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      07-28-2015, 03:43 PM   #1
jaybert
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Transmission/chassis stabilization/drivetrain malfunction all at once??

I have a 2011 x3 3.5i(which coincidentally just went out of warranty 3 weeks ago) and my wife was driving and as she was leaving the driveway, the car threw all 3 of these errors at once. Since pulled back into the driveway and it wouldnt even let her put the car in park, she had to turn off the engine at which point the car stopped. Of course I turned the car back on about 30 minutes later, and all the messages have gone away, and I was able to pull the car out of the driveway and drive it back without problem.

Has anyone experienced this before? I did some googling and it seemed possibly software related, and we have recently been dealing with a "rear light malfunction" message that would come intermittently and then disappear for weeks (brought in twice for dealership, the last time they replaced a bulb?). I am waiting for the dealer to get back to me on whether i should get it towed in, or just drive it since the messages were gone. I was already bringing it back next week to look @ the rear light malfunction (they said they would cover under warranty since i brought in twice before and still not resolved) so hopefully they'll somehow cover this under that assuming its just some software issue.
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      07-28-2015, 09:48 PM   #2
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We saw this on our 2010 E60. Turned out to be the battery.
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      07-29-2015, 04:31 AM   #3
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Thanks. How did you know it was the battery? Any indication or you just took it to the dealer and they told you the battery needed to be replaced?
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      07-29-2015, 08:13 AM   #4
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My guess is its the battery too. When you have all these random (and lots of em) errors popping up and disappearing, its usually the battery. Do get it checked out and replaced if needed, before the car just refuses to start.
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      07-29-2015, 11:06 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaybert View Post
I have a 2011 x3 3.5i(which coincidentally just went out of warranty 3 weeks ago) and my wife was driving and as she was leaving the driveway, the car threw all 3 of these errors at once. Since pulled back into the driveway and it wouldnt even let her put the car in park, she had to turn off the engine at which point the car stopped. Of course I turned the car back on about 30 minutes later, and all the messages have gone away, and I was able to pull the car out of the driveway and drive it back without problem.

Has anyone experienced this before? I did some googling and it seemed possibly software related, and we have recently been dealing with a "rear light malfunction" message that would come intermittently and then disappear for weeks (brought in twice for dealership, the last time they replaced a bulb?). I am waiting for the dealer to get back to me on whether i should get it towed in, or just drive it since the messages were gone. I was already bringing it back next week to look @ the rear light malfunction (they said they would cover under warranty since i brought in twice before and still not resolved) so hopefully they'll somehow cover this under that assuming its just some software issue.
Interesting because for the last 60-80 days I've also seen that "Reverse Lamp Malfunction" error show up as well. At least 10 times. But it doesn't affect the drive at all and it resets it self when the car is restarted. But now you're scaring me for what is to come, lol. Please get back to us on what the dealer says, I'm very curious
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      07-29-2015, 01:35 PM   #6
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will do. I talked to the service adviser and he said it was fine to continue driving given that the messages disappeared on restart. I drove it to work (all local so wasn't too concerned about getting stuck somewhere) without issue. I'm bringing it in next Tuesday to have them look again at the rear bulb malfunction error and will ask them to look at this as well. Given i'm out of warranty, I may just get them to swap the battery out and pay that out of pocket vs. them looking into it further. 4-5 years seems to be what I'm finding for battery life so its about that time.
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      07-29-2015, 01:47 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaybert View Post
will do. I talked to the service adviser and he said it was fine to continue driving given that the messages disappeared on restart. I drove it to work (all local so wasn't too concerned about getting stuck somewhere) without issue. I'm bringing it in next Tuesday to have them look again at the rear bulb malfunction error and will ask them to look at this as well. Given i'm out of warranty, I may just get them to swap the battery out and pay that out of pocket vs. them looking into it further. 4-5 years seems to be what I'm finding for battery life so its about that time.
Do not be in too much hurry to change the battery. If you are doing a lot of short runs and not charging the battery up completely, then it may just need to be trickle charged with an intelligent charger using the connections under the bonnet(hood).

The X3 in day to day running does NOT charge the battery to 100% each time, it only charges to 80%, so lots of small runs and using a lot more electrical power will run in it down to a level where you get random errors/problems. I had similar problems with different error messages and purchased a trickle charger and charged mine overnight for several days. This works everytime. If BMW have cars in their garage for more around 3 or 4 weeks they do the same. It is common practice in the UK.
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      07-29-2015, 02:48 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_R View Post
Do not be in too much hurry to change the battery. If you are doing a lot of short runs and not charging the battery up completely, then it may just need to be trickle charged with an intelligent charger using the connections under the bonnet(hood).

The X3 in day to day running does NOT charge the battery to 100% each time, it only charges to 80%, so lots of small runs and using a lot more electrical power will run in it down to a level where you get random errors/problems. I had similar problems with different error messages and purchased a trickle charger and charged mine overnight for several days. This works everytime. If BMW have cars in their garage for more around 3 or 4 weeks they do the same. It is common practice in the UK.
Great info. What is a "short run" Less than 12 miles or less then 4 Miles?
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      07-29-2015, 03:40 PM   #9
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BMW won't tell you what "short run" means, but they'll chalk it up to what they call "inappropriate driving profile" (aka "user error").

There is a service bulletin for a new Integrated Supply Module (related to battery management) which is intended to alleviate this issue. Both our 2011 and 2013 X3s received the new hardware. If you look at the the Winter problems threads you'll find some notes there (http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=931162)

Based on personal observations, I don't really think this update made a large impact. I still have to top up the batteries even in the summer.

Last edited by pokerface; 07-29-2015 at 03:45 PM..
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      07-29-2015, 04:02 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crashnbrn5 View Post
Great info. What is a "short run" Less than 12 miles or less then 4 Miles?
As we say in the UK "how long is a piece of string?". It all depends on the time of year and how much electrical power you use during the course of a journey. In winter months with the power taken to heat seats, the heated steering wheel and then the heating fan, you might find you are in deficit most the time and the battery never gets topped up to the daily running 80% design level. Eventually running like this you will get problems. Not so much in the summer though.

In my view there is no hard and fast distance that can be determined as a short run, so 12 miles is still too short.

My car has the Canadian specification battery (120 amp/hrs) because it has just about every electrical accessory fitted and accordingly the battery can get run down very quickly. In fact just after I purchased it from a dealer (it was a very low mileage EX BMW manager's car and only 10 months old) it gave me several random errors. I spoke to the dealer and we looked through the storage paperwork and found that the battery had been charged twice in 6 weeks. I discovered it had only been charged for several hours each time and from my experience this was not enough.

Cutting a long story short, I purchased one of the best smart battery chargers money can buy. It is a CTEK MXS 5.0 (different number for USA see note below) and used it over several days and brought the battery up to 100% (not 80% produced by the car's electronics) and since then it has been perfect. This charger is recommended for BMW AGM batteries as fitted to our cars.

In fact I leave it on trickle charge for the 60 days I am away in the Dominican Republic.

Note. CTEK USA site links;

http://smartercharger.com/

The one to purchase is:

http://smartercharger.com/battery-chargers/#CTEK Multi US 4.3

The trickle charger sold by BMW in the UK is made by CTEK with no label on it.

I hope this helps.
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      07-29-2015, 04:52 PM   #11
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nice, $54 on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-864-Au.../dp/B006G14FK8
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      07-29-2015, 07:43 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaybert
Thanks. How did you know it was the battery? Any indication or you just took it to the dealer and they told you the battery needed to be replaced?
It failed to turn over at first. When it did start those warnings all came on. We let it run a few minutes and they eventually went away. We were on the way to the dealer anyway to pick up my car so we left it.

I'd also say don't be so quick to have the dealer replace the battery if this is the first time you have seen this. With the diagnostic, battery, install and registration it was $500. Do a search on battery registration. I think it's worth doing but there are cheaper ways to do it other than the dealer.
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      07-30-2015, 07:15 AM   #13
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got it, thanks! I got the story a bit wrong, my wife didnt experience the issue until she was pulling into the driveway (though she didnt drive very far, a mile or so to drop off our dog to get a bath and then back). The car has been fine always, except for the rear bulb malfunction error we got like 4 or 5 times (which went away the next time we started the car every time) and the more recent set of errors. Have never gotten any warnings around the battery being low/etc. Most of the driving in this car is very short though...to/from the supermarket type of stuff. I purchased the CTEK smart charger mentioned above so we'll see if that helps. Debating if I should start using it when it arrives this weekend, or not do anything before bringing it into the dealership.
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      07-30-2015, 09:47 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crashnbrn5 View Post
Interesting because for the last 60-80 days I've also seen that "Reverse Lamp Malfunction" error show up as well.
replace both reverse lamps. I had the same error. no error after replacement.
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      07-30-2015, 11:44 AM   #15
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I had the exact problem, the car would stay in drive with the light on the shifter blinking until the car was turned off, and after a few minutes with the car off the problem would vanish and the car would drive normally again. The dealer fixed it by replacing the gear selector lever, after the third time I brought the car in, and that fixed the problem, never had the issue again.
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      06-01-2023, 10:19 AM   #16
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I apologize for bringing up this old thread. I had a similar issue with my 2015 BMW 320, it turns out that I had a ball joint issue, I heard a rattling noise while I’m driving the other day then the error code popped up. I took it to the shop so I can replace it immediately because it affects my driving and control of the car. I did a lot of searches on this issue and came on in depth article which may be worth reading, search for " BMW chassis stabilization malfunction drive moderately on YOUCANIC" and you will see an article that goes over common causes and possible fixes, you can read about it yourself. I hope this information can assist someone else with a similar issue.
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