F10 520d Intermittent Starting Problem

Hi All,

We currently have a 2012 F10 520d. Have it since the end of April but sometime in August it started to give trouble when starting. Initially, it would start OK 99% of the time, but since then seems to have got more frequent and now maybe 30% of the time it has trouble starting. (I should say that it’s the wife’s car mainly so I don’t drive it that often so that’s a bit of a guess).

So what happens is that when I press the start button (car has auto start-stop) with the brake pedal pressed, everything lights up (full dash lights, all looks ok) but nothing else happens i.e. no starter cranking or anything like that. Switch off & try again, nothing again. If I repeat this several times, the engine will eventually fire up. Sometimes just before it fires, it will try & turnover but without firing. Generally, at the next attempt, it will fire up ok. What I have noticed, is that just before it eventually fires up, I can hear a little click coming from the glove box (like a relay switch engaging or something).

The other thing that happens is there are several error messages coming up. It seems to need to cycle through & identify all these before it will start. Once it does though, it seems to fire up almost straight away.
• Driving Stabilisation Failure
• Flat Tyre Monitor (RPA),
• Parking Brake only partially available,
• Limited fuel supply.

So I brought it back to the dealer who said it was out of warranty (of course) but that they’d send it to their electrics place & for goodwill, will sort it for trade prices (whatever that means, but fair enough). However, that was back at the end of September. They still have it and still can’t isolate the cause. I should add that it was in Frank Keane’s in Blackrock for a day in August but they couldn’t find the problem either & they charged me €300 for a diagnostic health check which showed “potential” low voltage in the battery. Didn’t fancy paying that kind of money again hence going back to dealers.

Has anyone experienced anything similar, and would any of you more electrical / mechanically minded folk out there hazard a suggestion as to what it could be? The car performs faultlessly once it’s going, no issues, no other faults appearing etc. I’m also getting very concerned about the cost of this given that they have had the car for over 3 weeks now. What way do garages charge if they can’t find/resolve a problem? In my work, if we don’t deliver we don’t get paid, regardless of how long we spent trying to deliver. Not sure how this is gonna work out.

Appreciate any help on this.

I think the first thing to do would be to swap out the battery from another car and see if that changes anything. Do you know if its the original battery from 2012?

Thanks Shane. I'm not sure tbh, but I would suspect there's a high chance of that alright.

Although, surely the garage would have checked the battery first. I'm just basing this on my own experience with the E60. Mine still has the original battery (2006) and if I do a lot of short trips or if it's parked up for a few days in a row, I get some errors including an 'increased battery discharge' warning and sometimes the radio will reset itself during a drive. Get them to test the battery

I also would assume that that was the very first thing they'd do. I'm waiting for a call from them today so will ask exactly what they have done & what has been ruled out. Not sure how much longer I can leave it with them (struggling with only 1 car) but at the same time, don't want to have to start over with another garage.

With my E60, when the battery was on the way out, it showed up a battery symbol on the dash and on the screen. Does it show anything similar? Mine went when it was under AUC warranty and was replaced FOC thankfully.

battery first , even might be no weak battery signs on the dash for this .

usually its agreed how long can take the search and how much it gonna cost , first quick diagnostics and next step to search deeper . 300e its bit mad to say it was only weak battery sign and they didn't even tried to change it .

Hi Donal, no nothing like that showing up at all. It’s a very strange one! The fact that it’s confounding the garage (diagnostic specialists apparently well reputed!) is also strange, although with all these things, even though they’ve had it for 3 weeks, I doubt they’ve spent more than a couple of days on it. I’m kinda on the verge of just taking it back but given the amount of time already invested in investigating it, I should probably just leave them to it...


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Originally Posted by Valdelisbmw

battery first , even might be no weak battery signs on the dash for this .

usually its agreed how long can take the search and how much it gonna cost , first quick diagnostics and next step to search deeper . 300e its bit mad to say it was only weak battery sign and they didn't even tried to change it .

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Thanks Valdas. Yeah, they didn’t do a lot to be honest. I wasnt particularly happy with the overall service to be honest but that’s another story. The battery is the one for the stop start system so I think about 450 to replace. If it was a normal one, I would have done it straight away but I think it might be a cost I have to suck up anyway.


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don't need to buy battery from main dealer . and U already payed battery price for main dealer diagnostics ,mad ....

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Originally Posted by shano76

Hi All,

Appreciate any help on this.

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Sorry to hear your troubles. Sounds like the place you bought it off either don’t know how to fix it or don’t care. At this stage I’d just get the car from them (even on the back of a truck) and get it dropped to Valdas. It’ll definitely get fixed then.

Thanks John. I’m beginning to think you’re right! I’ll leave it with them until the weekend but I think I’m gonna have to draw the line there. 3.5 weeks & no result is really starting to feel like they’re taking the piss.


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Thanks for all the input & suggestions folks. So just to update this.. On the back of the advice here, I rang the guys on Wednesday from a private number & they picked up straight away. I asked for an update & the guy basically said they can't find the fault & having tried various things like the ABS module, ECU, gearbox ECU and a couple of other things they couldn't replicate or find the problem and he was going to give me the car back. I said ok, I'll collect it Friday. And then I got a lift straight to the garage to pick it up there & then. When I got the the car looked like it hadn't moved in 3 weeks. Cobwebs all over it & blocked in by a load of other cars. I'd say they looked at it the first day or 2 & then just left it.

So since getting it back, it seems to be fine. Starting every time no problem for the last couple of days (I have probably just jinxed that there though!!). I had a quick look around the car to see if they had done anything obvious. It does look like they checked the battery as the carpet was out of place & the contents of the boot were all over the place. Can't tell from the engine bay whether anything was done. The only thing I have noticed is that the Auto Start-Stop now appears not to be working. I'm curious about that but I'm ok with that not functioning if the car starts when it should when I first get into it. So I guess we'll drive it for now & see what happens. If the problem recurs I'll be straight into Valdas or someone else trustworthy to get it rectified. It's not due a service for another 15k so I'll get it looked at before that in any case & I'll update here if anything else develops.

But for now I suppose, all seems well. Whatever they did (connecting or disconnecting this or that) looks like it might have resolved it. Hardly scientific but need the car on the road over the next few weeks so time will tell. Nice to be back in it though I have to say.. Such a lovely place to be, especially with the darker evenings & the interior lighting & heated seats etc.. Makes it all worthwhile!

Thanks again everyone! S

I think you'd be mad to wait to get a proper diagnosis. It'll leave you stranded some day soon and you'll be kicking yourself.......:rolleyes:

What part of dublin are you in? Even getting the codes read & then cleared would give you a sense of where the car is at.

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Originally Posted by JohnH

What part of dublin are you in? Even getting the codes read & then cleared would give you a sense of where the car is at.

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We live in North Wicklow but work in South Dublin (N11 side). Yeah you’re right but just got a busy couple of weeks coming up work & kids etc. hence needing it back this weekend. Once things calm down again I’ll get it in ASAP.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by shano76

We live in North Wicklow but work in South Dublin (N11 side). Yeah you’re right but just got a busy couple of weeks coming up work & kids etc. hence needing it back this weekend. Once things calm down again I’ll get it in ASAP.


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If you were the opposite end of the m50 I could have done read/cleared the codes. I’d say if you can charge the battery and clear any codes on it you’ll have a better idea of what’s up in a few weeks time.

if start /stop is not working then the car has diabled this feature to preserve battery,its an obvious sign, At least in my car this was the case because car was no driver enough so battery getting weaker and gives you warnings

Just a quick (& hopefully final) update on this, got it into the lads in Bloomfield last Thursday & a weak battery & failing DDS relay were diagnosed. New battery & relay fitted Friday (for a lot less than main dealer quoted me for a battery previously) & car ready for pickup by 4pm. Car feels much more lively & responsive, stop/start back working as it should be and overall the car just feels like new again. Also came back to me washed & looking very fresh. Great service from Keith in the office & Alan & the lads in the garage. (Dunno what the lads in the other place were doing but clearly had no interest in getting it sorted.)

Thanks to everyone on here as always for the suggestions, advice & offers of help.