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      08-21-2016, 02:36 PM   #1
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Computer glitches/Battery troubles?

Hi All-

Is anyone else, at around 12k miles, beginning to have major computer glitches, that could be related to batteries failing? It is well known that the V8 engine in these cars eats batteries for lunch, hence the new battery every other oil change. See the attached link to an article about it.

I had this scenario happen in a previous BMW, but much later than 12k miles, and the first major symptom of the batteries failing is major computer glitches. Mine, thus far, are as follows:

1) sunroof button decoded itself, and stopped working
2) HVAC system would not illuminate, operate, or blow air
3) Part of the radio system would not load, e.g. SAT Radio
4) Steering wheel up/down motor/button decoded.
5) M1/M2 buttons would not work.

Each of these issues happened at different points over the past two weeks, and always reset themselves after the car is locked, and allowed to "go to sleep." Upon restart, the previous item that didn't work, will work, but generally something else will not. There have been a few days where all seems to work as normal.

The car goes in for service tomorrow morning for this. I wondered if anyone else has had their batteries prematurely fail, or if they are having severe computer glitches.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...ns-bmw-n63-v8/
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      08-21-2016, 10:57 PM   #2
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My issue with 13,000 miles is my alarm will go off for no reason.
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      08-21-2016, 11:19 PM   #3
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Sorry to hear your troubles. Since our F10 550xi, I make sure I lock the car in the garage every night and when I am not going to drive it for a week or more will charge it on a trickle charger.
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      08-22-2016, 07:28 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanExtant View Post
Hi All-

Is anyone else, at around 12k miles, beginning to have major computer glitches, that could be related to batteries failing? It is well known that the V8 engine in these cars eats batteries for lunch, hence the new battery every other oil change. See the attached link to an article about it.

I had this scenario happen in a previous BMW, but much later than 12k miles, and the first major symptom of the batteries failing is major computer glitches. Mine, thus far, are as follows:

1) sunroof button decoded itself, and stopped working
2) HVAC system would not illuminate, operate, or blow air
3) Part of the radio system would not load, e.g. SAT Radio
4) Steering wheel up/down motor/button decoded.
5) M1/M2 buttons would not work.

Each of these issues happened at different points over the past two weeks, and always reset themselves after the car is locked, and allowed to "go to sleep." Upon restart, the previous item that didn't work, will work, but generally something else will not. There have been a few days where all seems to work as normal.

The car goes in for service tomorrow morning for this. I wondered if anyone else has had their batteries prematurely fail, or if they are having severe computer glitches.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...ns-bmw-n63-v8/
Is your M driven daily? I've lost the telescoping part of the steering wheel. Just waiting on the next service to fix it.
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      08-22-2016, 08:34 AM   #5
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The car is driven around 5 out of 7 days in a week. It always sits locked in its house when it's not being driven. I know BMWs won't ever fully sleep, if they're not locked, and not locking the car will kill the battery.

As far as the steering mobility, it won't telescope anymore after yesterday. It started with the button decoding upon startup. I had time, so I shut it off, locked it, and waited for it to sleep. When I started it again, the up/down motion would work, but not the in/out.

It goes in to service in half an hour, so I'm hopeful they will work the issues out. I just wondered if anyone else was having issues with the batteries and computers at such low mileage. It was closer to 20k miles when this same scenario happened on a previous X5.
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      08-22-2016, 08:52 AM   #6
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Urbanextant, sorry to hear about this problem. While you were on vacation did they fix your wheel bearing problem? Also, I did not realize that the battery had to be changed every other oil change. Obviously I have not read the manual on the X5M, how many miles between oil changes? On my 2008 X5 the clock would be off and the windows just started going up and down, that's how I learned my battery had to be replaced, of course that wasn't until 20,000 miles or so.
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      08-22-2016, 08:53 AM   #7
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I believe the main problen with our "V8 batteries" lies here:

- every time we stop a warm engine the big radiator fan runs for quite a long time on battery power until some sensor, probably within the hot "V8 turbo valley", decides that the area has cooled enough;

- our AGM batteries are rated for some 200 full-to-empty cycles (I read 100 to 300 according to different sources); partial discharges simply add up until the total 200x100Ah = 20,000 Ah lifetime capacity has been reached; if the fan needs 20 Amps and runs 15 minutes twice a day, this alone depletes a battery in less than six years - add cooling pumps, engine restarts in stop&go traffic and electronics when parked and you may reach zero battery life in far less;

- so, if you mainly travel long stretches in a cold country, your battery may last longer, but frequent shopping in Miami may kill your battery in less than two years.

I assume our cars have a "battery life meter", allowing the SA to change batteries in due time.
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      08-22-2016, 09:36 AM   #8
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Do any of you use the auto stop-start feature?
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      08-22-2016, 09:40 AM   #9
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No I turned it off immediately, why?
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      08-22-2016, 09:58 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by secretariat View Post
No I turned it off immediately, why?
Just curious because it seems like that could be another reason for battery drain.
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      08-22-2016, 10:25 AM   #11
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The car is at service now. As of this morning, everything loaded, and worked as it should, including the steering adjustment, which didn't work yesterday.

On the previous X5 when this happened, and it turned out to be the batteries, it happened around 20k miles.

If it turns out to be the batteries, I'll be angry. I don't find it acceptable for the car to chew through its batteries every 12k miles. That will get real spendy real quick out of warranty.

It shows on the service printout from corporate to the dealership, that this car is due for a battery switch in 7k miles. My SA let me sift through all the paperwork this morning.
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      08-22-2016, 10:27 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by secretariat
Urbanextant, sorry to hear about this problem. While you were on vacation did they fix your wheel bearing problem? Also, I did not realize that the battery had to be changed every other oil change. Obviously I have not read the manual on the X5M, how many miles between oil changes? On my 2008 X5 the clock would be off and the windows just started going up and down, that's how I learned my battery had to be replaced, of course that wasn't until 20,000 miles or so.
Yes, the dealership replaced the wheel bearings, and reinstalled the friction plate. As of now, it's quiet. Not a lot of hope it'll stay that way after reading recent posts on this forum.
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      08-22-2016, 10:32 PM   #13
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I really hope I don't run into these issues. It's a lease but I do a lot of short trips. Our 550xi was a disaster but the dealer worked out a way for me to get in my M5 before BMW admitted the problem with batteries.

What I read is that this is one of the reasons why the F15/85 is going to have a short cycle.

If I run into this problem, I might have to consider the new Panamera over the new M5 or X5M. Would be the first time in 16 years without a BMW. I really hope I don't have a problem, I really like my X5M.
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      08-23-2016, 05:16 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onfireX5
Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanExtant View Post
Hi All-

Is anyone else, at around 12k miles, beginning to have major computer glitches, that could be related to batteries failing? It is well known that the V8 engine in these cars eats batteries for lunch, hence the new battery every other oil change. See the attached link to an article about it.

I had this scenario happen in a previous BMW, but much later than 12k miles, and the first major symptom of the batteries failing is major computer glitches. Mine, thus far, are as follows:

1) sunroof button decoded itself, and stopped working
2) HVAC system would not illuminate, operate, or blow air
3) Part of the radio system would not load, e.g. SAT Radio
4) Steering wheel up/down motor/button decoded.
5) M1/M2 buttons would not work.

Each of these issues happened at different points over the past two weeks, and always reset themselves after the car is locked, and allowed to "go to sleep." Upon restart, the previous item that didn't work, will work, but generally something else will not. There have been a few days where all seems to work as normal.

The car goes in for service tomorrow morning for this. I wondered if anyone else has had their batteries prematurely fail, or if they are having severe computer glitches.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...ns-bmw-n63-v8/
Is your M driven daily? I've lost the telescoping part of the steering wheel. Just waiting on the next service to fix it.
Same thing here, 15.000miles. I opened the steering column and moved the wires a little bit and everything is ok now. At next service i will ask the dealer to investigate it even more
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      08-23-2016, 08:35 AM   #15
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The short battery life of BMWs seems to affect other top brands too. The Bentley Bentayga has a 48 Volt system, trying to save some copper "weight and cost" - and other brands are following this route too, but this does not solve the battery life issue.

500 hp engines generate much heat that needs to be extracted after shutdown with powerful fans, reducing battery life. It's a "thermodynamical fact of life" affecting all brands with such engines.

My X5 M workaround is to always, immediately connect a C-Tek battery charger everytime I park in my garage, it takes just a few seconds - it's become an automatic action, like shutting the doors.
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      08-23-2016, 09:24 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WCH View Post
I really hope I don't run into these issues. It's a lease but I do a lot of short trips. Our 550xi was a disaster but the dealer worked out a way for me to get in my M5 before BMW admitted the problem with batteries.

What I read is that this is one of the reasons why the F15/85 is going to have a short cycle.

If I run into this problem, I might have to consider the new Panamera over the new M5 or X5M. Would be the first time in 16 years without a BMW. I really hope I don't have a problem, I really like my X5M.
I can very much understand. I do a lot of short trips, as well. Nothing on Cape Cod is particularly far. I had hoped BMW worked through their battery issues by now. The X5 the F85 replaced was a diesel and it didn't have the battery issue. Despite the X5 M being faster, and a bit nicer, oftentimes lately, I miss my diesel X5. It was a tank that went without issue. Being an E70 with the sport pack, and adaptive suspension, etc. it didn't drive, handling wise, too very much different than the F85, except its engine wasn't as fast off the line. It had way better steering, too, since it was hydraulic.

We feel trapped in Hell these days. We would love to switch to another brand, and try something new, but we are trapped into taking that M4 we custom ordered, back when things were going well with our BMWs. Other than burning a lot of bridges, and pissing people off, there's no way to not take delivery of it, even if right now neither my husband, nor I want to own another BMW for quite some time.
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      08-23-2016, 01:22 PM   #17
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Got an update on my car this afternoon. The tech found too many faults within the whole of the car to realistically name them all. They claim the batteries are "fine." There is a TSB out for all older F85/86 vehicles within the past 48 hours or so stating dealerships are to update the software in the vehicles to the most current one released.

The tech was advised by BMW to go to each individual computer, or node, as BMW calls them, and reprogram it with the current software, then move on to the next, until all have been updated. They don't know where all the glitches/faults came from, and are reluctant to discuss the subject when cornered about it.

They still have the vehicle while they try to answer my question regarding satellite radio. My car's radio only goes up to channel 179, as was the previous highest channel offered, but as of this past year, the satellite radios now go up to channel 400+. They are trying to see if they can code the radio to receive those stations, if it's a subscription thing, or if it would require a hardware update.

While I was in today, I discussed our incoming M4. It was released to carrier this morning, and has an ETA of 8/25/16, although it'll more than likely be next Monday that it'll arrive. I'm trying to decide if it's worth keeping the F85 X5 M with all the issues I've had with it, or if I should turn it in on the M4, and take a few months to sort out what is the appropriate SUV for me. I'd love some input on what others would do if faced with a similar situation.

Last edited by UrbanExtant; 08-26-2016 at 08:30 PM..
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      08-23-2016, 01:59 PM   #18
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UrbanExtant, if the problems you have had on your X5M (wheel bearings, software problems etc.) are taken care of why would you consider getting rid of it. I know it's complete nonsense that you had to go through this with a 100k car and your upset to say the least, but if it now rides like it's suppose to I wouldn't get rid of it. What I would do is to try and get some goodwill freebies from BMW. Good luck with your decision.
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      08-23-2016, 02:07 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by secretariat
UrbanExtant, if the problems you have had on your X5M (wheel bearings, software problems etc.) are taken care of why would you consider getting rid of it. I know it's complete nonsense that you had to go through this with a 100k car and your upset to say the least, but if it now rides like it's suppose to I wouldn't get rid of it. What I would do is to try and get some goodwill freebies from BMW. Good luck with your decision.
My concern lies in that every month it's something else that's gone wrong with it. Being trapped at a distant parking lot Sunday, because it was malfunctioning was a huge issue for me. I almost had to call someone to come get me, and just leave the car where it was. Yes, the dealership has fixed all the issues, but they seem to be coming faster these days than they are repaired.
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      08-23-2016, 04:33 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanExtant View Post
My concern lies in that every month it's something else that's gone wrong with it. Being trapped at a distant parking lot Sunday, because it was malfunctioning was a huge issue for me. I almost had to call someone to come get me, and just leave the car where it was. Yes, the dealership has fixed all the issues, but they seem to be coming faster these days than they are repaired.
With that said, I would ask them what THEY are going to do with THEIR lemon. You have a TON of leverage right now that diminishes daily. New M4 on the way, X5M with too many issues to name. I'd ask myself what would make me happy and then crank the pressure up and give them a few days to make it right under the threat that they can keep the M4 AND lemon the X5M.

For me personally, after a few days I would demand a new X5M from them and package it by buying the M4 also. But that's just me. Good luck !
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      08-24-2016, 03:17 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onfireX5 View Post
With that said, I would ask them what THEY are going to do with THEIR lemon. You have a TON of leverage right now that diminishes daily. New M4 on the way, X5M with too many issues to name. I'd ask myself what would make me happy and then crank the pressure up and give them a few days to make it right under the threat that they can keep the M4 AND lemon the X5M.

For me personally, after a few days I would demand a new X5M from them and package it by buying the M4 also. But that's just me. Good luck !
I appreciate your advice. It is a tricky situation. We are friends with the dealership owners, and their son, also a friend, is the GM. We have a great relationship with them, and wouldn't want to ruin it by being jerks.

I have spoken to a lemon lawyer, the one that helped us win the three cases against VW/Audi/Porsche.

I have also put in our requests with BMW Corporate. We will see how things play out.

Right now, it's nice having my X5 M back, and working correctly. I'm still trying to sort out why all of the loaner cars I've had this past year get sat radio channels up to the 900 range, but my X5 M can only get to channel 220. No one seems to have a good answer as to why. I'm currently waiting for answers to all the emails and phone calls I've put out.
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      08-24-2016, 03:34 PM   #22
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I checked my Satellite radio and it only goes to 220 also.
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