BMW 325i e30 Possible Alternator problem

[JayCee 26]

My car was fine then all of a sudden it lost temp,rev and fuel gauges along with service lights and check lights incl handbrake and oil sensor

Speedo and odo work

Heating and cooling stopped

All thats left when i turn on is the battery light and takes a while to turn over and it died when i tried to move it with the battery light remaining on,

Battery is a heavy duty century which i picked up at cost price but is only 2 years old.

Does this mean my alternator is stuffed?

Have been quoted $120 to install a new one

Thanks, Jordan

[hotwire 352]

Doesn't sound like alt from description. Does the battery (alt) light come on & go off when engine starts? If so - probably not alt, but to confirm you need to check or get the charging checked.

Your description is a little vague - "takes a while to turn over" you mean cranks fine but doesn't fire or slow cranking?

[_Matt_ 42]

The first thing i would do is try a new battery. simple stuff first

then you can trouble shoot the alternator.

[hotwire 352]

The first thing i would do is try a new battery. simple stuff first

then you can trouble shoot the alternator.

Matt, sorry don't agree. Not at all likely to be battery, & anyway, much better to diagnose than chuck parts randomly at it. Charging etc can be checked in a couple of minutes.

[_Matt_ 42]

I wasn't suggesting buying one. If he had a spare or something he could at least cross one thing off the list.

And I thought, at least in other series BMWs poor battery performance can cause cluster failure similar to that described. So poor alternator could equal poor battery.

So yes, check the charge at least.

Edited June 21, 2012 by _Matt_

[Navin 180]

Check the condition of your alternator belt

[polley 916]

check blinker fluid

[JayCee 26]

Sorry about description haha

Battery light use to turn off once engine started

but then lately its been staying on even when i drove it (its been garaged for 2weeks but i took it for one drive) the light eventually turned off after i reved it a few times.

I will check the belt this weekend but i passed a wof on a saturday and the problem happened the day after on a sunday.

Will check charge when im home, im just pretty sure that my battery isnt getting charged so thats why im assuming it could be a faulty alternator or something to do with it.

Can take it to hell bm next week but i just wanted to try identify the problem.

The gauges stopped working whilst driving on the motorway :/

[slowe30 0]

from how i read it, it does sound like a bad alternator. everything cut out all at once but speedo kept working. first thing to check would be the volts at the battery terminals with the engine running, if there below 13.5v then thats your issue

[hotwire 352]

With the rewritten description, yes the alt or circuit. If the light stays on with engine running then yes you have a charging issue. However, if the dash is out but the engine still cranks ok - there will be another issue as well.

[Etwenty1 45]

from how i read it, it does sound like a bad alternator. everything cut out all at once but speedo kept working. first thing to check would be the volts at the battery terminals with the engine running, if there below 13.5v then thats your issue

+1, first charge your battery overnight. also rev it to about 2400 rpm, if the alt has a bad stator leg the voltage will drop with more revs. Check volts at the alt, using the red terminal and an earth too. If there is a difference between that and what you get at the battery there is a fault with the wiring in between. The red lead from the alt to the starter should be in good cond, no broken strands . If they look ugly unfasten and clean or replace cables. Supercheap sell them in different lengths with terminatons, and check the earth connections.

Not sure if the e30 ones are self exciting (love that term) but look for a thin white or green field wire with a spade connector. A field wire will trigger the alt to begin charging.

To test further you need a multimeter that will read Amps. Or, if you cant be bothered diagnosing it $120 is a good price for a new (?) alternator fitted.

Edited June 22, 2012 by etwenty1

[Freude am Fahren 0]

Was there a solution to this issue? I got the same exact issues with my 1991 325iC. Brand new battery and I read 14 volts at the battery when the engine is running suggesting a good alternator. Did you ever figure out what the problem was?