Battery Light came on intermittently

Hi,

Does anyone know where to check when the battery light came on intermittently? It usually came on when I stopped the car engine with my radio on and waited for a short while. However, starting the car seemed to be okay since I didn't see anything out of ordinary. It just started like normal.

Thanks for any help!

Yesterday, for the first time, the yellow "low battery" icon went on but has not reappeared. Given the cold snap we have had in the DC area, combined with my not driving the car for several days I would not be surprised by the battery being low.

It's time for me to buy a battery charger and am leaning toward the CTEK after reading posts on this forum. My question is whether to buy the 7200 model ($92) or just the 3300 model ($56). Is the 7200 model overkill?

BTW, I agree with all of the past comments about how ridiculous it is to spend $50K + on a BMW, then have to worry about the battery going because your daily trips are too short. The price we pay for driving a Bimmer.... Kind of like keeping a mistress.

Do a voltage check
At rest engine off voltage should be min 12v
At charge engine on should be 14v or about

At rest if your battery less than 11v then it s time to replace battery
At charge if battery about 12v then time to check the alternator

Originally Posted by SilverX3

Do a voltage check
At rest engine off voltage should be min 12v
At charge engine on should be 14v or about

At rest if your battery less than 11v then it s time to replace battery
At charge if battery about 12v then time to check the alternator

Before replacing battery or alternator, have the IBS checked as it controls the alternator charge. An intermittent IBS fault in my E91 caused a spurious "Low Battery Voltage" warning within one minute of shutting the motor off but leaving the ignition on.

Tom

Originally Posted by Tom K.

Before replacing battery or alternator, have the IBS checked as it controls the alternator charge. An intermittent IBS fault in my E91 caused a spurious "Low Battery Voltage" warning within one minute of shutting the motor off but leaving the ignition on.

Tom

Tom,

Sounds like what happened to me.

The same thing happened to me on Saturday. I went to the car wash and got in line. It was kind of long so I turned the engine off but left the key in the ignition. After a few minutes the big battery symbol came on. The car started normally. Go figure..

My battery was replaced two weeks ago. I drive just 6 miles to and from work every day. So maybe this is a case of just not driving enough to keep the battery charged.

How old is the car

battery life is about 5-6 years

My 2008 325i, 25,000km ..I just threw out the OEM battery, when this light came on with low charge... replaced with after market battery and it's fine since then

Originally Posted by SilverX3

How old is the car

battery life is about 5-6 years

My 2008 325i, 25,000km ..I just threw out the OEM battery, when this light came on with low charge... replaced with after market battery and it's fine since then

Maybe all the battery needed was a slow charge.

yep... go for after market battery and save 1/2 of the cost

Timely thread. Came back out of the store and had that warning upon start (last night). My next stop was to Walmart for a new battery. Since I have an 07 with the original battery, I figured that it was due anyways. No sense of pushing it and needing to be jumped. I was able to swap out the batteries and program with the BavTech tool in about 35 minutes. Only cost $115 at Walmart, too.

.
Send in the multimeter; measure.