Help! My X5 acts weird!

[Kris@modmynav]

Hello Guys,

I was out of country for 3 months and forgot to disconnect battery when I left.
today I got back home and yes battery was dead as I thought.
I called RA and they sent AAA truck to jump the battery.
worked, but I see 4x4 triangle warning and my nav screen was keep going on and off.
also when I go higher rpm, it beeps and shows ABS, seatbelt warning on even I did.
I knew that I need to run engine at least 30 - 45 mins but I was damn scared so I turned off the engine, no power again, but Malfunction in airbag system warning light is on.

what should I do? should I call AAA again? or bring my x to dealer?

[chubyball]

have your car start up again, then turn the steering wheel left and right to set off your ABS light, if the light went off then you are ok. Other wise just warm up the car then drive around the bock and see if the light go away. Your ECU needs time same as your PC boot up, it takes time to boot windows. So give it sometimes to relearn.

[Tensor]

Sometimes if a car battery looses 100% of its charge it gets "stupid" and won't hold a charge again. Don't really know why, electrochemistry is not my strong suit (As you could have gussed by the "stupid" description).

The 4x4 warning triangle usually means that the battery doesnt have enough juice for the dsc, or something along those lines.

Try a new battery ... or start the car and leave it idling for 30' or so to see if the batt holds a charge, if it doesn't get a new battery.

[dkl]

It sounded like your battery is completely shot and the engine is just running on the alternator and it (the alternator) is just barely keeping up. I had the same thing happened to my trusty old Honda Accord when the battery went caput. After a jump start, it too had everything going crazy (the dash lit up like a christmas tree, relays clicking, etc.). All was well after the battery was replaced. If you don't want the risk of being stranded, I would just cough up the money now and buy a brand new battery.

[X5Jones]

I had that happen to my 7 when I allowed the battery to die during storage.

The batery didn't become "stupid", but the computers did!, they all store a small electrical charge to retain their memory of user settings and driving behaviour. The "under voltage" conditions scrambled their memory so bad the engine would only idle on a few cylinders and Check Control would tell me that components that wern't even fitted to my car were failing!.

Jump starting can still result in an under-voltage condition, and fully charging the battery outside of the vehicle is the best way to avoid electrical problems later on.

I fully trickle charged the old battery and after following a "reboot" procedure, which involves removing the battery and bringing the positive and negative battery leads together for 60 seconds, the car has been running better than when I test drove it

I CANNOT vouch for this procedure working on X5's, but if there is a similar procedure for rebooting them, maybe this could save someone the hassel of buying a new battery.

WARNING!, shorting a live circiut can cause severe damage to a vehicles electrics or make the battery explode, in some cases, always remove the battery/s from a vehicle before shorting the cables during a reset procedure

[asawadude]

Pop out your battery and run down to the Autozone store. They'll charge your battery for free; after it's charged, they can check the voltage output. At room temperature, the battery should put out at least 9.6 volts or better; anything less indicates a battery failure. Autozone sells an inexpensive replacement battery (Duralast 49DL $70), but for all your car electronics, the Optima as recommended by WolfX5 is probably the best way to go. Autozone also carries Optima, but Costco has the cheapest price.

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/g...light=Duralast

The next time you leave the country for 3 months, just leave me your X5. I promise the battery will never fully discharge...

[asawadude]

Pop out your battery and run down to the Autozone store. They'll charge your battery for free; after it's charged, they can check the voltage output. At room temperature, the battery should put out at least 9.6 volts or better; anything less indicates a battery failure. Autozone sells an inexpensive replacement battery (Duralast 49DL $70), but for all your car electronics, the Optima as recommended by WolfX5 is probably the best way to go. Autozone also carries Optima, but Costco has the cheapest price.

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/g...light=Duralast

If the battery is good, but the problems continue after the battery is reinstalled, then the next part to check is the alternator.

The next time you leave the country for 3 months, just leave me your X5. I promise the battery will never fully discharge...

[LeMansX5]

I usually leave the BMW battery charger connected when I am leaving my X5 for more than a week. I learnt my lesson when I left for 2 weeks in winter and came back to a dead battery, went out and got the OEM BMW charger and left it overnight, the next morning it was all ok.

[Kris@modmynav]

Thank you guys for all replies!!
I brought my X5 to dealershop and one cool guy at the service dept. said
my battery is completely dead, but he won't report that I've parked my X for 3 months but only a few days.
so I'm getting new battery replacement and oil change for free.

[AutoXer]

Cool, nice dealership! Now you can bring the car to Westfest IV so we can all admire it