Unlocking an X5 with a dead battery?

FunfDreisig · #1 08-25-2009, 12:35 PM

After reading several threads about electrical 'melt downs' of E70 X5s I began wondering....

1 - Can you unlock the driver's door of an E70 X5 that has a completely dead battery? IOW will the physical key inserted into the driver's door lock and turned, unlock the door.

2 - Has anyone with a battery problem ever been completely unable to get their X5 back running, even after attaching jumper cables in the engine compartment?

BTW this is not market research for yet another Funf Dreisig AG 'must have' X5 accessory -- the Emergency Unlock Device for Dummies (AKA a brick). Not that we didn't think about it. But we decided that even our very best customers (AKA the very biggest dummies) would not carry a brick around in their pockets, in the off chance that their battery might go dead.

Funf Dreisig

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alexmish · #2 08-25-2009, 05:42 PM

Your keyfob has a key in it, which you can use in the old-fashioned way !

X-cellent · #3 08-25-2009, 05:55 PM

I am just amazed that you can't open the glove box in a dead car...guess it locks with the doors and won't open....

I left mine sitting in my driveway for a month this summer while iw as away..no problems, but previously i had the high battery draw warining come on. hoping that my service two weeks ago resolved any issues.

FD - I can't find the online order form for the Red Handle Relocation Kit...starting to think I might want one sooner than later!

FunfDreisig · #4 08-25-2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexmish

Your keyfob has a key in it, which you can use in the old-fashioned way !

Thanks. But I was already fully aware of the key in the fob.

Perhaps I should have been more specific; The question was (and still is) whether the driver's door lock is both manual & electric or only electric.

Note: the manual key does more than just lock/unlock the driver's door. For example, it tells the car that the door has been locked/unlocked which triggers the appropriate audible and visual ques (if you have them set in the iDrive). So it is not clear to me that the driver's door key/lock is physically attached to the locking mechanism and hence would unlock the door if the battery were completely dead. Or whether the driver's door lock is merely a key operated electrical switch.

FWIW the manual key has at least one a trick up its sleeve that the fob buttons do not -- if you hold the key in the lock position it will close all the windows

Funf Dreisig

FunfDreisig · #5 08-25-2009, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X-cellent

....FD - I can't find the online order form for the Red Handle Relocation Kit...starting to think I might want one sooner than later!

Not to worry, We here at Funf Dreisig AG have retained a high end consulting firm (at high cost*, I might add) that warned us about premature market penetration (or some such term). I am not at liberty to tell you their name, but they made Enron what is is today. They said we should hold back any excitingly explosive introductions as long as we possibly could, thereby enhancing the enjoyment of all concerned.

Besides its no longer called the "Red Handle Relocation Kit", its now called the "Red T Handle Holder for Dummies" you big.... err.... customer, you.

Funf Dreisig AG

* But, their really slick PowerPoint presentations that parrot back every thing we told them, but in a very well crafted way, are included in their exorbitant fees. These will surely sell well with the board, who all worked for this very pricey firm before they were put out to pasture to milk former clients.

motordavid · #6 08-25-2009, 09:00 PM

Fun,
Make it a project: go out tomorrow and disconnect your batt, try your key
in the door, and report back.

70Sixter · #7 08-25-2009, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunfDreisig

After reading several threads about electrical 'melt downs' of E70 X5s I began wondering....

2 - Has anyone with a battery problem ever been completely unable to get their X5 back running, even after attaching jumper cables in the engine compartment?

Funf Dreisig

Funf Dreisig,

As you know by now, I could not. I attached my battery charger to the engine compartment connection point (under red plastic cover). Not jumper cables, but same principle. Charger maxed out at 7-8 amps and then cut out.

FunfDreisig · #8 08-25-2009, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 70Sixter

Funf Dreisig,

As you know by now, I could not. I attached my battery charger to the engine compartment connection point (under red plastic cover). Not jumper cables, but same principle. Charger maxed out at 7-8 amps and then cut out.

7-8 Amps is a huge draw. You only need to look at the gauge of wires to see the kind of load they are expected to handle. And there are only handful of wires in an X5'w wiring loom that can handle 7-8 amps sustained load. It's hard to imagine that much of a sustained load in a vehicle other than the starter motor or an electrical short.

Thanks for the reminder --- Don't apply jumpers to a freaked out X5. Battery chargers are smart enough to cut out when they get over loaded. But a jumpered battery (the donor, not the recipient) is NOT!

Thanks - Funf Dreisig