XSeries-forum

I decided to run the battery down by having the hazzards on until they stopped.  I decided to go for a Bosch alternator unit.  BMW price 410+VAT.  Same one out of europarts £160 inc VAT  with a swap out at both.    The belts were very tired so these were replaced at the same time.  Salesman said not to go for the cheap non swap alternator as it does not last
All went back together fine and did a 2 hour recharge before i started her up.    As expected a ton of errors from the ecu thrown up so out came the 1.4.0 scanner and cleared them all. Car starts and runs fine with 13-14v at the charging point.
Everything works in the car apart from one thing.
All electrics in the drivers door dont work.  The switches for windows, the external mirror switch and the door does not central lock.  All the other doors lock with central locking  and the window switches on the individual doors.    Any clues please

The battery is under a year old and a good quality one.    Even when the battery was discharged when it broke down, only after 1/2 hour the battery had enough power to turn over engine and start again.    Done another search and sounds like the switch unit is  up the garden path.  Will take it out disconnect the unit and have a look at the terminals.
Anything i should be looking for on this switch unit ?

Yerrr )  Took the switch panel off the door as per youtube clip and took off all terminals.    The power lead looked a bit oxidized so cleaned it up a bit with a small screwdriver.  Put back all the terminals and alls fine again.

Thanks for all the tips for changing alternator with the lpg tank over the battery.    Would only reccomend if you have a 1.4.0 scanner to clear all the fault codes after draining battery.

Now to do those big rubber bits thats hanging off the rear sub frame.  A Cv gaitor needs doing on the front as well.

The only bit i would add for future bods reading this is it is not recommended to run your battery down like  this..

The electronics in the ECUs are not great under those conditions (under voltage) and you increase the risk of terminal failure of a module.

They can cope with disconnect as it is all or nothing, but the brown out effect (gradual decreasing voltage) can stress them.

As for the OP, i would suggest that if you ever take the tank out, or you discharge the battery again, then fit a remote isolation switch in the main positive cable in an accessible location.

This might be an idea for anyone considering fitting LPG as at least you can then switch everything off if you need to (eg alternator or starter) and then also gives you teh japanese reset option if some of your systems go doolally!!

Good call