PARK BRAKE MALFUNCTION

[pokemon]

Have the X5 at the dealer yesterday and they found nothing wrong with the wiring, so they updated the software and it seems fine now. Thx guys.

[pokemon]

Parking brake malfunction light came on again, dealer said that the actuator is no good this time. Total cost of repair is $2169.00, luckily, I only have to pay $200 and extended warranty takes care of the rest.

[anzer]

Had same problem. Never returned when fixed.

[dakoX5]

I've had the parking brake malfunction 3 times in the last 2 months. When it first came on, i took the car to the dealership service center and they claimed under voltage caused by faulty battery. Replaced the battery (under original warranty) and the issue went away... for a few weeks. When the error message reappeared I took the car back and the SA told me the issue was now being caused by over voltage. More specifically, when they replaced the battery, they did not register it properly in the car computer and that is why it was sending higher voltage. They registered the battery, reset the codes and told me I was all set. 3 weeks later (this past weekend) the error message came back on! I dropped the car off at the dealership this morning and just got a call from the SA, stating that there's an issue with the wiring in the center console and that it will take a few days to fix. I don't even know what to expect at this point. Will keep you guys posted on progress.

[ard]

Originally Posted by dakoX5

I've had the parking brake malfunction 3 times in the last 2 months. When it first came on, i took the car to the dealership service center and they claimed under voltage caused by faulty battery. Replaced the battery (under original warranty) and the issue went away... for a few weeks. When the error message reappeared I took the car back and the SA told me the issue was now being caused by over voltage. More specifically, when they replaced the battery, they did not register it properly in the car computer and that is why it was sending higher voltage. They registered the battery, reset the codes and told me I was all set. 3 weeks later (this past weekend) the error message came back on! I dropped the car off at the dealership this morning and just got a call from the SA, stating that there's an issue with the wiring in the center console and that it will take a few days to fix. I don't even know what to expect at this point. Will keep you guys posted on progress.

1. Nothing pisses me off more than a BMW dealership charging $140 an hour under the false pretense that "we are experts and do it according to factory specs". Even for a warranty claim. You can be sure that if you'd paid for that battery they'd not have given you a refund for failure to perform the correct job!

2. You should DEMAND that they document in the written work order that "they failed to register the new battery" and "dealer warrants that the battery could not have been damaged by this failure to register". If they refuse, tell them you want a new battery NOW. Do not buy the "should be fine, we'll be here for you" story. I seem to recollect that not registering a new battery CAN reduce the battery life.

3. Knowing what I do about AGMs and the recharge system, the assertion that the failure to register is causing an over-voltage seems implausible. It may affect the charge rates, or depth of charge, but NOT the operating voltage. Furthermore, there are many other components that would be damaged by over-voltage. It seems, now by the latest, that it really wasn't this and is - as killcrap points out- a wiring issue.

This can all be done low key, no yelling, but firm insistence.

[dakoX5]

Originally Posted by ard

1. Nothing pisses me off more than a BMW dealership charging $140 an hour under the false pretense that "we are experts and do it according to factory specs". Even for a warranty claim. You can be sure that if you'd paid for that battery they'd not have given you a refund for failure to perform the correct job!

2. You should DEMAND that they document in the written work order that "they failed to register the new battery" and "dealer warrants that the battery could not have been damaged by this failure to register". If they refuse, tell them you want a new battery NOW. Do not buy the "should be fine, we'll be here for you" story. I seem to recollect that not registering a new battery CAN reduce the battery life.

3. Knowing what I do about AGMs and the recharge system, the assertion that the failure to register is causing an over-voltage seems implausible. It may affect the charge rates, or depth of charge, but NOT the operating voltage. Furthermore, there are many other components that would be damaged by over-voltage. It seems, now by the latest, that it really wasn't this and is - as killcrap points out- a wiring issue.

This can all be done low key, no yelling, but firm insistence.

Thanks Ard. I will definitely request all the documentation when i pick up the car tomorrow. And i'm hoping this time the issue is resolved once and for all. I'm now nervous, that they are going to mess things up with the center console wiring, given the fact that they couldn't perform a simple battery replacement properly.

One thing is for sure, this will be my last visit to that particular service center.

[dakoX5]

Originally Posted by dakoX5

I've had the parking brake malfunction 3 times in the last 2 months. When it first came on, i took the car to the dealership service center and they claimed under voltage caused by faulty battery. Replaced the battery (under original warranty) and the issue went away... for a few weeks. When the error message reappeared I took the car back and the SA told me the issue was now being caused by over voltage. More specifically, when they replaced the battery, they did not register it properly in the car computer and that is why it was sending higher voltage. They registered the battery, reset the codes and told me I was all set. 3 weeks later (this past weekend) the error message came back on! I dropped the car off at the dealership this morning and just got a call from the SA, stating that there's an issue with the wiring in the center console and that it will take a few days to fix. I don't even know what to expect at this point. Will keep you guys posted on progress.

Quick update - just received a call from the SA. He indicated that they found nothing wrong with the center console wiring which led them to believe that the issue was caused by a faulty control module so they just replaced the control module. The problem should be resolved now but we'll see when i pick up the car later today. The interesting thing is that this time around the SA said he wasn't sure why the car was producing under and subsequently over voltage messages and that his best guess is the faulty control module was to blame. This makes me nervous because the last time i spoke with him he indicated the battery was to blame for both the under and over voltages. Needless to say, I've lost all confidence in those guys.

What do you guys think - should i take the car to another service dept and have them inspect the whole under/over volgate issue? I haven't had any other error messages come up apart from the parking brake malfunction so assuming the parking brake issue is resolved should i just assume the under / over voltage issue has been resolved as well?

Any suggestions will be much appreciated! Thanks.

[scollins]

I've never heard of anything as stupid as "registering a new battery" so that it provides the correct voltage. WTF??

Since our module was replaced, we've not had any malfunctions with the parking brake (frantically searching for wood to knock on.....)

[rh71]

Originally Posted by scollins

I've never heard of anything as stupid as "registering a new battery" so that it provides the correct voltage. WTF??

As I understand it, the battery needs to be in sync with the computer so it can always reserve enough juice to start the car at the very least. It does a lot of other things behind the scenes so it needs to know exactly how much it's plugged into. That's modern day technology for you, and it costs.

[ard]

Originally Posted by scollins

I've never heard of anything as stupid as "registering a new battery" so that it provides the correct voltage. WTF??

There's been a lot of disussion on this. The issue is two fold- the car needs to know the battery capacity and overall specs...AND the system needs to know where the battery is in terms of it's specific lifecycle. Over time batteries degrade and their charge characteristics change-and the BMW system takes this into account (why, and if this added complexity is justified, is an unanswered question) so even wen you just replace the old with new, you need to 'tell' the car there is a new one installed. If you change the overall battery type or capacity, that also needs to be programmed.

I beleive it is called 'coding' if you change battery type or capacity, and 'registration' if you just replace the battery.

I am of two minds- under warranty, or when you are paying $140 an hour, we dot Is and cross Ts. They need to do everything properly and when they don't they pay the price- after all, they justify the fee with "we are the dealer and stand behind our work" (The whole "we charge book time, which is always less than actual, to make up for the times it cost more or takes longer".)

AFTER the warranty, screw it- put in a fresh battery, skip the registration. Even if you get 1/2 the life, the $200 saved by not going to the dealer buys the new battery next time.

AND, I am 99.999% certain you will be able to do this yourself once these warranties begin to expire and there is a market for 'battery reset widgets'

A