Alternator / Charging problem

'90 BMW 325is died while driving. First lost wipers, dash lights/gages, radio, heater blower then finally engine cut out. Suspect bad alternator. After getting it home I hooked up jumper cables to another car and jumped it note: battery is very low on charge. Ran fine until I removed the neg cable - died within a few seconds. I'm thinking that the alternator died and I was running off battery until charge ran too low. Does it make sense to check anything else like voltage regulator or does this sound like a bad alternator? Looks like I could take the voltage regulator/brush assy out without removing anything else and check it first to save possible unneccessary work. Is there an easy way to check it? Also, if I buy a new/reman alternator will the voltage reg come with it I think it would, right?. Thanks.

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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Technical Article: BMW Alternator Troubleshooting and Replacement

[Wayne 962]

With issues like these, I like to start with the cheapest and easiest thing to fix - the battery. I would recommend testing and/or replacing the battery to make sure that it can hold a proper charge. Also check the voltage coming out of the alternator - if the voltage is too high (let's say 15-16 volts or higher), then it may be overcharging and damaging the battery (which causes it to fail more rapidly). On the new alternators, the voltage regulator is indeed built-in to the unit.

- Wayne