Car won't start, no power, but battery fine?

[redpriest]

Walk up to the car and try to open it, setting off car alarm even though I have the key. Open the door manually with key, and try to start it with the key, won't start and sets off alarm again. No electronics work.

Any ideas? Called my insurance assistance and they tried to jump the car. Their tool told me that the battery in the car was fine. Is the car locked out? 2011 model with factory car alarm.

[msan]

Did the car exhibit any battery issues before this? Did the battery get drained recently ...like interior lights left on or radio on...etc. also what's the age of the battery?

[redpriest]

I had the issue a few days ago when I went to open the car, and the alarm went off as well. The weird thing then was that even though the door was locked, it opened.

Went to start the car and it didn't immediately happen, with the alarm still going off for a while. About 20 seconds later, got it to start.

Now same thing happened yesterday at the track, only, I had the doors unlocked already. Thought the battery was dead. Got jumper cables for a jump start, hooked it up to my friends car, nothing for about 5-10 minutes. We were messing around with trying to get the trunk open when suddenly all the electronics came on. I started the car and had no issues until tonight.

Same thing, alarm blaring multiple times. Car wouldn't recognize the key even when in the Ignition slot.

I just got the car electronics to turn on and start the car so I'm not stranded, but it took about an hour of trying!!

Battery is probably original. Roadside assistance said my battery level was ok through the terminals.

[msan]

First thing you do tomorrow drive to the dealer and get a new battery and get it programmed . Don't mess around . It will cost ~$500 but it will be worth it. Don't try and go cheaper on the battery. Go OEM only and go first thing. Do not wait.

Take it from someone who's been there.

[Helmsman]

Hi Redpriest, sounds like a thriller. Did you have a chance to scan possible codes? If the guys said the battery is fine and it seems to be a complete disconnect i.e. nothing works, I'd rather suspect a supply/start lock issue.
As a parallel, I had issues starting my car after a long detail session when the battery apparently been drained. Still electronics, car lock, light etc worked while the voltage level wasn't kept high enought to allow the starter to work. In my view a different thing then what you experience.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[redpriest]

Yeah, no codes at all. Just completely dead - except for car alarm. It's like it didn't even recognize my key. Was able to drive home 90 miles with no issue.

No lights, no power, completely and utterly dead. Then it just wakes up out of nowhere hours later. Car chirps like it is being unlocked, and then lights come on. Car starts no problem, no issues turning over even in this cold weather.

Will be getting the car looked at and having the battery replaced.

[Helmsman]

Never had a chance to measure the voltage when tge car was "dead" I assume? Hmm, doesn't sound like the battery to me but hope it gets sorted with the new.

Ps. Like to suggest you get a scanner. Had a number of funny codes coming up after my start issues which all cleared with Carly.

[msan]

Well if this happens again after battery replacement let me know. The next thing it could be is the big red connection at the fuse box where it gets power from the battery...there was a fix for e9x but never for M's. Anyways this is more involved and expensive. Battery is best fix and cheapest at this point. Keep us posted.

[JDM_CL9]

Did you try putting the key in the slot during this time? Maybe your comfort access module is failing.

[crypticc]

Did you try charging the battery. A good qtek conditioner will stretch a battery by another two years, certainly a 2011 should last,, 5-7 years even with low usage

[Doc Oc]

Any chance a dead or dying battery in the fob could cause this?

[msan]

Originally Posted by Doc Oc

Any chance a dead or dying battery in the fob could cause this?

When it happened to me I had a new battery in the FOB. It's almost like the alarm set off due to the low battery (no power), the alarm horn has its own little battery that sounds, which is why you hear the alarm blaring but no power in the car, and then (this is where I am guessing) it set some sort of vehicle kill where it wouldn't turn on anymore (no lights, no power).

When a car gets like that I would tell you to change the battery out. Charging the old battery could work a few times but you could be left stranded when the car battery decides to crap out again.

[BzsBimmer]

Check the voltage of the battery. IIRC it should be at or above 12.5 VDC
Also check the IBS (negative) cable.
PN - 61129123571 or 61129123571
PM Mike @ BPM. He may know more about the IBS cable.

[///M3Owner]

This happens to me a lot of times..very annoying. What I did was I changed the battery out of the key fob and then the car worked again.

[redpriest]

Yeah, I put the key directly in the ignition slot, no dice. The battery in the key fob is brand new - I just replaced it a while ago. There's absolutely no power in the car when the issue happens, and it didn't leave any codes for Autologic to read.

The battery is good - load tested fine and has plenty of juice. Getting the IBS cable replaced just for peace of mind; hopefully this takes care of it. Learned that if you unplug the IBS the car will start when this happens, so good to know.

[redpriest]

So, it happened again - voltage on battery is good, IBS was replaced and still occurred. Opened fuse box and put some pressure on every fuse, and a couple minutes later, the power coincidentally came back on.

If it happens again I will probably wiggle the battery cable connecting to the fuse box and see if that helps :/

[yongj]

Originally Posted by msan

First thing you do tomorrow drive to the dealer and get a new battery and get it programmed . Don't mess around . It will cost ~$500 but it will be worth it. Don't try and go cheaper on the battery. Go OEM only and go first thing. Do not wait.

Take it from someone who's been there.

Completely disagree with this. $500 for a battery swap and registration is complete bs. Trust me, a good buddy of my brother's is a BMW mechanic and even he agrees that $500 is straight up theft.

You don't have to pay $300 for OEM. Most of the OEM's are standard batteries just rebranded. Don't get no stupid $100 battery but a good $200 should be just fine. Coding should only be $99 max at the dealer (just got mine done and my sales rep said this is standard price).

[redpriest]

Haven't had an issue in the few times since I've started using the button on the key to unlock the car, rather than the comfort access. Bizzare. Hopefully this trend continues.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by redpriest

Haven't had an issue in the few times since I've started using the button on the key to unlock the car, rather than the comfort access. Bizzare. Hopefully this trend continues.

Thats an intereresting one Redpriest. As the battery is measured fine it seems to be some kind of start lock, maybe not released via comfort? Guess we all have had our trick played by the comfort access, the issues I had was sorted by scanning and clearing codes multiple times whether that made some sort of reset. Might be worth doing this if you have a scanner?

Cheers

[aira]

Originally Posted by redpriest

Haven't had an issue in the few times since I've started using the button on the key to unlock the car, rather than the comfort access. Bizzare. Hopefully this trend continues.

Happened to me again last night. Jiggled the red battery cable and got it working again. Funny thing is, I don't use the folding mirrors anymore because it always seems to happen when I use them. Might be in my head though. Lol.

[anselmw]

On mobile but if you search for a post from me under another member who had starting issues you will see the problem I posted and how my car was resolved.

I had the same issue, complete no power but battery was fine. I changed the battery, IBS cable and still it happened. Turns out there is a recall around the 3 series fuse box but it does not include the M3 which makes no sense.

The issue is the the cables attaching the fuse box are bad and corrode causing the connection to drop. This causes the complete no power but when you go to the battery all is fine. The way you confirm is next time this happens, open glovebox, remove fuse panel, grab the fuse box and shake it. If power comes back it is this issue.

The correction used to be to replace fuse of and power cable to it. Now there is a cheaper solution where they cut the power cable near the fuse box and reattach. Hope this helps you guys as it had frustrated me for over a year.

[anselmw]

Found the post by sangria, my post is on the last page.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...arting+problem