Quote:
Originally Posted by Laird Scooby
The moral of the tale is - reverse into the garage! You could have hooked the jump leads up and started yours, letting it fast idle (1500-2000rpm) for about 15-20 minutes so the jump start would probably have worked once you had access to the boot of the Z4 - assuming there isn't a BMW lockout that prevents jump starting that way! Would have caned the bejesus out of your alternator for that time though!
Back in the mid 90s i came to the conclusion BMW were building probnlems into cars, had a 5- series through the workshops because one of the rear doors had deadlocked itself and the central locking motor had failed. Access to the motor was only available after removing the door card obviously - less obviously is with the door deadlocked, the rear seat squab had to come out first to gain access to hidden (by the squab) parts of the door card which could only be partly removed anyway. It was enough to disconnect the rods though and open the door manually so a proper repair could be effected.
While the seat squab was out, the battery revealed itself with no less than 7 computers of various forms tieing everything the car did into one main (extra) computer plus of course the Motronics engine management ECU as well.
It seems they've continued this course of action with your mates Z4 and the various ECUs simply flattened the battery!
As for a vacuum cleaner, i'll stick to my 31 year old Kirby! Have enough trouble with the hound with that, never mind what she would perceive as another animal doing the vacuuming!
Besides, it would only take one stray bone and the robot one would be history!
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I've told my mate with the Z4 that he should reverse into the garage - and to start and run the car once per week - and to park with the electric parking brake off ... about 100 million times (it seems). Not to worry, I'll probably get the car going this afternoon. I didn't fancy blowing up the alternator on the Skoda by risking jump charging a battery with very low resistance at 30A for half an hour yesterday, otherwise we could have ended up with two dead cars at a remote lock up garage.
I've fixed that Z4 quite a few times, and I've told my mate this is the last time I'll rescue it. If he isn't going to use the car then sell it as soon as I get it going (particularly as he has just lost his lock up garage). It won't last long parked on the road.
I'm not a BMW fan. I bought a brand new 318 touring about 30 years ago (tax free, I was being posted back to Germany). I'd ordered it at short notice over the phone and showed up at the very swish showroom at Park Lane to collect, only to notice the car didn't have a radio fitted. I asked the suited salesman where was the radio, and he explained that I had not specified one so they had not fitted it, but I could of course purchase on of their BMW (re-branded blue-spot) radios that started at only £400 (a lot of money in about 1991). It had not occurred to me that I might have to order a radio separately for what was quite an up market car - I'd bought a couple of new Mazdas in the years prior and they came with everything as standard (certainly radios, A/C and electric windows all round). I took the car away somewhat in disgust, bought a pretty good Kenwood radio for less than half the price BMW had wanted in the NAAFI when I got to Germany. I've never bought a new (or used) BMW since - I just don't like the company's way of doing things (and they seem to be driven by pretentious people that often insist on overtaking my Porsche whatever the risk).
Ho hum, time for Bob's first walk.
Alan
PS. We don't need the robot vacuum cleaner, but it is just so cool.