Help, 135i engine doesn't start

[Fed P]

Thanks!

What do you mean by "took a jump" by the way? The jump start didn't help anything as far as I could tell, and when it did start it did so by itself.

I imagine the days of battery DIY are not over in this country but I would take it to the dealer anyway =) Although I have little faith in the dealers here as well! I'm thinking of taking a roadtrip to Italy via Germany in the summer (August) and if I do so I'm thinking of getting the car looked at in Germany. Any suggestions for good service centers? I'd need someone English-speaking as well

[fusion01]

This is interesting because my battery was giving alerts for approximately 4 months before replacement. One dealer left it on low / trickle charge all night but it still exhibited the same message in the nav stating 'rapid battery discharge!' afterwards (and then all systems would shut down when engine not running). The following dealer made me happy and replaced with new @ just under 4 years old. You got none of this, no msg of any sort. Wierd.

[Fed P]

And here I am again, it didn't start just now. Is there any point taking it to the dealer considering all they do is read codes from the computer and will again, like last time, just say that nothing is wrong?

I'm really lost as to what to do, seems I really got myself a lemon.

[Lester]

What is the temperature? At below freezing, batteries lose about 50% of their effectiveness. I suspect it is a battery problem. If you have access to a shop with a battery charger, have the battery fully recharged.

[Fed P]

Right now it's about -4C. When it didn't start before, it was in that area as well. However the car had no problems starting at -20C a month ago and at -9C yesterday, so the battery seems unlikely. The service center I took it to the first time also said that the battery is fine (though that doesn't mean much to me, considering they said everything is fine...).

Really confusing =|

[audi4t]

This is like the starter motor issue I had on my Z4.

Warning - my car was in the shop 27 days waiting for a new SM.

Have roadside assistance flat bed your car to the dealer.

[Fed P]

How did they figure out it was the starter in the end, do you know? The car isn't throwing out *any* errors, so the guys at the service center just stare blankly.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Fed P

Right now it's about -4C. When it didn't start before, it was in that area as well. However the car had no problems starting at -20C a month ago and at -9C yesterday, so the battery seems unlikely. The service center I took it to the first time also said that the battery is fine (though that doesn't mean much to me, considering they said everything is fine...).

Really confusing =|

Make sure your dealer is load testing the battery and not just checking it's voltage.
Sometimes the voltage with show above 12volts as a good battery should.
But, under load that voltage can drop to 0 or near 0, meaning it's done.

If the battery is good then the problem cold be solenoid, or loose wire somewhere, and now it becomes an intermittent issue, the WORST kind.

Still, don't discount a bad battery. Bad batteries can act very flaky leading you to believe it's not the battery. It's the easiest thing to chance, so why not just do it, especially since your battery is at least 4yrs old. I've been bit by an intermittent battery badly on a week long motorcycle trip. One minute all is well, next start nothing. Leave it a bit and stats right up like there is plenty of charge, next start nothing.
Got a new battery, all was well the rest of the trip.

Sometimes a bad battery won't even take a charge.
It may have a cracked cell causing an intermittent short.
Change the battery and see what happens. At least you'll have one component out of the equation.

Do you drive short distances?
If so, you may not be getting a good charge on your battery.
And if you're running heated seats, big fan blower speeds, along with rear defrost, combined with short distance driving, your battery has lived a rough life.

Here is a great article on what can happen to a battery:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...teries_to_fail

[Fed P]

That's good to know, thanks.

I towed it to the service center today, hopefully it doesn't start there and they figure something out. I'll keep you in the loop!

[Fed P]

Got the car back yesterday, they replaced the starter after all. Hopefully, that will be the end of my woes! Set me back about $500 for the starter and about $150 for the labor.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Fed P

Got the car back yesterday, they replaced the starter after all. Hopefully, that will be the end of my woes! Set me back about $500 for the starter and about $150 for the labor.

Ouch.

At least it's fixed.

Budget for a battery anyway.
Once it hits 4yrs, especially in climate like yours, why risk it.

[Fed P]

Totally agree with you there, considering the price it's most definitely worth it to save myself the potential hassle! Thanks a lot for all the help!

[Wiseguy69]

Hi Mate,

I have the exact same problem with my 135i, plenty of battery power, put the key fob in and when i press the button I only get a click sound and it doesn't start.

I'm thinking its the starter motor! I've tried my spare key, checked cables, pushed on my brake extra hard, tried in neutral, etc.

Did it end up happening to you again after the mechanics? If so, what was the problem?

Cheers,
Vince