[cmyx6go]

Only 7,000 miles on the clock. I left work early today. Car was sitting locked for 7 hours. Got in, pressed brake and start button and nada. Brake pedal dropped to the floor. Silence and blank screen. Tried again. Same thing but message on dash saying safe to start in 10 minutes. I waited a few, but not 10. This time I got engine noise that reminded me of an old car trying to turn over, but nothing. I tried again after waiting the full 10 and all was good. WTF? Any thoughts? Anyone else?

[arlind94]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Only 7,000 miles on the clock. I left work early today. Car was sitting locked for 7 hours. Got in, pressed brake and start button and nada. Brake pedal dropped to the floor. Silence and blank screen. Tried again. Same thing but message on dash saying safe to start in 10 minutes. I waited a few, but not 10. This time I got engine noise that reminded me of an old car trying to turn over, but nothing. I tried again after waiting the full 10 and all was good. WTF? Any thoughts? Anyone else?

I didn't have this issue but about two weeks ago I got out to get some groceries, returned to car and went to start it. The engine turned over like 3 times before starting and then I got a drive train train malfunction. Turned car off and on and it was gone.

Every bmw I've had would randomly have a drive train malfunction.

It's possible you had a glitch and a signal was read incorrectly?

[ajob]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Only 7,000 miles on the clock. I left work early today. Car was sitting locked for 7 hours. Got in, pressed brake and start button and nada. Brake pedal dropped to the floor. Silence and blank screen. Tried again. Same thing but message on dash saying safe to start in 10 minutes. I waited a few, but not 10. This time I got engine noise that reminded me of an old car trying to turn over, but nothing. I tried again after waiting the full 10 and all was good. WTF? Any thoughts? Anyone else?

You are invited to lunch at your Germanic, punctuality-obsessed mother-in-law.

The event you described just happened, you get there 10 minutes late, she's waiting for you at the doorstep, nervously tapping her left foot.

Prepare a decent excuse... plain truth won't cut it, she will not believe your beautiful Germanic car had just told you to wait ten minutes.

[dds007]

My X3M's car battery recently died without warning. Only 1500 miles on it. Dealership just replaced the battery, so far so good again.

[cmyx6go]

Thanks all.

ajob You’re a funny guy.

As much as it boggles my brain a battery would be the issue at 1500 and 7000 miles, I’d be very happy if it’s just the battery.

[onfireX5]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Only 7,000 miles on the clock. I left work early today. Car was sitting locked for 7 hours. Got in, pressed brake and start button and nada. Brake pedal dropped to the floor. Silence and blank screen. Tried again. Same thing but message on dash saying safe to start in 10 minutes. I waited a few, but not 10. This time I got engine noise that reminded me of an old car trying to turn over, but nothing. I tried again after waiting the full 10 and all was good. WTF? Any thoughts? Anyone else?

On the second try , did the engine actually crank over but very slowly ?

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by onfireX5

On the second try , did the engine actually crank over but very slowly ?

Yes.

Edit. The first two times nothing. After I got the 10 minute message and tried about 5 minutes in, it was a slow crank

[SSSPconcepts]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Only 7,000 miles on the clock. I left work early today. Car was sitting locked for 7 hours. Got in, pressed brake and start button and nada. Brake pedal dropped to the floor. Silence and blank screen. Tried again. Same thing but message on dash saying safe to start in 10 minutes. I waited a few, but not 10. This time I got engine noise that reminded me of an old car trying to turn over, but nothing. I tried again after waiting the full 10 and all was good. WTF? Any thoughts? Anyone else?

We have had about 5 BMWs over the years and we're lucky to have experienced something similar only once. It was with a small X2 my daughter had been using while at college; she was parking outdoors at her dorm. Right after the first freeze of winter she went outside and the car would not start and she got the drive train error. Turned out to be rodent damage to the wiring harness.

I hope yours is just a glitch that is easily fixed.

[onfireX5]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Yes.

Edit. The first two times nothing. After I got the 10 minute message and tried about 5 minutes in, it was a slow crank

That is a solid clue. Obviously, could be a momentary glitch with some relays, but I would definitely have the battery load tested.

Have you been making short 5-10 mile type trips during the week before it happened ?

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by onfireX5

That is a solid clue. Obviously, could be a momentary glitch with some relays, but I would definitely have the battery load tested.

Have you been making short 5-10 mile type trips during the week before it happened ?

My commute is 16 miles each way. I did leave work in the morning to do a bank and gas station run, which is about 5 miles roundtrip. I’ll have the dealer check the battery.

[B1M3]

You have to charge your battery at least once a month, ///M cars drains the battery very quick.

[ajob]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Only 7,000 miles on the clock. I left work early today. Car was sitting locked for 7 hours. Got in, pressed brake and start button and nada. Brake pedal dropped to the floor. Silence and blank screen. Tried again. Same thing but message on dash saying safe to start in 10 minutes. I waited a few, but not 10. This time I got engine noise that reminded me of an old car trying to turn over, but nothing. I tried again after waiting the full 10 and all was good. WTF? Any thoughts? Anyone else?

Now seriously: I've been scratching my head to explain OP's interesting and very unusual "10 minute event" and came to the following:

1. The car may suspect it's being hacked, a growing concern for manufacturers, so (like the sfc /scannow DOS command in Windows) it starts checking every line of its main software code and that may take 10 minutes - but it's clearly a wrong theory, because it does not explain the "low battery" slow cranking the OP reported after 5 minutes. The car simply should not start at all until the check is finished satisfactorily.

2. So, another (wild!) guess is as follows:

- the battery got depleted;

- OP enters the car, tries to start, no sign of life;

- a "last resort" software routine powered by the second smaller battery (all new M's have it, it is used for the higher voltage steering and/or the active anti-roll bars) then wakes up and notices the dead main battery, tells the driver to come back in 10 minutes and through the higher voltage converter proceeds to recharge the main battery from the power left in the smaller battery;

- OP returns in 10 minutes, the car starts OK - and this would also explain why waiting only 5 minutes would cause a weak engine cranking.

Now, if this wild guess is true, I bow in admiration to the BMW engineers, because our cars have so much stuff running in the background when parked (anti-theft, vehicle localisation, listening & responding to ConnectedDrive communications, etc.) that even the big 105 Ah main battery gets often depleted, as the government mandated "partial battery charging fuel economy strategy" may leave it half empty or less at any parking time - as the OP found out after only 7 hours.

Depleted batteries cause roadside assistance calls, angry customers, costly early battery replacement service bulletins, a bad car reputation, etc.

So, in the newer 2022 cars, the BMW guys may have had the clever idea to use the second battery, that suffers no drain when the car is parked, to recharge enough the main one using its higher voltage output - and save the driver's day in 10 minutes.

If true, it's a brilliant trick !

[cmyx6go]

ajob Thank you for taking the time to compose your long response. If this is the case, I’ll be very happy. For the most part I’ve been very lucky with my BMWs being issue free. I did have a nightmare that lasted months when my 2010 was only a few months old. Thanks again.

[dds007]

Originally Posted by B1M3

You have to charge your battery at least once a month, ///M cars drains the battery very quick.

Originally Posted by B1M3

You have to charge your battery at least once a month, ///M cars drains the battery very quick.

We have to charge the battery on a $100K+ car once a month…..? I doubt that their engineering is that bad

[gqgambler]

Agree with many, I would check the battery. I get funny messages on my rarely driven M3 and battery is usually the culprit.

[Alan l.]

My bet is the battery too. These things are never fully “off” anymore and if it’s not driven enough the battery will be weak over time and cause weird issues.

Get a ctek battery tender on amazon and see if the issue comes back.

Better than taking it to the dealer imo…

Alan

[cmyx6go]

Happened again this morning. At dealer now.

Well, I'm happy I got a loaner car being I didn't have an appointment. Will update when I know something. Thanks for all the responses.

[Hit_Apex]

Originally Posted by ajob

Now seriously: I've been scratching my head to explain OP's interesting and very unusual "10 minute event" and came to the following:

1. The car may suspect it's being hacked, a growing concern for manufacturers, so (like the sfc /scannow DOS command in Windows) it starts checking every line of its main software code and that may take 10 minutes - but it's clearly a wrong theory, because it does not explain the "low battery" slow cranking the OP reported after 5 minutes. The car simply should not start at all until the check is finished satisfactorily.

2. So, another (wild!) guess is as follows:

- the battery got depleted;

- OP enters the car, tries to start, no sign of life;

- a "last resort" software routine powered by the second smaller battery (all new M's have it, it is used for the higher voltage steering and/or the active anti-roll bars) then wakes up and notices the dead main battery, tells the driver to come back in 10 minutes and through the higher voltage converter proceeds to recharge the main battery from the power left in the smaller battery;

- OP returns in 10 minutes, the car starts OK - and this would also explain why waiting only 5 minutes would cause a weak engine cranking.

Now, if this wild guess is true, I bow in admiration to the BMW engineers, because our cars have so much stuff running in the background when parked (anti-theft, vehicle localisation, listening & responding to ConnectedDrive communications, etc.) that even the big 105 Ah main battery gets often depleted, as the government mandated "partial battery charging fuel economy strategy" may leave it half empty or less at any parking time - as the OP found out after only 7 hours.

Depleted batteries cause roadside assistance calls, angry customers, costly early battery replacement service bulletins, a bad car reputation, etc.

So, in the newer 2022 cars, the BMW guys may have had the clever idea to use the second battery, that suffers no drain when the car is parked, to recharge enough the main one using its higher voltage output - and save the driver's day in 10 minutes.

If true, it's a brilliant trick !

Nice post - both are good theories and believe there is some truth in #2 where the aux battery under the bonnet is somehow utilized.

[gqgambler]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Happened again this morning. At dealer now.

Well, I'm happy I got a loaner car being I didn't have an appointment. Will update when I know something. Thanks for all the responses.

sadly, I'm sure your loaner car is underwhelming compared to the daily driver beast.

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by gqgambler

sadly, I'm sure your loaner car is underwhelming compared to the daily driver beast.

I'm glad I got a loaner as the wait previously for appointments with loaners was running 3-4 weeks and I didn't have an appointment.

I wasn't going to mention it because I didn't want to be that girl. But yes, the acceleration is a bit different in the X1 loaner.

[cmyx6go]

They just sent me a video of the inspection with the tech narrating. Must be something new. Pretty cool.

It seems my attempt to do the remote software update failed and caused a shitload of malfunctions.

Signed,
The Challenged One .

[gqgambler]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

They just sent me a video of the inspection with the tech narrating. Must be something new. Pretty cool.

It seems my attempt to do the remote software update failed and caused a shitload of malfunctions.

Signed,
The Challenged One .

Ah, forgot about that update. Not unheard of with updates. My M50i is due for inspection soon and I've purposefully held off on the update until right before I take it in. Take solace in knowing there is no way you screwed it up.