[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by GoRomeo

Thi is true. For the last 2yrs my battery gave me warnings such as radio turning off 2 min after turning shut off engine also bluetooth conection would not stay on engine off. Defroster did not work and blower AC fan switching speeds. I recently replaced batter and all is back on like new

The car will shut down all those sorts of functions if you're getting so low on battery charge that you'd be unable to start the engine.

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

The car will shut down all those sorts of functions if you're getting so low on battery charge that you'd be unable to start the engine.

Not really, i was able to start engine. Slow cranks at times but i was able for to do so for over 2yrs.

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by GoRomeo

Not really, i was able to start engine. Slow cranks at times but i was able for to do so for over 2yrs.

Right. That's the point. If you'd run one of those features for a few minutes without starting the car, you'd have drained the battery low enough that you couldn't. That's why the system shuts them off.

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

Right. That's the point. If you'd run one of those features for a few minutes without starting the car, you'd have drained the battery low enough that you couldn't. That's why the system shuts them off.

YES ur right, sorry my eyes are tired. Lol. Did u replace ur battery also?

[RainKing]

Great thread!

[wahooooman]

i cant believe ive read all of this

[WreckerX5d]

I just realized you could do point by point navigation.

[shan_y33zy]

Originally Posted by vwong

I wish we could press and hold the lock button on the key fob for like 10 seconds to close all windows and sunroof.

If you have CA, you just hold down the door lock ridges on the handle and window & sunroof will close. Sorry if this was mentioned already

[johmei]

Probably a good idea to get a new battery when your car start to shut down functions such as radio (after a very short time after engine off), welcome lights fail, "Rest" function. I had these "problems" along with the occasional "battery warning", just changed my battery (and registered it) and all systems as new.

[jeb1517]

Originally Posted by shan_y33zy

If you have CA, you just hold down the door lock ridges on the handle and window & sunroof will close. Sorry if this was mentioned already

or you just get your car coded to be able to do it with the key FOB (along with mirrors)

[mr_milo]

Originally Posted by GoRomeo

Thi is true. For the last 2yrs my battery gave me warnings such as radio turning off 2 min after turning shut off engine also bluetooth conection would not stay on engine off. Defroster did not work and blower AC fan switching speeds. I recently replaced batter and all is back on like new

Sounds like the same problems I'm having. Can't leave the radio on when filling up, can't finish a converstation on the phone once I shut off the car, etc.

Problem is my car is only 2 years old! I expected more from BMW.

But to stay on topic.... I didn't know that the BMW's Brake Energy Regeneration system apparently only charges the battery "when you take your foot from the accelerator or apply the brake", therefore even if you are driving the car it may not be charging the battery!

They even acknowledged that "today's vehicles require much more electrical energy than older models, due to the much wider array of electric and electronic on-board comfort and safety systems", yet they think allowing the generator to only be active at certain times somehow makes good sense????

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by mr_milo

Sounds like the same problems I'm having. Can't leave the radio on when filling up, can't finish a converstation on the phone once I shut off the car, etc.

Problem is my car is only 2 years old! I expected more from BMW.

But to stay on topic.... I didn't know that the BMW's Brake Energy Regeneration system apparently only charges the battery "when you take your foot from the accelerator or apply the brake", therefore even if you are driving the car it may not be charging the battery!

They even acknowledged that "today's vehicles require much more electrical energy than older models, due to the much wider array of electric and electronic on-board comfort and safety systems", yet they think allowing the generator to only be active at certain times somehow makes good sense????

Yeah man its very interesting how the battery gets charges nowadays. Maybe they do this to take away load from alternator who knows..

Yeah man 2 yrs and needing a new battery already is BS, I m sure driving habits has to do with it. Do you do short trips most of the time? I do mostly highway and also always garaged in a warm place. This helped to prolong my battery life even though low battery warnings had been there since long time ago. I believe. The only reason my battery finally died was the fact that lately I parked outiside my garage in the cold and this definately killed it. oh well... 8 yrs cannot complaint right?

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by mr_milo

I didn't know that the BMW's Brake Energy Regeneration system apparently only charges the battery "when you take your foot from the accelerator or apply the brake", therefore even if you are driving the car it may not be charging the battery!

They even acknowledged that "today's vehicles require much more electrical energy than older models, due to the much wider array of electric and electronic on-board comfort and safety systems", yet they think allowing the generator to only be active at certain times somehow makes good sense????

I see where you're reading that, but there's absolutely no chance that it's strictly true. It'd make plenty of sense if the car PREFERRED to charge the battery under braking conditions, but if what's written was exactly correct, the car would die after a few hours on the highway.

The wording over here is a bit more forgiving. I think the idea is that the charge controller A. leaves room in the battery's SOC to recapture energy from braking, B. charges the battery more slowly from the alternator, or otherwise charges up only until there's a healthy amount of SOC left to go, then C. disconnects the charging load from the alternator during acceleration such that all your power goes to that.

I think the idea is basically like a bucket where it's intentionally left half or 2/3 full (so they simply spec a battery 1.5x the size compared to previous models). The idea is, if the battery SOC is 2/3, they call that "full" and stop alternator charging. However, there's still room to recapture braking energy, and if the braking energy keeps the battery >2/3, the alternator never gets used. And in general, even if the battery is charging, it stops momentarily during acceleration to prevent power sap from that process.

Assuming that's how it works, it's pretty smart overall. On the other hand, disconnecting the charging load from the alternator during acceleration is pretty much useless. The MAXIMUM electrical system load during operation is a couple horsepower, which is probably not noticeable, certainly not to your average driver.

Then again, maybe it's more like 5-7HP, which would be noticeable. But relieving the engine of 7HP means putting a ~500A draw on the battery for potentially 10-15s, which seems unreasonably high.

Anyway overall it's more gimmick than serious enhancement, but it's a pretty smart and clever gimmick that almost certainly isn't causing the kinds of drawbacks that wording suggests.

[snowman81]

Originally Posted by shan_y33zy

If you have CA, you just hold down the door lock ridges on the handle and window & sunroof will close. Sorry if this was mentioned already

Never knew about this one...thanks! Tried it today and like it, although tomorrow I'm gonna try my luck at coding my car to roll close windows/sunroof with key fob.

[ibarry92]

Don't know if anything of these comments have already been mentioned...

On the HVAC center console system, the green lights mean anything that affects you (the driver) directly and the orange lights mean anything that affects the the car.

You can open the trunk without the key-fob or pressing the trunk release button on the inside. When the car is unlocked, you can pull the trunk as if you are opening it and it will unlock and open, at the same time.

[Tone90]

Originally Posted by txusa03

It has been discussed before. Try this: get in car and place key fob into the slot, start engine with key fob in slot, turn off engine, take key fob out of slot and press the start engine button without the key fob in slot. You have to do it real quick, it gives you 15-30 seconds to restart the engine after you take the key fob out.

Dont know what was the reason for this. Give it a try.

Lol! I tried this and does work! Now can you drive without keyfob in slot?

[ELiTeNeSs]

I don't know if this has been covered but if you hold down the START/STOP button for a couple seconds after driving, it will automatically eject the keyfob.

[NH335i]

Originally Posted by Tone90

Lol! I tried this and does work! Now can you drive without keyfob in slot?

Mine doesnt need the key in it ever. As long as its in my pocket.

[JET335]

Originally Posted by MonkUSMC

I just realized you could do point by point navigation.

How do you set up point by point nav? ive tried to figure this out. but failed.

[xFlaTLinE]

Originally Posted by jeb1517

or you just get your car coded to be able to do it with the key FOB (along with mirrors)

Or you can code it yourself and save some money (and some piece of mind knowing you can reverse any malfunctions.

There is a nice DIY on this

[AndreyT]

Originally Posted by ibarry92

You can open the trunk without the key-fob or pressing the trunk release button on the inside. When the car is unlocked, you can pull the trunk as if you are opening it and it will unlock and open, at the same time.

You can't just "pull" it anywhere. The trunk has an easily identifiable release button right above the license plate. You have to press it to open the trunk. If you miss the button, the trunk won't open.

[ibarry92]

Originally Posted by AndreyT

You can't just "pull" it anywhere. The trunk has an easily identifiable release button right above the license plate. You have to press it to open the trunk. If you miss the button, the trunk won't open.

Yup; that's what I meant haha. Still after two years of ownership, I never knew I could do that. I would either use the key fob or the trunk release inside the car.