[Steve748]

Is it dirty?

when did you last wash it?

[MIKEYBMW1]

Thats good that the dealer is sorting it for you mate

[craig2859]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Sorry to hear of your woes mate. May I ask how old the car is and what mileage, how comprensive is the service history ? Also how many owners ?

1 Owner - X Business Car

Full Service History - up to April this year, when it ran out, and I suppose sold by the Business ?

Reg is 1st half of 06.


Mileage is High at 118,000 ...... which was probably all motorway work to clock those miles up so quick, but having spoken to numerous BMW Mechanics prior to purchase, is not a problem at all ?

However I got it at a good price ... just under10k, but restricts me on getting a warranty in the future due to its mileage.

To be frank, its had only 2 real problems ... 1 was a fuel line split, which was a total bodge job by some non BMW Mechanic prior to me buying it ... which was sorted, and paid for by the dealer once I discovered it - via a diesel leak all over the drive !!

The other is this Alternator ... as I am 100% sure the other electrical faults are being caused by the car not getting enough power through it ?


.

[craig2859]

Had the Battery, checked / Reconditioned etc, and all was fine with the Battery.

I got sick of it last night, and decided to go old skool, and take a look myself.


Popped the Bonnet to take a look at the alternator, and discovered the nut and Bolt that holds the 2 Pos terminals onto the Alternator was loose, ie really loose with about 4mm of play on the cables. On closer inspection, it looked as though it has been arcing out to.

I decided to take the Nut of, clean up the terminals and tighten it back up.

As soon as I went to loosen the nut - it sheared , due to it being weakened from arcing out I suppose.


Luckily there was still a bit of thread, so I cleaned it all up with some wet n dry, and then replaced the nut - and added a blob of quick steel to the top of the nut to keep it on.

Checked the Battery voltage with engine off .... 12.2v

Started the engine ..... 13.8v on idle .... 1500rpm, voltage touches 14.1v

Proving the alternator is indeed working.


Took it for a drive, and had no electrical warnings/reduced power warnings at all



Fingers crossed it was a simple fault .... but shows how a loose nut can cause so many warnings and errors?


Moral of the story ..... BMW or not, its worth getting your head in the bonnet and looking for the Basics !!



One other question I have though, from something I noticed whilst in the engine bay.

There is a plastic square pipe - located on the front, above the Fan, which runs down the left of the engine (as you look into the engine bay) .... I take it this is an Air feed ...... but to what ?

I ask, as when I looked at it, there was a point at the front, where it had come apart (had become unclipped) , so was not feeding whatever it should .... so I reconnected it of course, but am intriguied as to what it feeds?

I presume to the Air Filter ..... and if so, what affect could this have, as I am not sure how long its been off ?


.

[ShereKhan]

Craig it might be that the alternator voltage regulator is duff or is on its way out. I've had this before on another make car. When I checked with meter it was fine but when driving the voltage wasn't consistent and was causing chaos to electrical equipment.

Maybe the ECU is detecting abnormal peaks from the ECU hence reducing power perhaps?

You could get the alternator repaired that bill sounds too steep for an alternator repair. The voltage regulator is a separate part you might be able to buy this from specialist. For e.g. if its a Bosch type you can buy certain parts for them. I'm sure this is the case for others too.

It can't be that difficult to take off and repair. Battery is fairly generic so you could get one from Costco or parts place (Eurocarparts?).