[steele]

I've had my 2005 745i for about 6 weeks. The car ran & drove great up until I was sitting in traffic over the past weekend and it just died.

I restarted, but found the car would continue to either buck & eventually go or just die as soon as I tried to accelerate from a stop. I had to wait about 10-20 seconds to restart successfully. If I tried to restart immediately, the starter would just sit and crank.

Once I got some speed up, it ran fine although it seemed to hold gears longer. It would just stall when I had to accelerate off idle or even a few times when I was slowing to a stop.

Eventually I figured out that if I turned the A/C off AND put the transmission in sport mode (it had to be both), it wouldn't die, although it would still occasionally buck off idle and shift oddly (even for sport mode). No codes or warning lights during any of this.

The dealer called and said everything was due to the battery. Also, they are wanting $375 for a new one. From searching on here, I see that the battery can cause a lot of weirdness, but I haven't seen it related to stalling. All the electronics seemed fine while this was happening.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? The battery is about the only thing that's NOT covered between both my BMW service contract and my extended warranty, so I wanted to get some other thoughts before I get out-of-pocket.

 

[starioncorrado]

It shurely does not dound like a battery related issue..Were you getting abs light and brake light on your dash board? You sayd the vehicle will stall and it would crank normally!!! sounds like you might have a fuel delivery issue!!

 

[steele]

Nope, no lights at all. The airbag light has been on for awhile, but that's unrelated (though I'm having them look at it).

I had another car that acted almost exactly like this and it turned out to be the fuel pump, though it wasn't a BMW.

 

[steele]

Regarding the airbag light: Now they are saying it needs a new driver's side seat mat! Not covered by the recall nor by the warranty! $550! AGH!!!

Regretting my purchase...

 

[starioncorrado]

Wtf!!! Just live with the air bag light on until you have the cash to fix it...but really your problems are worse than just a mat...lol... Your pump is out... Tell them to check the presure of the fuel pump via fuel rail..

 

[steele]

Well, regarding the airbag light - they are refusing to inspect it with it on and my inspection is out at the end of the month.

They are trying to tell me I won't be able to pass inspection anywhere, but not sure about that one. I've passed with CEL, ABS, etc. warning lights on in other cars. Had the airbag light on for years in my Volvo with no inspection problems, but that was awhile back.

 

[starioncorrado]

You can pass emissions with the air bag light on.. inspecion is only to inspect emission components hint the "cel", other than that you should be fine.

 

[steele]

We don't have emissions here, it was just for the state inspection. I may just take it somewhere and try my luck. I can live with the light.

 

[1bad540]

Bmw na has extended the warr on all air bag matts, for 10yrs from the manufacturer date. I had mine done under warr when i 1st bought it.

 

[steele]

That's what I thought, but they are saying it's for the passenger side mat only, not for the driver's. Did you have your driver's mat replaced under warranty?

 

[DKane]

Very similar event occurred to me a few wks ago...

I've had my 2005 745i for about 6 weeks. The car ran & drove great up until I was sitting in traffic over the past weekend and it just died.

I restarted, but found the car would continue to either buck & eventually go or just die as soon as I tried to accelerate from a stop. I had to wait about 10-20 seconds to restart successfully. If I tried to restart immediately, the starter would just sit and crank.

Once I got some speed up, it ran fine although it seemed to hold gears longer. It would just stall when I had to accelerate off idle or even a few times when I was slowing to a stop.

No codes or warning lights during any of this.

All the electronics seemed fine while this was happening.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

YES!...exactly what happened to me..except...it was my Ford F150!...4.6/auto(27kmiles)...i replaced the oe batt with an OPTIMA(now i'm opttimized in all my vehicles!)...$155 otd at NAPA...oe unit ran 10 years..i'll switch out the fuel filter next wk just to cover all the bases..but right now running fine...Dkane '97 2.8 BG Z3R(just passin' through, but your post was very compelling so i thought i'd add my $2.98(adjusted for inflation)..Cheers!

 

[teejaylentz]

It's certainly "possible" it's the battery (or alternator) and they should be able to give you a decisive answer as the consumers (control units/computers) that are malfunctioning will typically store in memory a "low voltage" error. Of course, for some reason none of this ever shows up as a "low voltage" error in i-drive (which I fail to understand). I just hope they aren't shooting in the dark to see if a battery fixes it without having actually looked into the errors stored in the consumers themselves. On my vehicle, many of the consumers had low voltage errors individually stored after my battery had been on its way out for a while. However, I also got random errors such as "parking brake fault," "transmission fail safe," "dynamic drive inactive," etc... :rofl: again none of them said "low voltage" even though if you looked at the transmission mechatronic errors stored in memory there was a "low voltage" error stored there... :dunno: Replacing battery fixed all those issues. BTW - you'll need a diagnostic computer to read errors from the consumers (I'm using EDIABAS/INPA and DIS running in VMWARE).

If the dealer can guarantee it is a battery problem as they claim, then would they be fine in swapping the old battery back in case they were wrong and refunding you those cost for a bad diagnosis? There's really no excuse if they are wrong IMO.

 

[steele]

Went ahead and had the battery replaced, and the car is no longer stalling or shifting weird.

Passed on the $550 seat mat replacement. However, now I have the seatbelt light constantly on and the airbag light is red after picking it up. When I dropped it off, I only had a yellow airbag light. Grrr....

 

[bembo19]

Went ahead and had the battery replaced, and the car is no longer stalling or shifting weird.

Passed on the $550 seat mat replacement. However, now I have the seatbelt light constantly on and the airbag light is red after picking it up. When I dropped it off, I only had a yellow airbag light. Grrr....

at least the cars usable again though right ! ?

 

[SpEeDxXxRaCeR]

I am have this same problem with my father's 2004 BMW 745i. I decided to start troubleshooting his problems. I replaced his 6 year old battery with a Bosch Battery. I started his car with the battery terminals connected, while the car was on, I disconnected the battery terminal to determine if the battery was bad or the alternator. As soon as I removed the battery terminal the car started sputtering, A/C turned off, Transmission Fail Safe, Dynamic Drive Inactive, and Parking Brake Fault occured. Therefore I believe it's my alternator is bad, unless, you guys know something I don't.

It's certainly "possible" it's the battery (or alternator) and they should be able to give you a decisive answer as the consumers (control units/computers) that are malfunctioning will typically store in memory a "low voltage" error. Of course, for some reason none of this ever shows up as a "low voltage" error in i-drive (which I fail to understand). I just hope they aren't shooting in the dark to see if a battery fixes it without having actually looked into the errors stored in the consumers themselves. On my vehicle, many of the consumers had low voltage errors individually stored after my battery had been on its way out for a while. However, I also got random errors such as "parking brake fault," "transmission fail safe," "dynamic drive inactive," etc... :rofl: again none of them said "low voltage" even though if you looked at the transmission mechatronic errors stored in memory there was a "low voltage" error stored there... :dunno: Replacing battery fixed all those issues. BTW - you'll need a diagnostic computer to read errors from the consumers (I'm using EDIABAS/INPA and DIS running in VMWARE).

If the dealer can guarantee it is a battery problem as they claim, then would they be fine in swapping the old battery back in case they were wrong and refunding you those cost for a bad diagnosis? There's really no excuse if they are wrong IMO.

 

[Bimmer750LI]

Most current day cars need the battery in the equation to run correctly and your throwing off the control units by disconnecting it...so, No, I would not say you have a bad alternator until you are able to get a good voltage reading from such. Stealer or good BMW repair facility will have the equipment to check such. You can purchase a device yourself http://www.bavariantechnic.com/ if you going to be tinkering and trying to fix your vehicle yourself.

 

[teejaylentz]

I am have this same problem with my father's 2004 BMW 745i. I decided to start troubleshooting his problems. I replaced his 6 year old battery with a Bosch Battery. I started his car with the battery terminals connected, while the car was on, I disconnected the battery terminal to determine if the battery was bad or the alternator. As soon as I removed the battery terminal the car started sputtering, A/C turned off, Transmission Fail Safe, Dynamic Drive Inactive, and Parking Brake Fault occured. Therefore I believe it's my alternator is bad, unless, you guys know something I don't.

From what I have read (can't remember where - think it was owner's manual or TIS)... disconnecting the battery while the vehicle is running is a big no-no... It can cause voltage/current spikes which can fry electronics... :yikes: This would be fine on older cars that don't have all the electronics, but as with most things the 7 is a beast...

 

[haz1]

05 745 55k

Steele, I had the same problem. I just picked up an 05 745 with 55k, for 23. ran good for 3 days then dynamic drive inactive," etc... error came on, car was doing same thing as yours. talk about embarrasing, cops stopped by me and asked if I was okay. I told them Iam but my car needs cpr.. took battery out to get tested and pep boys told me was okay. attmpted to charge battery outside of car and battery charger tells me battery is bad. I may have it towed to a german shop, not dealer to troubleshoot. BOy car sure looks good in my garage.

 

[haz1]

New battery cost, so cal

FYI, they quoted me 295.00 plus tax, savage bmw, in city called Ontario. I guess there charging you 50 to pic it up and put it in your trunk. I still don't know if I'm replacing mine yet.

 

[haz1]

Charged my battery

Now since my battery went down, I charged it outside the car, then put back in. As you can see from my free battery test I did myself, voltage was 13.4, there and 15, so alternator tested okay, battery may still need to be replaced. It is my belief that batterys really only last a certain period and not years like someone else said here in the forum. It is my belief that bmw alternators will outlast the battery.