problems after oil change

[ixgarry]

Dropped car off at night for next day oil change. Next eve. I picked up before a trip and brake light circuit failure light was on. I confirmed brakes and lights were functioning and continued driving. Mechanic at shop had mentioned that the keys were left in all night and the car was dinging when he arrived in the a.m. After 100 miles of running perfectly with lights, radio, a/c and occasionallly wipers on the car suddenly died. briefly flashing a tracion control light first. Had car towed to garage in that town and asked tech to do scan only and notify me of problem. He calls me and says they replaced alternator. did some other checks, and now he says my drivers window won't roll up which worked before. Anyone have any ideas re:mech or elec? Or anyone dealt with garage issues like these. Normally do my own basic mechanical.

[3050rpm]

I don't know if there's any relationship between the overnight dinging and the alternator failure (doubt it, unless that also means the interior lights were also on all night because the driver's door was ajar), or with the brake circuit light (can't figure that one out), but I did have my alternator fail similar to the way you described while out of town on a trip. Got it towed to a BMW dealer, they told me it was the alternator and that the battery needed to be replaced too, total of a bit more than $800 at the time. I told them in so many words to shove it, had the car flatbedded home, and did the work myself. By the way, the battery was fine, it lasted me another 4-5 years after that.

I don't recall having a problem with the window after all was said and done; I think there's a reset feature with the window switch, depressing the switch in the up position for 15 secs. or something like that, perhaps someone else can answer that one.

[xsperf]

i think the brake light circuit failure is just a coincidence. it is so common on these cars, you really never know. either way its a really easy fix..