E36 totally dead, need help

[rsb323]

Hi, I'm a total newbie to this club and I find myself in desperate need of advice.

I have a 1999 323i convertible width 51k on the clock. Coming home the other day the traction control light and ABS lights started flickering intermittently the. A few minutes later so did the rollover warning light. At traffic lights the tick over was very unsteady varying between 500-1000rpm.

I came to start the car a couple of days later to take it to the garage but it was completely dead. Also I cannot open the boot to get at the battery so I tried to jump start from the terminals under the bonnet. No joy there either, it was still completely dead.

I'm at a bit of a loss what to do next and I was hoping someone on here might have advice. Thanks for reading.

[Bimmer Owners Club]

Hi Richard....welcome to the Forum

If you have jump leads connected to the under bonnet terminals then it should provide enough power to unlock the boot or doors at least.

Probably not sufficient power to pass through to the battery to jump start but enough for ancillary circuits though

[rsb323]

Hi Trevor, I will try the jump start again. I was using a portable jump starter so it's possible it's not in great condition so I'll try again with a spare battery.

[Greydog]

Morning Richard

You say you tried to Jump Start the car? Do you mean you can get into the car? If so can you not open the boot with the dash release button?

Dave

[rsb323]

Hello Dave (and Trevor in the previous post), thanks for your advice. I used a spare car battery today and good news is I unlocked the boot. I put the battery on charge for about 6 hours and it was then capable of operating the central locking. Bad news is I've just been out again now and the battery is dead again. I'm assuming this means the battery is probably knackered. The handbook says it needs a special battery but does not explain what this means - if anyone knows I'd be grateful of an explanation before I buy a new one.

By the way Dave, I'm not sure there is a dash boot release. No mention of it in the handbook anyway.

Thanks again for the quick response and advice, it is much appreciated.

Richard

[Greydog]

Morning Richard

From your Avatar your car is an E36 323i 1999

A quick look at realoem shows your battery as 70ah 750cca no special notes so I would get the best deal you can and fit it. A little more research shows you should be able to open the boot with the Key in the key hole in the boot there was also mention of a boot release on the floor by the seat. It also mentioned that if the top wasnt up and locked or down and locked the boot cant be opened.

Hope this helps not hinders

Dave

 

[rsb323]

Thanks Dave, I really appreciate the advice. One of the problems I was having was that the key won't turn in the boot lock. I don't know if the lock is faulty or if the microswitch for the hardtop is not working. The good news is that the battery is starting to hold some charge but now I know what size it is a new one is probably the best choice. As far as I can see there is no boot release in the car though.

Cheers

Richard