Jpclarke89 20 Report post Posted January 24, 2016 I was driving my girlfriends e87 116i a few days back and the red battery warning light appeared to indicate the alternator not charging. I turned the car off then back on and it never came back, no noises, and everything seemed to be working fine. Then today when we started it after driving up the road for a short while it came on again, this time accompanied by a loud rattling/grinding noise coming from the alternator. So there's obviously a problem with it, but it stopped making noise after a minute or so and the dash warning light disappeared. Seemed fine for the rest of the drive home. Has anyone had a similar failure to this, or any idea what would cause it to intermittently fail? My knowledge of alternators isn't flash, but I'm gathering if it was a worn bearing that would be a constant noise and probably not cause it to stop charging? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted January 24, 2016 Regardless of what has happened - it needs removal & checking. Could be a collapsed bearing - causing a short in the stator - maybe... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
