BMW i5 Electrical Chaos: Multiple System Failures Alert

Hey there! I've got some experience with EVs, though I wouldn't call myself an expert. Had a very similar issue with my 2022 BMW iX. At first, I thought it was just a minor glitch, but then I started getting those exact same symptoms, unusual warning lights, system failures, and weak starts. Turned out my main battery had degraded way faster than it should have and wasn't holding charge properly. Took it to my workshop and they ran a full diagnostic. They found the battery management system was reporting high voltage fluctuations. Ended up paying 290 Euro to get the battery reconditioned and the management system recalibrated. Been running smoothly since then. Could you share more details about your i5? Like when did these issues start, and have you noticed any pattern with when the warnings appear? Also, have you done any recent software updates? The newer BMWs can be quite sensitive to those. The i4 and i5 share a lot of electrical components, so knowing these details would help figure out if it's the same issue I had.

Thanks for sharing your experience! My i5 is fairly new with 106075 KM on the clock, and just had its service last month. The warnings started showing up out of nowhere about two weeks ago, usually when I'm at around 40% charge. Haven't done any software updates recently, so that's probably not the trigger. Good to know about the battery reconditioning fix, might have to check that out with my service center. Did your warnings also tend to show up at specific battery charge levels?

Hey again! Yeah, that's really interesting that you're seeing these issues at 40% charge, that's actually super similar to what I experienced! With my iX, the warnings would typically start popping up between 35-45% charge, which was a real pain because I like to keep my charge level in that range for optimal battery life. Just thinking about your situation, since your i5 has quite a few kilometers on it (mine had about 98000 KM when I had the issue), and you're seeing the same pattern, I'm even more convinced it's related to the battery management system. In my case, the technicians explained that the system wasn't correctly reading the voltage levels, especially in that middle charge range. One thing I didn't mention in my first reply, before getting it fixed, I noticed the regenerative braking would sometimes act weird and the range estimates would fluctuate wildly when these warnings appeared. Did you notice anything like that? The reconditioning really did the trick for me, and I haven't had a single warning since (it's been about 8 months now). Just make sure they check the battery management system thoroughly, that was key in my case. Let me know what your service center says!

Thanks so much for that detailed follow-up! Yes, I've actually noticed the exact same thing with the regenerative braking acting up! It's super inconsistent, sometimes barely working at all when these warnings pop up. And now that you mention it, I've definitely seen some crazy jumps in my range estimates too, sometimes showing I've got 50km more range than I should, then dropping way down a few minutes later. Your experience is really helpful, especially knowing the fix worked long-term. I've already called my service center and booked an appointment for next week. Mentioned the battery management system specifically and the technician seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. Really hoping it's the same issue as yours and can be fixed with reconditioning. I'll probably just keep the charge level above 50% until then, just to be safe. The service cost seems reasonable too, definitely better than having to replace anything major. Thanks again for all the help, it's good to know I'm not the only one who's dealt with this!