It just died....???

I

Izzyspi

Member
 Stoke on Trent
Morning all.
So, after a lovely weekend blatting about in the Zed, I figured that with the sun shining this morning I would use him for the school rum as well.
Got in with bambina, fired up first time, dropped the roof and off we went.
Parked up with the roof down, and walked her to the school gate - no more than 5 minutes.

Came back, noticed it was unlocked but though nothing of it.
Turned the key - nothing. No click, no lights, absolutely zilch.

Got out to lock it, and the key won't even turn in the doors to lock it manually? :headbang:

So, I've left him there, hood down, walked back home and am now wondering WTF it could be. Got my brother in law coming with some jump leads, although I've heard from some people that's not the best thing to do.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any input.
Paul
 
When was the last time the battery was changed? These cars suffer a lot with electrical gremlins with dead or dying batteries. There are two jump points under the bonnet so if they are there i presume it's ok to jump. Having said that i have heard of issues before, not necessary with the zed though.
The door look wouldn't be related to the battery but if not used before they do become very stiff so you might not have put enough elbow grease into it.
 
Cool, thanks Roundozo.

I would have said battery, but according the previous owner (I've only had the car a month or so), it's a new battery from last July?
I'll give it a jump in a bit (oo-er missus), and update on what happened.

Cheers!
 
get urself a c-tek charger/conditioner mate.
there was probably enough charge in the batteryto get you up and away, but if you only did a short school run u prob didnt manage to get a decent charge back into it so soon.
a ctek will help keep ur battery in tiptop form if not used regularly.
either that or your battery / alternator are on the way out...
 
What Chris said - get a CTEK conditioner/charger. I'm on the original battery from 2008; I was going to buy a new battery but got it tested first. The results came back (standing voltage / voltage under load / cranking amps etc - and apologies if the terminology isn't quite right) saying the battery is almost as good as new. I credit the (BMW branded) CTEK charger I've had it on for the past 3 or so years. Not sure I should touch it now if it's running fine.
As far as jumper leads go, I believe you should be good if you use the surge protected type.
 
Thanks fellas. I do put it on a trickle charger when it's not being used, but I used it most of the day yesterday, and Saturday as well. Just seems bizarre that it started fine this morning, ran a bit, then nothing when I went back to it - not even any warning lights!
I'd have thought it would at least have registered something, even if not enough juice to turn over?
 
Izzyspi said:
Thanks fellas. I do put it on a trickle charger when it's not being used, but I used it most of the day yesterday, and Saturday as well. Just seems bizarre that it started fine this morning, ran a bit, then nothing when I went back to it - not even any warning lights!
I'd have thought it would at least have registered something, even if not enough juice to turn over?
Click to expand...

Worth checking the alternator too Izzy, it could have run at the weekend but be draining at the same time and this morning fully drained the battery. Admittedly it's odd there wasn't enough juice to show the dash lights but still worth testing the output.
 
Given you'd been driving it and then fails I doubt it's a poorly charged battery.
Sounds to me a catastrophic failure of the battery, or one of the terminals has come off or the main fuse connector blown.
Once you get it going post some voltage readings with it running and after it's sat and hour or so. Can then diagnose if it's battery, connection, fuse, or charging/alternator issue
 
If you parked it up and locked it with the hood down has the alarm gone off and misbehaved? Have you checked fuses?
 
Mine's just the basic 4-step charger but it's worked really well for me.
attractive-inspiration-ideas-bmw-car-battery-charger-f10-nbt-flash-fail-with-esys.jpg
 
Also worth thinking about the Battery safety terminal, they can shut the whole system down (and should auto unlock all doors, as designed to activate in an accident) or cause all kinds of other unrelated electrical gremlins and fault codes.

The video is a bit naff but makes the point https://wn.com/bmw_battery_safety_terminals_(bst)_diagnosing_and_repairing
 
Sounds to me like the ignition switch, had a similar thing happen to mine. Only difference I was at the petrol station :(
 
Yorkie Z said:
Sounds to me like the ignition switch, had a similar thing happen to mine. Only difference I was at the petrol station :(
Click to expand...

Worth keeping in mind, but the ignition switch not working doesn't usually kill all electrical systems dead and auto-unlock the car, that suggests the BST has activated/failed as killing all electrics and unlocking the car is precisely what it's designed to do, or the battery has internally shorted and died suddenly (not common), or a battery killing short or load has occurred.
 
Ewazix said:
Yorkie Z said:
Sounds to me like the ignition switch, had a similar thing happen to mine. Only difference I was at the petrol station :(
Click to expand...

Worth keeping in mind, but the ignition switch not working doesn't usually kill all electrical systems dead and auto-unlock the car, that suggests the BST has activated/failed as killing all electrics and unlocking the car is precisely what it's designed to do, or the battery has internally shorted and died suddenly (not common), or a battery killing short or load has occurred.
Click to expand...
Thanks Ewazix. Going back to the car in a bit, so will check - it would seem to point to that though, given I had locked the car and it's now open.
Would that suggest it's had a knock at some point? Or just one of those things?
And if this has gone, is it easy to bypass, or is it a garage job do you think?
The air bag light has been on for a few weeks, but I know that can be a common thing on the e85.

PS I'm not a technical bloke at all, so am kind of lost with all this!!
 
Izzyspi said:
Ewazix said:
Yorkie Z said:
Sounds to me like the ignition switch, had a similar thing happen to mine. Only difference I was at the petrol station :(
Click to expand...

Worth keeping in mind, but the ignition switch not working doesn't usually kill all electrical systems dead and auto-unlock the car, that suggests the BST has activated/failed as killing all electrics and unlocking the car is precisely what it's designed to do, or the battery has internally shorted and died suddenly (not common), or a battery killing short or load has occurred.
Click to expand...
Thanks Ewazix. Going back to the car in a bit, so will check - it would seem to point to that though, given I had locked the car and it's now open.
Would that suggest it's had a knock at some point? Or just one of those things?
And if this has gone, is it easy to bypass, or is it a garage job do you think?
The air bag light has been on for a few weeks, but I know that can be a common thing on the e85.

PS I'm not a technical bloke at all, so am kind of lost with all this!!
Click to expand...

First up odd codes and battery now dead could still be indicative of poor battery/charging, or the BST, or a big electrical drain. Simple fault finding plan might be to,
Check the battery, alternator and chassis earth connections are all tight and clean.
The basic DIY test of battery & alternator with a volt meter involves measuring over the battery +/- terminals (without the engine running) looking for 12.4+ Volts (good battery). If the battery is completely dead and died suddenly it's either shorted internally between charging plates and the best thing to do is change it, or you have an electrical drain which will need investigation with a meter (or auto electrician if you're not too sure).
If the battery is good, then suspect the BST, they can just go bad gradually causing odd voltage related codes etc or just fail, or be activated by a crash although we are usually talking more than a parking bump and you would have visible damage.
Removing the BST will cause a shed load of electrical gremlins and codes, I've changed them on other cars but never tried removing or by-passing, but I think that would involve inserting a component to mimic the BST and would change it if the battery was good and the BST is suspect.
 
So, here we go! Went up to have a look at the issue.
My brother went through his diagnosis routine he's normally do (he knows way more than me about this). We waggled the cables to look for the BST/dodgy connection issue - nothing happened, and didn't seem to give at all. Stuck a volt meter on the battery and he said it was reading fine. He disconnected the battery terminals next, gave them a good clean and reconnected tightly, just to see if it was that simple. Lo and behold, that fixed it - all electrics back on, fired up straight away, as if nothing had happened.
His view is it was just a ropey connection, years of crud on the connectors maybe, causing the terminals to not have a decent connection.

Either way, whilst it is a tad embarrassing, I'm just glad it was nothing more serious....

Thanks to all of you who responded so quickly with suggestions of what it could be and how to help - shows the value of this forum and the people contributing to the sense of community. Awesome...
:thumbsup:
 
Glad it was an easy fix.
This happens less these days but was the second check to make after a flat battery. Was common in the era of lead battery connectors where oxidants built up until one day when asking for a heavy current they simply stopped working.
 
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