts not dealer visiting enthusiasts.
Really?
I thought it was a place inahbited by chaps who had men standing idle.
The day I go near a spanner is the day le tricoleur flies above the palace of Westminster!
Okay, I hear you, am I allowed to call you a big girls blouse for saying that though?
But seriously, I understand PH for some is the driving and PH for some is the workshop side and most sit somewhere in the middle.
I had this with my M5 kept losing all charge, had a new battery last year and now seems OK and fault fixed in tracker.
The M5 takes upto 15 minutes to shutdown all its systems. If something is not working correctly (like the mobile phone) this won't let the system totally shutdown and will 'stay alive' after a few days bingo, one dead battery.
The tech who came out after my last call attached a volt meter and and we watched the old beast shuttings its systems down. if it does not reach its lowest voltage which is basically a trickle for the Tracker and alarm there is a fault.
Worst offenders are Motorola V50 phone, Traffic Master, Trackers.
All done under Warranty with clean hands.
The M5 takes upto 15 minutes to shutdown all its systems. If something is not working correctly (like the mobile phone) this won't let the system totally shutdown and will 'stay alive' after a few days bingo, one dead battery.
The tech who came out after my last call attached a volt meter and and we watched the old beast shuttings its systems down. if it does not reach its lowest voltage which is basically a trickle for the Tracker and alarm there is a fault.
Worst offenders are Motorola V50 phone, Traffic Master, Trackers.
All done under Warranty with clean hands.
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