E36 New battery, all sorts of problems

[dreamkast 5]

Hey guys so I have been driving another car while the owners were away in another country and didn't give any attention to my e36 328i for a few months. Get back to it and won't start. The battery is completely dead and over 10 years old so the AA guy installs a new one. The car still won't start so the mechanic says he has to bypass the built in imobiliser to start the car (involved taking a lead off the battery turning the car on then turning the ignition once he placed the other lead on). This seemed to be a temporarily fix as the car won't start again and has all types of weird things going on.

-Hazards turn on by them self

-key wont unluck doors

-cant open the petrol cap

Just wondering whats the best way to get this sorted as the local mechanic said its not a job for him and the local electrician said it's not for him and should be dealt with by a BMW agent.

[hotwire 352]

Local Electrician recommends he cant do it & needs looking at by agent What sort of sparky is that - find another that knows what they are doing.

Are you sure it is not fitted with an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser?

[dreamkast 5]

Local Electrician recommends he cant do it & needs looking at by agent What sort of sparky is that - find another that knows what they are doing.

Are you sure it is not fitted with an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser?

Yep stock standard man. Anyone encountered this before?

[Neal 540]

Yep stock standard man. Anyone encountered this before?

If you have the infra-red remote keys check try these instructions and see if it solves some of the issues

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1212240

[kiwi535 538]

Local Electrician recommends he cant do it & needs looking at by agent What sort of sparky is that - find another that knows what they are doing.

Are you sure it is not fitted with an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser?

at least he admitted he didnt know what he was doing..id rather that than some gung ho type who didnt but tried out his theories anyway!

[my_e36 43]

The AA guys might have mucked something up by the sound of things?

[dreamkast 5]

The AA guys might have mucked something up by the sound of things?

Not sure at all what has happened. I can't even get the petrol cap to open. Just wanting to know how the hell I can get it all sorted out

[dreamkast 5]

Wouldn't say the AA mechanic had done anything wrong. He put a new battery in but the car still wouldn't start before he had to bypass the imobilizer.

It seems like the car needs to be reset or reconfigured.

[yng_750 247]

i would be checking all the fuses and fusible links first.

not starting could be caused by EWS not recognising the key.

EWS also controls central locking hence fuel cap.

EWS controls door locks.

seems to be the factory security system is telling you to piss off.

that being said this is classic "never seen or hear aftermarket alarm hidden under the carpet somewhere"

[*Glenn* 854]

EWS also controls central locking hence fuel cap.

EWS controls door locks.

No it doesn't

[dreamkast 5]

Still really stuck with this one.

Pretty sure the previous owner gave me the impression that there was no aftermarket alarm/immobiliser installed.

[dreamkast 5]

Seems to be confusion on what's causing this, could some point me in the right track to get it sorted (the person to take the car to). Or a sure way of 100% checking my car doesn't have an after market immobiliser.

[dreamkast 5]

Urgently need help on this guys, there is no aftermarket immobilizer.

[*Glenn* 854]

Has someone changed the remote Batteries ? If so the key would have to be reintitialised to make the central locking work.... that could be the first problem.

When the person had the back of the key open to change the batteries, the EWS chip may have fallen out which would give you your second problem of not starting ( recognising the Key )

I have had this occur twice in the last 2 months... open the back of the key and post a picture of the internals.... BTW.. how many keys do you have ??

Edited October 7, 2013 by *Glenn*

[dreamkast 5]

The main key was working before the car's battery died. We're pretty sure its the key not being initialised with the car now. BUt then again, we haven't tried the second key yet. The key can start the car and the car working fine. SO now it's a matter of making the remote control the central locking.

We've tried a number of reset methods, none to any avail. One was to close all doors and trunk with car unlocked (car isn't officially unlocked though since there's no way I can open the passenger's door from the inside or outside with no keyhole), then opening the boot, opening the drivers door, getting in, closing drivers door, insert key into ignition and turn to "nearly on" (second to last stop) five times, opening the drivers door and closing it, so the alarm light on the centre console starts flashing (which im sure still only flashes without the last door open and close) then either press any button on the remote or press and hold the unlock button while pressing the lock button three times which makes the remote button light turn on and off three times.

Despite all this, the car still doesnt seem to sync with the remote.

[dreamkast 5]

Anyone ?!?!?