Help, no electrical power... Please read.

[ttzcar]

I'll start by saying I have no check engine light on but all my cluster pixels are dead so I can't see if the onboard is telling me anything. I have a 4.4 X5. It gets no power sometimes. (I'll try and make this short, maybe the problems are not related) In the past (for 3 years now, never got it checked out) maybe once every 4 months I'd walk to my car and go to unlock/disarm it with the key and it does not work. Nothing, no matter how many times I press unlock, so I'm locked out. However if I wait around 5-10 minutes it will finally work and I can get in. That only happens once every 3 months. Weird. Recently in the last 3 months all the power would work, dome light on etc but when I got to start it it shuts off and I have no power. At all. In the last 3 months this has happened 5 times. However all I'd do is sit around and next thing you know my dome light comes on and I can start it and drive home. So by doing nothing the vehicle just gets power back. Within in the last month if it wernt powerless, sitting around "waiting for it to power on" stopped working. I'd have to climb through my car and disconnect the battery and reconnect it and I'm good. Car starts and drives. (mind you, there was power before I attempted to start it. It's once I try and start it power is gone) For financial reasons I haven't gone to the dealer and also because recently it's only been happening every 3 weeks maybe, but also because it'll always work. But today, NOPE! TODAY, when I went to start it it powered down again. I went back and disconnected the battery and reconnected and started the X5, I went to back out and for the first time it shut off and completely powered down while driving. THEN after that for a good 30 minute of disconnecting and reconnecting the battery it did not work. No power. I left the cable unplugged and got a ride home from a co-worker to pick up my trusty Civic, went back 2 hours later, connect the battery and the X5 fired up and I drove it home. No problems. At all. But this is the first time it has EVER shut off while driving. I'm afraid to drive it now. The only 2 known problems I have (if you guys need the info) are my Valley Pan Gasket, it leaks and my ABS module (meaning to send that out for repair soon, but I live with it because sometimes all the lights come on and sometimes not(abs, traction control and yellow brake light)) Anyhow... Any idea if it's a short, sensor, or something that causes the X5 to periodically have no power at all. No dome lights, nothing. And why it shut off this last time? Not the battery or alternator. I drove my X5 home for 35 minutes today after it started. I shut it off and started it again with no problems. Alarm worked and everything. OH!!! Just remembered something... So after the disconnect/reconnect I noticed when I manually pull my passenger handle from inside it will not unlock. Neither does the unlock/lock button next to the hazards work. None of that will work until I arm and disarm the alarm. But when I try any of those things after a start up from a power down, they don't work. Sorry this is lengthy. You guys might say "take it to the dealer, get it checked" but I've managed to fix SO MUCH with this forum because everyone has experienced everything before... Thanks, Joe