Intermittent "car on lift" but no other lights?

jmb · Post by **jmb** » Wed May 30, 2018 10:01 am

So I'm not using my car much these days, but I'd say 80% of the time I do, turning on the ignition yields a *bong* and the yellow "car on ramp" symbol.
I used to assume this meant service due, but scrolling through the various things, nothing is actually needed. The symbol appears under check control.
Looking in the handbook, that symbol usually lights up in combination with another warning light, but nothing else is appearing.

Any ideas? Or will it need a dealer visit? It actually had an MOT / oil / brake fluid / spark plug change yesterday at a local independent specialist (as I'm immobile and can't drive to the dealer 30 miles away at the moment) and they didn't mention any problems...

Tyreman · Post by **Tyreman** » Wed May 30, 2018 1:40 pm

jmb wrote: ↑Wed May 30, 2018 10:01 am So I'm not using my car much these days, but I'd say 80% of the time I do, turning on the ignition yields a *bong* and the yellow "car on ramp" symbol.
I used to assume this meant service due, but scrolling through the various things, nothing is actually needed. The symbol appears under check control.
Looking in the handbook, that symbol usually lights up in combination with another warning light, but nothing else is appearing.

Any ideas? Or will it need a dealer visit? It actually had an MOT / oil / brake fluid / spark plug change yesterday at a local independent specialist (as I'm immobile and can't drive to the dealer 30 miles away at the moment) and they didn't mention any problems...

I had this on an E92 M3........lack of use is probably the issue, get a charger to maintain the battery voltage

djstan · Post by **djstan** » Wed May 30, 2018 3:25 pm

It's not just the regular MOT warning is it? ("Inspection" perhaps?) You can reset the reminder date in the settings somewhere..

jmb · Post by **jmb** » Wed May 30, 2018 3:29 pm

Tyreman wrote: ↑Wed May 30, 2018 1:40 pm I had this on an E92 M3........lack of use is probably the issue, get a charger to maintain the battery voltage

Unfortunately it lives on the street so I can't keep a normal charger plugged in. Perhaps one of those solar ones (assuming I can route the cable out of the boot somehow...)?

jmb · Post by **jmb** » Wed May 30, 2018 3:30 pm

djstan wrote: ↑Wed May 30, 2018 3:25 pm It's not just the regular MOT warning is it? ("Inspection" perhaps?) You can reset the reminder date in the settings somewhere..

I checked all those this morning and they were reset after the work yesterday so I don't think so, but will double check again

Nictrix · Post by **Nictrix** » Thu May 31, 2018 4:09 pm

Just before we changed the battery on ours we were intermittently getting this message too.
Not been back since the new battery was fitted.

PeterZed · Post by **PeterZed** » Thu May 31, 2018 7:49 pm

I bought a solar charger from ALDI last week , God bless 'em , and it has the usual crocodile clips to attach to the battery and a plug to charge through the cigarette lighter

jmb · Post by **jmb** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:14 am

PeterZed- where did you fit it? I assumed the lighter socket on our cars only works when the ignition is on, so that option wouldn't work. Croc clips onto the battery would, but then the cable presumably needs routing into the cabin somehow?

Nictrix · Post by **Nictrix** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:30 am

jmb · Post by **jmb** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:32 am

Nictrix wrote: ↑Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:30 am Rather than try to work your way around changing the battery you would probably be better off just changing it before other problems arise.
It seems that a common problem with a bad battery is the handbrake failing and needing a software update.
This has happened to quite a few members now and the common denominator seems to be an old battery.

Yeah, I had exactly that last summer and had the update done!

You're right, if the battery is suspect then I should probably just sort it, I'm just reluctant to spend all that money when I'm not really driving the car and likely to hand it back to BMW before the end of the year :/

Nictrix · Post by **Nictrix** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:46 am

jmb wrote: ↑Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:32 am
Nictrix wrote: ↑Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:30 am Rather than try to work your way around changing the battery you would probably be better off just changing it before other problems arise.
It seems that a common problem with a bad battery is the handbrake failing and needing a software update.
This has happened to quite a few members now and the common denominator seems to be an old battery.
Yeah, I had exactly that last summer and had the update done!

You're right, if the battery is suspect then I should probably just sort it, I'm just reluctant to spend all that money when I'm not really driving the car and likely to hand it back to BMW before the end of the year :/

Sorry I had deleted my post as I read in another thread that you had already had the software update for the handbrake.
It kinda made my post obsolete.

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