Z4 Stuck in Transport Mode after flat battery

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scottxxx
Joined: Sat 10 Jun, 2006 16:29
Posts: 3

  Z4 roadster 2.5i
Location: Durham

Z4 Stuck in Transport Mode after flat battery

Post by scottxxx »

The battery on my 2007 Z4 2.5i Sport went flat after not getting much use recently. I have replaced the battery and now the car starts up fine and runs as normal. However, the heater fan, climate control and rear heated window no longer work.

After searching around the internet (mostly this site) I have come to believe that the Z4 has gone into "transport mode" as the symptoms match perfectly with my situation.

My question is what is the easiest method or clearing or resetting "Transport Mode" myself? What hardware/software do I require? I ordered a USB ODB lead from eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161785989654 but I can't seem to get it to communicate with my car using any software package I have tried.

* Is the USB lead I ordered suitable or is there an alternative (USB or Bluetooth) that somebody can recommend that doesn't cost too much?

* What software do I require to clear Transport Mode? So far I have DIS in a Virtual Machine but I am unsure where to go from here as I can't get it to communicate with my car and I'm struggling to find an easy guide on how to use it or configure communication settings. Is there an easy to use English guide anyone has a link to?

As a side note, I recently took it to a small specialist who informed me that I needed a special programmable battery so it could be coded to the car and the standard one I had bought was unsuitable, but a new one would cost £150 + £30 to program. I've never heard of anything like a programmable battery so not sure what to make about what he said. I assume he was just trying to get me to shell out for something I didn't need because in my (admittedly limited) experience a battery is a battery. I assumed it would be a simple job of plugging a computer in and clearing the fault code or something similar.

Any help or experience will be much appreciated.

Cheers
Scott
Z3andZ4
Joined: Fri 27 Apr, 2012 01:25
Posts: 215

  Z3 roadster 3.0i

Re: Z4 Stuck in Transport Mode after flat battery

Post by Z3andZ4 »

Never heard of anything like this.

I own a Z4m coupe which gets inadequate use and over the years I have regularly suffered with flat battery syndrome, mostly caused by the huge drain on the battery caused by the Tracker. The electronics shut down bit by bit over time and eventually there's not enough battery power to start the engine. AA Homestart have been regular visitors. They often need their most massive booster and jump connectors to get me going, but always get me going. This last time I have bought a decent trickle charger from Halfords, which cost about £50, and am leaving it connected until summer comes.

I have often been told the battery is shot, but this has never been the case.

I have never been told to buy a special battery, just always bought the best I could afford and not skimped as I know the drain problem will never go away as the Tracker is an insurance requirement.

What has sometimes happened which may be the most relevant part of my waffle here is that when the battery has been shutting down sometimes I do not get all of the electronics back 'up' in one go. The ASC and some other dashboard warnings stay lit for about 50-75 miles and then when I switch the ignition back off and on it restores enough power to stabilise everything. I assume this is just getting enough power back into the whole engine management unit to sustain all of the drains of power from the battery.

Before investing in a new battery though you can have the battery checked to see if it is shot or not. A flat battery is not necessarily 'shot', it's sometimes just flat and an adequate re-charge solves the problem - so have it checked out. I have saved myself at least 3 or 4 times being told my battery was unusable when it blatantly wasn't. A decent car tyre/battery store will check the usefulness of your battery before re-investing, but requiring a special battery I do not believe.

Try running the car on a really decent run and restoring a full charge to your battery first before doing anything too grand.

Finally I would recommend a decent trickle charger to avoid this ever happening again. If you are interested PM me and I will send you details of the trickle charger I have bought, which I would recommend above all the other cheaper ones I have tried and 'blown up.'

Hope some of this helps.
2001 Z3 3 litre Sport Roadster - titanium and special
2006 Z4M coupe - Interlagos and red
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q62 ... huiwqu.jpg
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