What did you do to / for your E53 today??

[Rocinron]

Entire cooling sytem overhauled, no part overlooked.
LED revamp for the interior and doors, love the clean white light.

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by snik

Not sure if my little BT adapter drained it, but it was plugged in and flashing. The car hadn't moved since wed. Wife went out to go someplace and the door wouldn't even open.
Manually unlocked went in. Wouldn't even click. Just dead as a door post.
Read 12.3v at the engine bay tho. Hmmm

Told her to jump in the M3, right before she left, had her pull up and jump it. Very dead battery, had her sit a minute. Then tried again. It started. Christmas tree on the dash. Wow.

Sent her on the way and go on the interwebz and put an order in for a Bosch unit at PepBoys and had her go pick it up. Then started clearing codes while it idled. Could not clear a CAN error to the transfer case. Very weird.

I read 12.4v on the old unit. It was a bit swollen. Just a tad. Couldn't find the date on it.
The new battery. 12.3v. Hmmm. Anyway, swapped it out and it cranked right up. No lights on the dash. To include the tpms light that I've been unable to reset for the 2 years I've owned this damn 4.8
Covered over 50 miles and no lights have returned.
Dunno what that's all about, but I'll take it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is very similar to when my battery failed. It could start the car after days off sitting even at 0F, but run an iPhone charger for 30 minutes and needs a jump start. 8 minutes of hazard flash was enough to need a jump start.

Think of it like this: you can take 8 AA batteries in series to get 12v but of course that won't start a car. Your battery was similar, voltage no current capability. The thing is: when voltage is high, no charge will go back in so normal use won't fix it.

There are techniques that will bring a battery back from the dead but mine was old enough and I wanted to upgrade to AGM

[ClassyJalopy]

What a brilliant idea! You are my new best friend!
This trick of double locking worked like a charm
Now that i am able to open driver's door it should be much easier to replace the actuator

A big thank you!

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

You may have an actual broken part, I thought there was a mechanical link to the secondary lock.

I've seen cases where the lock gets out of sync and I would try the escape hatch process.

Go in the car climb into driver spot.

Roll down driver window.

Put key Into the driver door lock lock it twice. The clown nose should blink fast to indicate the motion alarm is deactivated

Now try any door handle they should all dry fire and do nothing.

To exit a car that is double locked you have to hold the central lock button at the same time as pulling the door handle .

Try it a bunch of times. The motor may just be weak. When they fail they usually still work once in a while.

Once you get it out look at my repair guide. You can replace the brushes from a new motor in abiut an hour for about $12 for both main and secondary lock.

[andrewwynn]

I'm so.glad that worked. I used the same advice maybe a year ago when somebody randomly couldn't get in their driver door.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[ClassyJalopy]

So pulled off the door card and replaced the actuator this morning and learned that the lock pin is not raising even with the new actuator!! And yes I did plug in the master window switch and yes all the other doors lock/unlock just fine

I took the lock cylinder off again and tried to twist it with the key and a little metal piece just broke off. So I am guessing that might have been the issue all along :SMH
Looks like i will need to order a repair kit.
Any issues with driving around without the lock cylinder in place?

[andrewwynn]

I've used my finger as a key for a week or more. You can put the lock cylinder in place without the hex screw so nobody knows. Get the kit from Amazon with the highest star rating.

On the kit sometimes they need a little bit of filing to make it fit.

[srmmmm]

O2 sensors and vacuum lines. Now maybe that SES light will stay off for a while and I can get more than 15mpg again. It's been an expensive year! I need a clean 12 months from the X.


2002 X5 3.0 367,000 miles
2014 428i 65,000 miles


2004 325i sold at 123,600 miles
2001 325i sold at 66,000 miles


1970 Firebird Under restoration

[ClassyJalopy]

Originally Posted by srmmmm

...

2002 X5 3.0 367,000 miles

I think there is a typo in your sig. It say 367K miles
Also, ours look very similar to yours but has only 158k.

[andrewwynn]

Oh that's no typo. Mmmm is famous in these parts hit 333,333 about two years ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[srmmmm]

[QUOTE=ClassyJalopy;1169441]I think there is a typo in your sig. It say 367K miles
Also, ours look very similar to yours but has only 158k.




Oh, it's no mistake, This is from early in September at the start of a 1400 mile week.