My i3 is Dead

[Dave1584]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

Just spent the week vacationing at the beach and picked up a 12v battery on my way home. Installed it a few minutes ago and everything lit up. It complained that it had zero charge, which I thought was interesting because the last I looked at it before everything quit, it said it was at 95.5%. But then I have had problems with the battery seeming to drain faster than I think it should when it's not plugged in (I have another thread on that topic) so figured I really did have a big battery drain problem. Still, that seemed strange because while it sat for the week unplugged, I also had the traction battery disconnected. In any case, after it sat for about 15 minutes I noticed that the light was no longer flashing on the charge port so checked it and it was sitting at 100%. Seems like it took it a little while for it to sort itself out after I connected the 12v battery.

So, all is well now, and I learned something about the i3, so that's a bonus.

Has anyone else seen or know whats going on with this? I just replaced my 12v battery and the car was showing 0.0% once I hooked up the new battery. I had left it fully charged before unhooking the 12v and letting it sit for a little over a week. Now it says its fully charged but the miles says "--" and I get low miles warnings and the car won't move.

 

[Fisher99]

I don't know. As I said, mine sorted itself out after sitting for several minutes (after I installed the new 12v battery).

You will likely get a much better answer from some of the extremely knowledgeable i3 owners on this forum (I'm an i3 newbie), but I wonder if you should try resetting the 12v system again (disconnect the 12v battery, wait 15 minutes and then re-connect it). I would definitely give this a try.

Also, did you disconnect the main traction battery before swapping the 12v battery? I have heard that in some instances not doing so can cause electrical issues.

 

[Anonymous]

I get low miles warnings and the car won't move

Is the car plugged in for charging? If not plug it in for a few hours.

 

[Dave1584]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

Just spent the week vacationing at the beach and picked up a 12v battery on my way home. Installed it a few minutes ago and everything lit up. It complained that it had zero charge, which I thought was interesting because the last I looked at it before everything quit, it said it was at 95.5%. But then I have had problems with the battery seeming to drain faster than I think it should when it's not plugged in (I have another thread on that topic) so figured I really did have a big battery drain problem. Still, that seemed strange because while it sat for the week unplugged, I also had the traction battery disconnected. In any case, after it sat for about 15 minutes I noticed that the light was no longer flashing on the charge port so checked it and it was sitting at 100%. Seems like it took it a little while for it to sort itself out after I connected the 12v battery.

So, all is well now, and I learned something about the i3, so that's a bonus.

Has anyone else seen or know whats going on with this? I just replaced my 12v battery and the car was showing 0.0% once I hooked up the new battery. I had left it fully charged before unhooking the 12v and letting it sit for a little over a week. Now it says its fully charged but the miles says "--" and I get low miles warnings and the car won't move.

After a few hours after posting this I tried to take it out for a spin because it started moving when you pushed the accelerator peddle. I made it 2 blocks away and it just died on me. I ended up pushing it back to my house. Once back I plugged it in again and it charged for about 20 minutes before saying it was fully charged again. I have Sense an energy monitoring system so I know it didn't charge over the night. This morning it says 100% charged and the range is now showing full range. Took it for a 4 mile trip with no problems. It has fixed itself... Seems the fix for this one is just do nothing

 

[Fisher99]

That's exactly what worked for me!

 

[NickT65]

Hi,

I have an urgent need right now. My 12V battery has died (I have recently had some issues with the charging of the car - I had to buy & have installed a new part where you plug into the car as the pin wasn't dropping in)

Yesterday it died on me again. Hey ho, it can happen and the car is 4 years old (and I love it).


My problem today is that if I wanted it towing it won't happen. It is stuck on my drive and the cable is still stuck in the car. I don't want to yank it out as that will break the new pin and I'll be hit with another £450 bill. The other end is not connected

Any tricks out there to release the cable?

Also, any ideas if my problem might be the age of teh 12V battery? If so, are they easy to buy and replace in the UK?

Thanks in advance people.

 

[vreihen]

If the cable is stuck to the car, use the blue emergency release cable located in the rear door jam of the driver's side (UK). There is a YouTube video of the procedure. Be gentle, because the cable is prone to snapping. Ask me how I know.....

 

[vreihen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lIO8D3vruc

 

[NickT65]

@vreihen - thank you so much for the video clip.
I had wondered what the lower blue pull cable was for (I'd assumed it was the boot).

Now to get BMW to help out.... (that is another story altogether).

 

[bevRider]

Be aware, each BMW 12V battery exchange must follow an initialization per OBD toolkit. Control system must know the capacity, etc.

 

[alohart]

Be aware, each BMW 12V battery exchange must follow an initialization per OBD toolkit. Control system must know the capacity, etc.

If the replacement battery is the same AGM type with the same 20 Ah capacity (e.g., it's another AUX18L AGM battery), registration records only the date that the replacement battery was installed. According to a BMW i3 mechanic, that date tells mechanics when the battery was replaced without affecting the charging behavior unlike with ICE BMW's.

 

[lesbi3]

Be aware, each BMW 12V battery exchange must follow an initialization per OBD toolkit. Control system must know the capacity, etc.

If the replacement battery is the same AGM type with the same 20 Ah capacity (e.g., it's another AUX18L AGM battery), registration records only the date that the replacement battery was installed. According to a BMW i3 mechanic, that date tells mechanics when the battery was replaced without affecting the charging behavior unlike with ICE BMW's.

I replaced mine in January. Ordered the battery direct from Remy (OEM). AUX18L. remybattery.com. $121.00 USD. I then registered it with the vehicle using the BimmerLink app. “Registration” resets the charging parameters of the vehicle’s on-board control electronics for a new battery. If left “unregistered,” the vehicle will assume it’s the original battery and charge it at a rate that will damage a new battery over time. Be sure to disconnect the high voltage battery from the charging system with the disconnect device under the driver-side accessory cover first. The only follow-up needed was resetting the clock. Lots of accurate YouTube videos to use for resources. 2015 i3 REx.

 

[Rose7495]

So 12V battery died, bought a replacement one from Remmy. Bought an OBD2 for the car to register the battery and the car for some reason won’t stay on long enough to clear the codes and such. How can I get this done?? It’s so frustrating. The car turns on and the obd is plugged up and trying to clear the codes but the car Turns off. If it would just stay on long enough I can get it done. Please help!!

 

[Anonymous]

The new 12v may not have been fully charged from the factory. Several people have reported that the new 12v they received needed to be charged before installing. The one I bought and have sitting on a shelf, ready when mine starts failing, came only about 60% charged. Try plugging the car in to charge for a few hours. May have enough of a charge in the 12v to kick on the DC/DC converter then, which will charge up the 12v from the HV battery.

 

[antontaylor]

Hey guys... I have a similar problem.. I changed the battery and now the car is at least responding but it will not DRIVE.. all lights are on.. it looks as if the car is fully charged.. the REX wont kick in because the battery is fully charged... DId i miss a step in getting the car to move after changing the battery that engages the option to drive it? HELP!! it's been stuck for a week now!

 

[Fisher99]

Not sure what to say. Mine took about 15-20 minutes to sort itself out after I installed the 12v battery and re-connected the main traction battery. Until then it had warning messages on the screen and couldn't figure out that the traction battery wasn't actually depleted. But after about 15-20 minutes everything just went back to normal. If it's been a week since you changed your 12v battery there must be something else going on, but I'm afraid I'm not knowledgeable to know what.

 

[Awesomei3]

Hello - my i3 started reporting 'Battery discharging while stopped' and then died altogether. I bought a new 12v battery from BMW and installed it and while the car came back to life it would not start throwing a number of errors, it couldn't charge, couldn't drive, etc. I did managed to get it into Neutral and get it loaded onto a flatbed. Its now at the dealer and discharging the new battery within minutes of being fully charged inspite of the main battery having 67%. The dealer is testing but so far cannot diagnose the fault.

I'd be really grateful for any ideas, thanks in advance

 

[BL5]

Hello - my i3 started reporting 'Battery discharging while stopped' and then died altogether. I bought a new 12v battery from BMW and installed it and while the car came back to life it would not start throwing a number of errors, it couldn't charge, couldn't drive, etc. I did managed to get it into Neutral and get it loaded onto a flatbed. Its now at the dealer and discharging the new battery within minutes of being fully charged inspite of the main battery having 67%. The dealer is testing but so far cannot diagnose the fault.

I'd be really grateful for any ideas, thanks in advance

Just went through the exact same thing, but didn't have to tow. It's critical the replacement 12V is fully charged before install. I just had a 36hr experience with a dead 12V battery in my 2015 REx. I'd also recommend that you have BimmerLink & OBD dongle ready to clear codes. From all my reading, the i3 is super sensitive in low 12V conditions.

For others who had their i3's in service for 4+ years to just buy a Remy and replace it. Seems people have less issues getting a replacement 12V to install error free if their existing battery is not dead yet. When the 12V dies replacement seems to be more challenging. My original battery made it 4 years 7 months. Won't make that mistake again.

Let us know what the dealer finds out, hopefully they won't see you on a BMW battery & install. Others have reported putting in a new REMY & BMW selling them an OEM battery + install, which is typically $450-600

 

[jadnashuanh]

Almost everything in modern BMW vehicles (and some others, as well) is controlled via computers and that includes the lights, fans, and nearly every module in the vehicle. When you shut down, the computer sends serial data messages out the CANBUS to tell they to go into sleep mode. If there's an issue with any of the modules, or the serial data bus to it, that device may not turn off, thinking it is still supposed to be working in the READY state. So, that can cause the drain on the battery to be higher than if it actually went to sleep.

So, it could be a wiring issue, a module issue, or a computer issue...IOW, it's sometimes hard to find. They can test the sleep mode battery drain, and if it's out of range, then start searching for the module(s) that are using that power. If the module itself is okay, then they need to follow the cable and inspect it and each connector, and that can mean dismantling things.

This isn't unique to BMW, though. For example, if you look at the wires going to the headlight switch assembly, there's a very small circuit board, and the wires going to it are like 24g...by no means big enough to switch the lighting circuit directly...all they need is power for the backlighting, and the circuit board, and serial data lines to talk to the computer to tell it where the switch position is. That's one reason why if, say, you left the rear wiper switch on, when you turn the car off then on again, even though the switch is still on, they won't work again until you turn the switch off then on again...the circuit announces changes, not the current state in most cases to keep the traffic on the bus down, and save power (there are exceptions to that).

It's a price we pay for the modern amenities and capabilities in our cars...they're harder to fix if something goes wrong. Diagnostics can only go so far...luckily, SS stuff tends to be pretty stable and long-lasting once you get through any infant mortality issues.

 

[Awesomei3]

It’s been an experience....

First I replaced the battery £80
Flatbed to get it to the dealer £120
Once at the dealer:
- £48 to code the battery
- £300 to diagnose
- £67 to replace an actuator for fuel filler cap
- £60 to test that

The KLE was replaced at the same time - I think under recall as it was free

On the way home it started to show a brake issue. Turns out the vacuum sensor had gone (its right next to the fuel filler actuator but apparently it was just a coincidence...) - that was another £280.

Now it’s home I find that the GPS has been switched off so third visit to the dealer.

The saga continues...