After battery cable recall.

So its been a week that they fixed the battery cable issue. However last night, more problems started to occur. First the radio has no sound at all. I-drive works perfectly, except the media. Then the next morning, a high battery drain error came on. At this point I was pissed. Then a couple of hours later, a sos malfunction error came on. Now I was furious . What could be the issue here?? I replaced all the fuses and still nothing.

I've owned my 2005 525I for 4 years and no problems. The cars currently at 77k miles.

You seem way too angry

Originally Posted by NoQuarter

You seem way too angry

Damn straight I am!

77k... how old is the battery? What work has been done? Alternator been checked? Anger Management???

Originally Posted by Jaycal3

77k... how old is the battery? What work has been done? Alternator been checked? Anger Management???

Haha. I've cooled down. And yes alternator is good. The battery is only a month old.

did they wash your car while? In high pressure washes I have had a drip at the rear glass area, just happened to drip on the TCU. My errors were very similar to yours. In my case I removed the TCU and blew compressed air all around, then let set in the Florida sun for a few hours. It all worked when I put it back together. phew!

Definitely check way down in the trunk for water.

Ill try that. Thanks.

So this morning (Sunday june 10) the radio kept on coming on then turning off. Its been doing this the whole day. Weird..

I don't what your problem may be but I have a suggestion from years of electrical troubleshooting military systems. If the ground cable is not making good connection then the voltage of critical systems (computer, sensors, etc.) can "float" and all sorts of anomalous behavior can occur. Have your dealership ensure the vehicle ground connection has properly been made. Then have them do a routine electrical check of the vehicle. If anything is amiss from the recall work it should show up when they do these tests. Hope this helps.

Hello MrTriad.
I received a letter from BMW Group Australia in relation to a Safety Related Recall of the Battery Cable Cover. Having owned the vehicle for around eight months I haven't experienced any major issues. I had the work that was required to rectify this issue from the dealer on Thursday 7 Junes 2012. A few days later Tuesday 12 June the radio started cutting out intermittently and started having issues with the i drive. Now it doesn't work. Took it back to the dealer who charged me $192.00 to diagnose the problem. Result was the ULF/Telematics Control Unit (TCU) that operates the Bluetooth needs to be replaced. Advised that will be $1900.00 to replace and re- code. I told them that it was perfect before it was brought in. They said that the issue started 160 kilometers after it was seen by them. Not happy with that, I had the vehicle checked by someone else. The mechanic (BMW Mechanic) advised that it is a common fault and is caused when the battery is disconnected. This causes the ULF to go to "Sleep". When the battery is reconnected it doesn't wake up. So now I am up for a new ULF. The dealership service department did tell me for $250.00 they can install another module that loops the bluetooth out and all the other functions should work normally. It means that I won't have bluetooth. Not bad since a Hyundai have bluetooth as standard. I am interested to find out what the outcome is for your car. Please keep us updated on what the result is. I will do the same. I am now aware that is "ANOTHER" common issue for BMW. I am trying to get hold of a letter from BMW US about a recall on the TCU/ULF that was issued. If anyone knows how to get hold of it, I would like to get a copy.

I had issues with the "increased battery discharge" on a new battery after having the recall done. The battery was fine before I went in but after reading so many posts suggesting that I have the battery registered, I did. Immediately after getting my car back, I had to adjust the date and time. I found that every time I started the car after that, I had to adjust the date and time. I informed the dealer and their response was "Since it's not a BMW battery, there's nothing we can do. It's expected". I had bought the battery from battery plus less than 2 months prior to having the recall done simply because the closest dealership was over 70 miles away. The battery was a Werker battery which a few members here recommended from battery plus saying it was the same as OEM. The dealership didnt care. A member here suggested that my battery wasnt fully charged and to charge it until it was 100%. I took his advice and hooked up a charger to my battery until it read 100% and my problem went away. I dont know if this will help you with all the issues you are having but it's worth a shot. Good luck...

Thanks for that. I will give that a go and see what happens. Will keep everyone posted on the result.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. Unfortunately I have no time to go to the stealership for 2 weeks.

Tried the battery thing. Unfortunately still not working.

I had the battery recall done on a 07 550 . 3 days later I got the SOS call malfunction, no radio output. Then the High Battery drain warning. Took the car to the a different dealer south of Denver . They diagnosed the problem and said I needed a new CD changer. Part $550 , labor $175 , diagnostic fee $210. No problems since but feel it was a rip off.

Have you considered taking the car back to the dealer who did the battery cable recall?

The issues with the dealers is that when you come to them, they always bust out some smooth talkin excuse about how what they did is not related to the issues that arise after. Unless you are truly conversant with BMW electronics, what leg have you got to stand on.

What have you done Mr Triad. Have you resolved the issues yet. I am still debating who or what I am going to do to replace the part.

Nothing yet. Currently I'm just driving it without music....

Perfect thread for my issue. I had the car in the shop last week for the battery recall. Friday on my way home, ran over the usual bump in the road on my commute and instantly got an airbag and safety restraint malfunction. Tried to reset it by restarting the car and nothing. I had to reschedule for two weeks out. Hopefully it's the battery.

wow...posts like this scare the crap out of me for doing any work on the car especially when it comes to electrical. been trouble free for years now.

This is my take on this:

These are all "routine" sorts of problems that happen. "Everyone" is now getting an electrical based recall work done therefore all the"routine" problems will now be attributed to that when in fact there likely is no connection.

We had the battery connection recall done last week at our BMW dealer. I also told them to install a new battery on our '08 535xi. My wife is traveling this week for work leaving the car in the garage for a few days, and I decided to charge the battery with the battery tender. It took well over a day to charge the battery. The dealer must have never charged the new battery before the install and I'm glad I decided to give it a full charge on my own.

Originally Posted by NoQuarter

This is my take on this:

These are all "routine" sorts of problems that happen. "Everyone" is now getting an electrical based recall work done therefore all the"routine" problems will now be attributed to that when in fact there likely is no connection.

I see what you're saying, but for me my car has been absolutely trouble free. (no need to knock on wood) I have had no issues other than some random warning lights that go away and never return after a restart. All of a sudden my dealer touched my car battery and on the way home I get a permanent malfunction. I've researched my issue and found that it has to do with the battery, but I will have to get the dealer to agree on this. I just hope this isnt the beginning of a string of issues.