Intermitant car with no power ( electrical)

Dr Zoidberg · 05-13-2012, 04:27 PM

Car will start up fine, then it can sit for awhile and then when I go to unlock with the key fob, nothing happens. I have to use the manual key to unlock the door. The fOB will not stay in the ignition and no lights come on.

when the car works again, the clock, trip OD, mpg info and date are reset.

I have been lucky enough for this to happen at my garage. During a no power condition, the batt voltage was at 12.4v, and showed 12.4v on both sides of the IBS with no reistance. I hooked up my CANOBD port and as suspected nothing was detected.

The last three times, it was after the car was quite hot, from sitting in the sun. when I came back, nothing would work, after I had the doors and hood open investigating the problem . , it spontaneously woke up when I tried the FOB again for the heck of it.

Besides waiting around for it to fix itself, the other surefire solution has been to jump it with a jump-start pack. Only then will all the accs come on and the car starts. I have tried , car to car, and that didnt even start any modules.

Since bmw had already looked at this problem , only to tell me no trouble found. . I will be taking it back to them again.

They checked the batt, and load tested it, and it passed,
possibly a faulty module somewhere, effected by the heat maybe

I have found a couple postings about the cable from the battery to the main fuse block in the engine bay getting corroded, but BMW said that was in good cond.

any ideas ??

Dr Zoidberg · 05-16-2012, 03:12 PM

After searching some more, it looks like it was already covered in another post.

Apprently , several other folks are having the same issue. Intermitant no-power to anything after shutting off the car.

Most of these were addressed by changing out the fuse panel and the B+ cable from the battery to the fuse panel.

After 3 trips to the dealer with intermitant no-power, and 3 times of BMW concluding no trouble found or unable to reproduce. I drove around for another 2 months of dealing with it not starting sometimes, and then as I waiting around for while, it would start back up...

Until last night, I was driving home and the gauges started to act up, then 5 miles later, bam! the everything dies and I coast the car to a stop on the side of the road. no power to anything with key stuck in the ignition and the gauges stuck in the lat postion it was when it died.. kinda spooky!

The tow truck pulled me out at 3am. I called the dealer the next day, and asked,, were you able to duplicate the problem? Yes, the car wont start and the key is stuck in the ignition.

I have never been so happy to have a car still broken.. Like a vaildation , Im not crazy.

05-13-2012, 04:27 PM	#1
Dr Zoidberg New Member 7 Rep 26 Posts Drives: 08' 328i Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Gainesville, Va iTrader: (0)	Intermitant car with no power ( electrical) Car will start up fine, then it can sit for awhile and then when I go to unlock with the key fob, nothing happens. I have to use the manual key to unlock the door. The fOB will not stay in the ignition and no lights come on. when the car works again, the clock, trip OD, mpg info and date are reset. I have been lucky enough for this to happen at my garage. During a no power condition, the batt voltage was at 12.4v, and showed 12.4v on both sides of the IBS with no reistance. I hooked up my CANOBD port and as suspected nothing was detected. The last three times, it was after the car was quite hot, from sitting in the sun. when I came back, nothing would work, after I had the doors and hood open investigating the problem . , it spontaneously woke up when I tried the FOB again for the heck of it. Besides waiting around for it to fix itself, the other surefire solution has been to jump it with a jump-start pack. Only then will all the accs come on and the car starts. I have tried , car to car, and that didnt even start any modules. Since bmw had already looked at this problem , only to tell me no trouble found. . I will be taking it back to them again. They checked the batt, and load tested it, and it passed, possibly a faulty module somewhere, effected by the heat maybe I have found a couple postings about the cable from the battery to the main fuse block in the engine bay getting corroded, but BMW said that was in good cond. any ideas ??
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05-16-2012, 03:12 PM	#2
Dr Zoidberg New Member 7 Rep 26 Posts Drives: 08' 328i Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Gainesville, Va iTrader: (0)	After searching some more, it looks like it was already covered in another post. Apprently , several other folks are having the same issue. Intermitant no-power to anything after shutting off the car. Most of these were addressed by changing out the fuse panel and the B+ cable from the battery to the fuse panel. After 3 trips to the dealer with intermitant no-power, and 3 times of BMW concluding no trouble found or unable to reproduce. I drove around for another 2 months of dealing with it not starting sometimes, and then as I waiting around for while, it would start back up... Until last night, I was driving home and the gauges started to act up, then 5 miles later, bam! the everything dies and I coast the car to a stop on the side of the road. no power to anything with key stuck in the ignition and the gauges stuck in the lat postion it was when it died.. kinda spooky! The tow truck pulled me out at 3am. I called the dealer the next day, and asked,, were you able to duplicate the problem? Yes, the car wont start and the key is stuck in the ignition. I have never been so happy to have a car still broken.. Like a vaildation , Im not crazy.
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