E46 battery light on & speaker issues..

[arcon 3]

I've got a 2001 320i, over the past week or so on start-up the battery light comes on (orange) and stays on for a while, then goes off. I've been told by an auto-electrician this means a problem with the alternator and will cost 500-600 to fix..? There are no mechanical problems that I'm aware of i.e. failed starts etc.

Issue number 2 which may or may not be related... the speakers on my sound system occasionally cut out a bit.. its hard to describe but they don't die completely or switch off (there's no static), but it sounds like sometimes the sound out of a particular speaker is weaker, and sometimes the weakness switches from front to back. Although its intermittent, when it happens its very noticeable. This happens with all audio sources, radio, CD & mp3, so its not just a faulty mp3 input cable or similar. This has been happening for quite a while, about 2 or 3 months. Even though the car hasn't been examined I've been told what happened is one of the speakers will have caused a short so it would be best to replace all 4 speakers. ??

My sound system consists of a eAudio 480AB 4 channel amp, 2 x DLS front 5.25" (can't remember model of them or the Panasonic head unit but fairly decent, and factory rears. also a 10" rockford sub. purchased all about 3 yrs ago.

any advice or feedback much apprec.

[*Glenn* 855]

Who checked it for you ? It may or may not be the alternator. Ignition switches and other things can cause these problems. They may or may not be related as well.

[arcon 3]

Who checked it for you ? It may or may not be the alternator. Ignition switches and other things can cause these problems. They may or may not be related as well.

north harbour auto electric - they didn't inspect it but just got the description i gave above, and that's what they recommended. i'll need a place on the shore.

[*Glenn* 855]

Get it checked by a professional with BMW experience first.

[hotwire 352]

I've got a 2001 320i, over the past week or so on start-up the battery light comes on (orange) and stays on for a while, then goes off. I've been told by an auto-electrician this means a problem with the alternator and will cost 500-600 to fix..? There are no mechanical problems that I'm aware of i.e. failed starts etc.

Issue number 2 which may or may not be related... the speakers on my sound system occasionally cut out a bit.. its hard to describe but they don't die completely or switch off (there's no static), but it sounds like sometimes the sound out of a particular speaker is weaker, and sometimes the weakness switches from front to back. Although its intermittent, when it happens its very noticeable. This happens with all audio sources, radio, CD & mp3, so its not just a faulty mp3 input cable or similar. This has been happening for quite a while, about 2 or 3 months. Even though the car hasn't been examined I've been told what happened is one of the speakers will have caused a short so it would be best to replace all 4 speakers. ??

My sound system consists of a eAudio 480AB 4 channel amp, 2 x DLS front 5.25" (can't remember model of them or the Panasonic head unit but fairly decent, and factory rears. also a 10" rockford sub. purchased all about 3 yrs ago.

any advice or feedback much apprec.

"Orange" battery light?? Alt w/light is red. Also $500-600 fix is a bit "out there" without having confirmed the problem in the alternator -if infact there is

[pureboiracer 0]

they would have over quoted because they havnt actually seen the car to get an idea of whats wrong, so they are probs just covering themselves. i doubt it would end up being that much.

are the speakers driven by the amp? is there any correlation between anything and the speaker issue? not too sure about battery light, could be a few things.

normally if speakers short they cut out, or trip the amp circuit breaker havent really heard of them fading in/out.

is the power supply and everything to the amp ok? is the amp big enough to run everything?