Not starting... Please help!
 

So I got in my 2001 X5 3.0i and came to work this morning with no problems. Come lunch time, I go out to start it and just got 2 clicks... but no start. I finally got a jump and it started but its sounding like hell, it sounds rattely and just very rough. Also besides sounding terrible, it has the brake light, the abs light, and the triangular light illuminated on the dash. So my question is, what do you all think it may be? Im thinkin battery. But has anyone else experienced this and what did you do.
Please help ASAP!

Thanks
-Ryon

battery

battery failure, but the cause of dead battery could be the alternator not charging the battery. x-mas tree effect is caused by electronics not getting proper voltage. engine runs rough is due to misfires again caused by weak voltage. that's my experience. others with better knowledge will chime in.

More then likely its just a dead battery. Its an 01 and I'd bet that battery has been in there forever. My 01 battery didn't go bad until 2007! I went down to the autoparts store and bought a new one, slapped it in and haven't had a problem since.

Thanks for your help guys. I changed the battery yesterday and all the lights on the dash went away. But the engine is still sounding pretty bad. Its almost like a repeated clicking noise. Also it just doesn't feel completely 100% right. I just had the oil changed about a week ago with synthetic oil, so I'm completely stumped now...

how many miles does it have now?

i have 80,150 miles.

Any chance they shorted you on oil during the Oil change? It happens quite often actually.. drive the X get it warm, then turn it off. Wait 5 - 15 minutes and check the dipstick. That is the true oil level of the car as stated in the manual.

yeah I just checked it and it was dead on and still fresh looking oil. Im starting to think I may just need a tune up. Think that may be the issue? Does anyone know about how much I'm look at for a tune up? But i gotta get this thing running right again before monday.

Thanks for the input everyone.

the problems occurred after the battery went dead, so its electronics related. check your alternator too. read the codes that were stored when the engine died. you will see they are misfires.

Ill do that, how do I go about getting the codes checked? If it is misfiring what am I looking at to fix it? Sorry about the questions but Im new to BMWs.

My local AotoZone pulls codes for free and gives a print-out. Then I think I've seen a link here somewhere that shows what they are .... Although I never had AutoZone pull codes on my X, only on my wife's Volvo. Hope they can do it on BMW as well.

They can pull the codes on a bimmer no problem. I still do not think its your alternator. You'd have other electrical gemlins happening... its something else.

What oil filter did you use?