2003 325i - Won't Run

[joe c]

Wanted toi see if anyone has heard of problems similar to mine:

I got in my 2003 325i and was unable to start it. Lights, locks, etc were totally dead so I suspected that the battery was dead although there would seem to be no good reason for that to happen (the lights were not left on and the car only sat unstarted for 5 days). After getting a jumpstart, I let the car run for a few minutes and began driving. The car would not go over 5MPH and the RPM's would not exceed 1000. The car is in the BMW center right now. The mecahnic believes that the problem is due to a fauly climate control system which drains the battery even when the car is off (he said that there are a whole batch of these fauly units out there). He said that the car would not run over 5 MPH because of low system voltage. Does this sound accurate? I didn't think that the drained battery would efect the car once it is started but I am no expert.

Thanks
Joe

 

[Bobo]

Don't have a solution for you. But my 97 328IS shut down on me while driving on freeway 110 (So Calif.) doing 75mph . No power, no lights, no enginer, no nothing. It was horrible. Took the car to dealer. The dealer said the car assume its off so the computer shut the car off.....

Got to love it, getting my third Bimmer on order.

 

[Tigas Bud]

A near dead battery will effect a car once it is started. A few years ago had a problem with a Mazda I owned. I got a jump at work but it took a good 15 minutes of jumper hook-up to get enough juice to start. Made it 10 miles down the freeway before the whole thing went dead again. Without the alternator there was not enough electricity to keep the systems running. A co-worker bud of mine was following me so we went and bought another battery and put it in the car and then I drove the remaining 25 miles home. Replaced the alternator and the car was fine. [It was a rice burning MX6 GT with 4 wheel steering, one hell of a cornering machine]
Have the mechanic replace the battery under warranty as well.

 

[PuShAkOv]

I had this problem: When I wanted to start the car everything worked fine until I started to turn the key. Everything went dead right at the moment when the engine was about to start... no electricity at all! This only happened when sound, vent, headlights were on... thus I tohught that it was something with electrical overload.........

to make a long story short.. cable on the battery was tighened the wrong way so the clam did not hold. I guess it was something to do with a lot of electricity passing through a loosely-bolted cable...

If I were you, I would check cable connection on your battery in the trunk and under the hood. Your problem sounds too similar to mine and it was nothing at all really.

 

[Tigas Bud]

I agree with you, Push. Poor battery connection will kill a car as well had an older Volvo that did that... Had too many cars with too many problems but it's a long walk to work.
If it is a defect like the climate control system as the BMW tech says, then BMWNA should be buying joe c a battery under warranty as well. Not my intent to have him buy one but a fully discharged battery will not hold load as well as one that never has gone that deep.

Pushakov, you asked in another thread if my convertible seen winter. I've owned it 3 years and it has not during my time, it didn't look like it had for the years before either. That's why we've got AWDs.

 

[rickhuizinga]

I had the same problem with my 2004 330Ci, but I charged the battery before starting the car so I didn't have the 5mph issue.

I was out of town for 5 days last week, and the battery was dead when I came back. The car is only 3 weeks old.

How far do you drive your car each trip? The manual states that the battery may have problems keeping charged if the car only makes short trips (< 10 miles).

Please let me know if you find anything out.

Thanks,

Rick