[SRHosein]

Good day all,

I am experiencing the attached drivetrain fault.
Initially it was only starter/ignition fault which came up once or twice and now its an active drivetrain fault.
I have used ISTA+ and trying to figure out if it is my starter or control unit that need to be replaced.
Based on the research I did, usually drivetrain fault is related to Auxiliary battery, starter and update required.
What do you think is the cause?
My car is an import so local BMW is not honoring any recall on the starter.
There is a recall on the starter.

My car basically takes longer for the engine to start than usual.
I have tried charging the 12V battery and same problem.

Hoping someone can assist in resolving this issue.

Thank you.

Regards,
Shane

[zeikei]

It sure seems like the issue in this service bulletin which I assume is the recall you mentioned:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...49573-9999.pdf

I don't know how it works in your country but over here these kind of issues are treated the same whether the car is imported or not. Local dealer gets money from BMW to perform the warranty work so they are happy to do it. If your dealer won't do it because they try to force people to buy cars from them I would try to find someone from BMW headquarters to confirm that this is acceptable.

Since the SB is stating that because of this you may eventually break also flywheel and transmission housing I would not wait very long with the repair...

[SRHosein]

Hi Zeikei,

Thanks for the information, I had a different service bulletin. This one has the majority of the two out of three codes that my car currently has. Local BMW is using the fact that they do not have hybrid training as their justification. International BMW is stating I need to ship the car to a certified hybrid dealer which is totally an unrealistic option. I will most likely have to buy the starter myself, replace and get someone to assist with the update. My car was updated last year so I am unsure if their are any new updates.

Regards,
Shane

[zeikei]

Originally Posted by SRHosein

Local BMW is using the fact that they do not have hybrid training as their justification. International BMW is stating I need to ship the car to a certified hybrid dealer which is totally an unrealistic option.

Oh I see, I did not realize that there is a separate expertise for the hybrids. That sort of makes sense but leaves you in a nasty situation. I hope you can find someone to help with the repair. The procedure does not look very complicated but all the warnings about high voltage system causing danger to life do sound a bit scary...

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...ing/1VnYjyMNgg

[SRHosein]

I am an Electrical Engineer so high voltage is not a problem. I have also done all the servicing on the car myself (minus ECU update which was done by Zed Coding). I have purchased the starter, should get it next week. I will install and provide feedback. My car was updated last year so I am unsure if I will need to update. From ISTA+, I have the manuals for repairs ect, Thanks. Something they do not mention is to test before you touch. You need to prove dead before work. I would not rely on car to tell me no high voltage present.

[Blemus2061]

You should have the high voltage disconnect in the right rear of the battery. Pop the trunk latch the trunk and allow the car to go to sleep. Make sure lights on the hugest selector switch and start stop button are off. Then disconnect high voltage. After that turn ignition on you need to see a check control message pop up on the instrument cluster with the blitz symbol stating high voltage is deactivated. If you do not get that check control message high voltage system can potentially be active. After that disconnect 12v system batteries. Then you can replace starter.

[Darsans1]

Hi, Did the starter exchange address the problem?

[SRHosein]

Root Cause for me was auxiliary battery. Once replaced the faults went.
There are ways to determine if that is the cause.
In addition, I also replaced the starter as a precaution as it was on recall.

[ontario.f30E]

Originally Posted by SRHosein

Root Cause for me was auxiliary battery. Once replaced the faults went.
There are ways to determine if that is the cause.
In addition, I also replaced the starter as a precaution as it was on recall.

Hi SRHosein - could you elaborate on the "ways to determine if that was the cause"? What reference did you use for this? My mum's 330e is displaying similar faults and wondering if it's the aux battery.

[ontario.f30E]

See pictures attached - experiencing a variety of drivetrain/battery electronics issues on my Mum's 2017 330e. It can still start and drive no problem, but has an iDrive warning and CEL. Ran fault codes and got a bunch back, but the highlighted ones are the persistent ones causing the CEL. I cleared everything else but those one's wouldn't go away. Seems related to auxiliary battery, but also maybe the charger? Any ideas from the community?

[Adille]

Hey, Did you find a solution to your issue I seem to be having exactly same error codes now on my car?

[nitrowasabi]

Originally Posted by Adille

Hey, Did you find a solution to your issue I seem to be having exactly same error codes now on my car?

Been a couple weeks but I had the same issue and replacing the Aux battery did the trick. I also had an Aging Aux Battery error in memory, only saw it when plugged with ISTA+. BimmerLink wouldn’t show it.