X5 Completely Dead, Won't Start
 

Hi all, having a bit of an issue with my 3.0 with 215,000 on it. Cold temperatures here (in the teens) - I went to start it yesterday and got absolutely nothing:

- all electronics totally disabled
- no clicking sound at all
- the only thing the happens when turning the key in the ignition is a red airbag light on the dash comes on
- no interior lights on at all or signs of life, even with the current provided when hooked to a jump car or trickle charger
- battery is ~4.5 years old, so I'm pulling it now to go have it tested
- tried both of my keys

Any thoughts on what it can be before I have this thing towed to a shop?

Thank you very much in advance! - Nick

It sounds like the battery to me, but some other possibilities would be the anti-theft system immobilizing the vehicle, or an issue with the instrument cluster. Maybe try to push around on the instrument cluster a bit when you go to start it in case there is a loose connection? I had a friend who had a similar issue; he had to give his instrument cluster a good whack to get his car started every now and then (I would not recommend this, he eventually cracked his dash lol). When he finally got it replaced, the problem was solved.

Do you have any reader to check for fault codes?

Thank you, I will try those suggestions. I am at Napa now getting the battery back up to full charge - it was at 12.1V. Apparently it checks out as good, so just making sure it's fully charged now.

I didn't try my code reader as I assumed it wouldn't work due to nothing else electrical showing any signs of life in the car. I'll try that once back home. Thank you.

I ended up getting a brand new battery....I popped it in and it started right up. Now I have to determine what (if anything) caused the battery to die. I know there are multiple other threads on this, and I will likely start with the Final Stage Resistor. Thank you for the help.

what caused it to die is it is old!! Don't waste your time chasing something if you didn't have any symptoms of an electrical drain before. If you are bored and good with a multimeter, by all means try to trace some parasitic drains, but I am confident that you just had an old battery. Have you had any weird electrical issues as of late? And, this is a good example of a battery having "voltage", but not "amperage" to start/run a car. But that is a whole different discussion for another time.

I agree. At 4.5 years it has served it's time!

:iagree:

A drain would have caused issues ahead of the complete failure. As the others stated its just worn out. Some batteries last longer than others.

Thanks everyone for the consensus. I have the new one in and will roll with that, not wasting time on a goose chase for drainage, since there were no other whacky symptoms prior to complete failure.

My battery was down to less than 25% charge after sitting for 8 hours at 4 years of age. Just popped a new one in last month, random electrical issues have subsided.

FYI, in my experience if you have much below 12v system voltage, an E53 does not start...no clicking, nothing. I have found this over the last month, keeping a 30w solar panel on it with a charge controller that will kick in well into single digit voltage. I do not get enough sun to keep topped at 12v, and if it is not, nothing happens. Once you get down to below ~8v, your door locks won't work. That includes rear hatch you would need to open to get a new battery in there.

The test was probably a load test which is the best way test a battery and it tested good even with its age. Of course there is the possibility the test was done incorrectly. And, since you had it out it was a good time to get a new one when it is that old.

However, I wouldn't assume all is well because you haven't mentioned any symptoms, such as slow cranking, prior to the stone dead morning. Since it is so easy I would at least unlock the cluster and monitor alternator output and check battery condition each morning for a week or so.