Lights flash, clicking, but car will not start or jump start

[Michl]

I try starting my 2001 330ci and all lights come on, I hear
clicking and whirring, the headlights flash, but nothing else
happens. I try jump starting with a jump starter with same
response. With a voltmeter I test the battery and it
reads 13volts. What else can I do short having it
towed?

HELP!

[MJFX328]

First of all, if your car wont start, the last thing you wanna do is play with any lights. Turn off everything. Take it to a mechanic or have one come out to you.

[Michl]

I meant that the headlights flash on and off when I turn the
ignition. I am not turning on the lights.

[MJFX328]

So what lights are you talking about exactly? If I had to guess I would say that its your alternator

[redlinerjetta]

make sure your battery connections are tight. And are your interior lights dim or flickering?

[dustyice]

make sure your battery connections are tight. And are your interior lights dim or flickering?

if his lights are on i don't think it would be the battery connections, probably the alternator

[Jeron]

Not the alternator. You can start the engine without the alternator.

Do you mean the lights flash when you START or they flash while siting in ON?

My guesses are bad connection or relay.

[Michl]

From what I could tell scouring the fora, common diagnoses for this sort of thing was a bad battery, and that a multimeter reading won't tell you enough about the battery. YOu need a load test. Since this was still the original battery from 2001, I went with the bad battery diagnosis since I really needed the car early tomorrow morning. Then I saw one or two threads on bimmerfest recommending the Autozone 49DL and that despite what the Autozone charts say, it does fit neatly into the E46 and even comes with an extra rubber tube. AUtozone is open until 11pm, so off I go to AUtozone, eyeball and measure the 49-DL, come back to the car, measure the old battery, everything matches, return to AUtozone, buy the battery, install it and



drove it around thankin' the lord.

[dustyice]

From what I could tell scouring the fora, common diagnoses for this sort of thing was a bad battery, and that a multimeter reading won't tell you enough about the battery. YOu need a load test. Since this was still the original battery from 2001, I went with the bad battery diagnosis since I really needed the car early tomorrow morning. Then I saw one or two threads on bimmerfest recommending the Autozone 49DL and that despite what the Autozone charts say, it does fit neatly into the E46 and even comes with an extra rubber tube. AUtozone is open until 11pm, so off I go to AUtozone, eyeball and measure the 49-DL, come back to the car, measure the old battery, everything matches, return to AUtozone, buy the battery, install it and



drove it around thankin' the lord.

dam dude u thought of everything

[Jeron]

ALWAYS start with the battery.

But you said you jump started it which essentially bypasses the battery.

What method did you use to jump start it?

[Michl]

ALWAYS start with the battery.

But you said you jump started it which essentially bypasses the battery.

What method did you use to jump start it?

What's confusing about bimmers (maybe only later bimmers?)
is that before it starts, the battery condition is checked and
you can't start if it is too low. So all the lights work, and so
on, but it won't even try to turn over. This is different from
ordinary mobiles (at least the ones I have) where you know
the battery is down because all the lights are real dim, the
engine cranks like its on molasses, and so on.

I tried to jump start with one of those portable jump start things.
The indicator said it was fully charged, but at the same time
I hadn't recharged it in over a month and recharging once a
month is recommended. On the other hand, I read somewhere
in the internet universe that if the battery is too low on a bimmer,
you can't even jump start it. So I'm not sure why it didn't jump start.

What I do know, is that it's been starting and purring for me with the
new battery. I did hate returning the nice BMW battery to get
12 bucks back for the core. It certainly looks better and has
visually better finishing than the Autozone battery, but so it
goes. By the way, the Autozone battery comes with a little
bag with the tube and there it mentions that on BMWs you
need to cut back 3/8 of an inch, which is exactly right. Funny
that they mention bimmers in the instructions, but the
AUtozone database online, what's available to store clerks
and in the published lists in the store, doesn't tell you that
this fits into any 3-series.

[Jeron]

Yeah, the portable jump started might not work on a truly dead battery.

I thought you jump started it with another car using the jump block under the hood.

[jmo69]

I realize voltage isn't the only thing a battery needs, but 13 volts should be a full charge. I checked mine with a multimeter and it showed <12 volts and it started just fine after sitting all weekend. I guess I'd question the accuracy of said multimeters. Just my $.02

[Jeron]

A bad battery while charging can read normal or usually higher than normal voltage. You really want to read the voltage while starting and immediately after.