Issue with car today

RedScytheM3 · 03-05-2019, 10:46 PM

I was on the freeway and noticed my battery voltage was dropping, then I got a low battery voltage warning before the car died. Every light in the dash lit up and I basically coasted to safety. The car was not in a safe spot with traffic flying so the police had it towed to a parking lot nearby. The tow truck sent by the insurance jump started my car, but it gives an error saying "Transmission Malfunction". The car starts up for now and has power, but cannot be shifted out of P into N or R or D. I used a cheap code scanner and got P0500. Just wondering if this happened to anyone else and can give me some insight.

InnerBlueSkies · 03-05-2019, 10:53 PM

Google says Vehicle spead sensor

amrazM · 03-06-2019, 03:00 AM

Alternator

JP10 · 03-06-2019, 05:23 AM

Happened to my car a while back.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1458453

TomHudson · 03-06-2019, 06:22 AM

Alternator.

As the battery slowly drains, the more complex systems fail first until there’s no power for a spark.

RedScytheM3 · 03-06-2019, 01:09 PM

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it. After sitting around for 30 min waiting for a new tow truck that would possibly lift the car without it going into N, I decided to try to start the car back up. The car started just fine, clean dash, transmission malfunction warning gone, annnnd the transmission went into gear! I was able to put it in N, R, and D. I drove it around the parking lot for a little to see if everything held up ok. Battery voltage stayed steady between 13.4 and 14.2V. After driving around and playing with the shifter for 5 min I decided to cancel to tow truck and just drove it home with my fiancée and jumper cables following

I drove it about 10 miles back home and everything was fine - like nothing had even happened. Voltage was steady, transmission was fine, no codes. I'm going to look into replacing the alternator and battery. Just glad the car is back home and nothing seemed to crap out mechanically.

RedScytheM3 · 03-06-2019, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JP10

Happened to my car a while back.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1458453

Thanks for sharing this. How's your car been holding up since? My situation seems to mirror yours almost exactly. It's been oddly cold in Houston the last couple of days and coincidentally all of my issues have been occurring on the coldest days I've owned the car. I'll use your thread as a resource going forward.

JP10 · 03-06-2019, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedScytheM3

Thanks for sharing this. How's your car been holding up since? My situation seems to mirror yours almost exactly. It's been oddly cold in Houston the last couple of days and coincidentally all of my issues have been occurring on the coldest days I've owned the car. I'll use your thread as a resource going forward.

No problem man. No issues since replacing the alternator, I monitored voltage for a few days following and all was good. No discharge warning or christmas tree of errors haha. All things considered it was a relatively easy fix. That was an unlucky month for me beacuse my bank 2 throttle actuator went like a week later

lol.

RedScytheM3 · 03-09-2019, 10:11 AM

Well the weather has been much better over the last few days and I've had no issues whatsoever. Drove to work and back and went on a couple of rides. Battery voltage hags around 12.2 on start up and 13.8-14.0 while driving. I'm wondering if maybe the connection with the battery terminals or the distribution box was a little loose to begin with and all the bumps on the freeway gave them the final shake before it died. Either way I'll be monitoring and post back here if something comes up.

m3peat · 03-09-2019, 11:06 AM

Same exact thing happened to me 5 months ago. New alternator and battery and I’ve been good ever since.

03-05-2019, 10:46 PM	#1
RedScytheM3 Science stuff and stuff 395 Rep 414 Posts Drives: 2008 E92 ///M3 Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Houston iTrader: (0)	Issue with car today I was on the freeway and noticed my battery voltage was dropping, then I got a low battery voltage warning before the car died. Every light in the dash lit up and I basically coasted to safety. The car was not in a safe spot with traffic flying so the police had it towed to a parking lot nearby. The tow truck sent by the insurance jump started my car, but it gives an error saying "Transmission Malfunction". The car starts up for now and has power, but cannot be shifted out of P into N or R or D. I used a cheap code scanner and got P0500. Just wondering if this happened to anyone else and can give me some insight.
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03-05-2019, 10:53 PM	#2
InnerBlueSkies Captain 1093 Rep 950 Posts Drives: 2008 E90 M3 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: College Station, Texas iTrader: (1)	Google says Vehicle spead sensor
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03-06-2019, 03:00 AM	#3
amrazM mTekMods 2142 Rep 2,902 Posts Drives: like a granny. Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Manhatan iTrader: (1)	Alternator __________________ 2011 Frozen Black/Fox Red E90 M3 650+WHP G-Power Supercharged First DCT to Manual Conversion Worldwide KW CS, BBS RI-A, BW Headers, Snow 2.5
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03-06-2019, 05:23 AM	#4
JP10 Major 2463 Rep 1,144 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: SC iTrader: (0)	Happened to my car a while back. https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1458453
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03-06-2019, 06:22 AM	#5
TomHudson Major 658 Rep 1,118 Posts Drives: 2011 E90 M3 Join Date: May 2015 Location: Toronto iTrader: (0)	Alternator. As the battery slowly drains, the more complex systems fail first until there’s no power for a spark.
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03-06-2019, 01:09 PM	#6
RedScytheM3 Science stuff and stuff 395 Rep 414 Posts Drives: 2008 E92 ///M3 Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Houston iTrader: (0)	Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it. After sitting around for 30 min waiting for a new tow truck that would possibly lift the car without it going into N, I decided to try to start the car back up. The car started just fine, clean dash, transmission malfunction warning gone, annnnd the transmission went into gear! I was able to put it in N, R, and D. I drove it around the parking lot for a little to see if everything held up ok. Battery voltage stayed steady between 13.4 and 14.2V. After driving around and playing with the shifter for 5 min I decided to cancel to tow truck and just drove it home with my fiancée and jumper cables following I drove it about 10 miles back home and everything was fine - like nothing had even happened. Voltage was steady, transmission was fine, no codes. I'm going to look into replacing the alternator and battery. Just glad the car is back home and nothing seemed to crap out mechanically.
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03-09-2019, 10:11 AM	#9
RedScytheM3 Science stuff and stuff 395 Rep 414 Posts Drives: 2008 E92 ///M3 Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Houston iTrader: (0)	Well the weather has been much better over the last few days and I've had no issues whatsoever. Drove to work and back and went on a couple of rides. Battery voltage hags around 12.2 on start up and 13.8-14.0 while driving. I'm wondering if maybe the connection with the battery terminals or the distribution box was a little loose to begin with and all the bumps on the freeway gave them the final shake before it died. Either way I'll be monitoring and post back here if something comes up.
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03-09-2019, 11:06 AM	#10
m3peat First Lieutenant 71 Rep 341 Posts Drives: 2009 E90 M3 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Burbank, CA iTrader: (1)	Same exact thing happened to me 5 months ago. New alternator and battery and I’ve been good ever since. __________________ Current: E90 M3 Previous: 15' M235i, 12' E92 M3, 03' E46 M3, 98' E36 M3 4 dr, 95' E36 M3 2 dr All the above, missed and wish I kept them all.
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