Nav and TV Problem - Battery or Jump Start Connected? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

mdc20276 · 26th July 2005, 23:10

I'm looking for some help on a problem with my 2001 M5, which is currently in the dealer suffering from £110 an hour labour rates to work out what is wrong with the sat nav and TV.

One week ago, the car wouldn't start - just clicks from the starter motor. Not wanting to touch it myself, I got the AA (one of the UK's breakdown companies) out to have a look. They tried to jump start it with a standalone battery under the bonnet, but no joy. So he then connected his van up to the battery directly (through his tow bar), and it jump started OK. But the battery didn't seem to want to charge up. He diagnosed a dead battery, so I legged it down to the dealer (in the M5) to get another one. Not wanting to turn off the engine, I pulled it straight round to the service bay when I got there and they fitted one straight away (lucky, because they were about to close) in the time it took me to pay for it. Cost £100.

Then, that afternoon, on a long journey, when I first used the sat nav, instead of talking to me, there was just a high pitched scream. I later noticed that the TV option was missing from the menu as well. So I booked in it for this Friday for them to have a look. Apparently, the service lady said jump starting can cause the units to blow (I don't like the sound of that).

Anyway, yesterday morning at 5am, the alarm started going off. The battery was flat again - I had used it just the day before and it was fine. Apart from waking up the whole street, I had to try to stop the alarm (impossible, it seems). The car wouldn't open with the remote at all.

So, the AA out again. This time, they couldn't jump start it at all, so they towed it to the dealer. (As an aside, they dropped it out of hours, there was nowhere to put the key, so they dropped the keys at home, after I had left to go to work 50 miles away - there must be an easier way to do this!).

So, it's now at the dealer (Sewell in Bishop's Stortford), and they've managed to spend all of one hour and £110 and managed to tell me that the sat nav and TV aren't working. I'm not impressed. They reckon another two hours and £220 will let them locate the problem!

My questions are as follows:

(i) is there a known problem with jump starting the car, or disconnecting the battery that could cause the problems with the sat nav and TV as if so, surely it is the fault of the AA or the dealer respectively?
(ii) do you think I have any comeback against either for the cost?
(iii) anyone know a good independent somewhere in the Cambridge/Essex/London area that would fix this cheaper than the dealer?

By way of background, I don't have a BMW warranty as I bought it after the magic six months out of warranty they let you renew it in - a mistake I won't repeat again - so this is coming out of my own pocket. I believe the nav system is a mark 3 - it's the widescreen CD version.

I'd be grateful for any help/advice you have. I guess this probably isn't just an M5 issue.

Ag Surfer · 26th July 2005, 23:24

Im not sure of your exact problem, but the fact that your new battery died so soon leads me to believe that there is a short somewhere in your electrical system. An experienced mechanic shuold be able to find the location of the short circuit and remedy the situation. However, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the Nav symptoms.

bmwusa · 26th July 2005, 23:32

good luck, keep us posted on the outcome, the fact that your new battery died already is suspect to me as a much deeper problem then just your nav and tv not working, Josh

mdc20276 · 26th July 2005, 23:34

Thanks guys. I'll keep you posted.

lylerichards · 27th July 2005, 01:27

I had a similar situation last week with my car, but is was the liquid cooled alternater that went dead. I am still under CPO so I avoided the $1600 to replace. Although, when I call BMW roadside, they instructed me not to have the car jumped, but towed in to the dealership. When the tow truck driver arrived he suggested jumping. He pointed out that he had done this before to many X5's. I had tell him it was an M5. Oh well, I told him what the heck do it as my wife was calling to tell me we were late for a dinner engagement. I notice that he would only jump it with my okay. So he grounded it and attached to the positive point. I turned it over and it fired. Cranked on all the power (ie -a/c, windows, stereo) in case of surge. He disconneted and the car coughed and died. Dead alternator. Towed it in and they replaced. In hind sight, I would not let them jump again as I worried that your problem would be come mine. Come to think you it,when I made it to the dealership the next morning the rep was telling me that they had not looked at it as yet they were just "jumping it". H

m.

Lyle

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdc20276

Thanks guys. I'll keep you posted.

mdc20276 · 27th July 2005, 18:37

They've diagnosed a blown sat nav module and a blown video module. They reckon it was caused by the jump start. Total cost to replace, including the 3 hours work already undertaken is £1,600 plus VAT (£1,880, or $3,300). I'm not going to get them done now, but will doing some ringing round. Can anyone recommend somewhere for this sort of work?

Also, they can't find the cause of the drained battery. So, they assume it's down to these modules, or some sort of intermittent fault, i.e. it might not be fixed and I might end up having to try to disable the alarm in the middle of the night again.
Not a happy bunny at the moment.

chris-uk · 27th July 2005, 18:43

find out the part numbers and give ebay.de a go.

there's enough instructions around on nav upgrades/retrofits that i'm sure you could find a way to replace them yourself.

jim mc d · 28th July 2005, 22:20

ouch!!!!!!!!!

I left my car at the airport for two weeks and it was dead when i got back.

The guy from the AA earthed and connected the car and let it sit for 5 mins until the battery voltage charged to 12+ volts (he used a hand held meter with a ring through which the + charging cable ran) before he would let me turn the car over. He said he had to do this to prevent damage to the car.

Did your AA guy do same???

mdc20276 · 28th July 2005, 22:32

No. The dealer told me yesterday that you should turn on heavy draining electrical items like heated window, lights to absorb any spikes. He didn't do that. In fact, quite the opposite as we turned it all off to try to get enough power to start it as the standalone battery didn't provide enough power.

The problem I will have is in proving that the issue is down to the jump start. I'm going to write to the AA, but I suspect I will get fobbed off.

jim mc d · 28th July 2005, 22:58

Might be worth getting expert opinion and sending it under cover of a solicitor's letter - good luck.

mdc20276 · 28th July 2005, 23:09

Thanks. I have legal cover on my home insurance, so will give them a ring tomorrow for some advice once I have my car back.