Strange Electrical Gremlins (Wipers, Alarm, Windows)

[mattk]

Morning all,

Last night on the way home from the shops when my wife started her E85 Z4 the windscreen wipers wouldn't work. When she got home (2 mins later) she turned the engine off and then on again to see if the wipers would work and it was completely dead. Almost immediately the alarm started going off, but as a single continuous beep.

The only way to stop it was to disconnect the battery. I have charged the battery this morning, but that hasn't made any difference. Each time the battery is reconnected the continuous alarm beep sounds. I have disconnected fuse 30 to silence the noise and am able to start the car OK, however the wipers still don't work (no movement or squirting). I have tried replacing the wiper fuse, 38, but this hasn't made any difference.

I have also noticed that the electric windows don't work, but the electric mirrors and all the lights do.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[markplant]

How old is the battery, although the car starts these cars do suffer all sorts of electrical gremlins if the battery is no good

 

[mattk]

How old is the battery, although the car starts these cars do suffer all sorts of electrical gremlins if the battery is no good

I'm pretty sure the battery hasn't been replaced since she's had it, which is four year in October.

Is there a simply way to test the battery's life?

 

[ph001]

Anywhere like Halfords or Kwikfit can test the battery for you (need to put a load on it and see how much the volts drop). If that checks out it will either be faulty EWS module or canbus corruption due to corrosion on the airbag control module. If you search on here on both those you can find details.

 

[mattk]

Thanks both. Just checked the battery and it seems fine.

On to the next suggestions.