330i Doctors...come in for diagnosis.

dmax got kicked out of the house due to his obsession with garden hose and gummipflege. open wifi is spotty at best in NJ!

I should be so lucky to get CO poisoning... NO2 poisoning would be better though!

I've mostly been hit or miss because Fanatics is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day to me (the movie, not the day)!

Besides, I've done my time, I think...however many posts I've gotten, I've pretty much said all I know...the only thing I add is the occasional troll!

If there's a really stupid thread, I feel like I have to say something, otherwise, between Mango, jfoj, and replacing everything...I think all the bases are covered...'cept gummi pflege...which would also, actually, work good on bases.

Anyway, jfoj, we're fine here...I'll never be back to normalcy, but I'm trying to head back a bit from lunacy!

Reinstalled the battery last night and all the crazy interior quirks were gone. All systems back to normal.

Checked the OFHG. No leaks

Power steering resevior has fluid residue on it but nothing dripping.

No residue at all on the alternator.

Drive belts in great shape, dry and working fine....which is expected since they are new.

Looks like I'm back to the original problem somewhere between the alternator and the battery. Time to troubleshoot that.

DMAX, feel free to PM me if you want me to spend some time bringing you up to speed on that rustproofing process.

Is there an inline fuse somewhere between the battery and alternator?

I remember having this problem on another vehicle where a blown inline fuse was causing an issue.

Search battery safe terminal (bst)

There are other monster fuses around, but they're rarely implicated in anything around here.

Originally Posted by dmax

Search battery safe terminal (bst)

There are other monster fuses around, but they're rarely implicated in anything around here.

Will do. Thanks for the help.

you need to find out whether you have a bad battery or alternator. finding out is very easy. all you need is a voltmeter.

crank the car. with engine running....measure the battery. the battery should read anything about 13-14volts. if so then your alternator is good. turn off car....measure battery. if battery is below 12 volt then you have a bad battery.

hope this helps. good lucj

Battery is fine, been tested.

No way to really know if it's the voltage regulator or the alternator without pulling it.....and if I'm going to pull it I'm going to replace the whole thing as prev. maintenance. I was hoping I could get away with just replacing the VR but it doesn't make much sense. Murphy's Law says I'll be be replacing the alt. in 10K anyway if I just change the VR.

Quick update:

Ordered a new alternator before removing the old one. Removed the old one and had it bench tested. It tested fine at Advance Auto.

I read in some other thread a member had his alt. tested by 3 places, all of them saying it was good, so he replaced it anyway and his issue was fixed.

I did the same thing and the car has been running fine for a week now. The problem might have been the VR but there's peace of mind in knowing I shouldn't have to worry about the alt. for quite some time.

Originally Posted by greydart

Quick update:

Ordered a new alternator before removing the old one. Removed the old one and had it bench tested. It tested fine at Advance Auto.

I read in some other thread a member had his alt. tested by 3 places, all of them saying it was good, so he replaced it anyway and his issue was fixed.

I did the same thing and the car has been running fine for a week now. The problem might have been the VR but there's peace of mind in knowing I shouldn't have to worry about the alt. for quite some time.

I bought 2 alternators when I was having issues. Even after installing both of them I was still having the same problem. I had my uncle take it to a trusted indie (I was overseas at the time) who determined it was a short. He fixed it and it hasn't been a problem since. You might want to invest in that P.A Software. After I received mine, I checked to see what stored codes I had, and I saw "taillight short circuit"(or something like that) listed.

Best of luck OP, I hope the new alt fixes it.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Bimmer App