lites on dashboard

I can help with this Ras, if needed.

Sorry about the confusion, I went into the answer and another of our moderators was in to answer the question. The problem with a 2008 528xi with 16500 miles is very possibly not the battery itself, rather the lack of activity. The car requires a particular drive cycle length to bring the battery back up to a complete charge, short trips and few miles (16500 in 3 years) is not what the engineers had in mind (the mind of an engineer is a conversation in itself, perhaps to be had at another point in time) The fault is "known" by BMW, however they wont come right out and admit it. When I worked in the dealership network, I found that the margins the car was designed to operate in were ridiculously tight and often the "fix" was in the software. If the techs on the shop floor could speak in this forum, I am sure you would understand my point of view. Having said that, the only thing I can recommend is the same thing I have in the past, which is "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" logic of complaining loud enough and long enough to have someone in the BMW engineering department to get the message. Profanity does not work by the way, so don't get mad and lose your temper. Just go into this with a resolve that there is a solution, BMW knows there is, and you are not taking no for an answer. Just to be on the safe side, is this really a big problem? Can you see yourself being OK with it misbehaving when it is cold outside? If not, then the BMW car club of North America has an Ombudsman, you just have to have had verifiable incidents to set that rock to rolling.

thank you for your time with this , i guess my next question is : is there anything mechanically wrong with the care ? ie: anythibg that comes up on the dash that i spoke of (the awd, brake etc) or is it just a battery charge thing , because of the lack of driving ? ) i guess i would think not, since as i said it only happens in the cold , in other words am i supossed to be concerned ?, and in your opinion , should i bring it back to the dealer again....can they make this go away ? thank sagain pete

Pete, I recommend just being with what you have. The dealer might be able to do something, but as a CPO car they are limited to what BMW allows them to do. So I suppose the answer to your question is no, dont go back unless there is something that is keeping the car from doing it's job, like not starting or some mechanical problem. I dont make the news, I just report it.