I've still got #98 pulled, but unfortunately the car hasn't stopped dying, it just takes much longer to do so. With #98 in it would die within 12 hours, now it seems like it lasts around 24 hours, and still has enough juice to turn on, just not turn over more than once (it's very cold here, and it's a diesel, so maybe it's the glow plugs that suck the last bit of juice out).
It seems to me like there's a secondary culprit. Nothing on the rear fuse box seems to be the issue, but the fuse box in the passenger dash is too recessed to have gotten my multimeter probes in there. I'm going to try and find out whether it can be removed fully to have better access, so I can test those fuses for positive voltage drops while the car is off/sleeping (like I did the rear fuses earlier). I thought the IBS was supposed to keep this from happening? Or if the FSU is circumventing the IBS, could something else be doing the same thing?
However, I'm wondering at this point if the computer knows exactly what's going on (ie. where the draw is, assuming there's only one more), and it would be better to just buy a OBDII cord/bluetooth reader and see what it's saying? I was wanting to get into coding down the road, so perhaps I need to go find out what one product could provide both diagnostics and coding function. I'm sure there are plenty of threads on that.
The worst news is that I believe I may have fried the FRM jumping it this morning, as now I've got all the classic symptoms including the "Lighting failure!" error. However, the car also shifts from R or D into P as soon as I take my foot off the brake, so it's stuck out in my driveway. Maybe that's an issue for a totally different thread?
I'm about to go order an FRM repair for $60 on eBay, since I'd prefer that to the $1k some people are mentioning dealers charge. Found a
helpful video to easily remove it. While I'm waiting for that I'm planning on hunting down the second battery draw, but also wondering if the draw could have been the FRM itself, and if I should test that before sending it off for repairs. Thoughts?
I'm getting the feeling I need to find a trustworthy BMW expert somewhere close by. Anyone have personal recommendations for mechanics in Utah?