2004 325xi
 

Hey all-

My wife got stuck in the "Blizzard of 2011" here in Chicago and her battery light w/ a water symbol in it went on. The temperature gauge was all the way red. An hour later once the car has been parked for that time I turned the car on in the garage and the temp. gauge was fine but the battery with the water symbol was still on. I'll check in the morning but does anyone know what that check light means?

Snowed in Chicago,

4putt

Is it the original battery in the vehicle?

Hard to tell what's going on from the description.

The battery is not the original one. The battery is at most one to two years old. The indicator light is a battery with a "wave" in it that looks like water. From the little that I can gather on the internet, people are saying its possibly the alternator.

What is confusing me is your description of a battery light with water in it. I am not familiar with that light. Warning lights do vary by market, BMW use different lights in Canadian models than US models for example.

I have attached two pages from the 2004 owner's manual. You should have a manual; if not, they are available free on line.

The battery symbol (meaning a bad battery or a bad alternator, resulting in not charging) is a rectangle with a positive sign and a negative sign representing the terminals.

The low coolant symbol is a rectangular symbol with water under it, ie an expansion tank that is low. No battery terminal symbols. That sounds like what you have showing. If you do have a low coolant level you should not drive it without adding coolant in case you cause damage. These engines don't tolerate overheating well. It sounds as if it has already overheated, so proceed with caution.

See the pages below.

I agree with JCL, sounds like the low coolant indicator. Especially if you said it overheated..

Your coolant is low (that's what the symbol means, its not a battery).

UPDATE:
Sorry for not updating for so long but it turns out the coolant reservoir box cracked in the midst of being stuck in the snow so may times. I had a guy we know replace the reservoir box and the car runs fine now. Thanks for all the help!

4putt