Any car mechanics on here for a bit of advice

Publius Ovidius · Dec 29, 2014

I have a series 1 BMW and in the last couple of weeks the auto shut off has stopped working and I am getting the yellow battery warning light coming on when I switch the engine off but keep the radio on.

Anyway, I took it to chandlers this morning and they checked the key and there are no engine issues reported, so they suggested I replace the battery...which is £180 odd for the battery, but another 100 to fit it and " hard code it so the car knows the battery" and only chandlers can do this.

Is this bollocks BMW ( we will get as much money out of you suckers) speak or is this something that I have to pay?

I was thinking of ringing around a few garages and seeing if this is actually what I have to spend.

Any ideas?

Tim Over Whelmed · Dec 29, 2014

Ring Charnocks Garage in Littlehampton, they do most things like this at a fraction of the price. If you have any probs contacting at this time of year DM me with your mobile and I'll ask him to call you.

DarrenFreemansPerm · Dec 29, 2014

When you say auto shut off do you mean the facility which stops the engine when you pull up at a red light etc?

Goldstone1976 · Dec 29, 2014

I'm not a car mechanic, but I'm always looking for advice. Coat.

Good luck with the car!

Muhammed - I’m hard - Bruce Lee · Dec 29, 2014

granny weatherwax said:
Anyway, I took it to chandlers this morning and they checked the key and there are no engine issues reported, so they suggested I replace the battery...which is £180 odd for the battery, but another 100 to fit it and " hard code it so the car knows the battery" and only chandlers can do this.

Is this bollocks BMW ( we will get as much money out of you suckers) speak or is this something that I have to pay?

I was thinking of ringing around a few garages and seeing if this is actually what I have to spend.

Any ideas?

I've got a BMW Z3, I needed a new battery, got one for £32 and fitted it myself.
I've had no problems with the car 'knowing the battery' ?

DarrenFreemansPerm · Dec 29, 2014

DarrenFreemansPerm said:
When you say auto shut off do you mean the facility which stops the engine when you pull up at a red light etc?

I'll answer myself then.
The Stop-Start technology is more advanced than just turning off when the car stops, the car will also recognise when it's not appropriate to turn off, if you have the front blowers/de-mister the car knows you're trying to clear the screen so wont shut off, if the battery level drops below a certain percentage it will override the auto shut off. There's a chance that due to the cold weather and possibly doing less mileage over Christmas the battery just needs a good charge. Did Chandlers perform a health check or just suggest it needs changing? If it's the latter I'd say you need to charge it or give it a ruddy good run.

Vegas Seagull · Dec 29, 2014

Scrap it & buy a Merc

Westdene Seagull · Dec 29, 2014

granny weatherwax said:
I have a series 1 BMW and in the last couple of weeks the auto shut off has stopped working and I am getting the yellow battery warning light coming on when I switch the engine off but keep the radio on.

Anyway, I took it to chandlers this morning and they checked the key and there are no engine issues reported, so they suggested I replace the battery...which is £180 odd for the battery, but another 100 to fit it and " hard code it so the car knows the battery" and only chandlers can do this.

Is this bollocks BMW ( we will get as much money out of you suckers) speak or is this something that I have to pay?

I was thinking of ringing around a few garages and seeing if this is actually what I have to spend.

Any ideas?

Need to state first that I am NOT a car mechanic. Personally I think they're talking out their backsides. EU legislation requires that you are not tied to a dealer garage for servicing or repairs. I had similar statements from both Renault and Mazda dealers for various issues and strangely Bells of Brighton were able to sort the problems every time. http://www.bellsofbrighton.co.uk/

EDIT - and they're Albion fans to boot !

RandyWanger · Dec 29, 2014

Sadly, it sounds about right for BMW.

Modern BMWs are fitted with a battery monitor system, which looks at the amounts of charging and discharging (ampere-hours in and out of it) and voltage in all conditions) so it can warn you of impending electrical doom.

This means that when a new fully-charged battery is fitted, the battery monitoring system must be reset.

The suggestion is that as long as you buy one of the same type (ie AGM) it doesn't need to be re-coded as the charge profile will be the same and is just a case of swapping out the batteries. £100 for the coding is standard main dealer pricing.

kjgood · Dec 29, 2014

Give it a good charge and use a battery conditioner either plug in or solar to keep the battery 'topped up' when the car isn't being used. All that stopping and starting of the car especially if you daily run is in urban areas and if you don't do that many miles hammers the battery. Made even worse at this time of the year with heaters, demisting, heated seats etc etc.

Superphil · Dec 29, 2014

Definitely go to an independent garage for advice. Try Rapid Auto Centre in Portslade, very sensible prices, Albion fan runs it, you'll get an honest price for doing the job.

Springal · Dec 29, 2014

Give Becket Motor Works in Worthing a call. Indepdent garage that specialise in BMWs

Publius Ovidius · Dec 29, 2014

DarrenFreemansPerm said:
I'll answer myself then.
The Stop-Start technology is more advanced than just turning off when the car stops, the car will also recognise when it's not appropriate to turn off, if you have the front blowers/de-mister the car knows you're trying to clear the screen so wont shut off, if the battery level drops below a certain percentage it will override the auto shut off. There's a chance that due to the cold weather and possibly doing less mileage over Christmas the battery just needs a good charge. Did Chandlers perform a health check or just suggest it needs changing? If it's the latter I'd say you need to charge it or give it a ruddy good run.

Sorry didn't answer straight away I am at work.

Funnily enough he asked if I did long runs in it and I do hounslow and Crawley once a week, so yes. He suggested the reason why the stop start had stopped working was that there was not enough charge in the battery to make it efficient, so the system is set to not perform that action.

I will give the guys in littlehampton a ring. Although the car is out of warranty, I am always a bit reticent about having work don't like this not using BMW.

Thanks for your advice guys.

severnside gull · Dec 29, 2014

granny weatherwax said:
I have a series 1 BMW and in the last couple of weeks the auto shut off has stopped working and I am getting the yellow battery warning light coming on when I switch the engine off but keep the radio on.

Anyway, I took it to chandlers this morning and they checked the key and there are no engine issues reported, so they suggested I replace the battery...which is £180 odd for the battery, but another 100 to fit it and " hard code it so the car knows the battery" and only chandlers can do this.

Is this bollocks BMW ( we will get as much money out of you suckers) speak or is this something that I have to pay?

I was thinking of ringing around a few garages and seeing if this is actually what I have to spend.

Any ideas?

Sounds like the battery needs charging. Insist they check it (or even better go to an independant). Otherwise just give it a decent run.

Edit: beaten to it and not the right advice by the sound of it but they should be able to check your battery output in 1 minute flat and give you a definitive answer. Unimpressed they haven't bothered but if you are in the RAC or AA they will do it for free. Mind you they will probably try to flog you a charger - we have one wired to the battery in our camping car so we can boost the charge from the mains). Even that would be a cheaper option but do insist on a proper check and not a "might be...." It too often isn't what it might have been and ends up costing more and more.

grubbyhands · Dec 29, 2014

DarrenFreemansPerm said:
I'll answer myself then.
The Stop-Start technology is more advanced than just turning off when the car stops, the car will also recognise when it's not appropriate to turn off, if you have the front blowers/de-mister the car knows you're trying to clear the screen so wont shut off, if the battery level drops below a certain percentage it will override the auto shut off. There's a chance that due to the cold weather and possibly doing less mileage over Christmas the battery just needs a good charge. Did Chandlers perform a health check or just suggest it needs changing? If it's the latter I'd say you need to charge it or give it a ruddy good run.

That is good advice. Stop-start technology or efficient dynamics are all well and good but, as posted above, if you've only been doing short runs over the festive period it could well be that the battery is /has run low on charge.The single biggest "drain" on a car battery is the starter motor and without doing a decent run it's difficult to replenish the energy that the motor takes from the battery.You don't say whether the car is petrol or diesel, diesels take even more power for the starter motor but have larger more powerful batteries.My advise would be to go to a local battery specialist ( not a tyre and exhaust centre) and have it tested. If it needs a new one they will be able to install it without breaking the circuit hence not neccessitating "coding" to the car. Alternatively, and independent garage with a good diagnostic scanner will be able to introduce the battery to the vehicle. If it wee mine I would turn the damn"stop-start" function off at the centre console button.

Publius Ovidius · Dec 29, 2014

Cheers guys. I love this place

Oh and it is a diesel.

beorhthelm · Dec 29, 2014

granny weatherwax said:
...which is £180 odd for the battery, but another 100 to fit it and " hard code it so the car knows the battery" and only chandlers can do this.

Is this bollocks BMW ( we will get as much money out of you suckers) ...?

yes, yes it is. £180 for a battery is ridiculous (even if they put a fancy chip in it costing £1), but £100 for fitting is really taking the piss. this is the car equivlient of selling ink jets for cost and making price back on the ink at thousands of pounds a gram, then adding electronics to make it difficult to DIY. if the EU had any balls it would do something about these practices as in a decade or two you wont be able to DIY many parts of cars and indepedents will be struggling to live off serviceing todays cars, which will be getting banned through emissions regulations, except those regulations will favour the car industry not consumers. (sorry, gone a bit Telegraph there).

skipper734 · Dec 29, 2014

Wouldn't happen in Germany. Oh!

Badger · Dec 29, 2014

The BMW battery in my Mini has got a little hole on the top which shows a colour indicator to tell you if the battery needs replacing. You can only really see the colour if you shine a torch down the hole, I think it's green when it's charged enough, black if it needs charging and yellow if it needs replacing. Might be worth checking if your battery has that just to give you a guide, I had to charge mine a couple of times during last winter.

wehatepalace · Dec 29, 2014

I believe if it's replaced with a genuine BMW battery it shouldn't need to be reset, an after market battery will need to be programmed to the car but any garage with decent diagnostics should be able to do that.
My diagnostics will certainly do it......but we're shut until Jan 5th.

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