Common symptom of a dying Battery/Alternator for an E53 X5
 

Hi all

I've searched the forums for symptom of a dying battery but i get bit of information here and there so im starting this thread with hopefully everyone here who has experienced a pre-dying stage of the battery on the X5 can have their Input here.

Mine: Not 100% sure if its the battery or the alternator

* Once every 2 months or less my battery Flat. I have to charge the battery up to be able to start it again.

* At the moment, car starts fine, lights work fine but GPS/Radio/TV won't work. Also indicator won't make any noise when activate (although lights are still flashing)

It not the alternator. If it were, your car would likely die while you're driving. How old is the battery? Does it sit for long periods without being driven? There are numerous threads on here talking about battery drain issues. I'd start by doing a search of the forum.

Hi

I don't have a record of the battery and yes i did search and found bit and pieces of information everywhere. I like the V8 so i drive it very often even though Petrol price in Australia is much higher than US.

Battery drain issues will stop you from being able to start the car right but if a battery is dying, all sort of electrical malfunction will start happening, am i correct?

just had an alternator fail last week. it was not a gradual event. new battery was installed 10 months ago. these beasts don't react well to low voltage.
Attachment 53582
Attachment 53583

What? It cost 1700 for an alternator?

If i have the charger on and crank the car up, all the electrical stuff work fine. When i un-hook the charger, thing goes abit wacko.

Does this an Alternator issue or the battery?

Edit:

Looks like battery .... but then again, who know.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40080

Dunno if it's batt or alt, or combo...but do the easy/cheaper fix first: new batt from a non-dlr source, a 20 min DIY, and see how it goes.

There are good DIY threads w/pics via Search Tab. I would 'trickle charge' the new batt for a day, before installing; they don't come fully/properly charged usually.
GL, mD

Thanks.

I already got quoted for a new battery, not OEM though but specs seem to be at OEM level if not slightly better.

I must have had the stranger symptoms with my dead battery:

-Rear Hatch Button on remote worked sporadically
-Stock Radio would intermittently turn off after 20 mins
-Instrument Panel dimming

All of which occurred with the engine running or not

Not sure but I think most batteries have a sold date on them. If its been about 5 years just replace it. Like David said - much cheaper. If you haven't replaced it since you bought it, definitely replace it.

Then have go have your alternator checked out. You don't want to wait too long resolving your problem(s) when it comes to low voltage - X no likey likey. If that happens, your pocket won't like it either.

Around 90K my battery failed - car just would not start!

Around 95K My alternator went - car ran unevenly and would start but die!

BMW alternator at local Indie was around $600 including labor.

Mine is the same now.

(I AGREE smiley here)


Mine went from two-turn start in deep sub-freezing temps to dead in 12 hours, with no easy explanation. I have the considerable advantage of being able to afford it, so I didn't hesitate to replace and not a problem since.

Wonky electronics is beginning to sound like a sure sign that the Xer has eaten your battery, time to get a new one, like tires.

I changed the battery today.

Test the old one on the Multimeter and it reads fine, 12,5 . Forgot to test it on the car while its running.

Test the new one on the Mulitmeter and it read 12.65, not much different here. Test it while the car is running and it read around 13,9.

Since new battery went in, lost all FM stations yet TV is ok. Reset radio station but lost the time and date.

All the lights works fine now but who know .... except for my steering wheel lights (lights on the buttons), anyone know how can i get them back?

All this stuff happened when i coded my LCM with Navcoder. I'm not sure whether its the shit happens at the same time or not but yeah, all my lights gone wacko after i coded the LCM.
Load the OLD command back and lights work better but still, every now and then they go crazy again so i'm not sure if its the program itself or not but i can't blame anything since its an old car anyway.

Here is the fault codes that i've got

Summary of stored Fault Codes:
Module Qty Fault Codes
BMBT 2 0x031F 0x0114
RAD 1 0x0082
--------------------------------------------------
Detailed fault code info
Module Nbr Code Freq Description
BMBT 1 0x031F 31 Radio status telegram timeout
BMBT 2 0x0114 20 Watchdog reset
RAD 1 0x0082 130 Unknown

How do i check the ground trap?

RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.4i Cylinder head cover

I sometime loose all indicators, this include hazzard light. Can i check the ground trap without the need of removing the engine cover?