After years of BMWs and several models, I experienced a new problem that I didn't recognize.
Started the X5 in the cold morning. It has had a bit of a slow crank in the cold but always starts just fine and no clock resets, no high discharge battery warnings. I know battery needs to be on the list but nothing making it seem critical.
Drive the X5 20 mins to an appointment, come out an hour later and start it up. It turns over nice and strong but doesn't start. Try again, starter and engine cranking over fast and strong but no start. This time start to get a slew of idrive warnings and decide to have it towed in.
Diagnosis was bad battery. But the strong cranking and turning over via the starter motor did not make it seem like a battery issue at all. Never did get a clock reset.
In retrospect, we did get some weird behavior on the drive over. When we attempted to control the HVAC fan manually, it would not go to a higher speed but if we put on the windshield defrost, the fan went to max. After the battery was replaced, the HVAC worked as expected.
Started the X5 in the cold morning. It has had a bit of a slow crank in the cold but always starts just fine and no clock resets, no high discharge battery warnings. I know battery needs to be on the list but nothing making it seem critical.
Drive the X5 20 mins to an appointment, come out an hour later and start it up. It turns over nice and strong but doesn't start. Try again, starter and engine cranking over fast and strong but no start. This time start to get a slew of idrive warnings and decide to have it towed in.
Diagnosis was bad battery. But the strong cranking and turning over via the starter motor did not make it seem like a battery issue at all. Never did get a clock reset.
In retrospect, we did get some weird behavior on the drive over. When we attempted to control the HVAC fan manually, it would not go to a higher speed but if we put on the windshield defrost, the fan went to max. After the battery was replaced, the HVAC worked as expected.