Hi all,
Today has been absolutely awful for my poor Z4. I've never experienced an influx of problems like I have today in the 13 years I've been driving. I really could use some advice here...
PROBLEM 1
I made the catastrophic foolish decision of leaving my headlights on (full beam, actually) for a period of time so that I could illuminate the area where I was working. When it came to moving my car again the battery was dead - I could only hear a clicking sound. I managed to bump start it first time as I was sitting on a little slope and I left it running for a while. However, there are some lights on the dashboard that refuse to go away. The following is an image of the dashboard showing these lights (the handbrake is off).
The dash lights shown are YELLOW.
The handbook suggests the car is driveable but to "get it checked out". Is there anything more specific to it than that? Do things need resetting or recalibrating and what's the best way of going about that.
UPDATE: Well as a few of you suggested, the lights went out this morning whilst driving, so that's a relief! I assume/hope no further action is required with regards to these lights and what they meant.
PROBLEM 2
Now, in the above image, please note that the Run Flat Indicator light appeared several minutes after the other lights. I was driving at the time. Initially I thought I'd got a flat but I believe the light turns red when that is the case. Having said that, whilst driving I can hear a distinct sound coming from one of the tyres. It's almost as though there's something stuck in one of the tyres because there's a slight 'squeak' noise on every revolution. I think perhaps I parked on something unsavoury as the noise only appeared after the battery incident. I've checked all four tyres and they all seem inflated as normal but it was dark so I will check again tomorrow when it's light.
UPDATE: The Run Flat Indicator light has now gone but there's still a squeak on every revolution when I drive. You can't hear it at low speeds though and I just can't seem to find anything stuck in my tyres. A more thorough look is in order I think.
PROBLEM 3
Next, on my way home I decided to call in for a drive-thru McDonald's. It really wasn't worth it because when I put my window down, it got to the bottom and made a horrible snapping/shattering sound. The window automatically wound all the way back up and now it won't budge. When I press the button to put the window up or down all I hear is some whirring sound and it also sounds like there's 'bits' being moved about at the bottom of the door.
A quick Google search suggests this could be the Window Regulator? I've read it's one of those jobs that you could DIY rather than spend money getting a garage to fix it?
So there you go. It's only done 28,500 miles in it's seven years of life but it appears as though it's age is catching up with it! Add on to that the fact that the electric roof motor broke last year! I've not even had the car one year yet
What's also annoying about all this is that my ladies Vauxhall Astra had a dead battery last week and she got hers replaced without any knock-on effects whatsoever.
Today has been absolutely awful for my poor Z4. I've never experienced an influx of problems like I have today in the 13 years I've been driving. I really could use some advice here...
PROBLEM 1
I made the catastrophic foolish decision of leaving my headlights on (full beam, actually) for a period of time so that I could illuminate the area where I was working. When it came to moving my car again the battery was dead - I could only hear a clicking sound. I managed to bump start it first time as I was sitting on a little slope and I left it running for a while. However, there are some lights on the dashboard that refuse to go away. The following is an image of the dashboard showing these lights (the handbrake is off).
The dash lights shown are YELLOW.
The handbook suggests the car is driveable but to "get it checked out". Is there anything more specific to it than that? Do things need resetting or recalibrating and what's the best way of going about that.
UPDATE: Well as a few of you suggested, the lights went out this morning whilst driving, so that's a relief! I assume/hope no further action is required with regards to these lights and what they meant.
PROBLEM 2
Now, in the above image, please note that the Run Flat Indicator light appeared several minutes after the other lights. I was driving at the time. Initially I thought I'd got a flat but I believe the light turns red when that is the case. Having said that, whilst driving I can hear a distinct sound coming from one of the tyres. It's almost as though there's something stuck in one of the tyres because there's a slight 'squeak' noise on every revolution. I think perhaps I parked on something unsavoury as the noise only appeared after the battery incident. I've checked all four tyres and they all seem inflated as normal but it was dark so I will check again tomorrow when it's light.
UPDATE: The Run Flat Indicator light has now gone but there's still a squeak on every revolution when I drive. You can't hear it at low speeds though and I just can't seem to find anything stuck in my tyres. A more thorough look is in order I think.
PROBLEM 3
Next, on my way home I decided to call in for a drive-thru McDonald's. It really wasn't worth it because when I put my window down, it got to the bottom and made a horrible snapping/shattering sound. The window automatically wound all the way back up and now it won't budge. When I press the button to put the window up or down all I hear is some whirring sound and it also sounds like there's 'bits' being moved about at the bottom of the door.
A quick Google search suggests this could be the Window Regulator? I've read it's one of those jobs that you could DIY rather than spend money getting a garage to fix it?
So there you go. It's only done 28,500 miles in it's seven years of life but it appears as though it's age is catching up with it! Add on to that the fact that the electric roof motor broke last year! I've not even had the car one year yet
What's also annoying about all this is that my ladies Vauxhall Astra had a dead battery last week and she got hers replaced without any knock-on effects whatsoever.
