Two issues have cropped up recently. First Was loading the car for trip to recycling. I left the rear hatch open. This is a 5 series touring. Came back 10min later car dead. So put my battery tender on. No luck. Called AAA, they got the car to start. The interesting part is the tech's battery testing tool said battery was flat dead. This was odd. Car had no starting issues up to this point. Went to my mechanic to get a new battery. This is where the weird part comes in. My mechanic put his test tool on the jumping port under the hood and also got a dead reading on the battery.So then he checked at the battery terminals. There he got a cranking reading maybe 10-15amps below a brand new battery. Mine is under 2yrs old. What could cause this discrepancy? The car starts fine now. Now second issue. My changing from standard automatic to steptronic has stopped working. Any idea where to start looking for this problem. Trying not to send my mechanic on a wild goose chase for the cause. Any good idea what steps to take?
Agh electrical gremlins (maybe!) You could try google-ing for an ETM (electrical troubleshooting manual) or check the Wedophones BMW page (search Wedophones BMW) to try some paper chasing of circuits. Offhand my guess would be a module (ugh, expensive.. but.. there's always trying the ebay used parts gamble), or some sensor/switch/relay. Simplest to check would be a fuse for starters.
