Battery drain,..BMW said it was starter !

jonnyivy · Post by **jonnyivy** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:42 pm

Don't know if its common or not but I have a friend who has recently bought a 2001 V8 X5 and the first thing he said to me was that he too had battery drain / bad starter operation.

fatladandy · Post by **fatladandy** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:47 pm

Going to have to get it to an auto electrian i think

jonnyivy · Post by **jonnyivy** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 12:34 pm

It looks awfully like it definately is the starter. I charged the battery for 24 hrs last night and when I cranked it over this morning it did start, but not with the force I would have expected from a full charge. Still more of a gentle grunt to turn it over but once it gathered momentum it fired up.

I can source a new starter from the local car parts shop but not a Bosch. They are telling me that more or less any of the starters they are offering me will be much better than the one I have already.
Is it okay to go for one of these 'copies' ?????
Money back guarantee if it dont fit and a 2 year warranty.

Jonny

jeegnesh · Post by **jeegnesh** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:53 pm

So this morning the car barely started up, I can just see the issues of last winter happening again. Plus the symptoms of reset I have this all the time, phone loses too 8, satnav reverts to select country.

So I bite the bullet and reserved a Bosch starter at ECP (plus done almost 89k so starter done ok thus far).

Considering doing this as a DIY have found http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/06/96/64

Anyone done this and can give tips and time I should allocate any special tools?

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 9:33 pm

[quote="jeegnesh"]
Anyone done this and can give tips and time I should allocate any special tools?
[/quote]

If anyone says Sanj - you're dead! >:(

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:03 pm

Hmmmfffjj :-X. O:-)

Don Coffey · Post by **Don Coffey** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:28 pm

[quote="Sanj"]
[quote="jeegnesh"]
Anyone done this and can give tips and time I should allocate any special tools?
[/quote]

If anyone says Sanj - you're dead! >:(
[/quote]

Why would we say you're dead? By the looks of it you're very much alive and kicking!

Don

jaynana · Post by **jaynana** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 11:35 pm

[quote="Don Coffey"]
[quote="Sanj"]
[quote="jeegnesh"]
Anyone done this and can give tips and time I should allocate any special tools?
[/quote]

If anyone says Sanj - you're dead! >:(
[/quote]

Why would we say you're dead? By the looks of it you're very much alive and kicking!

Don
[/quote]

he's saying 'come over, i'll do the job for u'

)

jeegnesh · Post by **jeegnesh** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 1:11 am

[quote="jaynana"]
[quote="Don Coffey"]
[quote="Sanj"]
[quote="jeegnesh"]
Anyone done this and can give tips and time I should allocate any special tools?
[/quote]

If anyone says Sanj - you're dead! >:(
[/quote]

Why would we say you're dead? By the looks of it you're very much alive and kicking!

Don
[/quote]

he's saying 'come over, i'll do the job for u'

)
[/quote]

How strange that's what I thought he was trying to say. Attention seeker...

omodos · Post by **omodos** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:17 pm

[quote="ChrisLux"]

I've got an '05 3.0d and I had this problem .
I had Magnetti Marelli starter and it's a well known failure .
I replaced battery only for new one to go dead in couple of days .
Eventually took it to BM Euroservice , they tested starter motor and it was way off the scale .
Replaced it and it all works great now , 3 yrs down the line .
And it certainly wasn't £400 to do , think it was about 1/2 but can't remember for sure .
[/quote]

Old post but off the scale re starter amp draw is what?

rhinoman · Post by **rhinoman** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:55 pm

I only have to add that I had flat battery issues but wasn't the starter.

TBH not sure exactly what is was but it seemed to get fixed when I sorted the supposedly unrelated occasionally rear brake light warnings and the poor radio reception so I believe bad/corroded connections causing the symptom.

centurion · Post by **centurion** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:45 am

and to add my car was fitted with cheepo 'white angel eyes' lights that were flashing badly and draining far too much battery casing similar symptoms. it wasn't a much of a problem during warmer days but very noticeable with lower temperatures. Swapped those for error free option -> charged the battery fully -> and it all works as expected.

and to add I only use car at the weekend so no longer have an issue starting on Sat AM (with 4-5 days parked up doing nothing).

Hope that helps

ChrisLux · Post by **ChrisLux** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:38 pm

[quote="omodos"]
[quote="ChrisLux"]

I've got an '05 3.0d and I had this problem .
I had Magnetti Marelli starter and it's a well known failure .
I replaced battery only for new one to go dead in couple of days .
Eventually took it to BM Euroservice , they tested starter motor and it was way off the scale .
Replaced it and it all works great now , 3 yrs down the line .
And it certainly wasn't £400 to do , think it was about 1/2 but can't remember for sure .
[/quote]

Old post but off the scale re starter amp draw is what?
[/quote]

If remember correctly, it was somewhere around 600 amps, the Indy hadn't seen one that bad before.

omodos · Post by **omodos** » Wed Feb 04, 2015 8:39 am

chrislux appreciate the reply, good to know

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