[mdtmem]

I have noticed having to press the stop/start button twice to turn off the radio. Is everyone experiencing this? I just held down the button on my E60 until everything shut off. It is not a big deal other than when I leave it in my garage(don't lock it) as anywhere else I lock it & that shuts everything off.

[April1]

Originally Posted by mdtmem

I have noticed having to press the stop/start button twice to turn off the radio. Is everyone experiencing this? I just held down the button on my E60 until everything shut off. It is not a big deal other than when I leave it in my garage(don't lock it) as anywhere else I lock it & that shuts everything off.

Yes you need to press two times, it's clearly given in the user manual.

[walendvay]

I put a battery charger on my rig overnight just to "top it off". I had the dreaded warning the next day. I am guessing it's because of the load that my battery charger puts on the system to check the battery charge.

I ordered a battery tender (same as BMW's charger). Will be interesting to see if I get the same warning with it. Am guessing so.

Would guess if one charged at the battery rather than under the hood, you'd be upstream of the (I) sensor and the warning may not trip.

[ctski1]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

Or, just press it once and then lock the car with the key remote which also shuts off the accessories.

Or wait for a few minutes and let the car shut off the accessories.

Or remove the battery and carry it with you to be sure the accessories are really off.

Or, like the OP, park your car in New Jersey and have a dead battery the next day.

So the take-away is never to park your new X3 in New Jersey!!

I keep my iPod and the radar detector connected all the time with no issues.

[sfax]

Originally Posted by Razel

I've been to the UK a couple of times. Had to drive through the middle of London, even. With that much stress, I never got to the newsagent level.

Next time you're in London, ask the newsagent for this month's Razel

[Le Chef]

I think if the OP can't explain to the dealer what's going on then he should: a) change dealer b) complain to BMW NA c) get rid of the car.

I would think a simple demonstration would be all the dealer techs would need. Why is this apparently so complicated?

[nyalpine90]

i bet i know who you are dealing with, its bmw life quality in brooklyn..
i suggest you take your car out and take it to a different service center,

i heard stories about that service shop not good at all.

[96_Impreza]

How will this thread end, if ever?
"The Sopranos"?
"Seinfeld"?
Joyce's "Ulysses"?
"Breaking Bad"?
Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasileiras No 5"?

[torzeck]

Originally Posted by walendvay

I put a battery charger on my rig overnight just to "top it off". I had the dreaded warning the next day. I am guessing it's because of the load that my battery charger puts on the system to check the battery charge.

I ordered a battery tender (same as BMW's charger). Will be interesting to see if I get the same warning with it. Am guessing so.

Would guess if one charged at the battery rather than under the hood, you'd be upstream of the (I) sensor and the warning may not trip.

Hold on,
Is your x not being driven for an extended period of time, like 2 or 3 weeks? Or, is your car in sub zero conditions?

Otherwise, why would you or anyone need a trickle charger?

If you're in a temperate climate, car is routinely driven and needs a trickle charger there is a problem with the charging system.Or, there's a ginormous engineering flaw.

[walendvay]

yes, and yes

[torzeck]

Ok , that's a relief. I was not looking forward to a future of having a battery charger.

[walendvay]

yea, it's cold in my garage and I tend to "top off" my rigs every-so-often. No need to alarm. I haven't had the issue the others have been seeing. My only observation was the message that popped up after a night on the charger, that's all.

[April1]

I have also heard that bad conditioned battery such as discharged or old, can also burn your starter as the starters are rated for short duty cycles.

[married w/X3]

Bump!

Don't leave us hanging June! What's the status on your X3?

[June]

@married w/3 sorry... my car is still at the dealership since it broke down... The manager called me yesterday, and they had a hard time diagnosing my car until they found something ( He told me about JBE, i really didn't get what he said, and I don't know what he's talking about) so we are still waiting... We don't really have a choice right now but to wait for them to fix it... I'm just hoping that they are gonna replace our car, but I guess it's impossible until it will be considered a lemon car (according to NY law, if it broke down 4x with the same problem) The manager said they still gonna observe the car for a few days, until they are confident that they found the problem and fix it. So we are really worried that the value of the car will be affected and that it will not be as reliable as a brand new car...As of the moment, I don't know if we can complain, they gave us the loaner car to use which is a COUPE 328i. But I guess, we are not paying for the loaner car so hope it will be fix asap...I'll update you guys when they'll give us our car back and give us the real diagnosis of it...

[jk]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

Letting your X3 sit for a week without running the engine should not cause any problems, letting it sit for two weeks is "pushing it"

i just ordered an x3 last week, for pcd in spartanburg in jan. and i'm blown away and dismayed by the idea that i could drive it to an airport to go on vacation for 2 weeks, and have no confidence that it would start when i returned.

is there no way to "power down" whatever is drawing current over an interval like that? perhaps at the cost of a somewhat extended "reboot" when you returned? [like using hibernate versus sleep on a laptop]

edit- just found bill s's post on using a solar panel and breakout box to the obd - it's clever but over my skill level to set up. i also can't believe you need to resort to such a kluge to start a car after just 2-3 weeks! i guess bmw designer/engineers never go on vacation for more than a week, huh? how about carrying a real car battery and jumper cables in your rear storage? just make sure your real battery is charged to bring along when you need to park for a while.

[02420X3]

I just left my car parked for two full weeks and had no issues when I returned.

[Bill S]

Originally Posted by jk

i just ordered an x3 last week, for pcd in spartanburg in jan. and i'm blown away and dismayed by the idea that i could drive it to an airport to go on vacation for 2 weeks, and have no confidence that it would start when i returned.

is there no way to "power down" whatever is drawing current over an interval like that? perhaps at the cost of a somewhat extended "reboot" when you returned? [like using hibernate versus sleep on a laptop]

edit- just found bill s's post on using a solar panel and breakout box to the obd - it's clever but over my skill level to set up. i also can't believe you need to resort to such a kluge to start a car after just 2-3 weeks! i guess bmw designer/engineers never go on vacation for more than a week, huh? how about carrying a real car battery and jumper cables in your rear storage? just make sure your real battery is charged to bring along when you need to park for a while.

It is really easy to set up - you do not need the break out box for operation; just for testing.
To use the panel it is literally just a matter of removing the socket cover and plugging the panel in after you park. Unplug before you start the car.
Sorry if I made it seem complicated.

Still don't know how well it works - I probably will next week when I get the car back after a 9 week away trip.

It may be that some of the reported "error messages" show that BMW have already considered the problem and automatically shut down more ancillary circuits when the charge level gets lower - leaving enough to start the car. My concern is if this includes the alarm system. Unable to find out without several weeks of "test".

[fvfvsix]

Having had this issue, I can safely say that I'm happy the car is smart enough to put itself in "power down" mode when the battery gets to about 60ish percent charge. This way, you get a warning but still have enough juice to start the car.
However-and this is important...

When you get this message, you either need to drive the car for a loooong (like two hours on the freeway) time, or put the car on a Battery Tender or a CTEK as soon as possible. The car is basically telling you it probably won't start if you continue your regular driving pattern.

Our X3 gets mostly city miles, and is driven max 3 days a week. That obviously isn't the pattern the BMW engineers had in mind when they came up with the smart alternator charge algorithm. Thus, it needs the CTEK overnight every few months to keep the battery healthy. I'm okay with that. I'm not saying June shouldn't be angry with the issue... I'm just sharing a sure fire fix.

[married w/X3]

Originally Posted by June

@married w/3 sorry... my car is still at the dealership since it broke down... The manager called me yesterday, and they had a hard time diagnosing my car until they found something ( He told me about JBE, i really didn't get what he said, and I don't know what he's talking about) so we are still waiting... We don't really have a choice right now but to wait for them to fix it... I'm just hoping that they are gonna replace our car, but I guess it's impossible until it will be considered a lemon car (according to NY law, if it broke down 4x with the same problem) The manager said they still gonna observe the car for a few days, until they are confident that they found the problem and fix it. So we are really worried that the value of the car will be affected and that it will not be as reliable as a brand new car...As of the moment, I don't know if we can complain, they gave us the loaner car to use which is a COUPE 328i. But I guess, we are not paying for the loaner car so hope it will be fix asap...I'll update you guys when they'll give us our car back and give us the real diagnosis of it...

Looking on the bright side, you are no longer dealing with "you left your iPod on" nonsense. They are troubleshooting a real problem. Once that problem is solved, it's no reason your X3 won't be as good as any other. Keep us posted.

[June]

Hey, sorry for this late update. Our car is running ok now, I guess they found the problem, they replace the JBE box which according to them controls all the electrical relay in the car. It was drawing too much of the battery that's why our battery got discharge. I never heard them saying again that the ipod cause the discharge of the battery. And we finally got the reimbursement of the diagnostic test they charge us after we made a lot of email and persistent calls proving to them that there was a defect on the car. We went to the dealership service center yesterday and talk to the manager that we are not happy of what they charge us. They are trying to get away with us by always saying that they already gave us a discount of half price of diagnostic. But we totally disagree to pay because our car is still under warranty. So after a lot of sarcastic comment they said to us, our persistency of bothering them pays off. They finally requested to issue us a check and mail it to us. But another issue that we had with them was we are asking them if they could provide or give us the copy of the diagnostics and what was the part that was replaced. They said they can't give us anything for legal issues. We are trying to document everything so whatever happens in the future, we can complain to BMW NA that our car has some defect. Hope our car is really fix and hope we will never experience the same problem again...

[married w/X3]

Happy to hear you have your car back! Seems they found the problem, hope that is it. Definitely document everything. Your dealership doesn't sound very reasonable to deal with. Is there another BMW store you can utilize?