moonstone
Tyre Kicker
This seems to be popping up for a lot of modern BMW owners recently including myself, so I thought I address it here and provide a fix (on the F90 M5 / G30 5 series).
Background
The Emergency Call function is part of BMW's telematics set-up that allow you to press the SOS button or for the car to do it automatically in the event of an accident. The system is powered by a lithium Ion back-up battery that is in the roof. This charges up when the car's running but like all batteries will wear out over time.
Why is this error popping up now?
The recent cold snap is causing a reduction in charging performance due to low temps and it's showing up batteries that are at their end of life, that have otherwise not triggered the error in warmer temperatures. The batteries are generally good for 3-4 years.
How do I fix it?
The dealer will not only over-charge you on the battery itself, they'll screw you on an hour or two's labour for what is essentially a five minute job on most cars...saloon's anyway. If you have an estate, you're shit out of luck and the whole headliner needs to drop to access it.
On saloon and coupe cars, it's generally located above the plastic trim next to the high-level brakelight. This simply pops off and you can access the battery compartment.
There's a good video on how to replace the battery here (you'll need to watch on Youtube as the owner has disabled hotlinks)
NOTE on the F90/G30 - contrary to the video above, all you need to do on is pop the centre cover off and the two push-clips on either side and you can access the battery unit inside. No need to do anything else.
I had this issue recently and purchased a replacement battery from Listers BMW on ebay for £60. I had to clear the error using BimmerLink as well, but I suspect that in some cases it might disappear on its own as the error for mine was intermittent (which shows that the error doesn’t permanently remain on the dash). In any case, I'd recommend that you disconnect the negative terminal on the battery before replacing as it may be that the error goes from being temporary to permanent when you remove the original battery.
Part number for the battery I purchased was 2447 710-01 and here's the listing I bought from: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284793206733
Background
The Emergency Call function is part of BMW's telematics set-up that allow you to press the SOS button or for the car to do it automatically in the event of an accident. The system is powered by a lithium Ion back-up battery that is in the roof. This charges up when the car's running but like all batteries will wear out over time.
Why is this error popping up now?
The recent cold snap is causing a reduction in charging performance due to low temps and it's showing up batteries that are at their end of life, that have otherwise not triggered the error in warmer temperatures. The batteries are generally good for 3-4 years.
How do I fix it?
The dealer will not only over-charge you on the battery itself, they'll screw you on an hour or two's labour for what is essentially a five minute job on most cars...saloon's anyway. If you have an estate, you're shit out of luck and the whole headliner needs to drop to access it.
On saloon and coupe cars, it's generally located above the plastic trim next to the high-level brakelight. This simply pops off and you can access the battery compartment.
There's a good video on how to replace the battery here (you'll need to watch on Youtube as the owner has disabled hotlinks)
NOTE on the F90/G30 - contrary to the video above, all you need to do on is pop the centre cover off and the two push-clips on either side and you can access the battery unit inside. No need to do anything else.
I had this issue recently and purchased a replacement battery from Listers BMW on ebay for £60. I had to clear the error using BimmerLink as well, but I suspect that in some cases it might disappear on its own as the error for mine was intermittent (which shows that the error doesn’t permanently remain on the dash). In any case, I'd recommend that you disconnect the negative terminal on the battery before replacing as it may be that the error goes from being temporary to permanent when you remove the original battery.
Part number for the battery I purchased was 2447 710-01 and here's the listing I bought from: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284793206733
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