Car electrics completely dead - no previous trouble

[Igurisu]

Repeating this second hand on behalf of a colleague at work. He was asking me but I'm no spanner or electrical guru. After he returned home from work yesterday, pulled into his drive and the car died. Just prior to dying, the radio flickered off and on a few times. He has zero power to anything at all, not even a flicker of light/stereo/starter motor. He has a 25 mile commute, no sign of any trouble before this.

The car is a 57 plate BMW520D which has previously had no trouble in almost 100k.

The only thing I could think of was some kind of failure from the alternator not charging the battery.

Any ideas appreciated, although I think the auto electrician will be asked to come and look at it today.

[320touring]

The e60 has suffered from cabling issues that were subject to a recall- mainly centred round the battery and boot section of the car. Affected parts are listed below

http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/88833-ibs-lead/?hl=%...

Additionally, the car will often not allow attempted starts if the battery voltage is too low. This is either due to a drain, or poor battery condition (e.g. if its original battery on cold morning etc)

New batteries can be fitted, but need synched to the car.

http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/86178-2-problems-wit...


Also, make sure you connect any jump leads to the points in the Engine bay rather than the battery.

[CaptiV8ted]

This sounds a lot like a loose battery terminal or earth strap to me. If it cut out as suddenly as that, it must be really loose. I saw a similar fault on a friend's car years ago, his was caused by a poorly seated relay. I don't know if your car has a main relay that isolates everything, but if so, it'd be worth a check.

[Igurisu]

Just to follow this up and (sort of) close it out.

The fault was diagnosed as a loose wiring connection in the boot of the car. My colleague is not tech or mech minded so he didn't take in any more than than this.

Thanks to all for the replies.