'05 645CI Coupe - Electrical problems?

Thanks in advance for the read.
I started my 6 series last night and drove to the store no problems. Came out and the display listed the "Restraint system malfunction", "Windshield wiper malfunction". Made it home with the wipers continuously on though but, this morning the same thing applied only now my key won't remotely unlock the car and the steering feels tighter???

Any ideas as to what ALL these errors could mean all of a sudden?
I was confused as to why they all happened in one drive.
I've owned the car since November of 2009 so this kinda scares me as to the dependability though I enjoy the drive!

Thanks again

Check the battery for proper voltage. That is, when the battery begins to fail all sorts of weird electrical issues start to happen. Automobile batteries last, on average, four years. Please report back with what you find.

Thanks for that. I took the battery to autozone and had it tested. Turned out positive and 100%. I don't know if that meant as much as far as batteries go and holding Charge over time.

Did they do a complete load test (test can take 15 to 45 minutes)? If so they would have told you what the battery has for CCA (cold cranking amps). At this point, would strongly recommend that you get the car to a competent mechanic for a complete diagnosis. Can we assume that the car is bone stock?

Correct. No additions or upgrades. I'm going to try Autozone again. Thanks for the patience

These cars are electrical power hogs. Please get the CCA measurement and report back.

Hey ssaiyan4.

This *just* happened to me last week. I went to look at a house for sale, parked my '05 645CIC in the drive and left it for maybe 15 minutes. When I came back and started the car up, iDrive gave me a "Passenger Restraint System" error and the airbag light was steady on the dash. The error didn't go away with restarts or iDrive reboots.

Ultimately, my dealer looked at the car and diagnosed the problem as an SRS Control Module error. (Essentially, the SRS computer was shot and needed to be replaced.) Lucky for me, my 6er is under CPO warranty so I escaped a $950+ repair bill (for parts alone) for $50.

Also, just fyi, while I was looking around on the internet for a possible problem, I came across a recall notice for X3s and 2006 6ers about airbag light problems related to the OC3 seat mat. BMW put a service bulletin out about it - http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/bulletins/...p/B720206g.htm (Here's a link for recall info too: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls...intVersion=YES) This might be the problem too.

Hope this helps! Good luck.

ok. Got the battery checked again and all lights were green again meaning the battery tested good. The date on the "BMW" battery is listed as May '09 so I assume that's the date manufactured.
So I think maybe age was eliminated. The BMW dealer told me that it may be due to battery drainage(My work commute is 5 miles each way so maybe its not running enough to give back to the battery) since I did get that error as well originally.

I've reinstalled the battery this am after another trip to a different Autozone and alllmooosst everything was good. The windhsield wipers were not staying on and all but the Passenger Restraint message went away. Bad thing is I'm not under warranty anymore so moving forward I'll have to choose wisely what I do.

I've worked on Acura's, and Chevy's but I think the Bimmer is a whole new world......
Thanks for the help as well Chasz17 and Wcrawfo
(I'm hoping this error goes away as well.)

Just read the '06 recall. missed it by a year though.

Am I asking to much when I go into the BMW service department for them to be a little more personable? Or is this normal? I feel like they just want to do a service diagnostic for everything?

Originally Posted by ssaiyan4

(My work commute is 5 miles each way so maybe its not running enough to give back to the battery) since I did get that error as well originally.

Don't want to sound like a broken record... but to all owners that don't drive their cars much... 60 dollars for a battery tender is not much and may make headaches like these minimal....

OP, if that's your commute, you are using more power to start your car than it can charge back to the battery in 5 miles.... get yourself a battery tender.... you'll be surprised at how long it will take to charge initially which is a good indicator of how under charged your battery is... mine took more than 24 hours the first time I did... I once didn't hook it up for a week and it took at least 6 hours for it to charge up... I've never had it hooked up and be fully charged even when i took a trip on the freeway (it would still charge for at least an hour)

as for BMW service it's a hit or miss... as well asBMW salesemen... some places they take care of you, others they treat you like trash... if you don't like your CA, try the next one beside him and try to establish a relationship by talking to the same person each time you go back...

lastly, it's a BMW.. maintenance costs outside of warranty will be painful to your wallet... accept that as fact and plan for it

Originally Posted by ssaiyan4

Thanks for the help as well Chasz17 and Wcrawfo

My pleasure man. Hope you get it resolved quickly. Keep us posted as things progress.

You're very welcome!!! Go for a drive now...

i didnt drive my 6er all winter(and a brutal winter at that) and didnt drive it once. as soon as spring hit, it started right up. why dont i have an issue and dont need a battery tender?

Originally Posted by BlaZinMJ3

i didnt drive my 6er all winter(and a brutal winter at that) and didnt drive it once. as soon as spring hit, it started right up. why dont i have an issue and dont need a battery tender?

first of all I'm no engineer so my answers are pure speculation (we doctors call it an educated guess, but it's a guess none the less... so anybody with more concrete knowledge, feel free to correct me... )

I stand by my own experience with using a tender as I've seen it happen to me and I just didn't think it was worth the trouble going through it again. I hooked up a permanent cable to my engine bay and it's a simple plug and play config when the car doesn't run for a day or two... so in honesty I could be wrong, but I searched the forum the first time it occurred and found out it was a known issue which is why I bought the tender for peace of mind... my commute is 8 miles one way... and I drive my 6 2-3x a week most weeks....

the day I got the error warnings was a day that was full of warning signs that my battery was low... I hadn't driven the car for more than a week then when I tried to open the door the CA didn't open the door by touching the handle as I had to unlock the car by the remote button, when I started the engine it turned over but didn't catch right away.. then I drove 3 miles to a local store and when I came out I got transmission warning, brake warning and I shut the car off and waited a few minutes and it restarted with no problems... drove the car around on the freeway and saw the dealer same week and the computer had no record of any faults...

1. it's a known fact our cars have a parasitic draw... they consume battery while off... 50milli amps or so... but some cars may be more. (that's a really small amount if the numbers are real)
2. we have a huge battery... 850 cold crank amps... takes a while to fill that up. we have a 170 amp alternator to try and compensate... my armada with 5.5L V8 has a 130 amp alternator (for comparison) and uses a 710cca battery. somehow BMW engineers knew something about this car's electrical needs for them to sacrifice weight by adding a bigger alternator and battery.

when you start the car, it consumes a lot of power for some reason... and somehow the battery just does not charge up as fast as it would if you drive short trips...

so blazin, the only plausible explanation is that your battery is in good shap
e and held it's charge enough to start the car after several months... and after starting it, you used it enough that the battery has charged itself ...

the key point is you never started the car in between... so your battery didn't have any consumption other than parasitic draw (50milliamps or so)...

if you had started your car several times a month, revved the engine for a minute or 10 then shut it off, likely you're battery would be low after several months... which is the scenario when we drive 5-10 mile trips...

my only other suspicion is that the cars equipped with CA have a higher power draw while off than those without...

blazin... do you have CA? also can you let me know how far you usually drive? thanks

the only other problem I know I have is I like to open/close the top while engine is off.. manual says keep engine running, but I open/close most times inside the garage and I don't like carbon monoxide in my garage...

my 6er isnt used but for short distances. out to the movies, gas, out to eat, lounges, clubs, that sort of thing. i guess im fortunate to not have any problems

Got a Battery Tender hooked up and charged it over night. Again, no other warnings but, the Passenger Restraint message.

Thanks again

Originally Posted by BlaZinMJ3

my 6er isnt used but for short distances. out to the movies, gas, out to eat, lounges, clubs, that sort of thing. i guess im fortunate to not have any problems

do you have Comfort access?

from what I've read on the forums the problem is hit or miss... don't really know why...

possibilities..

1. CA vs non-CA
2. small flashlight being charged in glove box (very unlikely)
3. some have wiring that are somehow leaking power somewhere...
4. some cars are cursed...



ssaiyan4 --- how long did it take for the tender to finish charging and turn solid green?

12hrs total. It started out at 85% when I first hooked it up

Originally Posted by ssaiyan4

12hrs total. It started out at 85% when I first hooked it up

that's not actually too bad... first time I charged mine it didn't start blinking green until the next day.... it'a 1.25amp charger so in theory yours was approx 15 amps low

so it's possible your problem may not be battery... but on the upside, using the tender more than not, could possibly extend the life of your battery a bit longer...

you should consider hooking up the leads directly to the car so you don't have to use the alligator clamps if you plan to use it regularly ...

the red positive post cover can be removed and you can put the wire in between the clamp and the cover and although it bulges a bit it will close no problem...

the negative factory clamping post needs some modification, the ring that comes with the tender connector is a bit small and will bend/break when you install it... I bought a bigger ring to connect it and it works perfect...

Originally Posted by docpaulo

do you have Comfort access?

from what I've read on the forums the problem is hit or miss... don't really know why...

possibilities..

1. CA vs non-CA
2. small flashlight being charged in glove box (very unlikely)
3. some have wiring that are somehow leaking power somewhere...
4. some cars are cursed...



ssaiyan4 --- how long did it take for the tender to finish charging and turn solid green?

no comfort access. i do have the flashlight charging but never use it. i think some cars are just cursed. lol

Thanks for the pics! I 'll have to do this.

You really don't want to know that I took the battery out thinking that the tender might cause an electrical short somewhere while I wasn't looking. THis lets me know is safe.

Originally Posted by docpaulo

that's not actually too bad... first time I charged mine it didn't start blinking green until the next day.... it'a 1.25amp charger so in theory yours was approx 15 amps low

so it's possible your problem may not be battery... but on the upside, using the tender more than not, could possibly extend the life of your battery a bit longer...

you should consider hooking up the leads directly to the car so you don't have to use the alligator clamps if you plan to use it regularly ...

the red positive post cover can be removed and you can put the wire in between the clamp and the cover and although it bulges a bit it will close no problem...

the negative factory clamping post needs some modification, the ring that comes with the tender connector is a bit small and will bend/break when you install it... I bought a bigger ring to connect it and it works perfect...

Originally Posted by ssaiyan4

You really don't want to know that I took the battery out thinking that the tender might cause an electrical short somewhere while I wasn't looking. THis lets me know is safe.

sorry man but your post gave me a good laughing... I don't mean that in a bad way... just reminds me of me back in the days.... glad to be of help... (and it was a reasonable thing to do... just takes more effort...

BMW actually sells the tender under the BMW logo... so it's all good and safe... and the connector has a fuse as well..

batteriesplus if there's one in your area, sells extension cables, I bought a 25 foot one so the tender is on my shelf and in no risk of damaging the car/paint... (amazon has them too)

Originally Posted by BlaZinMJ3

no comfort access. i do have the flashlight charging but never use it. i think some cars are just cursed. lol

interesting... I wonder if it's the CA since the electronics for CA has to be always on for the car to detect the key transponder...

would be interesting over time to see how many of the people who've had battery issues have CA...

but the simplest answer is the car gets upset for not being driven enough and now and then it throws a tantrum...

Had passenger restraint failure. Had it fixed under CPO warranty. Found fault 93F9 in SGM control module. Hope this helps

I have heard they make a tender you can mount under the hood. Does anyone have info on this?