Causes of flat batteries on BMWs explained - Great guide!!

If you own an older BMW, no doubt you will have experienced your battery suddenly starting to go dead for no apparent reason. All modern BMWs have a ‘shut-down’ procedure after the ignition is turned off, things can be heard whirring and humming even after you’ve locked the car and this is the most common cause of your battery going dead over night with no warning, but there are others too...

Below is a great guide from Vlad at MCA Blog explaining the reasons BMW batteries go flat over night and where to check. It also details that bane of the BMW battery's life, the 'IBS' or Intelligent Battery Sensor fitted from the '90s on. 

https://mca.electricmura.ro/en/blog-bmw-what-causes-dead-battery/

• Plugged in external devices
• Plugged in OBD-II scanner
• BMW Intelligent Battery Sensor
• The infamous ”hedgehog” (from the climate control panel)
• One of the electronics on your car drains too much power or does not go into sleep mode
• Faulty alternator
• Old battery

E46 318i Touring: Back on the road with new battery!

Despite paying road-tax and insurance on the E46 Touring it's been laid up for 6 months and with an improvement in the weather it's high time I put it back on the road. All it really needed was some air in the tyres and the brakes beating up. The battery was totally dead, however. The previous owner had put an AGM [automated glass-mat] battery design for vehicles with Start/Stop technology on it, which was great but clearly the 19 year old alternator and charging setup on the E46 was not up to the job of charging it properly. Ah well, it has lasted for over twelve months... 

I've always sworn by Bosch batteries, but the £100+ price tag these days, yes even with a Euro Car Parts discount code, is a bit too expensive for this car. ECP, as well as the parts dept. at work can offer a budget Lion battery for a little over £50, but I have been warned by everyone willing to give their fifty pence that these don't last five minutes and I should avoid like the plague. Ultra-budget batteries can be found on eBay for as little as £27, but who knows anything about their quality.

At this point I have to hand it to the parts dept. at work here, who loaded me up a Yuasa 3110 series battery [760Ah] for just £60 all in! Yuasa get a good write up, in fact I am told they beat Bosch in tests and are currently one of the best on the market. ECP could offer me a Yuasa for £67, but it was a tiny little square battery and this just goes to show how useful working or knowing someone in the motor-trade can be...

F10 530d: N57 EGR / Cooler related fault-code scan results

 Been getting the 'Drivetrain' malfunction message on my F10 530d iDrive and figured it likely to be EGR (exhaust-gas-recirculator) related, so plugged in a Snap-On Modis scanner and these are the codes I got, which are what I suspected to be honest. The EGR and EGR-cooler are known to pack in on the N57 series of engine, the latter of which can leak coolant into the inlet causing a bit of smoke on startup. 

28E200 - Exhaust Gas Temperature sensor before Cat, open circuit

255C00 - EGR Controller, Position Control, Valve open too far

190900 - EGR Mass Air Flow, measured plausibility calculated too high

240400 - EGR Control, control deviation air mass too low

272F09 - EGR, mechanically faulty close to open position

272E00 - EGR, mechanically faulty close to closed position

So, I have the classic two codes of the EGR failing close to open and closed position, which denotes a stuck EGR valve, which is quite common on all diesel engines, along with the EGR mass-air codes where values are higher and lower than they should be, which clearly ties in to the valve sticking in the open and closed position. Faults for the EGR control-module show that it is struggling to position the EGR correctly and this all points to one stuck EGR valve.

I also notice that I am getting a bit of smoke on startup sometimes which I have never noticed before. This also points to a faulty EGR-valve, or rather the cooler itself. The EGR-cooler is fed with coolant to reduce the operating temperature of the EGR-valve itself and these are known to have problems with leaking after time. They crack inside after prolonged use and start to leak coolant into the EGR and thereafter the air-intake, which causes a bit of white smoke on startup, which I have been experiencing the last few weeks and so it looks like this is the culprit and I will be replacing the EGR / cooler unit at some point I would imagine... watch this space.

F10/F11/G07: Front Fog-Lamp / Spot-Lamp Fault fix... the bulb or not the bulb?

 If you get 'Front Foglight Failure' coming up then it's likely a bulb has blown, but I believe it is a common problem on the F10 showing this error but both front fog lamps are still working, or a light not working but the bulb is not blown. It should be an easy fix.

REPLACING THE BULB / CHECKING FAULT:

1. Using an 8mm hex-socket remove four of the screws holding the front side of the corresponding wheel-arch liner - two from the bottom edge and the other two that run up the outer edge of the wheel-arch. This should be enough to peel the arch-liner back and see the back of the fog-light.

2. Remove the wiring-connector by pressing the clip and sliding it upwards.

3. Remove the bulb-holder in the back of the fog-lamp by giving it a quarter-turn anti-clockwise and it should pull out easily.

If the bulb is blown then it can be removed from the plastic holder and replaced.

IF IT'S NOT THE BULB:

The worst case scenario is a fault with the lighting module or wiring to it, see this post - https://www.beemerlab.org/2019/04/f10-halogen-headlight-module-issues.html, but it is far more likely to just be a loose wiring-connector behind the bumper.

Firstly, the wiring-connector to the fog-lamp itself connects from above, so it is possible moisture can fid its way in and corrode the terminals, which can be easily cleaned up with some emery-cloth and a small screwdriver/awl. It is also feasible that road dirt / debris can drop into the plug as it is removed, making it not seat correctly when it is replaced, so rule these out first.

Secondly, there is another wiring connector higher up in the front bumper behind the bottom of the headlight unit. It is hard to spot, as wires seem to run to the fog-lamps from both sides of the car and also link to the headlights, so it will appear as if the wiring to the fogs are intact, when this plug becoming loose or not properly connected will stop the fog-lamp working and throw the error, but not affect the headlights. This can be caused when a headlight has been removed for bulb-replacement or work on the front of the car, so if this work has been done to the car recently then be sure to check this plug. 

BMW Common Engine/Injection Error Codes / Fault Codes List 2D00-2FB7 + CD87-CDAC [E46, E39 etc.]

2711-273F, 2740-2772, 2773-279F, 27A0-27FF, 280A-29FF, 2A01-2CFF, 2D00-2FB7, CD87-CDAC,

2D00 spring-check throttle-valve-actuator
closing spring
2D01 spring-check throttle-valve-actuator
opening spring
2D02 error emergency air setpoint
2D03 Abort DV-adaption because of enviroment
2D04 throttle valve adaption
2D05 Abort at UMA-repeat learning
2D08 parts exchange without adaption
2D0F Hot film air mass meter
2D10 Plausibility HFM
2D11 Plausibility, mass flow Lambda sensor
2D12 Plausibility, mass flow Lambda sensor
BAnk2
2D19 PWG-movement
2D1A accelarator potentiometer
2D1B Pedal-travel Poti1
2D1C Pedal-travel Poti2
2D28 Diff. pressure sensor suction tube
2D29 Plausibility diff. pressure sensor
2D32 Plausibility pressure sensor intake tube
2D6E moment monitoring level 2
2D6F Load sensor monitoring
2D70 Control unit monitoring group A
2D71 Control unit monitoring group B
2D72 Control unit monitoring group C
2D73 fuel pressure sensor
2D74 funktion monitoring: Lambda Plausibility
2D75 engine speed monitoring
2D76 pedal encoder monitoring (level2)
2D78 Control air mass flow adjustment
2DB4 interface MFL
2DBF CAN ACC signal failure
2DC8 CAN- Timeout EGS
2DCA CAN timeout EGS
2DCB CAN SSG signal failure
2DCF CAN- Timeout instrument combination
2DD6 CAN- Timeout ASC/DSC
2DD7 CAN timeout DSG SG
2DD8 active front steering torque
2DD9 CAN ARS signal failure
2DDA CAN CAS signal failure
2DDB CAN IHKA signal failure
2DDC CAN SZL signal failure
2DDD CAN-Timeout VVT-Control unit
2DDE VVT-CAN-communication
2DDF VVT-CAN-communication (bank2)
2DE6 CAN-Timeout DME-Control unit
2DEB power management network failure
2DEC power management
2DED Powermanagement: quiescent current
violation
2E24 spark coil cylinder 1 in 1. ignition
sequence
2E25 spark coil cylinder 2 in 4. ignition
sequence
2E26 spark coil cylinder 3 in 2. ignition
sequence
2E27 spark coil cylinder 4 in 3. ignition
sequence
2E30 injection valve cylinder 1 in 1. cylinder
sequence
2E31 injection valve cylinder 2 in 4. cylinder
sequence
2E32 injection valve cylinder 3 in 2. cylinder
sequence
2E33 injection valve cylinder 4 in 3. cylinder
sequence
2E68 Knock sensor 1
2E69 knock sensor2 (Bank1)
2E6A Knock sensor 3
2E6B Knock sensor 4
2E7C BSD wire failure
2E86 Electrical water pump
2E8B IBS communication
2E8C IBS general error
2E8D IBS plausibility
2E95 generator communication
2E97 CDKDGEN/CDKGEN - BSD generator
2E9F Failure oil quality sensor
2EA0 Oil status sensor
2EB8 BSD-message from IBS not existent
2EBC BSD message from oil sensor missing
2EBD BSD message from generator missing
2EBE BSD message from generator missing
2EE0 Temperature sensor engine cooling liquid
2EEA Temp. sensor coolant temperature
2EF4 Thermostat characteristic diagram cooling,
mechanical
2EF5 Thermostat characteristic diagram cooling,
activation
2EF6 characteristic diagram thermostat
2EFE engine blower
2F08 Intake air temperature
2F0D Control controlled airflow
2F12 Air conditioner compressor control
2F17 Forced switched EGS
2F1C oil temperature sensor
2F21 engine controller, power reduction
2F44 EWS3.3 manipulation protection
2F45 EWS3.3 Interface DME-EWS
2F46 EWS3.3 Random-code storing
2F4E Vehicle speed
2F50 failure at speed-display kombi
2F58 Control starter automatic
2F59 Input starter automatic
2F5A Start automatic control
2F62 Switch brakes
2F67 Switch clutch
2F6C Control exhaust flap
2F71 E-Box blower
2F76 Ambient-pressure sensor
2F7B oil pressure switch
2F80 error CAN / relative timer
2F85 DME- Temperature
2F8A Battery Voltage
2F94 fuelpump relay
2F99 Ambient temperature
2F9E Thermical oillevel sensor
2FA3 HO-proc.failure, coding missing
2FB2 suction jet pump for brake force amplifier
2FB7 electr. under pressure pump for brake
booster

CD87 PT - CAN bus off
CD8B Local CAN Bus Off
CD9B status vehicle-mode
CDA1 angle of steering wheel
CDA2 powermanagement battery voltage
CDA3 powermanagement charge voltage
CDA7 status gear reverse
CDAA control crash-switch-off EKP
CDAC status water valve

BMW Common Engine/VVT Error Codes / Fault Codes List 2A01-2CFF [E46, E39 etc.]

2711-273F, 2740-2772, 2773-279F, 27A0-27FF, 280A-29FF, 2A01-2CFF, 2D00-2FB7, CD87-CDAC,

2A01 secondary air injection control valve
2A02 Control air system valve
2A03 secondary air pump relay
2A05 Secondary air valve bank2
2A0E AGR valve
2A12 magnetic valve DMTL control
2A13 Control DMTL pump motor
2A14 DM-TL Fine leak
2A15 tank-ventilation-system major leak
2A16 DM-TL 0.5mm leak MIL off
2A17 DM-TL module
2A18 Control DMTL heater
2A19 Tank ventilation valve
2A1A Tank-ventilation functional check
2A1D Tank leakage monitoring
2A1E Leackage diagnostic pump
2A58 VVT-Enable control
2A59 VVT-leading sensor
2A5A VVT-leading sensor bank2
2A5B VVT-ref. sensor
2A5C VVT-ref. sensor (bank2)
2A5D VVT-Sensor plausibility
2A5E VVT-Sensor plausibility (bank2)
2A5F VVT-Supply volatge for the sensor
2A60 VVT-Supply volatge for the sensor
(bank2)
2A61 VVT-Teaching function at stop
2A62 VVT-Teaching function at stop (bank2)
2A63 VVT-Actuator monitoring
2A64 VVT-Actuator monitoring (Bank2)
2A65 VVT-Control unit internal failure
2A66 VVT-Control unit internal failure (bank2)
2A67 VVT-activation
2A68 VVT-Output-stage (bank2
2A69 VVT-Power supply
2A6A VVT-Power supply (bank2)
2A6B Power supply limit VVT-emergency
2A6C VVT-stops leaning necessary
2A6D VVT-system overload
2A6E VVT-system overload bank2
2A6F multip. min lift adaption stop
2A70 error current plausibility
2A71 output stage diagnostics of discharge relay
VVT
2A72 Actuator control VVT throw adjustment
2A80 injector-VANOS
2A81 Control inlet-VANOS bank2
2A83 camshaft control- Input
2A85 outlet-VANOS
2A86 Control outlet-VANOS bank2
2A88 camshaft control outlet
2A89 camshaft control outlet-VANOS bank2
2B5C Crankshaft sensor
2B5D Ref. marking generator
26
2B61 Assign. camshaft to crankshaft
2B62 camshaft sensor inlet
2B63 camshaft sensor outlet
2B64 camshaft sensor inlet bank2
2B65 camshaft sensor outlet bank2
2B66 Master camshaft sensor
2B70 DISA
2B71 Failure DISA
2B72 DISA temp. warn level engine protection
model
2B7F Diagnose DK/HFM adjustment
2B80 idle running controling
2B8A Knock sensor zero test
2B8B Knock sensor offset
2B8C Knock regulation Test impulse
2B8D Knock sensor zero test bank2
2B8E Knock control offset bank2
2B8F Knock control test signal bank2
2B98 plausibility monitoring of the RAM backup
2B99 RAM Backup
2B9A ECU self-test RAM
2B9B ECU self-test ROM
2B9C ECU self-test Reset
2B9D overvoltage detection on VCC
2B9E Energy saving mode active
2BA7 torque restrictor level 1
2BB6 Control main relay
2C24 interchanged O2-sensors
2C37 heater link at signal-path
2C38 heater link at signal-path bank2
2C39 LSU dynamic too slow
2C3A LSU dynamic too slow bank2
2C3B voltage-monitoring O2-sensor on air
2C3C voltage-monitoring O2-sensor on air
bank2
2C45 lambda sensor in front of cat
2C46 Lambda sensor of front cat bank2
2C47 short circuit to minus or to plus at
sensor-line
2C48 short circuit to minus or to plus at
sensor-line bank2
2C49 plausibility diagnostics LSU by LSH after
catalyst
2C4A plausibility diagnostics LSU by LSH after
catalyst bank2
2C4B internal diagnostics CJ125 SPI
communication
2C4C internal diagnostics CJ125 SPI
communication bank2
2C4D power break at pump-current
2C4E power break at pump-current bank2
2C4F LSU adjustment line
2C50 LSU adjustment line bank2
2C51 LSU Nernst cell break
2C52 LSU Nernst cell break bank2
2C53 LSU virtual mass break
2C54 LSU virtual mass break bank2
2C55 Lambda sensor periode duration ageing
2C56 Lambda sensor ageing TV
2C6A inverted lambda sensors of front cat
2C6D Lambda sensor aging of rear cat bank1
2C6E Lambda sensor aging of rear cat bank2
2C6F lambda sensor aging of rear cat (VL- test)
2C70 aging of O2-sensor behind catalyst (Bank
2)
2C71 lambda sensor in rear of cat
2C72 Lambda sensor of rear cat bank2
2C9C output heater O2-sensor before catalyst
2C9D output heater O2-sensor before catalyst
bank2
2C9E Control heater sensor after cat
2C9F Control heater sensor after cat (bank2)
2CA0 lambda sensor heating in front of cat
2CA1 Oxygen sensor heater before cat. (bank2)
2CA2 heating lambda sensor of front cat
(shearing stress)
2CA3 heating lambda sensor of front cat
(shearing stress) Bank2
2CA8 Oxygen sensor heater after cat.
2CA9 Oxygen sensor heater after cat. (bank2)
2CEF DK-actuator
2CF0 DK-Actuator regulator area
2CF1 DK position monitoring
2CF8 DK-poti sensor
2CF9 Throttle-valve potentiometer 1
2CFA Throttle-valve potentiometer 2
2CFF DK-Controller failure booster