Can battery affect brakes?

bunty2008

Any experts out there?

Yesterday, my breaks failed. 100% failed. It was hard to push the pedal and doing so did nothing. I managed to come down the gears and use the hand break so I was ok.

A bit of background - my car is an ‘07 bmw and has been recalled due to problems with the battery. My battery light had been on for the last 3 intermittently but bmw fobbed me off saying they had no spare parts and I would have to wait.

When I rang them straight afterwards, they suddenly had the spare parts and have taken my car in and given me a replacement.

I feel it was that they battery cut out mid driving. But Does one affect the other? I am not trusting bmw will tell me the truth!

B.

colm_mcm

I don’t think the two are related and you need to urgently have the brake system inspected.

bunty2008

colm_mcm wrote: »

I don’t think the two are related and you need to urgently have the brake system inspected.

Oh yes, it’s in the garage now.

Skatedude

If the engine died on you, which you seem to imply? then it can affect power brakes and power steering

bunty2008

Skatedude wrote: »

If the engine died on you, which you seem to imply? then it can affect power brakes and power steering

Well, I think the battery died. This is the problem that bmw are doing a recall for. Felt like the car was coasting. Once I stopped it, the power was on. It’s an intermittent battery failure issue.

Cerco

Did you check the fan belt when battery indicator lit?
May have been an alternator issue. BMW dealer should have at least looked at it even if the did not have the recall parts.

colm_mcm

Skatedude wrote: »

If the engine died on you, which you seem to imply? then it can affect power brakes and power steering

I can’t see it doing what the OP described though, if anything the brakes would be spongey.

It was hard to push the pedal and doing so did nothing

Alanstrainor

From what the OP has said, the engine did not die. The battery light had been coming on for some time and then this problem with the brakes happened. In my mind these two issues are completely separate. There is nothing connecting the battery and the brakes, especially given the engine+auxiliaries were running at the time. This car has two faults, something battery/alternator related, and something seriously wrong with their brakes.

Alanstrainor

And while I'm thinking of this, if I were you I would call BMW and ask them what they are doing. They may very well being fixing your brake issue, but at great cost to you. I very much doubt this will be covered under the battery recall you mention, and even if it were I think you should confirm that. BMW dealers are incredibly expensive for any work, and considering the age of this car I would say a dealer is the last place you should be this repair.

KFed

I think there are two recalls on bmw for affected years.

One is for a stalling risk and the other is due to a heater element connector which due to vibration fraying could cause a thermal runaway (fire event).

Not sure on the specifics but if your car stalled you would lose power assisted brakes, power steering etc.

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/bmw-to-recall-10-600-cars-in-ireland-over-stalling-risk-1.3490488%3fmode=amp

Let us know how you get on with the fix.

Isambard

if the pedal was hard, I'd suspect either the servo had failed or the engine had stalled. Either way, nothing to do with the battery and it needs urgent investigation

zilog_jones

The battery light could suggest a problem with the alternator or something else with the electrical system, not just the battery. And if it's a diesel (or maybe turbo petrol?), there will be an electric vacuum pump for the brakes - so maybe it is related?

Kenny Logins

colm_mcm wrote: »

I can’t see it doing what the OP described though, if anything the brakes would be spongey.

Brake pedal would go hard without the engine running (and servo getting vacuum) no?

tcawley29

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Brake pedal would go hard without the engine running (and servo getting vacuum) no?

Yes. Perfect way to see this for yourself is get into your car the next time and before you start it pump the brake pedal until it doesn't pump anymore (won't take long).
Once you start the engine this will go back to normal but it will take a few seconds.
I feel even if the OP tries this in a different car he may be able to turn around to us and say yes this is exactly what it felt like.

In my opinion it sounds like the OPs car stalled and then the brake pedal just got hard to press like described above.

Pkiernan

Does the car have stop/start feature?

Bigus

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/motors/2018/0509/961337-bmw-safety-recall-will-affect-cars-sold-in-ireland/


BMW Ireland has issued the following statement this evening:

This recall relates to the intermittent failure of the vehicles electrical system, due to the main power supply cable (B+ Battery Connector) connection at the distribution box. Vehicles include previous generations of the 1 Series, 3 Series, Z4 and X1 built between March 2007 and September 2011.

BBC News reports that BMW "initially recalled cars in the UK after Narayan Gurung, who was travelling with his wife on Christmas Day in 2016, died when their Ford Fiesta crashed into a tree to avoid a broken-down BMW in Guildford, Surrey.

The BMW had suffered an electrical fault, causing its brake lights to fail and resulting in the vehicle stalling on a dark A-road.

An investigation by Watchdog has found that the fault could affect a wider number of cars.

One BMW owner, Mwape Kambafwile, told the the programme that his BMW 3 Series car had cut out completely while he was driving in December 2016.

"I just thought to myself if I was driving on the motorway with my family in the car, that could have been very dangerous," he said.

Mr Kambafwile said he took his car to BMW who called the next day to say that they had found the fault, which looked like "the cable had burnt out and no current was passing through the fuse box".

It recently emerged that BMW had failed to tell the UK's Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency about the electrical fault in some of its cars that led to the death of Mr Gurung.

listermint

Bad battery's in BMW's can make the engine stall though. They are the most power hungry cars Ive ever come across. Any little problem with the battery can give no end of issues.

Without power then he could have stalled and certainly lost breaking assistance.

It's no wonder they jumped on it.

And the batteries are bloody expensive too. I paid 170 for mine and that was shopping around non dealer.

wonski

Even if the engine stalled there still should be enough pressure built up for servo to provide brake assist.

OP would also notice the car stalled, no?

Cerco

Op makes no mention of engine stalling.
Maybe the Op can clarify this?