2005 630i

Good work. The joy of old BMWs. So many warning lights but rarely serious enough to halt your progress entirely, even if sometimes they stick you in limp mode.

It may be worth checking what battery is fitted, and what battery the car thinks it has fitted. If you know of someone who has

-Carly
-ISTA
-Snap-On Solus
-Another setup which can read the battery data on the car ; I'm mainly aware of the above. Foxwell and Delphi may do ones which can read that deep.

You could see if there is a mis-match.

Some reckon the IBS (Intelligent Battery System) needs programming when it's changed, others don't. I've both fixed the issues in the short and long(ish ; I've not kept the cars for long enough) term via registering even a used battery correctly on these Beemers.

As you say, it's a joy of something newer, albeit most cars from 2010(ish) require some form of registration of the battery. The joy of more creature comforts in a car and ever-tightening emissions requirements.

Lovely car, I'm enjoying this thread!

I've got a 2005 E90, same colours - Monaco Blue / Dakota Beige, with the same N52 engine, although mine's the smaller 2.5 and is mated to a manual box. I might start a thread about it sometime...

08.30, opened the car, plugged ibs back in, key in ignition, foot on brake and press the starter... Car started.
BMW sensor... £230
Hella sensor £170
EBay Hella sensor £111.
I'll go with ebay, guess I can just keep unplugging until it arrives.

Oh yes, very nice to be inside, this and my giulietta are probably 2nd & 3rd faves ever.... 1st place was not a car 🤐
.
.
I have received my new IBS, I still need another piece of loom before fitting.
I went with Hella rather then bmw, (suspect bmw don't make them) saves £100.
I went mad in work, mid November... Quit, so I have no income, getting a job won't be easy approaching 63 and plenty of body damage.
I have to watch the pennies.
I invested £500 of savings in converting part of the loft into a small but perfectly formed recording studio... Came in under budget... Not bad for all the timber (floor, walls) soundproofing, carpet tiles, low level, adjustable arm chair, table, led lighting, mike boom & filter, decent new microphone, software and a used iMac.
Pretty pleased with myself, just need to learn to use it all.
I have someone to teach me and point me in the right direction for work.
Almost forgot, I get £700 in March for directing a play.
😎

Hear me out, as I could be talking rubbish as well, but it's only what I've experienced.

While people claim not registering the IBS doesn't make a difference, I have found it certainly reduces any draw, as has a friend of mine who plays with more of these than I do.

I've also found not registering a new battery (if the battery is marginal) causes other issues. On my 325d, it did the following:

-Sidelights didn't come on when I opened the car on the keyfob most of the time, despite having it set that way
-'Rest' function on the heater when the car is off (i.e you go to the shops and want to keep the car warm) doesn't work.
-Radio stays on for barely 10 mins with the key out until the 'low battery' signal cuts it.
-It would lose around 20 minutes a week in time. Sometimes, I'd get the '--:--' appearing for the time.

Which it did to 'conserve' the battery. I've noticed some are fussier with registrations that others.

-VAGs seem to be OK, but 'prefer' it
-Fords seem to work with it ; they adopted the tech in 2010(ish), to take over from the simpler 'smartcharge'. Dad's Mondeo which I sometimes fix seems to work well.
-Mercs IMO probably need it, although folks claim they don't. My sister's car struggles to start when cold, despite having a new starter and battery earlier on this year, and that definitely has an IBS lead like ours.

I lived with the above on a battery with 60% capacity left on the 325d. The above did improve with the registration when I registered it, but it wasn't quite enough, as I suspected ; a new battery and registration has the car match fit again. With my other friend, he found a similar deal on his E9xs as well as his E60 M5, which until he did it, always had low battery warnings whenever it was opened.

With a new battery, a year on, it's never refused to start. I do also charge it via the dedicated points under the bonnet with a smartcharger when the bonnet is up. On new cars I work with at work, that is actually standard procedure when:

-The car is being worked on for anything, unless it's disconnecting say an alternator or battery etc.
-Car is awaiting an inspection for checking everything working (i.e an audit of the car, where wipers, radio, seats etc. are all checked)
-The car is awaiting to be shipped ; it will be put on charge when we will then chuck it into the yard, where it will be started for 3 mins when it's loaded onto a transporter.

Before the battery instructions and testing, we used to throw away £000s of pounds of batteries. It's almost a shame don't anymore, but that's a story for off here .

I'm not saying it will fix your problem, but both IMO are worth eliminating, so as to narrow the search, given my experiences on these cars.

I assume this was jumped from the engine bay and not the battery right?

Man, that is a pain! If you get stuck for the sockets, let me know.

I have a set of impact ones, which I use on the Saab

Hope it all goes smoothly!