Gauges hosed after dead battery

[rdkiel]

Wondering if anyone has seen this. I returned after a long weekend to find the battery in my 330CI dead. After jumping it as directed in the owners manual the re-ignited dash showed me the trunk light was lit, meaning it had been left ajar over the weekend. I then noticed that the tachometer and mpg needles were malfunctioning (pointing all the way to the right). In addition all data is gone including odometer, mpg, miles to empty, temperature etc. All I have is "PPPP" in their place.

My questions are:

1) has anybody seen this and is there a way to reset?
2) why would only a trunk being ajar drain a brand new fully charged battery?

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks!

[TECH]

Even if you leave the trunk open, the light will go out after about 15 minutes, so it shouldn't run the battery down.

Is the car under warranty? I'd have the dealer look at it. You may have some outstanding service bulletins, as there are a few things that can cause a drained battery-programming errors.

I suspect the gauges can be reset by disconnecting the battery for a few minutes, and reconnecting it-but it'll need to be charged. Low voltage makes the electronics go wack.

[rdkiel]

I'm in for a service call first thing tomorrow. Will let you know what the outcome is.

Thanks.

[playdrv4me]

Yea definitely a fully charged battery should make them come back to life properly. In many cars when a battery is almost dead youll hear relays going nuts and see weird things on the displays as everything struggles to suck the last drop of power from the battery.