[jpsimon]

/update/ $2300!!!!!!!! Wire going from battery to the front of the car is failing (melting/discolored behind glove box)... they have to order the part from germany and say it's a 16 hour job. fuck me!!!!!

/update 2/ the SA called back to tell me she jumped the gun on that news. What she meant to say is that is what he'll be checking next... and that is the potential cost.... thanks for scaring me!

/ update 3 /

SA called, they do need to order that cable but labor will only be half what they thought. so ~$940 total instead of $2300.... that's sort of good news at least.

there is some code being thrown about "map overheating". I'm only relaying info from the SA, so she might be mistaken. But she also said the DME might have an issue and need replacing - but it might be covered under some emissions warranty.



On the way home from work yesterday some strange things happened. It was as if the connection to the battery skipped a beat a few times over the course of the drive. My V1 turned on and off when this happened, i got the "AWD/DTC DISABLED" warning on the iDrive and the time reverted back to "--:--". There were never any hiccups in terms of drivability, only the electrical systems.

I had to stop at a buddy's house to pick something up. Pulled in to the driveway and waited for him to come outside. I went to shut off the car by pressing the start/stop button and as I pressed the button the car just died - as if there was no battery in the trunk. Electrical shut off engine shut off... Key was stuck in the fob-vagina and wouldn't come out. Completely dead.

With the key stuck in the fob-vag i removed the physical key so I could get in to the trunk to check the battery. Walked around back... put the real key in the trunk and twisted and................

BOOM!!! all lights on, car turns back on, everything is fine. I check battery, connections are all sound... Drove home no issues. Check the car this morning, car turns on fine.

WHAT THE FUCK?!?

[Brey335i]

My car behaved strange in a very similar manner for about a week on and off before one night my battery just completely died on me.

It could either be the charger cable to the battery is going bad or the battery itself

[import36]

jp is that still the stock battery...or did you ever get a lightweight one? just curious how old the battery is...

[EastBayE90]

fob-vag that is so funny. Was it raining at all or weird weather that could have caused a possible leak? Then maybe water was creating the weird electrical issue? As it dried you no longer had the problem?

[xclone]

Have you checked the trunk for water? Check in the spare tire well and the electrical wells. If you have a clogged sunroof drain then you could have water leaking into those areas and doing some major damage.

[jpsimon]

Everything seems dry... I just replicated the issue and solution to a T

Started up the car fine, drove somewhere... drove back... Pressed the start button to turn off car - and it died with the key stuck. Take out escape-pod key, put it in the trunk and twisted. as soon as the trunk opened the electricity went back on

same exact experience as last time

[Brey335i]

I have no idea why the trunk would return the power... this is gonna require an electrician's input. Don't we have any of those?

[Ilma]

Well the real problem is sticking your fob into someone's vagina instead of the dash.

But seriously...that was a very funny analogy.

I know that does't help you solve your problem, but it lightened my day.

So thanks Jonah!


Maybe the speculation of a low battery is correct. I have heard of flaky things starting to happen when voltage gets marginal on this platform.

[JO3]

There's been other thread on here about people's cars going crazy before their battery died. If you battery is 4 years old or so or older, then it's probably time for a new battery.

[jpsimon]

Going to the dealer around 3, luckily they had some loaners.

Also they're going to do my HPFP and Injector recalls - cool.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

It sounds like your ECU is going to sleep. Then when you open the trunk it wakes up.

Hmm.... If your battery is older then 3 years it might be that. Otherwise I would pull the tune to see if that is interfering in some odd ball way.

If it does it without the tune then you might need to go to dealer.....they will likely blame it on the battery if its old though.

[jpsimon]

My car is a 2008, on the original battery - safe to assume it's that (even though a shop just recently checked to make sure the battery was still good).

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by jpsimon

My car is a 2008, on the original battery - safe to assume it's that (even though a shop just recently checked to make sure the battery was still good).

This car is quite sensitive to voltage/load swings. I do know that.

[e90328i]

your battery is going, had the same symptoms on my old 328i and didnt think much of it till it wouldnt start after work and was stranded. Replaced battery under warranty and everything was good.

[cwn23]

Had the same thing happen to me...Check all the connections on the battery terminal including the ones near the red connections...Mine turned out to be a loose bolt to the positive terminal...I guess all the times i loosened up the bolt and I guess I didn't tighten it enough. Well after tightening the nut I have never seen another DSC malfunction or experienced the car having no electric after pressing the on/off button..
Happened to me a couple of times before I finallly found the problem. One time I did the same as you and took the key out of the fob and then went to open the trunk. I guess opening the trunk must have shook the terminal enough to make connection again...

[jpsimon]

there might be a silver lining in all this - back in the day i payed out of pocket to have the dealer replace 3 injectors ($1000). now my car is under the injector warranty, so they said i might be able to get my money back

[pentaxis]

Originally Posted by jpsimon

there might be a silver lining in all this - back in the day i payed out of pocket to have the dealer replace 3 injectors ($1000). now my car is under the injector warranty, so they said i might be able to get my money back

That would be a stroke of good luck! Hope ya get it!

[danniexi]

had the same thing happen to me a while back. I was at the car wash, the car was on (not engine, just electronics) and everything shut off on me. I had to go to the back and physically open the trunk. The thing turned on by itself. I almost shat my pants thinking water had gone in, but everything was dry. Since then I never had the problem.

Weird. Guess I'll get that battery replaced soon.

[jpsimon]

So here's a small update, please feel free to shoot me some more ideas:
They've checked the battery and alternator and both are fine.

Could a loose connection in the ECU compartment cause this sort of issue? That being said - I assume they already looked in there and found no issues because they asked me about the "ecu box i installed". (that question was just in relation to when they needed to install new software, they didn't want to "ruin" it).

[jpsimon]

FUCK ME IN THE GOAT ASS!!!!!!!

Apparently the wire from the battery up to the the front of the car is melting.... $2300!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



on the brighter side - if you even want to call it that, she said ill most likely be getting $1000 back from when i payed out of pocket for the injectors (which my car is now under the recall of).

fuck me!!

[joec500]

Originally Posted by jpsimon

FUCK ME IN THE GOAT ASS!!!!!!!

Apparently the wire from the battery up to the the front of the car is melting.... $2300!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How the hell did it start melting??? and $2,300 dollars!!!!! Is it part of some more expensive harness?? Here is one disadvantage of a trunk mounted battery.

[jpsimon]

they said it's melting/discolored behind the glove box