Interesting Charging System Issue

[jfoj]

So I have an idea that my 2008 4.8l X5 with about 82k miles may need a new Voltage regulator, but I thought I would toss out my symptoms to see if anyone else had a similar situation and also check to see if anyone has ever had a charging light come on when there was a charging problem on their E70.

Background.

1. I have been running an UltraGauge on my X5 to monitor Engine Coolant Temperature and Charging Voltage for about a year. One thing I like about the UltraGauge is it has an automatic "Sleep" mode that will wake when it sees an increase in the Voltage once the vehicle is started.

2. I started to notice some sporadic high Voltage threshold alarms from the UltraGauge that I had set at approximately 15.2 Volts, so I knew there may be a Voltage regulator problem this past Fall.

3. I then noticed from time to time my UltraGauge would not come out of "Sleep" mode on start up intermittently. I could then easily reach under the dash, unplug the OBDII connection for the UltraGauge, then plug it back in to "force" the UltraGauge to start. Then this is where the fun started. I would have a no charge situation.

4. I have been "managing" the no charge situation by watching the UltraGauge on start up and if the UltraGauge would not come out of "Sleep" mode, then I knew I had a charging problem. I typically could just shut down the engine and restart it and this would resolve the no charge situation. Given it is of course the middle of Winter, I have no interest in trying to remove the alternator in the sub-freezing temps and 2+ feet of snow we have recently been dealt.

So what has been puzzling throughout the 2 dozen or so no charge events over the past few months, not ONCE has there ever been any sort of charging system warning, error light or indicator to let me know there was a problem. If it was not for my UltraGauge, I would have been stranded somewhere due to a no charge situation.

I have a number or Pro level scan tools, plenty of meters, automotive scope meters, Amp probes, load testers, battery testers and even Carly for BMW an INPA. I am banking on the Voltage regulator being flaky so I have ordered a replacement, but again the puzzling thing is NO WARNING what so ever.

So I thought I would toss my case out to see if anyone has run into similar problems with a no charge situation with NO WARNING. Might be there is a design deficiency in these models where the are no indicators for a now charge situation. Maybe there is a bad connection or a bad ground that is causing no charge problems without any warnings. I am just blown away that there is NO WARNING when there is a no charge situation on my vehicle.

Maybe the problem will be the Voltage regulator and maybe when I replace it my problem will be resolved and there WILL BE a warning in the future if there is a no charge situation.

I have been just too busy, weather has been to crappy and I have not been highly motivated to resolve the problem yet because I have been able to "manage" the situation, but the no charge situation seems to be getting a bit more frequent and I may be outside freezing my hands trying to R&R the alternator in the next few weeks.

Does a no charge condition trigger any sort of warning on the early E70 models?

Or am I just the lucky one in this situation?

Thoughts, comments, similar experiences??