Battery Woes

[stal023]

Hello everyone,
I know there are a ton of posts out there on battery issues and I am seeing many different opinions so I am trying to clear things up. Admittedly, I am dumb to BMW as this is my first one (USA 2006 Z4). The car has sat for 3 weeks and it is dead dead! When I first bought the car in the fall I had the battery tested (just at an auto parts store) and they said it was still good.

I am reading to jump it from the front and not the back battery which not knowing, I did jump it a while back from the rear with no issues. Today I tried the same (not knowing BMW made terminals under the hood) and had no luck and needed to get to work so I jumped in my other vehicle.

Here are my questions:

1. Hooking it up to the front, should it start right away off a jump or leave it hooked up at least 15 minutes before trying? I don't have a dedicated battery charger so if I get it to start I will just keep the car running to charge it.

• If it doesn't start right away, can I just keep the host vehicle running while it is connected to the front terminals to keep it charging?

• If I do need a new battery, what battery should I buy and what is the process of changing it myself without messing anything up? A proper idiots guide to changing a BMW battery would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Roberltd2]

Hi stal023,
Can't offer up any advice on the first two points, but on the third I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Yuasa HSB110 battery, although it might have been relabled now as YBX5110. Fixed a load of strange issues on my car - lights and radio coming on for no reason for example.
South Carolina. Holy land for Zeders eh?
Cheers,
Robert.

 

[stal023]

Thanks. I was able to hook up the car to a running vehicle and get it started. I've order a solar powered battery tender so if it sits, hopefully I won't have this issue again.

I don't understand why they say you have to take your car into the dealership to get the battery registered? For example this car has been dead for a few weeks likely and just fired it up with no issues. Seems like BMW trying to get more money. Also read you need to have power supplied to the car when installing a new battery. Again, not understanding this as these cars have batteries go dead all the time. Just want to make sure I am doing things correctly and not messing up the car. Much appreciated.

 

[enuff_zed]

If the battery dies or is disconnected you can lose a few settings: clock, computer (if you have satnav) etc. I also have found that the windows lose their anti jam sensing, so they won't do one touch up until you reset them. All niggly little things, but I suppose keeping power on saves you this extra hassle.

 

[colb]

Low battery will cause all sorts of problems including the car setting its self into Transport Mode to conserve what power is left in the battery for starting. Transport mode will close down the aircon and heated rear window and has to be reset to normal using diagnostic software, I use BMW Scanner 1.4 on a laptop to do this. Now you have got the car started just check out the Aircon and heated rear screen are working, if they don't then its probably gone into transport mode.
Also check out that the alternator is actually charging the battery, putting a volt meter on the battery terminals with the engine running should show up at least 14volts to indicate its charging ok. The car will need a run of 20 to 30 miles to put a decent charge into a flat battery. May also be prudent to see if the car has a voltage drain when its switched off, check out youtube for details on how to do this using a volt meter.
As to the need for registering a new battery when one iis replaced, some of the later models do require this as the car manages the charging rate and needs to know what type of battery is fitted. If your car requires this the latest software update on a Creator 310+ diagnostics scanner can do this. For circa £50 its a really handy portable scanner to have as it covers all the modules fitted to these cars and allows some coding to be done as well as read and clear fault codes. Scanner available on ebay and amazon.

 

[stal023]

Low battery will cause all sorts of problems including the car setting its self into Transport Mode to conserve what power is left in the battery for starting. Transport mode will close down the aircon and heated rear window and has to be reset to normal using diagnostic software, I use BMW Scanner 1.4 on a laptop to do this. Now you have got the car started just check out the Aircon and heated rear screen are working, if they don't then its probably gone into transport mode.

Probably a dumb question but the aircon is the AC, yeah? Because mine stopped working last fall and I just didn't bother to check into it because I was going into colder weather. I have no idea if this took place after a dead battery.

As to the need for registering a new battery when one iis replaced, some of the later models do require this as the car manages the charging rate and needs to know what type of battery is fitted. If your car requires this the latest software update on a Creator 310+ diagnostics scanner can do this. For circa £50 its a really handy portable scanner to have as it covers all the modules fitted to these cars and allows some coding to be done as well as read and clear fault codes. Scanner available on ebay and amazon.

I know NOTHING about software, I've seen videos and it has gone over my head. I don't even know where to begin on that subject. Seems like you are knowledgeable on this?

 

[buzyg]

So far as starting and running the car. You can simply put a new battery in and it should be just fine starting. As others have said it's other little things that the car forgets when the battery is dead. You can kill a battery really quickly if there is an earth somewhere too. My first lasted 12 years. My second lasted 7 weeks, because it was and earth that had killed the first one after all that time and it quickly killed the second one. So watch out for any issues after you fit your new battery. :wink:

 

[colb]

Yes Aircon is the AC, if the car has gone into transport mode you will only get one speed out of your blower motor and the AC will be disabled. You do need diagnostics to reset the mode to Normal to get things back online.
If you have a laptop I would suggest that you invest in BMW Scanner 1.4 diagnostics. It is simple to use and will read all the modules fitted to your car and has the capability to reset the Transport Mode. Its probably the best software for a new diagnostics user to start with.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164592784553?hash=item26527e94a9:g24AAOSw4Mdf32H9

 

[stal023]

Yes Aircon is the AC, if the car has gone into transport mode you will only get one speed out of your blower motor and the AC will be disabled. You do need diagnostics to reset the mode to Normal to get things back online.
If you have a laptop I would suggest that you invest in BMW Scanner 1.4 diagnostics. It is simple to use and will read all the modules fitted to your car and has the capability to reset the Transport Mode. Its probably the best software for a new diagnostics user to start with.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164592784553?hash=item26527e94a9:g24AAOSw4Mdf32H9

I am in the US, is this the same thing?
https://www.amazon.com/Scanner-1-4-0-Diagnostic-Reader-Locking/dp/B095WPYRRB

So this plugs into the car and the other end to the computer. What do I need to download to the computer?

 

[colb]

Yes thats BMW Scanner 1.4, it comes with a disc or usb stick with the software on to install on the laptop. Once installed plug the interface into the cars OBD2 socket and the lead from the interface into a usb socket on the laptop. Then open the software and let it connect to the car. Scan the car using the onscreen buttons and it will scan through three pages of modules. If your car is not equipped with any of the modules it will list them as not found. Once the scan is complete click on each individual module to open it up to display the functions you can do to it e.g read errors, clear errors or progamme changes etc.

 

[stal023]

Yes thats BMW Scanner 1.4, it comes with a disc or usb stick with the software on to install on the laptop. Once installed plug the interface into the cars OBD2 socket and the lead from the interface into a usb socket on the laptop. Then open the software and let it connect to the car. Scan the car using the onscreen buttons and it will scan through three pages of modules. If your car is not equipped with any of the modules it will list them as not found. Once the scan is complete click on each individual module to open it up to display the functions you can do to it e.g read errors, clear errors or progamme changes etc.

Thanks! In the description is says "2. Supported Car Year: for BMW up to 2001-2002" - mine is an 06, will it still work? Also do you know if this works with a mac as that is all I have?

 

[colb]

Preety sure it will work on a 2006, I have a 2.5 built 2003 and it works on that as well as my 1999 1.9 Z3.
Its Windows based so won't work with a Mac, you should be able to pick up a used laptop for little cost and just use that for diagnostics.

 

[stal023]

Preety sure it will work on a 2006, I have a 2.5 built 2003 and it works on that as well as my 1999 1.9 Z3.
Its Windows based so won't work with a Mac, you should be able to pick up a used laptop for little cost and just use that for diagnostics.

Is there an updated scanner for newer cars?

 

[colb]

No, BMW Scanner covers and works on the majority of models across the range, its a version of PA Software which is a version of BMW's own diagnostics called INPA. It will scan the car to connect and display the cars details before you access the main module scanning page to carry out a full scan of all the modules fitted to your particular car.
Update
Take a look at this new post regarding using BMW Scanner 1.4, it has screen shots.
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1914098#p1914098

 

[stal023]

No, BMW Scanner covers and works on the majority of models across the range, its a version of PA Software which is a version of BMW's own diagnostics called INPA. It will scan the car to connect and display the cars details before you access the main module scanning page to carry out a full scan of all the modules fitted to your particular car.
Update
Take a look at this new post regarding using BMW Scanner 1.4, it has screen shots.
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1914098#p1914098

Awesome, thanks! Scanner came in, now I need to ask where I can find a download link for Windows 10?

 

[stal023]

No, BMW Scanner covers and works on the majority of models across the range, its a version of PA Software which is a version of BMW's own diagnostics called INPA. It will scan the car to connect and display the cars details before you access the main module scanning page to carry out a full scan of all the modules fitted to your particular car.
Update
Take a look at this new post regarding using BMW Scanner 1.4, it has screen shots.
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1914098#p1914098

Awesome, thanks! Scanner came in, now I need to ask where I can find a download link for Windows 10?

Here is what I found: https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/release-bmw-scanner-1-4-drivers-for-windows-10-dummy-friendly-installation-guide.1397475/

 

[Billbob10]

Dont want to state the obvious, but have you checked that there is nothing draining the battery ,i had a similar problem and found the light in the centre console was staying on. It would be worth checking things like boot light glove box etc.

 

[spazmochad]

See how much is draining and check for lights, modules and things like the sat nav staying on by pulling fuses until it goes down to normal levels. You can fake the doors and trunk being shut by flipping the mechanisms before locking the car that way you can still get to the fuses/battery. Mine was about 0.04a idle last time I checked:

 

[stal023]

Battery was drained because it sat for weeks.

Driving it today I realized I have all speeds on my fan and my rear defrost does indeed work therefore it doesn't seem like it went into any mode other than my AC stopped working last fall (which appeared to be randomly).

I fully plan to learn this scanner but my work computer won't let me get past the step of the bitlocker therefore I have to find a cheap old used windows machine I guess.