Battery Unplugged Itself While I Was Driving!

[Delmarco]

So I'm about to pick my girl up from her LSAT classes around 10pm in lower Manhattan I'm cruising over a few nasty potholes...and without warning everything in and out my car dies ....my dash lights go blank, radio dead, engine silent, steering wheel locked up, head lights out and my car rolled to stop....Now my windows and sunroof were open but it was getting cold outside and it seemed like it was about to rain too.

Now I panicked like a Motherfcuker after trying to start the car a few times...I popped the hood to see if anything fell out. Five minutes went by and I was scared that a car would come flying around the corner and rear end my car cause my lights were all dead hazards as well . Anyway I slammed the hood shut in anger and was getting ready to pull my cellphone out to call BMW tow service when I saw the lights flicker inside the car an my car alarm starting going off. I ran inside the car and closed the door but everything went dead again. I thought it was the door.... used...so I opened and slammed it again everything flickered and the alarm came on then I opened the door and everything went dead again....Then it came to me and I ran to the trunk popped it and uncovered the battery....behold the negative wired had come loose on its own and was now scraping against the terminal on the battery...I screwed it back in and I cursed myself because I was working on my car the weekend before and I guess I must have forgotton to tighten it...

My girl who showed up was laughing at me...and I made her walk home by her self since she thought she was so funny....


Anyway the lesson learned: remember to tighten all your cables before driving...or you'll be walking... :lol:

[Torque]

i dont have a battery. i just wind it up and go.

jk. funny story tho.

[Numark318i]

lol nice job...around the turn? i thought your steering wheel locked up.


atleast you got the girl?

[Delmarco]

Originally posted by Numark318i@Nov 28 2004, 05:18 AM
lol nice job...around the turn? i thought your steering wheel locked up.


atleast you got the girl?

[snapback]238778[/snapback]

No...I had just came around the corner of one of those narrow streets in the Wall Street area when the car went dead, then the steering wheel locked up as if I had taken the key out and parked it...that is an anti theft feature of some post 1995 E36 cars...its stupid when it works against you though...

[Numark318i]

oh alright

[thekid]

Yeah, when I replaced my battery I didn't tighten the neg connection enough, so I had just replaced my battery and driven the car back. Then the next day i go to turn it on nothing. I was soooooo pissed. So i called my mechanic saying WTF and he laughed and asked if I tightened the battery connections all the way. OF COURSE I said.... opps.... um... lemme check.... uhhh... yeah... thanks.... ghead

[BMWJNKY]

then the steering wheel locked up as if I had taken the key out and parked it...that is an anti theft feature of some post 1995 E36 cars...its stupid when it works against you though...

No, that is a sign your ignition cylinder is going bad. BMW's were designed so that the steering wheel will not lock untill the key is removed, even if you turn off the car the steering wheel shouldn't lock untill the key is taken out. They have been designed this way since the E21's came out. It is so if you have to turn off the car in an emergency you can still steer off the road safely. I didn't know this fact untill I started working for the BMW shop I work at now.

[Delmarco]

Originally posted by AJ's320i@Dec 12 2004, 09:23 PM

No, that is a sign your ignition cylinder is going bad. BMW's were designed so that the steering wheel will not lock untill the key is removed, even if you turn off the car the steering wheel shouldn't lock untill the key is taken out. They have been designed this way since the E21's came out. It is so if you have to turn off the car in an emergency you can still steer off the road safely. I didn't know this fact untill I started working for the BMW shop I work at now.

[snapback]248821[/snapback]

Service: Replace Ignition Cylinder & Lock
Service Cost : $695
Date of Service: July 18th, 2004
Place of Service: BMW of Manhattan

I just recently replaced that part of my car cause BMW told me my keys were not starting the car cause the cylinder needed to be replaced...but I was thinking that when the battery is not unplugged and no current or power is going thru the car...the car and everything in it is dead. I believe that key has some electrical relationship with the cylinder so that even when the key is just in the car somehow knows because of an electrical sugnal from the chip in the key.... used but I'm not sure....but at any rate BMW will reimburse me my $700 if my ignition is bad.

[BMWJNKY]

Originally posted by Delmarco+Dec 13 2004, 06:34 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delmarco @ Dec 13 2004, 06:34 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-AJ's320i@Dec 12 2004, 09:23 PM

No, that is a sign your ignition cylinder is going bad. BMW's were designed so that the steering wheel will not lock untill the key is removed, even if you turn off the car the steering wheel shouldn't lock untill the key is taken out. They have been designed this way since the E21's came out. It is so if you have to turn off the car in an emergency you can still steer off the road safely. I didn't know this fact untill I started working for the BMW shop I work at now.

[snapback]248821[/snapback]

Service: Replace Ignition Cylinder & Lock
Service Cost : $695
Date of Service: July 18th, 2004
Place of Service: BMW of Manhattan

I just recently replaced that part of my car cause BMW told me my keys were not starting the car cause the cylinder needed to be replaced...but I was thinking that when the battery is not unplugged and no current or power is going thru the car...the car and everything in it is dead. I believe that key has some electrical relationship with the cylinder so that even when the key is just in the car somehow knows because of an electrical sugnal from the chip in the key.... used but I'm not sure....but at any rate BMW will reimburse me my $700 if my ignition is bad.

[snapback]249715[/snapback]

[/b][/quote]

If it still locks up with the key in it they did something wrong and it should be fixed.

[bigred318]

hahaha i didnt read any of the other posts but that is soo funny your battery came undone

David

[sean]

wow delmarco i can just picture how much you were freaking out when that happened. funny as hell it did happen though, i usually dodge potholes that are big enough to knock my battery connections clean off.

[Delmarco]

Originally posted by sean@Dec 21 2004, 05:04 AM
wow delmarco i can just picture how much you were freaking out when that happened. funny as hell it did happen though, i usually dodge potholes that are big enough to knock my battery connections clean off.

[snapback]255479[/snapback]

I once went it to a pothole whiles driving down a busy blvd at like 40-50 mph in Brooklyn about two weeks after I drove my car off the sales lot. It was miserable! The pothole was knee deep and jagged at the lip..it literally tore the rubber off my wheel and left my steel wheel on the passenger side in a taco formation...my entire wheelwell was cracked...but I only replaced the wheel...funny thing was there was like 3 tire shops right on that same block as the hole...and the guy told me that hole has bought him so much freaking business since the month it was there...and the city was taking their time to fill it up...but he didn't care! It was like 6pm and I was like his 15th car that day. Also he said my BMW was a pretty good car cuz' most cars go into that hole and either don't come out at all or come out with lots of structural damage.

I never replaced the wheel well until a few weeks ago after the accident with the bus.

[Rooz]

Lol, funny story, I enjoyed it

[Numark318i]

lol^^^