2011 e70 X5 50i abs, brake force distribution and xdrive malfunction! Please help!

[MLB607]

Got out of work tonight, drove over to my moms house on dry streets, parked on a level road in front of her house, came back out, popped the key fob in, pressed the brake and pushed the start button... and nothing. All the lights came on, got the "abs, brake force distribution and xdrive malfunction" on the screen and it won't crank or start. What the actual f*ck . If anyone can help, please, lemme know what's up. Thanks guys

[wcs531]

Sounds like it could be either voltage regular, loose battery connection, or just bad battery based on a similar sounding issue someone had with their e90 xi. Apparently the electronics in these cars are very sensitive, so the various errors could just be related to low or high voltage.

The fact that the car doesnt crank at all is odd...have you noticed any long cranks or just less powerful cranks recently?

Thread for reference on voltage regulator:
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1340991

[MLB607]

Ill give the battery a charge tomorrow and see if that makes a difference but I haven't noticed any longer or less powerful cranks. I haven't paid attention but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. It literally just happened with no precursors. I'm going to mess with it a bit in the am and hopefully get somewhere. Otherwise I'll be having it towed to my mechanic. I've been researching and praying it's not the transfer case. Seems that has been an issue for some that caused the error codes. I'll read the thread you sent me too, I appreciate it.

[wcs531]

Something to note - the battery is likely AGM instead of Lead Acid and doesn't like being charged at higher voltages so hopefully you have a charger that can charge AGM batteries.

One other somewhat common issue is a bad ground strap in the engine bay. There should be some way to bypass it to check if that is it. Here's another thread related to that - https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1441893

I would think if its transfer case you would have some signs leading up to it like feedback in the steering wheel while turning in parking lots or something. Also if its the transfer case I would think the car would start fine and maybe even run in RWD only.

[MLB607]

I only have a standard battery charger so I guess I'll skip that. I did read that it could be a bad ground strap and if so, easy fix; praying it is just that. Thank you again for the help and the threads. You're def right about the transfer case thing, it would start and drive fine for the most part.

[wcs531]

Apparently the ground strap is a PITA on the e70s.. Some quick tests for the ground strap are below. Since the engine is separated from the chassis via the rubber engine mounts a bad ground strap will cut the electrical loop.

1) Connect one cable from a decent quality jumper cable from the ground charging hookup (black or unmarked) to the Oil filter housing and see if the car starts. (you are basically just adding your own temporary ground strap)

2) With the car off use a multimeter to verify the voltage at the charging locations under the hood, then compare that to the voltage from Hot (red) hookup to the engine itself (Oil filter housing). These should be the same or very close. If you are getting a lower voltage that is a clear indicator of a bad ground strap. Should be above 12v with car off (this will also test the battery to a certain extent, but i'm wondering if a bad battery could show 12v and just lose cranking amps or something...not really sure)

[MLB607]

Had it towed to BMW this morning but the service department isn't open until Monday so I'm going to head over tomorrow and see if I can figure it out. Thanks again for the info.

[wcs531]

Might not be possible, but if you have the k+dcan cable and an app that can code a new battery I would recommend getting a battery and doing it yourself. Dealers are known to charge an arm and a leg for a battery + programming.

If you're on the factory battery i'm sure they will replace it as one of their troubleshooting steps.

[MLB607]

It's at BMW now and they "didn't have time to do diagnostics today" 🙄 typical. I'm letting them scan it and tell me what's wrong and then relaying all to my regular mechanic to see if he can do the work. I changed the battery in my old and sold e70 in an auto zone parking lot, so might grab a battery from them tomorrow just for shits and giggles.

[MLB607]

I just had a thought; I have VRSF castles downpipes installed in the vehicle with no tune, so the CEL is always on. Is it possible that caused it to not start? I've had them on for months with no issues. Just a thought.

[pearlpower]

Originally Posted by MLB607

I just had a thought; I have VRSF castles downpipes installed in the vehicle with no tune, so the CEL is always on. Is it possible that caused it to not start? I've had them on for months with no issues. Just a thought.

Very doubtful unless the install caused another issue. Without codes it would be difficult to DX here. Let us know what it is once they get back to you. Best of luck. Could be minor, fingers crossed.

[MLB607]

Called me back, it's the ground connection underneath the vehicle, which is exactly what I was thinking originally. $483 total parts and labor which we all know is mainly labor 🙄. Oh well, best case scenario, so I can't be too mad. Get her back tomorrow.

[wcs531]

Glad you got it figured out. I'm definitely a little suprised/scared at how finicky the electronics can be on these cars. Your experience seems to be worst case scenario, one minute no codes/lights next minute doesn't even start. Thankfully it wasn't a more complicated fix.

Around here the $175 diagnostic fee doesn't get rolled into the work, so if thats the same for you then ~$300 in actual parts and labor. Hard to get out of the dealer for less than that to be honest.

[MLB607]

Originally Posted by wcs531

Glad you got it figured out. I'm definitely a little suprised/scared at how finicky the electronics can be on these cars. Your experience seems to be worst case scenario, one minute no codes/lights next minute doesn't even start. Thankfully it wasn't a more complicated fix.

Around here the $175 diagnostic fee doesn't get rolled into the work, so if thats the same for you then ~$300 in actual parts and labor. Hard to get out of the dealer for less than that to be honest.

Originally Posted by wcs531

Glad you got it figured out. I'm definitely a little suprised/scared at how finicky the electronics can be on these cars. Your experience seems to be worst case scenario, one minute no codes/lights next minute doesn't even start. Thankfully it wasn't a more complicated fix.

Around here the $175 diagnostic fee doesn't get rolled into the work, so if thats the same for you then ~$300 in actual parts and labor. Hard to get out of the dealer for less than that to be honest.

Exactly my thoughts. I take a lot of trips and that would have been horrendous if I was traveling. I had the exact same thing prior to this one except the one I previously owned was a 2013 Which I sold a month ago with 139K and I never had any issues with it besides the smoking from the N63 engine and the high miles. My "new to me" one I've only had a few months and this had to happen 😩. Thankfully this one had the valve stem seals replaced 8k miles ago so I'm good in that aspect. And ya, the diagnostic fee was rolled in to the total of $483; so your def right, got out of there at a decent price for sure.