E46 Electrical Fault - Battery / Charging Issue?

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   Folks, just been out with my new Erde bike trailer and had some winter fun on my KTM but after getting the trailer off the electrics started playing up on the car.  The faults were: 

- Clocks re-setting / not working
- Battery light coming on + ABS & DTC lights coming on
- Rev counter sitting at 2000rpm when the bettery light is on
- Rev counter raising and falling when the battery light goes out 2000-6000 (in neutral)

Thinking it is a battery fault and the rev counter thing is a fault code / indicator on the level of charge getting to it, points to consider are:

- Car has sat about a lot this year
- Has its original battery fitted since Oct 2004 and 135k miles
- Trailer is brand new and already swapped for another as the electrics were faulting so bad it seemed like a bad earth on the trailer or trailer wiring (admittedly it may be the car! )
- Towbar electrics were professionally fitted with a "Ryder Smart 7 Bypass relay this is designed to work on modern 12v vehicles that have multiplex/canbus wiring and bulb failure warning systems on them"

Any thoughts and suggestions before I got and start taking the battery out?  Going to meter it and get it on the optimate but wouldnt mind some advice before hand.  Cheers folks. 

Edited by Miner - 31-December-2011 at 17:54

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Miner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06-December-2008 Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote Miner Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: E46 Electrical Fault - Battery / Charging Issue? Posted: 31-December-2011 at 17:53
	Folks, just been out with my new Erde bike trailer and had some winter fun on my KTM but after getting the trailer off the electrics started playing up on the car. The faults were: - Clocks re-setting / not working - Battery light coming on + ABS & DTC lights coming on - Rev counter sitting at 2000rpm when the bettery light is on - Rev counter raising and falling when the battery light goes out 2000-6000 (in neutral) Thinking it is a battery fault and the rev counter thing is a fault code / indicator on the level of charge getting to it, points to consider are: - Car has sat about a lot this year - Has its original battery fitted since Oct 2004 and 135k miles - Trailer is brand new and already swapped for another as the electrics were faulting so bad it seemed like a bad earth on the trailer or trailer wiring (admittedly it may be the car! ) - Towbar electrics were professionally fitted with a "Ryder Smart 7 Bypass relay this is designed to work on modern 12v vehicles that have multiplex/canbus wiring and bulb failure warning systems on them" Any thoughts and suggestions before I got and start taking the battery out? Going to meter it and get it on the optimate but wouldnt mind some advice before hand. Cheers folks. Edited by Miner - 31-December-2011 at 17:54

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Miner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06-December-2008 Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote Miner Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31-December-2011 at 22:08
	Well turns out previous suspicions were correct... the power cable for the towing eletrics had got trapped and was contacting the brace that holds the battery down, spotted the flat spot straight off. Contact was made when things were sitting on the black plastic cover. Whoever replaced the damaged electrics box must have been so fed up re-soldering all the connections and fixing the bad earth made by the towbar fitters which made the box relays buzz, that they didnt take enough care routing the cable under the brace... when I get my hands on them... :embarrassed :sarcastic Duh! Battery is on the optimate anyway now to give it a re-charge as I had everything disconnected anyway. Happy new year! :thumbsup

Andrew Rolland Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579	Post Options Post Reply Quote Andrew Rolland Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02-January-2012 at 16:08
	When I read your first post, I would have said the fault was towbar wiring related. A badly fitted towbar wiring loom can cause all sorts of problems. Atleast you have a Bypass relay fitted that tends to be a source of faults if not fitted after fitting a towbar and wiring. The power supply to the Bypass relay should be fused with a 15 amp fuse. This Bypass relay will buzz when you indicate. Glad its sorted. Any thoughts on replacing the battery as matter of course as it is as old as the car, mine is also original and I wonder about replacing it sometimes? Andrew
	Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series! Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto