2013 BMW X1 stop/start problem

uknick

The other half bought a new petrol X1 in September 2013 and has only done about 6k miles since then. The stop/start worked OK out of the showroom.

After a few months, she regularly got the orange light telling her the stop/start isn't kicking in. At that time her main journey was a 15 mile round trip a couple of times a week. However, for the last year or so the car has only done about 2 or 3 trips a month and she's now getting the amber warning light for the stop/start system.

I think it's likely the battery is not getting charged up enough because her trips are so short. However, last month we took the car for a 100 mile drive. During the drive the stop/start still didn't kick in with the normal orange symbol coming up, even at the end of the trip. But, the amber warning did not come on.

She’s now back to her once a week drive and the amber light is coming on again.

I think her battery might need replacing, but before I do that, are there any other things that might be causing the problem?

forgotmyname

Lots of things to prevent the stop start working, but the battery is usually the main issue.

It wont magically start working during a journey if it disabled itself on startup. You would have needed to stop and restart the engine with a decent charge in the battery.

neilmcl

The stop/start system not only relies on the battery being healthy but also requires brake regeneration. It's not unusual to go on a long motorway journey and still not have the stop/start kicking in at the end. I would definitely check out the battery especially as the car's only done 6K miles in over 5 years.

Also, be aware a replacement AGM battery for your car wont be cheap, you'd be looking at £200+.

It may be worth getting hold of a decent battery charger/conditioner - http://amzn.eu/d/elAw6tg

AdrianC

Buys very electrically complex car.
Does 6,000 miles in five years.
Uses car two or three times a month for short journeys.
Looks surprised when electrics give grief.


Sell the car. Get taxis. It'll be a lot cheaper.

uknick

AdrianC wrote: »

Buys very electrically complex car.
Does 6,000 miles in five years.
Uses car two or three times a month for short journeys.
Looks surprised when electrics give grief.


Sell the car. Get taxis. It'll be a lot cheaper.

Thank you for that advice, not very helpful but I suppose, we all have an opinion.

agrinnall

uknick wrote: »

Thank you for that advice, not very helpful but I suppose, we all have an opinion.

I'm not sure why you don't think it's helpful, it's exactly the answer I was going to give too. I'm sure that if you do the maths you'll find that taxis work out hugely cheaper, and this is a money saving site after all.

uknick

neilmcl wrote: »

The stop/start system not only relies on the battery being healthy but also requires brake regeneration. It's not unusual to go on a long motorway journey and still not have the stop/start kicking in at the end. I would definitely check out the battery especially as the car's only done 6K miles in over 5 years.

Also, be aware a replacement AGM battery for your car wont be cheap, you'd be looking at £200+.

It may be worth getting hold of a decent battery charger/conditioner - http://amzn.eu/d/elAw6tg

When I took it for the long drive it was a mix of town, A and B roads with a few miles on the motorway.

As I said, I do think it's the battery, but wanted to see if there might be other issues. I've read there have been problems with neutral gear sensors.

With regard to the conditioner, I agree it needs one, and this may be the wake up call she needs to buy one. I've mentioned it in the past, but it's not really been taken on board because the BMW (or similar) ones attach direct to the battery, albeit with quick release fittings. It's unfortunate I can't find one like I had for my old car which connected direct to the cigarette lighter socket.

AdrianC

You may not like it, but there's nothing there that isn't just simple fact.

If she sells it tomorrow, it's probably somewhere north of £2/mile in depreciation alone, notwithstanding six years of all the other costs - insurance, tax, maintenance, now a £200 AGM stop-start battery. A petrol X1 is, what, £250/year VED? So that's 25p/mile for that alone. Same again for insurance? Main dealer maintenance? Add it all up, and a fair wet-finger figure is probably approaching £3/mile, even before any financing costs or opportunity loss if it was bought cash.

The hassle factor of a taxi once a fortnight is not exactly high.

uknick wrote: »

It's unfortunate I can't find one like I had for my old car which connected direct to the cigarette lighter socket.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FC42HAA
plus
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0016LA5O8
Job jobbed. Best chargers on the market.
Look at the "official" manufacturer chargers available through BMW, Merc, Porsche, Audi, McLaren, and you might find they look rather similar to CTek's...
https://www.ctek.com/about_us/client_brand_chargers
(Price apart, of course, but if £3/mile doesn't give you a wake-up, then I'm sure the premium for BMW's badge on the charger will be perfectly acceptable, too.)

Is the ciggy socket live with the ignition off? If not, then the restriction isn't the charger, it's the car. It may be programmable in the car's setup menus.

uknick

agrinnall wrote: »

I'm not sure why you don't think it's helpful, it's exactly the answer I was going to give too. I'm sure that if you do the maths you'll find that taxis work out hugely cheaper, and this is a money saving site after all.

It's not very helpful because it doesn't address the question.

But, would taxis be cheaper? When she gets back to her 3 times a week journeys I guess it could cost about £4k to 5k per year, say £4.5k, assuming the taxi fare is about £20 each way (where we live it's £10 for the 2 mile trip from the train station). That is £22k over the time she's owned the car. She paid just over £25k and has no intention of selling it until at least 10 years old, as she has done for her last two cars.

Yes, I know there are other costs to running the car, but they won't amount to the costs of taxis for 10 years.

So, maybe taxis are not such a great money saving idea. I suppose she could get the bus, but that will entail a 1/2 mile walk to the nearest bus stop, catch the hourly bus to the local depot, get a connection and then walk the 2 miles from the nearest bus stop to her destination.

uknick

AdrianC wrote: »

You may not like it, but there's nothing there that isn't just simple fact.

If she sells it tomorrow, it's probably somewhere north of £2/mile in depreciation alone, notwithstanding six years of all the other costs - insurance, tax, maintenance, now a £200 AGM stop-start battery. A petrol X1 is, what, £250/year VED? So that's 25p/mile for that alone. Same again for insurance? Main dealer maintenance? Add it all up, and a fair wet-finger figure is probably approaching £3/mile, even before any financing costs or opportunity loss if it was bought cash.

The hassle factor of a taxi once a fortnight is not exactly high.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FC42HAA
plus
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0016LA5O8
Job jobbed. Best chargers on the market.
Look at the "official" manufacturer chargers available through BMW, Merc, Porsche, Audi, McLaren, and you might find they look rather similar to CTek's...
https://www.ctek.com/about_us/client_brand_chargers
(Price apart, of course, but if £3/mile doesn't give you a wake-up, then I'm sure the premium for BMW's badge on the charger will be perfectly acceptable, too.)

Is the ciggy socket live with the ignition off? If not, then the restriction isn't the charger, it's the car. It may be programmable in the car's setup menus.

Regarding the conditioner, the one I have is a Porsche one from about 2009. When I asked BMW if it could be used to plug into an 2013 X1 power socket they said no, it needs to connect straight to the battery.

I even asked the same question on here, and the answer was if that's what BMW say, so be it.

Nobbie1967

uknick wrote: »

The other half bought a new petrol X1 in September 2013 and has only done about 6k miles since then. The stop/start worked OK out of the showroom.

After a few months, she regularly got the orange light telling her the stop/start isn't kicking in. At that time her main journey was a 15 mile round trip a couple of times a week. However, for the last year or so the car has only done about 2 or 3 trips a month and she's now getting the amber warning light for the stop/start system.

I think it's likely the battery is not getting charged up enough because her trips are so short. However, last month we took the car for a 100 mile drive. During the drive the stop/start still didn't kick in with the normal orange symbol coming up, even at the end of the trip. But, the amber warning did not come on.

She’s now back to her once a week drive and the amber light is coming on again.

I think her battery might need replacing, but before I do that, are there any other things that might be causing the problem?

Had something similar on a 116D about the same age a year ago Thought the battery was duff, but took to local trusted independent and they just reset the battery monitor which had seemingly got corrupted. Been working fine since. Might be worth a try.