A few days ago, I installed
https://xoutpost.com/1218267-post86.html a small battery-saving device to allow my electric (aftermarket) cooling fan to run after the ignition was turned off. It used the existing "switched" wiring that I'd been using for months, and I tapped into an "always hot" cigarette lighter circuit to activate the timer/voltage limiter function.
It works as I had intended, and allows the fan to run until the shut-off parameter(s) are met. I've checked several times to make sure that the sleep mode hasn't been affected, and it hasn't.
However, just after I installed it, and was repeatedly turning the X5 on/off/on, and running it until the coolant was hot enough/cold enough to test the device fully (about a dozen cycles), there were 2-3 times that I turned the key to "start", and there was no function, just dash lights.
I've followed up on this, and started the X5 as it sits in the driveway, about 8 times since then. All successful starts...until I drove the wife to the store today (two different stops), and on two of the four start cycles, there were just dash lights (no clicks, buzzes. nada).
The X5 started up on the second attempt each time. But, on both second attempts, I also switched-off the battery-saver device, just because it was the only new item added recently.
The X5 had been "sleeping", normally, on every first start attempt.
Other variables may be
- 1) the fact that I've started using the steering lock just last week, after there'd been unusual activity on our street (semi-rural), and
- 2) I've wondered if the key chip may not be being read by the EWS ring antenna, if I've not pushed the key in far enough (21-year-old original key into the original ignition switch, may have some extra space).
When I got the X5 in May, the (only) key went dead after two days, so I cut it open, replaced the battery, and also broke an internal wire inside it. I sloppily fixed it, but I carry a generic key with me to be able to use the remote entry, if that wire breaks again. The transponder chip wasn't disturbed, so it shouls always work in the ignition (the laser-cut pattern is a bit worn, though, so it's getting loose in the ignition). Maybe that's another factor?
Also, since I got the X5, there've been no "BMW chimes, gongs, or any other sounds", and I've also only triggered the alarm (honking horn, flashing lights) once, even though I always make sure the "clown nose" is flashing...is the immobilizer intermittently acting-up in the background, just now?
I'll keep testing it, but any ideas what it might be? The X5 always starts easily, no hesitation at all, everytime 'til just now. I don't want to get stranded for something simple, if I can rectify it beforehand.