thegunguy
December 31st 2005, 16:46
The other morning I experienced my first engine fault. I hadn't driven the car in about ten days. So, I decided to go for a spin. While driving the car on a coolish morning (hey, this is Texas) and after about three minutes since warm-up, I felt the car miss, and then the check engine light came on. I turned into a parking lot and shut down the car for about thirty seconds. After restarting, there was no CE light, and everything seemed normal.
That afternoon I took the car into Lonestar Bavarian in Fort Worth for them to read the historical codes. The fault codes indicated that the miss was due to slightly low voltage. Trent from Lonestar, who has a high mileage E39 M5 daily driver, explained that he has learned that the ignition/electrical system on the S62 is a bit sensitive. He said, that if the car sits for a while you can have enough power to start the car, but if the battery and charging system are fractions of volts down from spec, you can have problems. As I only drive the care one or two days a week, Trent suggested that I use the BMW trickle charger when the car is in the garage (I guess ‘in the garage’ is an obvious statement - not like you can really use it while driving).
Most importantly, there was no permanent damage, and it was nice getting to BS with Trent about all things BMW. If you’re in the DFW area and haven’t used Lonestar, they’re a great alternative to the dealer, and they regularly service one other Z8. Trent has two BMW certified master mechanics on staff, and their hourly rate is only $82! For more info check out the Lonestar Bavarian website at http://www.lonestarbavarian.com/
While I'm still skeptical of some of your cars that will not start after a few days sitting, I've made a new practice of using the handy BMW charger in order to keep the battery at peak charge. Anyway, if you were fortunate enough to get the charger with your car, use it. If not, you might want to looking into getting one - BMW or other brand - especially if you do not drive the car daily.
That afternoon I took the car into Lonestar Bavarian in Fort Worth for them to read the historical codes. The fault codes indicated that the miss was due to slightly low voltage. Trent from Lonestar, who has a high mileage E39 M5 daily driver, explained that he has learned that the ignition/electrical system on the S62 is a bit sensitive. He said, that if the car sits for a while you can have enough power to start the car, but if the battery and charging system are fractions of volts down from spec, you can have problems. As I only drive the care one or two days a week, Trent suggested that I use the BMW trickle charger when the car is in the garage (I guess ‘in the garage’ is an obvious statement - not like you can really use it while driving).
Most importantly, there was no permanent damage, and it was nice getting to BS with Trent about all things BMW. If you’re in the DFW area and haven’t used Lonestar, they’re a great alternative to the dealer, and they regularly service one other Z8. Trent has two BMW certified master mechanics on staff, and their hourly rate is only $82! For more info check out the Lonestar Bavarian website at http://www.lonestarbavarian.com/
While I'm still skeptical of some of your cars that will not start after a few days sitting, I've made a new practice of using the handy BMW charger in order to keep the battery at peak charge. Anyway, if you were fortunate enough to get the charger with your car, use it. If not, you might want to looking into getting one - BMW or other brand - especially if you do not drive the car daily.