All the Malfunctions...

[tangocash]

So many error messages over the past 2 years of owning my 2014 REX, but I will admit most of them haven't caused real problems. I've read on here again and again how "glitchy" these cards can be, but I just came back from the dealer about 5 days ago for my annual oil change and brake service and the car now seems to be getting worse.

This morning, I went out to the garage to load the i3 trunk with some items and my remote didn't work. Remote battery has been changed in the past year and there were no signs of diminished signal prior to this. My wife's remote also had trouble opening the car from only 10 feet away. After we both took turns pressing the buttons several times, one of our remotes eventually got the car to unlock.

I sit at the wheel and immediately notice a variety of warning messages...
-brake system malfunction (just serviced)
-battery drain while stopped (currently charged at 80%)
-powertrain malfunction

Plugging in the car did nothing (no rim light around the charging door) as if nothing is plugged in, even though the standard wall charger is showing power.

After turning the car on and off several times and not fixing the issue, I started to wonder if the car was looking for my wife's remote after she went back in the house. Could my remote be giving the car "bad" signals? I get her keys and the car starts up, but now shows power steering issue. I've had this problem before so I turn the car off and on one more time and that seems to clear the steering issue.

My wife now has the car on the road with the usual periodic check engine light that comes and goes as it pleases...

Has anyone else had such a major malfunction when they go to start up their car?

The day after I brought the car back from the shop, I got many of these same warning messages and the car delayed starting, but they didn't last long and didn't prevent me from driving like this time. This car is garage kept so extreme heat isn't an issue. It's very hard to determine what is really a major repair issue and what is the computer just complaining about poor communication with the rest of the car.

 

[jadnashuanh]

Have you changed your 12vdc battery? When that starts to go, all sorts of things start to happen.

All of the computers run off of the 12vdc system. That would explain the discharge issue.

 

[tangocash]

Have you changed your 12vdc battery? When that starts to go, all sorts of things start to happen.

All of the computers run off of the 12vdc system. That would explain the discharge issue.

That's a good point! I just recently saw some discussion about changing that battery and wasn't sure how good of shape mine is. I certainly haven't changed it in the 2 years I've owned it.

Is there a way for the car to tell me how good the battery is or do I need an outside piece of equipment to test it? I have an OBD adapter and I'm using Torque Lite and Bimmer-Code apps for reading/editing the computer.

 

[alohart]

This is almost certainly due to low 12 V system voltage, either because the 12 V battery is excessively discharged (parked recently for a few weeks without driving?) or failing. If the voltage drops too low, the car won't be able to enter drive readiness mode (i.e., it won't start). Hopefully, that doesn't happen while your wife is on the road. If the battery was merely discharged, driving on a road trip should charge it enough to prevent a repeat.

However, if the 12 V battery is failing, the car might have to be towed to a dealer for a 12 V battery replacement. Dealers typically charge an obscene amount for a 12 V battery replacement. If you have the capability, replace it yourself. BMW dealers typically charge >$200 for the 12 V battery. An identical AUX18L battery can be purchased from a local East Penn Manufacturing retailer. Ask for a local dealer using the contact Info on their Website. Even including shipping to Honolulu, I bought a new 12 V battery for $150.

The condition of an i3's battery could be determined with a load test just like the battery in any car. However, the cost of a load test is probably not worth paying, especially if the battery is original and likely nearing the end of its life. Measuring the battery's voltage isn't easy because the high-voltage system turns on and can begin charging the 12 V battery whenever a door, frunk, or hatch is unlocked or opened. I've left the frunk open over night so that I can measure the resting voltage of the 12 V battery the following morning. However, a normal voltage doesn't necessarily mean that the battery is good.

 

[tangocash]

This is almost certainly due to low 12 V system voltage, either because the 12 V battery is excessively discharged (parked recently for a few weeks without driving?) or failing. If the voltage drops too low, the car won't be able to enter drive readiness mode (i.e., it won't start). Hopefully, that doesn't happen while your wife is on the road. If the battery was merely discharged, driving on a road trip should charge it enough to prevent a repeat.

However, if the 12 V battery is failing, the car might have to be towed to a dealer for a 12 V battery replacement. Dealers typically charge an obscene amount for a 12 V battery replacement. If you have the capability, replace it yourself. BMW dealers typically charge >$200 for the 12 V battery. An identical AUX18L battery can be purchased from a local East Penn Manufacturing retailer. Ask for a local dealer using the contact Info on their Website. Even including shipping to Honolulu, I bought a new 12 V battery for $150.

The condition of an i3's battery could be determined with a load test just like the battery in any car. However, the cost of a load test is probably not worth paying, especially if the battery is original and likely nearing the end of its life. Measuring the battery's voltage isn't easy because the high-voltage system turns on and can begin charging the 12 V battery whenever a door, frunk, or hatch is unlocked or opened. I've left the frunk open over night so that I can measure the resting voltage of the 12 V battery the following morning. However, a normal voltage doesn't necessarily mean that the battery is good.

I found a video on how the car itself can test the battery's voltage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw5i1Ki-RpY&t=38s Testing through the car on two separate days (following a few miles of driving) came back with a max voltage of 14.4 and 14.3 kwh. From what I'm reading online, both numbers indicate a "healthy" battery so I'm not sure how bad this battery really is. I may try to test the car late at night, after many hours of non-use, to see if the battery reading drops significantly. If anyone can clarify the testing process, I'd appreciate it.

I'm talking with a local East Penn retailer to special order the battery next week and then I plan to use Bimmerlink to register the new battery after I install it myself. All the videos and talk I see make it seem like it isn't all that difficult, but I'll report the results on here once it's done.

 

[alohart]

I found a video on how the car itself can test the battery's voltage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw5i1Ki-RpY&t=38s Testing through the car on two separate days (following a few miles of driving) came back with a max voltage of 14.4 and 14.3 kwh. From what I'm reading online, both numbers indicate a "healthy" battery so I'm not sure how bad this battery really is. I may try to test the car late at night, after many hours of non-use, to see if the battery reading drops significantly. If anyone can clarify the testing process, I'd appreciate it.

The YouTube video you referenced shows how to display the estimated usable capacity, Batt. Kapa. max, of the Li-ion battery pack not the 12 V battery. The nominal new usable capacity of your battery pack is 18.8 kWh, so if the Batt. Kapa. max estimate is correct, your battery pack has ~77% of its original capacity. If the actual usable capacity as measured by a BMW dealer drops below 70% before the battery pack warranty expires, BMW would replace it under warranty.

The resting voltage of a fully-charged 12 V AGM battery at 77º F is ~12.7 V. However, the voltage of a 12 V battery doesn't necessarily reflect its health. A stress test would, but the cost would probably not be worth spending.

 

[tangocash]

I found a video on how the car itself can test the battery's voltage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw5i1Ki-RpY&t=38s Testing through the car on two separate days (following a few miles of driving) came back with a max voltage of 14.4 and 14.3 kwh. From what I'm reading online, both numbers indicate a "healthy" battery so I'm not sure how bad this battery really is. I may try to test the car late at night, after many hours of non-use, to see if the battery reading drops significantly. If anyone can clarify the testing process, I'd appreciate it.

The YouTube video you referenced shows how to display the estimated usable capacity, Batt. Kapa. max, of the Li-ion battery pack not the 12 V battery. The nominal new usable capacity of your battery pack is 18.8 kWh, so if the Batt. Kapa. max estimate is correct, your battery pack has ~77% of its original capacity. If the actual usable capacity as measured by a BMW dealer drops below 70% before the battery pack warranty expires, BMW would replace it under warranty.

The resting voltage of a fully-charged 12 V AGM battery at 77º F is ~12.7 V. However, the voltage of a 12 V battery doesn't necessarily reflect its health. A stress test would, but the cost would probably not be worth spending.

Thanks for clearing that up! The car won't start again this morning even though it's showing 100% charged and it's been plugged in all night. I found a spot on the OBD Torque app showing a real-time voltage between 8V and 9V. A recent search about 12V batteries showed that 10V was borderline low, does that sound right? That would certainly explain why it won't start.

Unfortunately, my local retailer tells me the replacement battery needs to be special ordered and won't come for another 5 days!

The car just came back from the show to be serviced and no one warned me about this battery, nor could they tell me anything about the warning messages I've been receiving for the last 6 months. My overall experience with the BMW dealer was disappointing but that seems to be the norm based on what I read on here.

 

[alohart]

The car won't start again this morning even though it's showing 100% charged and it's been plugged in all night. I found a spot on the OBD Torque app showing a real-time voltage between 8V and 9V. A recent search about 12V batteries showed that 10V was borderline low, does that sound right?

A resting voltage below 12.0 V would indicate that the charge level of the battery is very low. The voltage under load could drop below 12.0 V without the battery being bad. If a 12 V battery charger could charge the battery and the charge holds, the battery might be OK. However, with the problems that you're experiencing, and with the battery likely being over 5 years old, a new battery is probably needed.

 

[tangocash]

By called East Penn Battery's corporate office, I tracked down the AUX18L battery from a local Los Angeles retailer chain called Undercar Plus. For anyone in the LA area, each of the locations sell this battery, even if some locations need to order it for you for bout $150.

Once I had the battery, I was able to very easily swap it into the car myself using this tutorial video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKRj8gLcsfI

With the battery installed, I purchased the full version of Bimmercode ($22) and registered the new battery without issue.

It's now been about 2 weeks and the car is running at peak performance with no errors so far. DIY was certainly worth saving the few hundred bucks the dealer would have charged! I appreciate everyone's insight on this!

 

[alohart]

With the battery installed, I purchased the full version of Bimmercode ($22) and registered the new battery without issue.

I know that BimmerLink supports 12 V battery registration. However, I have not seen this capability in BimmerCode. Please describe how to register a battery using BimmerCode.

 

[BL5]

Tangocash- Glad this worked out. Ironically when checking ConnectedDrive yesterday I noticed a charging error & a brake failure error on my 2015 REx. The car has been parked for a couple weeks in the garage (plugged in), fortunately it’s unlocked. Remember there is a manual key on the fob you can use if fob is unresponsive.

Opened drivers door, same error messages on the screen. Car came unresponsive to anything, screen is blank, no interior lights. All things point to 12V. Mainly thanks to the VERY helpful people on this board.

The good news is about 3 weeks ago I ordered a Remy battery, knowing the time would eventually come. I’ll be installing later today. My car is still under CPO, but there’s conflicting reports on CPO covering the 12V. I not even going to waste my time with BMW.

Question- Is there a manual release for the hood? As the car is unresponsive.

AlohArt- I’ve got BimmerCode, I’m 99% certain it won’t code the replacement. I’ll pay for BimmerLink

 

[alohart]

Question- Is there a manual release for the hood? As the car is unresponsive.

According to the Owner's Manual, there's a mechanical release accessible from the driver's door jam.

 

[BL5]

Found the manual hood pull, it’s right next to electric hood release.

Put in my new Remy AUX18L battery today. Made sure it was fully charged on trickle charger.

After getting the battery installed and everything reconnected, I went to fire up the car. Got a message of “unable to charge” on drivers screen. Plugged into 240, light flashed yellow for a few mins.. then went red followed by same error on dash.

Any ideas? People have mentioned plugging car in overnight. I will do this, but doesn’t appear to be charging.

 

[Anonymous]

If you have BimmerLink, use it to view any error codes, and then clear them, Someone in the FaceBook i3 group had similar happen when he changed out his dead i3 12v battery. Repeatedly clearing error codes (sometimes three or four times when they reappeared) and eventually the car returned to normal - because of that, or just time plugged in allowing the ECMs to reset, who knows.

 

[SwissDI3]

Did you try to disconnect and then re-connect the HV system?
This could also trigger a reset of the ECU's!

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/i01-i3-hat/repair-manuals/61-general-vehicle-electrical-system/61-21-battery-with-holder/1VnXXU4nRR

 

[BL5]

Thanks MKH & SwissDI3. I also read leaving it plugged in might help get everything reset. Finally the BookFace is useful for something! I have another car, so this issue doesn't kill all my transportation.

I left it unplugged last night as I was away from home. Got it plugged in again now this AM, I'll keep it plugged in and clear codes with BimmerLink. If that doesn't solve the problem, I'll probably pull the replacement 12V out, and put a trickle charge on it and start over.

Reading the document on resetting HV system it call for these four steps.

Attention!
Stick to the procedure absolutely.

1. Disconnect any connected charging cables.
2. Open engine compartment lid
3. Switch off the ignition
4. Before disconnecting the high-voltage safety connector, ensure that the vehicle is in "sleep" state.

To put car in "sleep" state, I read one way to accomplish this was to open rear gate for 30 mins and keep key out range. This way comfort access won't take car out of "sleep" state. What should I be looking for to ensure vehicle is in sleep state?

 

[SwissDI3]

To make sure the car is in sleep state (and stays there), you have to:

- open the frunk (that is where the HV safety connector is, but this will also wake up the car)
- wait until it goes back to sleep
- but how do you know it has gone back to sleep?

The German Manual states to wait at least 2 minutes and there is a number of small lights (lighting switch, emergency flasher button, etc.) that will go off in the cabin after this time (if the car doors are closed and locked).

But I guess opening the trunk and waiting for the trunk compartment light (on the right side) to go out is a good indicator of "sleep state" as well.
I think this may take up to 30 min however.

 

[BL5]

Thanks SwissDI3, still don't have this resolved. Although hoping I'm making progress, on day 2 of battery replacement,

Short re-cap

Day 1
-Trickle charged replacement REMY 12V for a 2-3 hours, probably not for long enough. Although my BMW 1.25A trickle charger had a solid green light, indicating 100% charge
-Installed per standard procedures. Disconnect HV, remove old battery, install, reconnect HV.
-Tons of error messages on dash, would not take charge from EVSE. Car blinked yellow, then flashed red. Car won't go out of park, or start.
-Cleared error messages via BimmerLink, car went dead. No lights, no screens, acted like 12V was dead. I have read this is common
-Plugged EVSE in (replacement 12V still in car). EVSE indicated power going to car, car was dead, no interior lights, no dash. Left EVSE connected for 4hr
-Unplugged EVSE, removed replacement 12V REMY. Put REMY 12V on 1.25A BMW trickle charger (about 3:00PM) for overnight charge.

Day 2
-11:00AM 12V Replacement REMY charging for aprox 20hrs on trickle, which indicated a flashing green light. Which means at least 80% charge
-3:00PM 12V Replacement Remy still charging, flashing green (means 80%+ charge). Remy has been on trickle for 24hrs
-6:00PM 12V has same state, so let's give it another go with install
-Plugged car into EVSE. Light flashes yellow on i3, does not go red (good sign), stays flashing yellow, won’t go blue.
-Inside vehicle, tons of error messages on dash (no surprise), 1st thing registered 12V with BimmerLink, cleared codes one by one. Re-scan, 3-4 modules with low voltage errors, clear them... repeat, does not clear codes
-Messing with remote, I lock car... I hear click from EVSE, i3 starts flashing BLUE! Could this be it? Car HV SOC 74%
-Let car sit on EVSE for hour, I'm impatient.. Let's take her for a spin!! All appears well on my panda i3.

Appears my 36 hour mission is complete.

What's interesting is the trickle charger (on day 2) is warm, I don't recall any heat coming out of it yesterday when I did no initial charge. Was my trickle charger lying to me? This time the 12V SHOULD be charging. I also read where removing 30A fuses can reboot some systems. I'm going to make sure this repl. battery is fully charged before I do anything. Is it normal to trickle charge for 24+ hours?

Hmmmmmm, all this hassle.. now maybe this is why BMW charges $500-$700 bucks to do a battery! LOL