E34 M5 Problems... help!
Discussion
derek m5 said:
Car seems to have developed a problem with electrics.... seems to be a drain on the battery somewhere, possibly the alarm as it was making a 'clicking' noise when I went out to start it.
Has anyone had similar issues..... otherwise it'll be a 70 km tow to the nearest stealers....
Has anyone had similar issues..... otherwise it'll be a 70 km tow to the nearest stealers....
How old is the battery mate?........mine got tired recently - capacity was well down
bit the bullet and bought a new one . been okay ever since
I do short commutes and that hasn't helped in the winter time........every week i take her for a long run to keep a decent charge and to clear her throat ,just as the manual suggests.
The clicking could just be indicative of the low charge state of the battery feed to the alarm system , not necessarily the root cause of the battery drain if there was one?
You could do an 'in-line' or 'clip-on' ammeter check and check what exactly is happening on this side of things......guys on the E34 forum of www.m5board.com should be able to give you some standard amp drain rates. If it was excessive, you could then pull fuses one by one to see what systems are involved in the drain?
father ted said:
How old is the battery mate?........mine got tired recently - capacity was well down bit the bullet and bought a new one . been okay ever since
Sorry should of mentioned the fact it had a new battery about eight weeks back as original one suffering similar age related issues!
father ted said:
I do short commutes and that hasn't helped in the winter time........every week i take her for a long run to keep a decent charge and to clear her throat ,just as the manual suggests.
As I work away from home, my car generally only gets fast long(ish)runs these days (100 mile round trip to airport etc.) but then as wife prefers her car, it mightn't be used for the fortnight I'm away.
father ted said:
The clicking could just be indicative of the low charge state of the battery feed to the alarm system , not necessarily the root cause of the battery drain if there was one?
Sadly true... I was hoping someone would post up a oh, the clicking battery drain problem... easy fix that one.....
father ted said:
You could do an 'in-line' or 'clip-on' ammeter check and check what exactly is happening on this side of things......guys on the E34 forum of www.m5board.com should be able to give you some standard amp drain rates. If it was excessive, you could then pull fuses one by one to see what systems are involved in the drain?
Will have to do that next week when I get home.....
derek m5 said:
Car seems to have developed a problem with electrics.... seems to be a drain on the battery somewhere, possibly the alarm as it was making a 'clicking' noise when I went out to start it.
Has anyone had similar issues..... otherwise it'll be a 70 km tow to the nearest stealers....
Has anyone had similar issues..... otherwise it'll be a 70 km tow to the nearest stealers....
Do you have a tracker fitted? Friend of mine had a mysterious draining battery in his 911 that was eventually traced to the tracker system...
Derek,
Not E34 M5 I'll be the first to admit, but my of similar vintage 500SL suffered the same issues until I invested in a solar charger.
OK, so it won't power your greenhouse heaters, but the little power it produces keeps the battery ticking over nicely and has saved the battery going flat on me since I installed it. Fitting takes minutes.
Cost was around £50. New battery is £100 a pop.
HTH,
Greg
Not E34 M5 I'll be the first to admit, but my of similar vintage 500SL suffered the same issues until I invested in a solar charger.
OK, so it won't power your greenhouse heaters, but the little power it produces keeps the battery ticking over nicely and has saved the battery going flat on me since I installed it. Fitting takes minutes.
Cost was around £50. New battery is £100 a pop.
HTH,
Greg
GregE240 said:
Derek,
Not E34 M5 I'll be the first to admit, but my of similar vintage 500SL suffered the same issues until I invested in a solar charger.
Not E34 M5 I'll be the first to admit, but my of similar vintage 500SL suffered the same issues until I invested in a solar charger.
Was thinking of getting one of these....
www.selectsolar.co.uk/pics/pic06002IC03.php
But would still rather find out what is ailing over just treating a symptom IYKWIM!
My 5 sits happily weeks without the need for a charge and starts fine. I have a Toad alarm on it all the time but no Tracker.
Just follow Father Teds advice, get an Ammeter in line with the battery negative and then start pulling fuses to see where the problem is.
Typical drains can be Alarms, boot lights, bonnet light all left on when they shouldn't be (faulty switches).
It may also be your Alternator not charging correctly or shorting out the battery.
In any case get it sorted or your new battery will become buggered, as you said a solar trickle charger is just like a Bobby Charlton comb over, you need to find the route problem.
Just follow Father Teds advice, get an Ammeter in line with the battery negative and then start pulling fuses to see where the problem is.
Typical drains can be Alarms, boot lights, bonnet light all left on when they shouldn't be (faulty switches).
It may also be your Alternator not charging correctly or shorting out the battery.
In any case get it sorted or your new battery will become buggered, as you said a solar trickle charger is just like a Bobby Charlton comb over, you need to find the route problem.
Edited by mroad on Saturday 2nd December 15:58
Hopefully a mate who's handy with such things is going round tomorrow to get the fluke on it and see if can find the drain..... otherwise I know what I'll be doing when I get home on Friday....
Just hope it's not the tracker, reckon it'd be a nightmare to get sorted in France when it was fitted in UK!
Just hope it's not the tracker, reckon it'd be a nightmare to get sorted in France when it was fitted in UK!
OK.... happy to report, it's sorted. Got the multimeter out on Friday and set about sourcing the drain on the battery.... turns out that (possibly due to loose relay) lights for electric window switches were staying on after the car locked and slowly draining battery.
All running fine now and had great hoon on way to airport yesterday at 04:00
All running fine now and had great hoon on way to airport yesterday at 04:00
Man!
That's the kind of thread I love on this forum!
It's like a movie...You start off thinking: "Shit! That's sad...I'm glad that's not me...I wouldn't know where to begin"
Then someone comes up with a solution and you learn something new about how to fix the problem if it happens to you.
Then you get the happy ending with the problem solved and a someone off enjoying their car again!
That's the kind of thread I love on this forum!
It's like a movie...You start off thinking: "Shit! That's sad...I'm glad that's not me...I wouldn't know where to begin"
Then someone comes up with a solution and you learn something new about how to fix the problem if it happens to you.
Then you get the happy ending with the problem solved and a someone off enjoying their car again!
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