i have an e60 520d and last night it wouldnt start, lights wouldnt come on etc,

i pulled a few fuses and left it and it started,

this morning it started, drove a while, got home and it wouldnt start, AGAIN

tried everything, had over 12 volts at the battery, alternator, starter etc and wouldnt start, doesnt even try to turn over

had a mate come round with his car and tried to jump start as by this point a low battery warning came up on the idrive

anyway still wouldnt go, went to remove the battery ant noticed about 3" of water in the battery well,

i removed the neg terminal and left it 10 mins and it started again!

i should point out i have daylight running lights and it does around 3000 miles per year and iv had it 2, does this sound like a battery problem or something else?

the battery is off the car now and on charge untill tomorrow night,

 

It will need plugging into a diagnostic machine now anyway to reset the cars computer because the battery has been taken off. Was it water or has the battery been leaking?

 

it was water for sure, it seemed to reset when it was taken off, will have to get it plugged in but want the faults sorted first if poss

 

Low batt always tends to come up on the dash when you try jump start it. When it cranked did it sound sluggish at all?

 

wouldnt even crank, just was dead, from what i have read this can happen, it didnt even try

 

I mean when it actually started mate, how was it cranking like?

 

started as normal, as if there was no problem

 

I don't reckon it's the battery mate tbh or anything like that. Could even be immobiliser related. Trouble is these cars are so fucking complicated don't even know where to start!

 

i know pal my mate that came round is a ford tech and didnt no the problem, the battery has test hole that says it isnt charged properly so im giving it a full charge to see, it doesnt do the miles so may not be charging properly, at first i thought it could be the switch on the clutch so the start button works but that seems fine, i guess i will see after a full charge if it still happens or if it reboots after having the battery removed

 

Ah, didn't mention you had a push button start. I'd look at the clutch switch more closely in that case, then I'd switch my thoughts to the immobilizer.

 

If it only does such few miles a year, do you have it on a trickle charger or something? (Not much help to why it won't start, just curious...)

 

i dont mate, i will have one on my mk2 escort im building,

battery has been charged over night, just fitted and started with no error codes so shouldnt need plugging in, will wait and see as i dont think the battery i charged as much as it should be

 

ignition switches sometimes do this but id change the battery first and foremost.

 

well iv charged the battery and will see how it goes, if its still ok in a wek or so i will check the standing voltage every week and see if its holding charge