[Ennoch]

I just jumped into the car (after nipping into a shop en route home) and it wouldn’t start. Made a clicking/juddering sound as though the battery was low and then a whole bunch of of error messages appeared, including one saying that the car couldn’t be restarted once stopped (obviously not much help having given no notice prior to stopping!). It also came up with drivetrain malfunction, brake malfunction and something else originally. I’ve phoned bmw assist but is there anything obvious which may have caused this? I’ve thought the battery was sounding a bit gutless over the last few months, is it possibly as simple as the battery is gubbed or is it going to be something more sinister?

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

I just jumped into the car (after nipping into a shop en route home) and it wouldn’t start. Made a clicking/juddering sound as though the battery was low and then a whole bunch of of error messages appeared, including one saying that the car couldn’t be restarted once stopped (obviously not much help having given no notice prior to stopping!). It also came up with drivetrain malfunction, brake malfunction and something else originally. I’ve phoned bmw assist but is there anything obvious which may have caused this? I’ve thought the battery was sounding a bit gutless over the last few months, is it possibly as simple as the battery is gubbed or is it going to be something more sinister?

Deffo look at the battery - these cars hate low batteries / voltages and will throw all sorts of red herrings at you...

New battery; fit it, register it and you should be sorted

[Watsey]

My guess, from the symptoms, is that it's the battery. If its SoC was borderline and it then had to start the engine, possibly including the glow plugs, and was then only able to run for a few minutes the alternator wouldn't have been able to add sufficient charge.

Perhaps get recovered to home and stick it on a charger that is able to properly deep charge it - at least 1A charger output for each 10Ah of battery output (i.e. 10-15A for a 95Ah AGM battery).

If you have a battery checker, test the battery after it's been fully charged and then allowed to rest for a couple of hours.

[Ennoch]

Just home after being recovered (well, car picked up and will be delivered tomorrow, me home in a taxi). The strange thing is that I'd driven 150 miles this morning and it started okay in the afternoon when I went to drive back, and did 100 miles before I stopped to grab some dinner stuff on the way home. The message saying 'cannot restart, don't turn off' would have been helpful if it had flashed up before I'd stopped!

Anyway, I posted before the recovery had turned up but once he did there were about 100 codes flagged across a multitude of things (DSC, gearbox, ABS, fuel pump etc etc) which does make me think battery, but unfortunately he couldn't clear the codes to try restarting even with the booster pack on. The key bit to that seems to be that the car has got a code which doesn't allow it to be restarted regardless of what you do until it's cleared. We tried pulling the positive terminal and giving it fifteen minutes as a last resort but that didn't work either. Hopefully the battery is the cause...it certainly seems likely given it was registered April 2015 and it's still the original, and it's been sounding not perfect for a little while now when it's cold.

[Ennoch]

Also, thanks for the responses danb1979 and Watsey

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Also, thanks for the responses danb1979 and Watsey

New battery (but connect it to a trickle charger before fitting to give it a proper boost as you never know how they've been stored); fit it/register it and then give the car a start and hopefully that'll be it...

Take it for a run; come back, clear any existing codes and all should be well

[V330d]

My battery went in a similar fashion, new battery fitted still wouldn't start, 2014 335d F31
Code for low pressure fuel control module then present, unplugged that (behind driver side rear seat belt) plugged back in and fired straight up. Have spare module now.

[Ennoch]

Unfortunately as it was BMW breakdown it's gone to BMW so I will no doubt need to bend over. However, it's the boot up the arse to sort out some proper diagnostic/coding so that will no doubt be lots of reading and overthinking to work out which one to go with. Hopefully it is the battery - does anyone know if BMW's personalised pricing stuff cover batteries? I'm going to assume not given my luck recently!

I also got given a courtesy car this afternoon (if the salt was off the road I'd have just got the scoob out) and that's definitely made me realise I have no interest in the current generation of cars. It's a 320i and the dash/massive screen is absolutely hideous. Lots of animations that you can't turn off, and no actual buttons to do things. Yuck!

[Ennoch]

Well that's definitely fucked!



It's the earth strap from gearbox to chassis and was corroded to pieces. I reckon it was about to break which would explain the sluggish starting and then on Monday it just fused out. At least it's a cheap fix!

[Watsey]

Good find ! Certainly FUBAR, and surprised that something as essential and as exposed as this isn't encapsulated.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Well that's definitely fucked!



It's the earth strap from gearbox to chassis and was corroded to pieces. I reckon it was about to break which would explain the sluggish starting and then on Monday it just fused out. At least it's a cheap fix!

Nowt up with it... Araldite and pop it back on...

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Nowt up with it... Araldite and pop it back on...

A tube of araldite would have been about the same price! £40 for a new one, total bill £250 inc 'diagnosis'. As far as MD prices go I actually don't feel too hard done by considering I did 500 miles in the courtesy car and between the 50mpg and 1.60 vs 1.95 a litre for fuel, and that I saved 60 miles of driving with the recovery, it probably amounts to £200 net. The car's cranking perfectly now too despite the 11 year old battery (although a replacement is definitely on the radar). Very nice to get back into it too and not have a massive 3ft wide iPad on the dash, although the steering on the later cars is infinitely better than on my own.

I think most grounds from OEMs are the same as this design where it's open braided cord rather than a sealed wire but no idea why that's the case as most aftermarket grounding kits are of the latter design.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

A tube of araldite would have been about the same price! £40 for a new one, total bill £250 inc 'diagnosis'. As far as MD prices go I actually don't feel too hard done by considering I did 500 miles in the courtesy car and between the 50mpg and 1.60 vs 1.95 a litre for fuel, and that I saved 60 miles of driving with the recovery, it probably amounts to £200 net. The car's cranking perfectly now too despite the 11 year old battery (although a replacement is definitely on the radar). Very nice to get back into it too and not have a massive 3ft wide iPad on the dash, although the steering on the later cars is infinitely better than on my own.

I think most grounds from OEMs are the same as this design where it's open braided cord rather than a sealed wire but no idea why that's the case as most aftermarket grounding kits are of the latter design.

Glad it's all fixed

And yes; even the grounds on my E39s were the same design, something I knew to look at as soon as I got one and coat it in BG Dynax UB etc - keeps them well protected

[Ennoch]

I did the whole underside in UB last autumn but this one was well beyond saving as by then I think it was already beginning to sound a little sluggish to start. I'll get under there in the spring and do a top up on some parts and make sure this is done at the same time.