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Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Discuss the problems with your X5 (E53).
onedaymyfriend
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Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by onedaymyfriend » Fri Jun 14, 2019 9:20 pm

Evening guys,

Unfortunately I experiences the trifecta the other day. The error codes suggested that the passenger front and rear abs sensors needed replacing. I had them replaced and all seemed OK. I jumped in the motor tonight and only the Abs light only on. But there were a few other issues. The steeringwheel didnt readjust, no speedo, rev counter, fuel gauge, temp gauge and no stereo or indicators..whats going on?!

Something else that happened the other day, I was sat in the driveway for about 25mins waiting to see if the trifecta came back. A flicked the air con on, and the trifecta came back. This made me think it could possibly be the alternator on the way out. What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance. D

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by Greydog » Sat Jun 15, 2019 6:48 am

Morning
First port of call Battery, how old is your battery and is it fully charged. Low battery voltage or dying battery is one of the most common causes of electrical issues.
Around its 14 th birthday my 4.6 started showing weird signs like yours, I knew it wasn't battery so started working through all the connectors and loom where it may fray. Eventually tracked it down to the main earth connector at the back of the boot behind the spare wheel, the bolt connecting it to the body looked rusty I cleaned and tightened it up no issues since.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by henrym3 » Sat Jun 15, 2019 3:45 pm

Go into the hidden menu and monitor the battery voltage. Grey dog is probably spot on in his assessment of weird things happening. With these things you are likely to disappear up your own backside if you don’t start with a good fully charged battery

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by onedaymyfriend » Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:54 am

Thanks guys, unfortunately I can't use the hidden menus as the cluster isn't working.

I've used a multimeter and the battery is ready 11.6v. When I started it up this dropped to 9.6v, and then gradually up to 13v. Does this seem right?

The battery was brand new in Dec '18.

Thanks again guys.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by Greydog » Mon Jun 17, 2019 7:14 am

Those voltages seem way to low, from memory you should be over 12 at start and about 14 when running (someone will correct me if I am wrong and as my wife tells me I often am) even a new battery can die prematurely.
You may have fault causing a parasitic drain or a dead short somewhere definitely you need the help of an auto electrician if you don't have the skills or kit yourself.`
First I would check any work that was done just before your issues began? Has there been a bit of kit fitted? aftermarket reverse camera? dash cam? headunit? Disconnect it/them and see if it helps.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by Wayfarer » Mon Jun 17, 2019 7:22 am

Assuming your multimeter is accurate, then the voltages are low, 12v indicates around 35% of battery charge, should be nearer to 12.8v if fully charged, so could be battery alternator, bad connection a lot of short runs, attac5is a typical battery charge state graph for your I fo.

Sure a much more knowledgeable member will be along with more info shortly
Screenshot_20181126-183547_Drive.jpg
Screenshot_20181126-183547_Drive.jpg (49.91 KiB) Viewed 3141 times

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by henrym3 » Mon Jun 17, 2019 1:52 pm

Does the vehicle go to sleep, ie does the light by the gear selector go out after 16 minutes. That voltage is way to low both for starting and when running, you should see a minimum of 13.8v to 14v with engine running especially as the battery was at such a low voltage to start with. You are completely wasting your time looking for fixes to anything until you sort the battery/charging issue.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by onedaymyfriend » Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:19 pm

Hi guys,

Had the battery tested today, and low and behold it was faulty. Fitted the new one with fingers crossed, unfortunately the dash still doesn't work (apart from the abs light) and neither does the stereo.

henrym3 when you say doesn't it fall asleep, is that once the ignition is switched off?

Thanks again guys..

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by henrym3 » Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:29 pm

No, the little orange/red light by the gear selector. When you switch off and remove the key, plus when you lock the car that light will remain on for 16 minutes. Then it should go out. This lets you know that the car has gone to sleep and there is minimum drain on the battery. If it remains on this tells you something is drawing a current that shouldn’t be

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by onedaymyfriend » Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:40 pm

Thanks henrym3, I'll give it a go.

The error codes for front and rear passenger side abs sensors are back, although both sensors have been changed.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by henrym3 » Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:16 pm

Have had that sensor problem. Does your speedo drop to zero on occasions.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by onedaymyfriend » Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:23 am

All needles are at zero. No dials, text or lights (apart from abs light). :headbang:

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by Greydog » Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:09 am

Have you reset the fault codes ? I use BMW 1.4.0 and after fitting a new battery due to the sudden demise of the old one had no dials I had to work through several modules clearing and resetting as I went, then drive slowly forward going lock to lock before the old girl believed that everything was OK.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by onedaymyfriend » Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:50 am

Hi Greydog,

The garage that diagnosed the abs sensors were unable to remove the codes.. Very odd.

Can i ask where you got your BMW 1.4.0? I'm after a reliable source. Seen some online but reviews have said that there has been viruses etc on the disc.

Thanks again.

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Re: Possible electrical issues with the e53 4.6is

Post by Greydog » Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:45 am

Morning
It was about 10 years ago that I brought my copy of 1.4.0 through that well known auction site cost about £10 from memory, I have updated it once with a download version about 2 years ago. I run AVG as anti virus and scan all disc's and downloads as a matter of course and have had no issues.
I do use it on a dedicated old laptop running Win 7 so it is stand alone and used only in my garage on the car the lap top also runs software for Mercedes, Volvo, and Toyota.

When resetting my fault codes it took several attempts, there is a button that says "reset fault codes" or similar this didn't clear all the codes the only way was to work my way through module by module "read codes" "clear codes" "re-read codes" if code persists investigate if clear move on. Most of the persistent codes I tracked down to a poor earth block connection in the boot that affected several modules.

Others here use Carly for BMW and INPA but 1.4.0 has worked well for me.

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