Alarm issue? Dead X5 - help
 

So I am installing my new Xtrons radio into my 2004 3.0 E53 and the alarm starts going nuts. I cannot lock / unlock doors from the key fob. The LED on the rearview mirror is flashing. I cannot open the trunk from the keyfob to access the battery. The drivers door is unlocked. I have pressed buttons in all order on the fob to no avail. If I put the key in the ignition, few lights come on and this thing is staring at me really funny.

Any suggestions? I am a little panicked at how this thing is acting. :(

Well it would help if we knew what you did right before this happened. Telling us you are installing the radio is kind of vague for us to know what you might of done.

On a normal car that might be enough info. On an x5 that's not even in the ballpark of enough info to know what all you may of done up till now.

Numerous things will make the key fob not work. Clown nose blink means alarm is set but if door is open / unlocked it's not armed. Shut the door lock with the key unlock with the key report back. The clown nose should stop blinking.

Oh: in case of emergency roll down a window first and maybe lock twice when you lock to disable the motion sensor.


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First of all, I this is my first BMW and I have had the X5 for about 3 weeks.
Generally speaking I know what I am doing. On a BMW however, I am learning fast by mistakes like this.

Right before this happened I was following Crows' Seicam radio install and was struggling on the blue wire (amp signal on) issue. Power to the radio, all wires connected except the amp on and steering wheel control. The Xtrons is nearly identical or is identical. I was testing a wire on the harness which is a solid green and undocumented; I think different on the Xtrons than Seicam. I tested it for DC voltage with a multimeter and positive to the wire and negative to the metal 'pipe' behind the radio. I didn't notice anything happen right away but within a minute I noticed lights a little dim and the alarm issue. It is possible I shorted another wire in this but I am not sure if/how/etc.

This happened around 10 last night. I called it a night and this morning at 6 the battery appears close to dead but not 100%. No dome lights like last night and no clown nose flashing. If I put the keys in and try to start the airbag light will come on, that's it.

I have not dug for the battery before but the trunk is locked so I guess I would have to dig from the back seat into?

Should I disconnect the battery for some time and let it sit?

Connect a battery charger to the post under the hood to charge it.

The pictures on this page will show you were they are.

Magcode Connector | Crowz Nest


After getting the battery charged back up things may return to normal. It sounds like you ran the battery down during the install.

Until you get it charged back up you wont know where you stand on the install or the problems.

Thanks Crowz. I see the positive post on the drivers side and the negative post a little ways done. Will get a charge on there and report back in a while.

Im about to snooze but I will check back in here when I get up in a few hours.

Thanks. Could not find my charger (have not used it in 10+ years) so picked up a new Viking ($50 one from Harbor Freight). Had good reviews. Came up with a battery failure within 30 mins. Ran the repair cycle and it came back with a failure. It's detected 50% capacity and 4.4V (scratching head). I am going to come through the backseat to try and pull the battery and bring it up to the store to have it tested.

I'm really scratching my head on this one that I could have done anything to destroy a battery like that :-). As of right now I'm thinking the battery is old/on the edge of failure and the radio install pushed it over the edge.

Are you not able to connect a set of jumper cables under the hood to power up the car enough to open the rear hatch?

The pair I had would not reach so I borrowed cables from a neighbor. Got the trunk open :-).

Tried to get the motor to to turn over while the cables were on (with the donor car running) and it clicks, won't turn over. The clown nose is blinking crazy and the FOB will not unlock/lock the doors so my gut says there is still something slightly haywire with the alarm.

In the mean time I am going to focus on pulling the potentially bad battery out.