please help electrical gremlins in my 328is!

[mixxalot]

Hello fellow bimmer gurus,

I need some advice. Yesterday my 1996 BMW 328is started acting weird. The lights in my on board computer starting flickering wildly. Then my car failed to start this morning. I jumped the car and it died in a few minutes. Thought it was the battery. Bought new battery at dealer and had them test it. Drove car home. On the way home in traffic, same problem! Lights started flickering, and then car shut down in while waiting in traffic. Any advice? Is it my alternator? Thanks.

Ben

PS: my 1996 BMW 328is only has 60k miles.

 

[Kirby]

Most likely the alternator, get it tested. Also, get that new battery out of the car and recharge it immediately, if you do that soon the new battery will still have a good long life.

 

[jszar]

yes, sounds like the alt. thought the dealer should have checked it too...

and definetly get that battery out of there! you dont want to pay for another.

 

[mixxalot]

hassle with BMW dealer in San Diego

I took my 328is back to the BMW of San Diego dealer this morning and complained that they misdiagnosed my car. Avoided a heated argument with the Service Rep and told them to fix the problem. Gave them the extended warranty offered by FWS and told them to make sure to look at the alternator and electrical system before the new battery dies. Man I should become a BMW mechanic!! I seem to know more than these dealer guys and I just read the info in the Bentley manual! What gives? Thanks.

-B

 

[Heresy]

im having wierd issues with my car as well..but its the windshield wipers that go off randomly. my mechanic is looking into a fix and is going to call me. but is there a way that i can pull the fuse to just the windshield wipers while i wait... i really hate driving with the wipers going off every 2 minutes at random.

 

[mixxalot]

loose wire

The dealer tech found a loose wire that was causing the problem. Need to find way to avoid this from happening again.

 

[chief]

Isn't amazing how the service Reps at the dealerships are no better than a waiter at a resturant taking a food order?
Certainly, they are not being paid more than minimum wage for writing customer complaints. If they are being paid more than minimum wage, they are being paid $6.00 too much per hour.