[div1ne]

Hello everyone!

This Friday a sad thing happened. My car, a 2012 535i has been towed and today I managed to pick it up. When I entered the lot,it was sitting in the AZ sunshine so it was realllly hot inside and out.

Upon starting the car, everything went crazy, noises and lights were popping in the dashboard. I took some pictures and then drove home(~1.5 miles away).On top of all the warnings you see, for a brief moment I saw both Battery Discharge warning and Chassis Stabilization Malfunction. Once I got home, all the warnings disappeared but the Check Engine Light. When I go into Vehicle Status, it shows All systems OK.

Fortunately everything else seems fine, and nothing was missing. Any opinions on what's up with these lights? It will be taken to the shop on Monday but I wanted to share the experience, and maybe find out more about other people's towing experiences.

[OnlyGerman]

Never seen a driving comfort malfunction, maybe a EDC related error

[chipguy]

I would charge the battery and see if this is the problem. How old is your battery?

[spielnicht]

I had something similar recently happen when I picked up a family member's MK7 GTI after being towed. The guy behind the desk did warn me that I'm likely to see warnings and errors pop up when I start the car but eventually go away after a long drive. He said it's common when they tow a German car. He was right. Dash was lit up with errors but by the time I drove it home and let it set for an hour or so, started it back up and all warnings/errors were gone.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by chipguy

I would charge the battery and see if this is the problem. How old is your battery?

That's where I'd also start.

Clue being in the battery discharge warning. All sorts of issues can be triggered if the voltage is low.

[velos]

If the battery is 4 year is really old. If 5 year old, is working overtime, specially in AZ heat. My batteries doesn't last more than 4 year in AZ.

[Qsilver7]

1. As others already mentioned...a (low) discharged battery can cause all kinds of electrical gremlins...especially if they seem to be numerous and unrelated (other than they all require normal operating charge of the vehicle's battery).

2. The CEL and VEHICLE STATUS (in iDrive) do not cover the same things. The CEL (check engine light) is associated with the 1996 OBD II federal mandate that requires ALL cars to have the same standard for checking and communicating the car's emissions systems so that it complies with air pollution regulations. So this means the CEL warning is going to illuminate to indicate an issue when sensors for fuel, air, ignition, and exhaust register a fault.

When you look at the VEHICLE STATUS items in iDrive...you can see that they watch things like brakes, oil, tire pressure, coolant level etc.

[div1ne]

As of now, after driving it a little bit, the CEL is no longer lit. Dashboard is not a Christmas tree anymore.

The battery I think is a few years old, you might be right. I said in another thread some time ago that I will take care of it and unfortunately I haven't yet.

I'll file a damage claim with the towing company,the car will get a diagnosis from a service shop, and we'll go from there.

[TZ]

Originally Posted by div1ne

As of now, after driving it a little bit, the CEL is no longer lit. Dashboard is not a Christmas tree anymore.

The battery I think is a few years old, you might be right. I said in another thread some time ago that I will take care of it and unfortunately I haven't yet.

I'll file a damage claim with the towing company,the car will get a diagnosis from a service shop, and we'll go from there.

My guess is due to the car was not towed by a flatbed. Cause by the antitheft system?

[div1ne]

They recommended a battery change and that's what I did. So far the car drives well. Maybe I feel a little bit of an alignment issue,the steering wheel is a little bit turned to the right, but the car goes straight.

If I want to straighten the steering wheel the car goes more to the left.Here are all the faults they found.At least everything is documented so should they pop up in a week from now I have an idea where they're coming from.

[TZ]

I am convinced all the error codes (at 139303 km, not miles) were due to the car wasn't towed by a flatbed.
The car detected the different speed at front wheels than at rear wheels. Then it caused system confusion.
I got a similar situation once. I had a blown tire (non-RFT) on road. I put a donut spare on the front and drove 20 miles. Then I switched the donut to the rear when got home. As soon as I drove, all the sudden I got the Christmas tree lights and emergency brake automatically applied. Only after I put the donut back to the front and reset all the lights, the car drove normal again.
My theory, the car can only tolerate one no pressure wheel. When it detects the second no pressure wheel (after I moved to the donut to back and before it picked up the front wheel pressure again), it caused all warnings.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by TZ

I am convinced all the error codes (at 139303 km, not miles) were due to the car wasn't towed by a flatbed.
The car detected the different speed at front wheels than at rear wheels. Then it caused system confusion.
I got a similar situation once. I had a blown tire (non-RFT) on road. I put a donut spare on the front and drove 20 miles. Then I switched the donut to the rear when got home. As soon as I drove, all the sudden I got the Christmas tree lights and emergency brake automatically applied. Only after I put the donut back to the front and reset all the lights, the car drove normal again.
My theory, the car can only tolerate one no pressure wheel. When it detects the second no pressure wheel (after I move to the donut to back and before it picks up the front wheel pressure again), it caused all warnings.

THEY DIDN'T FLATBED YOUR X-DRIVE???!!???!!! Hope they didn't go too far and/or damage the transfer case!

[OnlyGerman]

Flatbed only!!!!