what is that beeping sound??? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

justin hall · 6th April 2002, 17:22

Hi, my first post here - good forums. I purchased a 2000 E39 M5 three weeks ago. I have had the opportunity to drive quite a few via instructing with BMWCCA GGC, and when my wife and I had our first baby the obvious choice was to sell the NSX and buy this. 400hp with a childseat - amazing....

Anyway, I cant figure out what this very low volume beeping sound is? It recurrs every 2 minutes on the dot, whether I am in or out of sport mode, traction control on or off, etc. With the radio on, I can just barely hear it, but it is getting annoying. I have read the owners manual front to back and cant figure it out.

What is my car trying to tell me? Thanks in advance.

Ray S · 6th April 2002, 17:40

Welcome to the board!

Are there any personal electronic devices (phones, etc.) in the car? Sometimes these beep as they are being charged or discharged.

Just a thought.

MarkM5Lauderdale · 6th April 2002, 17:55

I believe there is a memo feature that can be set with the radio...will have to check the manual to be sure.

MarkM5Lauderdale · 6th April 2002, 18:00

Think I found your problem:
Data Technology Repairs Car care Controls Overview
77n Digital clock
Reminder signal
You can program an hourly reminder
signal (Memo), that will, for example,
remind you of news broadcasts.
Press the left side of the key.
Press:
MEMO OFF appears in the display for
entry and check buttons, and the tone
symbol will appear in the upper right of
the display.
A signal is then heard 15 seconds
before each hour.
Timer
Press the left side of the key.
Press.
Display shows:
To start the stopwatch:
Press the right of the key.
To take an intermediate time reading:
Press.
Press.
The stopwatch display can be seen
counting up; the stopwatch continues
to run.
To halt the stopwatch:
Press the right side of the key.
The stopwatch is halted whenever
the ignition switch is turned back
to 0, but starts to run again when the
ignition key is turned to 1.<

celler · 6th April 2002, 20:46

I don't think its the memo feature, that's only once an hour, not every 2 minutes.

I suspect you have a sensor trying to tell you something through the check control. Be sure to check the display below the speedometer the next time the sound occurs. I also think to can bring up the check control on the NAV display. You may also be able to bring it up on the instrument cluster display using the left stalk control button.

I'd get to the bottom of this, if its the check control, something is going on that you need to know about.

Good luck.

Craig.

justin hall · 6th April 2002, 22:21

Quote:

Originally posted by MarkM5Lauderdale
Think I found your problem: Data Technology Repairs Car care Controls Overview 77n Digital clock Reminder signal. You can program an hourly reminder signal (Memo), that will, for example,...

unfortunately that is not it. I have the computer with navigation, and I checked the memo function and it is set to the off position. out of curiosity I turned it on and waited till the top of the hour, and it made 3 beeping sounds a bit louder. but thanks for the thought and the time you put into this.

Quote:

Originally posted by celler
I don't think its the memo feature, that's only once an hour, not every 2 minutes....

you are right

Quote:

Originally posted by celler
...I suspect you have a sensor trying to tell you something through the check control. Be sure to check the display below the speedometer the next time the sound occurs. I also think to can bring up the check control on the NAV display. You may also be able to bring it up on the instrument cluster display using the left stalk control button.

I'd get to the bottom of this, if its the check control, something is going on that you need to know about.

Good luck.

Craig.

Boy, I appreciate the thoughts, but that isnt it either. I thought of this, and when the tone goes off the display does not change. Whatever I have it set to (cd track, time, range, etc.) does not change. I pressed the button to check systems and it returned all okay.

Any more ideas? I really appreciate it.

Chris Foote · 6th April 2002, 23:50

Is it possible the PDC is going bad? I think it beeps when it has a problem. Every 2 minutes though? Hmmmmm, too strange...

Does it sound like the BMW chime noise or does it sound different?

-Chris

DZeckhausen · 7th April 2002, 01:15

Quote:

Originally posted by justin hall
Anyway, I cant figure out what this very low volume beeping sound is? It recurrs every 2 minutes on the dot, whether I am in or out of sport mode, traction control on or off, etc. With the radio on, I can just barely hear it, but it is getting annoying. I have read the owners manual front to back and cant figure it out.

What is my car trying to tell me? Thanks in advance.

Let's try to track this down. Is the sound coming from the footwell speaker located in the black, under-dash trim panel directly above the driver's right foot? This speaker faces downward and has several harnesses which snap into the back side of it. The front PDC uses it, as well as the door-open chime and the chime for the check system warnings (e.g., temp below 37 degrees, speed above XXmph, etc.)

Open the door with the key in the ignition and follow the chime until you've located that speaker. Then try to replicate the conditions under which the beep occurs every two minutes. If the beep is eminating from that speaker, you've narrowed it down a little.

justin hall · 13th April 2002, 17:19

Quote:

Originally posted by DZeckhausen
Let's try to track this down.

Thanks for the clue, I still have not found the problem but at least it is isolated: PHONE.

Still beeping every 2 minutes, but only when I have the phone turned on. When I manually power off the phone the sound goes away. I have the CPT7000 phone.

Unfortunately I do not have a manual that goes into enough detail about the phones features to turn this off. Additionally, the sound is not acutally coming from the phone, but from the car while the phone is attached. Independent of the car, the phone does not make a sound on its own. So I am wondering if it is a phone setting or something to do with how the phone portion of my computer is configured?

Any help would be appreciated.

Richard in NC · 13th April 2002, 17:39

I've had two Startac phones. A CPT7000 in a 540i and one provided by work. I've had the beep in the phone. It is either the battery is weak or it can't hold a charge and needs replaced. I've also had mine beep for no apparent reason. Simply opening and closing the phone stops it in that case. I have the CPT 8000 now but keep it in the car most of the time and have never heard it beep.

slief · 13th April 2002, 17:42

Is it possible that the phones battery is bad. If the phone is loosing charge, it will beep frequently. If it has bad cells, it bay work while in the cradle but sence the lack of charge and beep.
Scott