Window/Electrical Issue

[Lyons]

I came downstairs this morning and all windows on the X5 were down. I went out to put them up and noticed the sunroof was open too. Turned the ignition on and got them all closed, then went to start it but no joy. The the windows dropped again but wouldn't go up with the switch. Eventually I got the fronts up but then they started to randomly drop an inch at a time until they got half open, then just opened fully.

The only way to get them closed now is to hold the lock button on the remote. But even after this they have just opened again a bit later.

A bit of history; I've had to jump the car twice in the last few weeks, both times after working on the car with a door/window open for an hour or so the night before. Ordinarily this wouldn't be enough to drain the battery, but perhaps its on the way out. There was also the issue where "my friend" jump started it a couple of weeks ago but connected the wrong terminals and sent the car bonkers.

Its been fine since, but I'm wondering would a dodgy battery cause the windows to behave like this? I took it to work yesterday and wasn't out at it last night, so this is the first time it hasn't started with no reason. If the battery is dead, I would've thought it would just not work. Not do random things like this!

Sadly I wasn't able to try and jump it before I left to check all is OK and it does actually start, so my father in law will come over when hes up.
4 minutes ago Menu Reply

[IanP]

Mine did exactly the same, cured by fitting new battery.

[Lyons]

Excellent, thanks.

Where did you get yours? Do you know the size/spec required?

[Colin]

Bad Batterys can be blamed for a lot of things  not sure about windows and sunroof opening as one of them ,

when working on an X5 for a period of time interior lights must be switched off as there could be 12 or more bulbs draining the battery

last july mine was acting up  silly faults  not enough power to start etc    turns out it had a bad cell in battery which was cheap low amp low cca rubbish ,changed for Yuasa  YBX5019  100ah  900amp  job done .. 

[IanP]

[quote="Lyons"]
Excellent, thanks.

Where did you get yours? Do you know the size/spec required?
[/quote]

It was a couple of years ago now and I cant remember to be honest, Plenty of threads on here about batteries. My car used to left standing for weeks and would drain the battery down and the windows would open on a regular basis. It would also happen if the battery was low before trying to start the car, if it wouldnt start then the windows opened.

I left it on trickle charge after that with no further problems, eventually found that the drain in my case was due to the heater fan resistor (hedgehog) which was failing

[Horizon]

100 ah frame size 019

[Lyons]

Thanks. Can get a Bosch S4 019 for £96.

Any more info on that resistor?

[strummer]

great security feature by BMW!!

[Horizon]

[quote="Lyons"]
Thanks. Can get a Bosch S4 019 for £96.

Any more info on that resistor?
[/quote]
I bought the S5 019 for mine, found it very good, but recent reports of the Bosch batteries failing. Do your research first. I'm sure some members can expand on this.

[X5Sport]

Comfort opening function activated.  If the unlock button is pressed and held then the Windows and roof will open.  If no doors are opened the car will relock after 30-secs.

If the button was being pushed that could have put the car into a mode where it was kept 'awake' and that could cause battery issues simply from the current drawn.

Resetting each window and roof by cycling the widows up and down and holding the switch at each position for 5-secs may well reset it all.

Had this happen in our E53 and E46 if the buttons were inadvertently held on.