E60 Battery problems - Final Stage Unit?

BlastRadius · 26 Jan 2010 at 12:57

Thought that I might try and see if you chaps could shed some light on what may be causing my bosses E60 to lose battery charge (sometimes overnight.

First his car:

It is a E60 5.30 D se with full Schnitzer body kit (and some dodgy wheels) as found here: (can't upload a pic from here so hopefully this will do)
http://www.madmotors.co.uk/catalog/nev-hoults-bmw-e60-p-22501.html

Symptoms:

Loses battery charge overnight, with the colder weather highlighting the problem.

Fans blow but stay at the same speed regardless of input, and run even after they are switched off although not after the car has gone into sleep mode (though he hasn't checked in the dead of night to see if they are activated).

Active power steering resets or doesn't work at all until he has driven the car for a mile or two.

CD/DVD can be heard changing the cassette even though the car may be switched off.

Transmission warning light comes on.

Headlights flash when the car is turned over.

Some of these may be a symptom of a flat battery rather than a fault.

The car is on it's third battery and he has had this charged and it isn't holding. His BMW dealer are insistant that there is no problem and he even had to pay for the new batteries even though they were in warranty as they said there was no fault. Alternator is tested as working fine.

I have searched around and found that the FSU, Final Stage Unit. AKA, Blower Motor Resistor can fail and cause or be the cause of the problems as can be found here:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247697

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=626389&nmt=e60

Before I suggest this to him, does this sound about right or anybody have any other ideas. Thanks for input.

[TW]Fox · 26 Jan 2010 at 13:02

The final stage resistor is a pain but it controls the climate control blower operation. It can cause battery discharge as it'll do things like run the blower all night.

It sounds like there is more in play here, though. Where did he get the car, is it an AUC or an Ebay cheapy or what?

BlastRadius · 26 Jan 2010 at 13:08

He has had the car for three years and symptoms only started this autumn. He got it from Chandlers worthing and they are basically washing their hands of the issues.

Forgot to mention that it has also been "chipped".

[TW]Fox · 26 Jan 2010 at 13:10

Had similar dealings with that particular dealer group so I cannot say I'm suprised

Doubt the chip makes any difference.

The FSU is cheap and reasonably easy to DIY. Its worth doing anyway even if to just rule it out.

BlastRadius · 26 Jan 2010 at 14:36

Fox.

Thanks for the replies. I have now passed the information to him although a 62 year old can take a lot of convincing!

He has it booked into Chandlers Worthing again on Thursday this week so I will update the thread then unless anyone has anything more to add.

I bet he ends up buying the silver M5 they have for sale :mad:

OllyM · 26 Jan 2010 at 14:40

I thought it was only E39's that had problems with the final stage resistor?

DannyDan · 26 Jan 2010 at 17:31

Could it be the alternator?

There's a lot of talk of problems with e60 alternators on 5series.net. No idea if it would cause the problems with the battery not holding charge though.

Dandle · 26 Jan 2010 at 18:53

Final stage resistor isnt an issue on E60s. If hes had three batteries already it sound like something isnt shutting down properly although that normally causes a high battery drain message. Another possilbilty thats more likely is the IBS "intelligent battery sensor" which is located right near the battery. Go to http://www.5series.net/ theres loads of post about battery drain problems.

BlastRadius · 1 Feb 2010 at 14:52

BMW Chandlers Worthing have now completed their assessment.

Apparently the battery was not mapped/paired to the car and was not receiving any charge.

Does this sound like B/S to anyone else? Obviously a few days driving will find out.

Dandle · 1 Feb 2010 at 15:07

I know that if you replace the battery the car needs to initialised if the new battery is a different capacity to the old one. If its the same capacity lots of people have just replaced them and had no problems though, still charging normally etc.

BlastRadius · 1 Feb 2010 at 16:46

Another update.

After confirming that they had cured the problem and agreed to return it. It wouldn't start!

They are now replacing the Sensor bar as suggested earlier in the thread by Dandle - thanks fella.

BMW Chandlers Worthing - Avoid!