My Friends!!!!!
Courtesy of the help of my indie shop, Long Beach BMW and BMW America technicians, some trial and error and lots of patience I have my battery charging issues resolved on my GT.
Turns out you get codes thrown and stored in the computer for overcharging and ignition faults prior to the battery being fully discharged. So the group went through the process of eliminating the faults and issues to resolve the battery charging issue.
First, my new battery died and like most other owners I just went and replaced the battery, had it registered and my settings saved. No problem, I drive away from the shop feeling $450 lighter and think this should work for a few years (I know, I had other BMW's but this one is like Sybil), by was I wrong. 2 days later the wife is calling me saying she's getting battery charging messages. I say impossible, call me when you get home - she does after the car goes limp, twice! No worries, second time I say call AAA and have it towed to the dealership. I explain to them we just got the battery replaced and registered and 2 days later it's dead, what gives? They want to install another battery and charge me another $500 or so bucks. I politely tell them to call the indie shop, who by the way, they worked with for the past 12 years or so and verify the work that was just performed. They do and after confirming his work they realize the different codes the computer has stored and begin to plan to repair them all for around $3500. I told them to kick rocks and try again!! My indie steps up and between him and the dealer they begin to eliminate each problem to find the culprit. First, replace the battery, CHECK. Next, swap the ignition coils with new ones and eliminate the codes and hope to resolve the issue, NOPE. Third, Test the alternator before replacing it since it does play a role in recharging the battery, NOT THAT EITHER! During the troubleshooting testing the mechanic and Tech from BMW America noticed the CAN BUS used for the charging system has another player, the Oil Pressure Sending Unit. The OPSU was placed on the wiring system and gets often overlooked. There was a random code that caused the BMW tech to investigate and discover this. This couldn't be the culprit causing the charging system to go haywire, WRONG!!!!!! Replaced the unit with an oil change and voila!!! No more codes!!! Battery Charging System is working perfectly!
No trickle charger needed. No random spikes in charging while driving and a more stable environment for charging the phone and other devices.
I have happiness and the car is driving and charging the battery as expected.
I am not sure if my solution will work for everyone out there but if others can get the issue resolved after reading this post and suggesting to their shops to look at these steps then it was well worth the time and effort from my guys and for me to pass this info on to others.
Courtesy of the help of my indie shop, Long Beach BMW and BMW America technicians, some trial and error and lots of patience I have my battery charging issues resolved on my GT.
Turns out you get codes thrown and stored in the computer for overcharging and ignition faults prior to the battery being fully discharged. So the group went through the process of eliminating the faults and issues to resolve the battery charging issue.
First, my new battery died and like most other owners I just went and replaced the battery, had it registered and my settings saved. No problem, I drive away from the shop feeling $450 lighter and think this should work for a few years (I know, I had other BMW's but this one is like Sybil), by was I wrong. 2 days later the wife is calling me saying she's getting battery charging messages. I say impossible, call me when you get home - she does after the car goes limp, twice! No worries, second time I say call AAA and have it towed to the dealership. I explain to them we just got the battery replaced and registered and 2 days later it's dead, what gives? They want to install another battery and charge me another $500 or so bucks. I politely tell them to call the indie shop, who by the way, they worked with for the past 12 years or so and verify the work that was just performed. They do and after confirming his work they realize the different codes the computer has stored and begin to plan to repair them all for around $3500. I told them to kick rocks and try again!! My indie steps up and between him and the dealer they begin to eliminate each problem to find the culprit. First, replace the battery, CHECK. Next, swap the ignition coils with new ones and eliminate the codes and hope to resolve the issue, NOPE. Third, Test the alternator before replacing it since it does play a role in recharging the battery, NOT THAT EITHER! During the troubleshooting testing the mechanic and Tech from BMW America noticed the CAN BUS used for the charging system has another player, the Oil Pressure Sending Unit. The OPSU was placed on the wiring system and gets often overlooked. There was a random code that caused the BMW tech to investigate and discover this. This couldn't be the culprit causing the charging system to go haywire, WRONG!!!!!! Replaced the unit with an oil change and voila!!! No more codes!!! Battery Charging System is working perfectly!
No trickle charger needed. No random spikes in charging while driving and a more stable environment for charging the phone and other devices.
I have happiness and the car is driving and charging the battery as expected.
I am not sure if my solution will work for everyone out there but if others can get the issue resolved after reading this post and suggesting to their shops to look at these steps then it was well worth the time and effort from my guys and for me to pass this info on to others.
