E46 Battery Light (Old news 4 alotta U)

Yeah so i've DEF READ all the problems N threads other Bimmerz have had with this stupid battery light..I replaced battery AND alternator and I'm still getting it. Any suggestions? (I know I shouldn't have done it but I did unplug the neg battery wire while the engine was running and it DID cut off) Btw I went with the 49-DL from autozone and a reman 140 amp bosch off ebay,sellers ratings were real good and the alternator is flawless in and out (good paint job perhaps? lol). Terminals look good and I even bought a new negative cable. Blown fuse somewhere maybe? -5k

Originally Posted by Tm5k

Yeah so i've DEF READ all the problems N threads other Bimmerz have had with this stupid battery light..I replaced battery AND alternator and I'm still getting it. Any suggestions? (I know I shouldn't have done it but I did unplug the neg battery wire while the engine was running and it DID cut off) Btw I went with the 49-DL from autozone and a reman 140 amp bosch off ebay,sellers ratings were real good and the alternator is flawless in and out (good paint job perhaps? lol). Terminals look good and I even bought a new negative cable. Blown fuse somewhere maybe? -5k

I did this by accident one time and my car kept on running. I was like "wtf" and was kinda scared since I did it by accident, but then relaxed because the car didn't even hiccup and just kept on smoothly idling.

I still believe you have something wrong with either your alternator, voltage regulator, or possibly an engine grounding strap.

When you unplug your cable and your car dies it's the alternator.

No bs I was thinkin about that strap cause I did my starter b4 this battery light mess...If I remember right the small circular plate on the strap has my starter bolt going through it (the lowest bolt,closest to the drivers side. Could that cause the batt light it if I put that in the wrong place? That wouldnt be TOO bad cause itz the easiest starter bolt 2 get 2....and maybe the alternator is still ok? heh heh..whaddya think? If I leave this setup the battery is gonna end up dying lol

O and 2 Chriztofor,for 150 bucks I was ALSo thinking that this alternator was 2 pretty 2 be tru lmao...I mean the thing "looks" clean as can be...might hafta actually go get ANOTHER 1 while sending this 1 back..hmmmmm

Do you have a voltmeter? Start the car and put the voltmeter on the terminals to see if you are getting 14v. You might want to invest in this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93784

Originally Posted by Tm5k

No bs I was thinkin about that strap cause I did my starter b4 this battery light mess...If I remember right the small circular plate on the strap has my starter bolt going through it (the lowest bolt,closest to the drivers side. Could that cause the batt light it if I put that in the wrong place? That wouldnt be TOO bad cause itz the easiest starter bolt 2 get 2....and maybe the alternator is still ok? heh heh..whaddya think? If I leave this setup the battery is gonna end up dying lol

Yeah, I'd get that fixed asap because if you discharge your battery too much you'll end up killing it and the repair bill will be even more expensive. If you have a battery tender, I'd hook that up.

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

Do you have a voltmeter? Start the car and put the voltmeter on the terminals to see if you are getting 14v. You might want to invest in this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93784

Even better, hold down the left button on the instrument cluster for a few seconds, until you get into the special diagnostics screen. Press the button until you get to function 19.0, wait a second until it flashes on/off, press the button when it is displaying off, and then go to function 9.0 and you will get a voltage reading directly from the ECU.

^Nice, gotta try that!!!!

Thanx mkodama ..jus went outside N tried it...the readings on the left side were jumping between 113 - 115 even 116...ummm,I'm no expert but I'm guessin thatz 11.3? N that I guess is not so good lol...I appreciate that diagnostic thing,seen it on this site b4 but had no clue about the voltage reading...Thanks again

Originally Posted by Tm5k

Thanx mkodama ..jus went outside N tried it...the readings on the left side were jumping between 113 - 115 even 116...ummm,I'm no expert but I'm guessin thatz 11.3? N that I guess is not so good lol...I appreciate that diagnostic thing,seen it on this site b4 but had no clue about the voltage reading...Thanks again

Yeah, the instrument cluster doesn't display the decimal point for some reason.

But if you are getting those readings when the engine is running, your voltage regulator or alternator is definitely bad. It should be reading more like 14 volts with the engine on. Around 12 volts with the engine and lights off.

first are you sure it's a battery light, it should be the color "red".

for a whole year I had a yellow indicator shaped like a battery, but in fact it turned out to be low coolant. lol.