Stranded/no start. Any brilliant ideas?

[KevinC]

My car won’t start and I’m far from home in a lousy spot. Battery is 4 months old, fresh off 30-minute drive. Has been turning over merrily until now. I get a click but zero attempt from the starter itself. No odd behavior from idiot lights or other telltale signs of flat battery. I’m skeptical that it’s the battery. Sudden starter death? Any other suggestions? Awaiting my girl who is on the way with jumper cables. Hoping I don’t have to get flatbedded out of here - won’t be an easy pluck. Sigh.

[Jsinghzzzz]

Good to know that you're safe and that help is on the way.

I keep a portable jump starter power bank in my
car just in case. Highly worth the investment!

[KevinC]

Yeah mama bringing mine now. Does me a lot of good sitting at home!

[v3.2mc]

this happened to me last spring. the positive battery cable wasn't tightened down enough and driving around was just enough vibration for it to lose good enough contact to start the car, though the lights still came on inside the car.

[KevinC]

Just made it home. Jesus, stranded for the second time in 6 months on a Friday afternoon in Bisbee, 25 miles from home, in the middle of Bumfuck Egypt (last time was my VW). I must be snakebitten.

So.. jumping did no good, as I feared. I got help pushing it out of the parking space and got it pointed down hill and was able to bump-start it in second gear quite easily. Headed home, uneventful drive 90% of the way - then at 65 on the highway, I totally lost power for about 3 seconds. Then it came back, along with a plethora of blinky idiot lights, including brake, ABS, and traction control. Radio quit, came back, then quit for good. Ran OK for next mile or so (I'm almost home at this point) then as I'm turning down our street, started bucking and barely running. Limped down the street and up the uphill 90-ft driveway to perfect position to be flatbedded from if necessary. Shut her down, tried to restart- exact same behavior as when I was initially stranded. Normal idiot light behavior, solenoid clicks, no starter action whatsoever.

So something's royally hosed. Any theories? My mechanic is 70 miles away in Tucson and no BMW guys in the closest town, so that's where I'm headed back to. Thankfully I have AAA "Plus" coverage which gives me 100-mile tows at no charge. Plan at the moment is to flatbed it up there on Monday unless I come up with some simple miracle cure in the meantime.

What really sucks is now I'm going to miss a BMW Social Club event in Bisbee tomorrow and associated drive in from Patagonia, a beautiful drive out of the southern Arizona wine country. What crappy timing.

EDIT: My former mechanic pal (now a 757 captain - nice upgrade!) is convinced it's a bad battery, probably a bad cell, based on all the feedback I just gave him. So tomorrow I'll pull the battery and take it back to Batteries & Bulbs where I bought it in November and attempt to have it tested and possibly swapped for a new one. Wish me luck, and keep any other theories coming in the meantime.

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by v3.2mc

this happened to me last spring. the positive battery cable wasn't tightened down enough and driving around was just enough vibration for it to lose good enough contact to start the car, though the lights still came on inside the car.

Ya know, when I attempted to jump the car, I noticed that the positive cable wasn't as tight as the negative one - I could twist it slightly with minimal effort. Still *seemed* tight enough, but who knows? Could be exactly the same issue you had. The negative cable OTOH was 100% tight with zero movement by hand. So first thing I'll try before yanking the battery in the morning is tightening that mofo down completely. Stay tuned.

[RobMCoupe]

I had issues where all electric cut off for a split second while driving. It was my negative cable loose. Did you check battery voltage? It is a good idea to check alternator is charging battery.

[Vanne]

Ignition switch? Ah solinoid clicks.. rules out the ignition switch..

[Michael9218]

Sure sounds like a loose connection to me. Check everything. When things go haywire without commonality, it's usually a loose connection.

[3798j]

With the starter's high amperage draw, a lose battery connection will create the "dead" click you got. On another note, now there are affordable ($40) electronic battery analyzers (load testers) that will tell you your battery's condition without having to be removed from the vehicle. https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Autom...92630214&psc=1 Well worth having with today's vehicles, it immediately either points to or rules out a faulty battery.

[Efthreeoh]

I agree with your 757 Pilot buddy. It's probably a bad battery. If the battery shorts, then it will not pass current and will not jump with a jumper battery attached. I make this assumption that you know it's not a bad starter and you tried to jump it from under the hood? Even relatively new batteries can go bad.

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I agree with your 757 Pilot buddy. It's probably a bad battery. If the battery shorts, then it will not pass current and will not jump with a jumper battery attached. I make this assumption that you know it's not a bad starter and you tried to jump it from under the hood? Even relatively new batteries can go bad.

We all await to see if it was a loose battery cable connection at the battery....update us when you can.

Had to flatbed my beloved Red Roadster once....a cut RR tire side wall. TO EVERYONE - MAKE SURE YOUR TOW EYE-HOOK THAT THREADS IN THE FRONT BUMPER IS STORED IN YOU OEM BMW TOOL BAG THAT CAME WITH THE CAR.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by racerbruce

We all await to see if it was a loose battery cable connection at the battery....update us when you can.

Had to flatbed my beloved Red Roadster once....a cut RR tire side wall. TO EVERYONE - MAKE SURE YOUR TOW EYE-HOOK THAT THREADS IN THE FRONT BUMPER IS STORED IN YOU OEM BMW TOOL BAG THAT CAME WITH THE CAR.

Great advice. I'll go a bit further. This is especially true AFTER the car has been towed to a service shop. I had to have my Z4 towed to a certified BMW collision center (a BMW dealership) and after the 3-month repair, I got the car back. I was checking over things and just happened to check the tool pouch only to find the tow eye missing. I called the shop and they apologized and immediately replaced it.

Note to others, BMW battery clamps are a bit unusual. They do not compress (and radially stretch) in the same fashion that you'll find on lead clamps on American cars and band clamps on Japanese cars. The BMW clamps move a wedge in the clamp body against the batter terminal as the bolt is tightened. Cranking down harder on the bolt does not produce a stronger clamping force once the nut stops turning. The torque is very low, only 5NM (3.6 lb-ft). I've seen many people snap the bolt and ruin the clamp.

[Huz-Z]

I once had my car cut out suddenly after hitting a bump on a corner and then restart a few seconds later with the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. I immediately hightailed it back to the dealer before they closed for the night. Next morning they called me to say the battery had not been secured in place and a cable was not properly attached. They fixed that and it hasn’t happened since (8 years ago).

In my case this was the fault of the idiot who ran the place where my car was winter-stored that year when he put my battery back in place when I took it out of storage. Man, was I pissed. Not having a garage then, with great reluctance I had to use the guy for the next winter. This time, he put the wrong battery in altogether. The solution? I built my own garage.

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

I once had my car cut out suddenly after hitting a bump on a corner and then restart a few seconds later with the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. I immediately hightailed it back to the dealer before they closed for the night. Next morning they called me to say the battery had not been secured in place and a cable was not properly attached. They fixed that and it hasn’t happened since (8 years ago).

In my case this was the fault of the idiot who ran the place where my car was winter-stored that year when he put my battery back in place when I took it out of storage. Man, was I pissed. Not having a garage then, with great reluctance I had to use the guy for the next winter. This time, he put the wrong battery in altogether. The solution? I built my own garage.

Build your own garage! Well done.

[The HACK]

Weird. Sounds like a dead alternator to me.

Alternator not charging battery enough, not enough juice to crank over. But once the engine turned over (bump start) the battery supplied enough juice to keep the spark alive. Then on the drive the battery slowly drained as it supplied spark until there’s not enough voltage to keep the spark firing.

I’ve had similar symptoms once on my E30 318is.

[ceeyo]

OP it may be a bad ground. Next time it happens, use jumper cable and connect the negative clamp to negative terminal in engine bay and place other negative clamp to the engine hook (by oil filter). If car starts right up, it's a bad engine ground.

[KevinC]

Update: Just went out and tightened up the positive terminal connection. It was VERY slightly loose - like turning with my hand on the post was possible, but not an easy turn so I doubt that was of any significance. What probably is - what the heck is going on with this doo-hingus that the cable connects too? That stuff seen oozing out of the cable is solid as a rock. I don't remember it looking like that when I put the new battery in last fall. Any new ideas after seeing this? Before I yank the battery and go back to the battery store, which may or may not be a worthwhile trip, I'm wondering if this sheds new light on the situation. Thanks all.

[v3.2mc]

my guess from observation is it's glue/adhesive/residue that has been melting due to electricity arcing in that housing. Not enough to distort the shrink tube on the union, but still enough heat to melt stuff. it's likely re-solidifying when the car is turned off.

again... just my guess

[v3.2mc]

also... you said you noticed the positive cable was loose during a jump attempt. did you jump straight off the battery? if so, it's possible you did some damage there, as the car is designed to be jumped from under the hood

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by v3.2mc

also... you said you noticed the positive cable was loose during a jump attempt. did you jump straight off the battery? if so, it's possible you did some damage there, as the car is designed to be jumped from under the hood

Indeed I did, as the instructions with the little lithium-ion battery jumper said to do it that way - perhaps a mistake?

So now I don't know what my next move is. I'm leaning towards just flat-bedding it to my mechanic on Monday.

[ZeD4Mr]

Originally Posted by The HACK

Weird. Sounds like a dead alternator to me.

Alternator not charging battery enough, not enough juice to crank over. But once the engine turned over (bump start) the battery supplied enough juice to keep the spark alive. Then on the drive the battery slowly drained as it supplied spark until there’s not enough voltage to keep the spark firing.

I’ve had similar symptoms once on my E30 318is.

Bingo. May just be dying alternator.

I went through all your symptoms. Can't track down to anything and can't reproduce any of them at the shop. Engine cut out at a stop light once in two year. Started right back up. Radio will suddenly cut out for 1 second and came right back. Twice in that year. New battery. tighten everything, cleaned all post. X'mas lights happens 2-3 times that year. It happened so far and between, since it's not my daily, didn't really care.

then one day just wouldn't start at a shopping mall and can't jump start it. Once it's towed to the shop, everything worked again. Can't reproduce any of the above. My very awesome mech said. I'll lend you a portable code reader. Keep it plug in until this happens again. it'll log everything.

A week later. happened again. Dying alternator. He said this happens quite often to this era of BMW especially if you don't drive them and keep them on tender mostly.

HTHs,