So, here’s an odd one, no not me, the car. As I posted last week I changed the starter motor, much better no more noise. But since disconnecting and re connecting the battery strange this are happening. 1st time after I put the roof down the windows didn’t drop as usual then today as the process started the car gave out a short beep. Now windows and all work fine. Also radio CD player works but doesn’t have time only dashes and the speedo info has to be reset every time I start the car. Also since I have owned the car the steering has always seemed a bit vague and pulls all over the place but today it felt great. My imagination? Who knows. Has anyone else had these things happening and if so what did you do to sort it? Thanking you in advance. Mike.
Odd things happening since battery disconnected
- Thread starter MikeyH
- Start date
Well known for system problems after battery failure or disconnection.
Common for car to put itself into Transport Mode to conserve what power is left in battery for starting, systems that get closed down are heater blower, roof controls and maybe radio. BMW Scanner 1.4 on a laptop will recode the car to normal mode and take it out of Transport Mode, BMW INPA should do it as well. Not all handheld code readers will reset Transport Mode, Creator 310+ can't do it even though it is the menu, the function dosn't work.
Windows probably need resetting by holding the down button in the down position and keep it depressed for 5 seconds when its fully down, then press the up button raise it to fully closed and hold for 5 seconds. That relearns the window and it should now operate correctly. Repeat for passenger door window using that doors window switch.
Sticky and wandering steering could be down to the bad adjustment of the steering motor on the coloumn, threads on here explain how to adjust. Other likely cause would be steering angle sensor out of calibration. With the engine running and steering in the central straight ahead position turn then turn the steering fully to the left then back to the fully right position, do this two or three times to reset it. This can also be done in diagnostics in BMW INPA and BMW Scanner 1.4 on a laptop. Handheld Creator 310+ scanner will also do this in order to reset the steering angle. Worth checking all the ball joints on the steering and wishbones for any play in those as they will have a big effect if they are worn and in need of replacement.
Common for car to put itself into Transport Mode to conserve what power is left in battery for starting, systems that get closed down are heater blower, roof controls and maybe radio. BMW Scanner 1.4 on a laptop will recode the car to normal mode and take it out of Transport Mode, BMW INPA should do it as well. Not all handheld code readers will reset Transport Mode, Creator 310+ can't do it even though it is the menu, the function dosn't work.
Windows probably need resetting by holding the down button in the down position and keep it depressed for 5 seconds when its fully down, then press the up button raise it to fully closed and hold for 5 seconds. That relearns the window and it should now operate correctly. Repeat for passenger door window using that doors window switch.
Sticky and wandering steering could be down to the bad adjustment of the steering motor on the coloumn, threads on here explain how to adjust. Other likely cause would be steering angle sensor out of calibration. With the engine running and steering in the central straight ahead position turn then turn the steering fully to the left then back to the fully right position, do this two or three times to reset it. This can also be done in diagnostics in BMW INPA and BMW Scanner 1.4 on a laptop. Handheld Creator 310+ scanner will also do this in order to reset the steering angle. Worth checking all the ball joints on the steering and wishbones for any play in those as they will have a big effect if they are worn and in need of replacement.
Thank you colb, I'm taking it to Paddock Motors to have the 4 wheel alignment done on the 15th Feb. they will check over the steering for me first. It is odd because the windows now work okay and the radio/cd player works, just doesn't have any letters or the date on it just lines/dashes. I will have a go at the steering turning at the weekend. There is a receipt in the paperwork that came with the car to say that the steering angle sensor calibration had been done a little while ago. How often would you say this needs to be done? Thank you again for the help.
How often you need to reset the steering angle sensor depends on if it gets confused and fouls itself up, if it gets way out or sees misleading data it would set a fault code to draw attention to itself so just guesswork on the frequency of resetting. Your best freind with BMW Z's is a decent code reader which not only saves time finding a fault but saves on getting a garage to diagnose problems, they seem quite happy to charge up to £90 just to plug diagnostics in before doing anything to fix the problem. Creator 310+ scanner for circa £50 will pay for itself first time you have cause to scan it for a fault.
