Help Starting Dead X5
 

Hello,

i purchased a dead x5 4.4i thats rained in from the sunroof been left open. I tried to jump it from the front, and the interior lights won't even come on. When i tried to jump it from the trunk, the interior lights will come on, seats, radio, everything work, but it won't start. everytime i turn the key, i hear a click in the trunk area and nothing.

Any ideas to help me start this car?

thank you,
DoN

The battery connector on the positive post is bad. Either from a wreck or just going bad. They explode on impact in wrecks :)

Check voltage on the cable side of the positive battery cable to be sure but zero volts at the jump post up front is a dead give away that's the problem.

Crowz, you're on to something. yes it was in a small wreck. it go hit in the rear and the car hit the car in front. the accident didn't damage the frame, just the bumper support. anyway, can i replace/fix the positive post? is it possible to start the car?

thank you

You can get it started by putting a traditional battery cable end on the cable and bypassing the factory explosive end. That's not the correct or proper fix but to just see if it runs and such it would work.

Some replace it (its expensive) but others just bypass it.

i was planning on replacing the battery cable from an x5 at the junkyard. do i replace the cable in the trunk or the one under the hood. i just wanna mention, that if i connect a jump starter to the terminals under the hood, i get no power to the car, but if i connect the jump starter to the terminals in the trunk, i do get power.

again, thanks for the info.

You replace the cable starting at the trunk and working forward to where it connects.


The reason your getting power at the back and not the front when connecting jumper cables has to do with how the connector works.

In the event of a wreck the explosive charge in the battery terminal explodes forcing the main battery cable out of the housing. The smaller wires provide power to the blinkers, windows and such. The large cable that is disconnected in the wreck powers the starter, fuel pump and connects to jumper post under the hood.

Thus with the explosive connector exploded the main large cable is disconnected from the battery. So when you connect under the hood with jumper cables that cable has been disconnected from the battery in the back. The smaller wires power the lights and such so you can get out of the car and have warning lights and such in the event of a wreck. So with the connector exploded those small wires are still connected and that's why the interior lights up with jumper cables connected to the battery in the back.

Let me create a webpage to explain this better. Give me a few minutes.

Easier to describe it as two circuits from the battery terminal and one has been disconnected... :-)

What fun is that though :)

Ok see if this helps. I will fill it in more tonight but this should give you and idea of what your dealing with.

BST Battery Safety Terminal | Crowz Nest

You have way too much time on your hands brother! :bustingup

I think its pretty much finished. I snagged stuff from all over the place and stuck it there so we have it in one place since this gets asked so often.

Q7 was one of the donors for at least one of the pics :)

Helps with you have no "outside" life :)

Stuck at the computer all the time for my biz needs so at least with this stuff I get to do what I want some.

This seems the perfect juncture to mention that I cannot access your website, Crowz. The server just never responds. Is it geo-blocked? I've used multiple ISPs, dns providers etc. Nuttin. :dunno:

I feel like I'm missing out on a treasure trove here... ! ;)

Oh that's very possible. I had to block a ton of the net back a year ago when all of those dos attacks were hitting people. That server my site is on host hundreds of sites. Send me your ip please in a pm and I will fix it instantly. Just the first 2 pieces will work. With an ip of 1.2.3.4 I would need 1.2. to unblock it.

I think I found the new Zealand section and fixed it. Give it another try now please.

You, my kind sir, are DA MAN! ;)

Cool, glad it worked !

Crowz, thanks a lot for all the info. if you're ever in the atlanta, hit a brother up. we have a little bmw group here.

Sounds like fun !

I am hoping we can get some together next November here. One of the largest car shows in the south east happens to take place 6 miles from my house in a little town called Lineville Alabama. I'm planning on posting info on it when the time gets closer and all but I'm hoping we can get some people together for it.

Of course I think the car show folks and visitors would freak if we do it. I can picture all the car groups lined up row after row all parked and nothing happening.

Then they get to the BMW X5 bunch (us) and were all pulling out cars apart doing radio wiring :)

Would be different !

Followed up with the X5 crew driving through the Appalachians to Deals Gap (Tail of the Dragon). I'm in! :thumbup:

Actually I think the drive from here to cheaha mountain which is about 30 miles is better than the tail of the dragon. If anyone comes down for the car show we can try it and you can decide. I need to run it and make a movie to show what its like. I know its more scary than the dragon from what people that came down told me in the past. Must more sheer drop offs :)

Ive done the drive they are doing in this video at over 100 mph in a car.... often :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpztZ5-9zy4

Beautiful! Do we really have to wait another year! Lets do a winter meet!

Awesome write up for the explosive terminal. Did you ever make the how-to for the workaround?


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I hibernate during the winter :)

Me and cold weather do not get along !

Plus for the next month or so I have the joy of paying for the daughters divorce. For what I'm going to have in this I could of bought a X5M.

Wife and I were joking talking about the daughters divorce and saying if we ever did want a divorce one day we wouldn't be able to afford one.

Not yet but I'm going to. I need to find some more photos and see what different people have done so as to pick the best/easiest method.

I would love to see a "blown" explosive terminal. Maybe it can be reset


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Here is a howto for fixing it so its back just like factory for pennies on the dollar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-XO98LOa3Q

That's exactly what I was thinking. Although I was actually thinking of retrofitting a small charge like a .22 blank to replace a blown charge (or a primer from a rifle Shell) to repair the connector without replacing


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