Strange battery issue

[X5only]

My X5 has had no issues until today. Started up fine this morning after car sat overnight. Drove about 6 miles and briefly parked to shop (about 10 minutes). Upon trying to startup the car, click, click sound with lights flashing, what the heck Called roadside assistance. He connected his jump starter and my X5 fired right up. Drove home, did diagnosis with BMWscanner app: No errors other than low voltage on various modules. Charge up the battery to full and car seems to work fine.

I doubt this is an old battery issue. Battery was installed new in Nov 2019. Could it be a charging system issue? Or am I wrong and this is simply an old battery issue? Thoughts? Thanks for any pointers.

[andrewwynn]

4-5 years is normal lifespan.

My go-to test for is there battery dead is run flashers an hour


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[Effduration]

1. Check battery voltage

2. Check charging voltage

If battery drains after a day or two of being parked, check for a parasitic drain.

My bet is that your battery is done. 5 yrs is about average for battery life as noted.

[X5only]

Ok, battery drained from full charge after two hours of parking. Time for a new battery. Just curious, this happened suddenly. My experience of old battery has been a gradual deterioration of charge. ☹️. Before this saga all has been well. My drives are very short and I hardly hit the freeway🤔.

[Bdc101]

Could be an alternator in your future too. Nothing kills a battery faster than a few deep discharges. This happened to me with a good Interstate AGM battery earlier this year. Only three years old. Costco gave me a full refund on it though. Sh** Bosch Chinese alternator was what killed it.

[Effduration]

You might also have a parasitic drain, which seem to be popping up regularly on E53 forums lately.

But you need to start with a known-good, fully charged battery.

If the new battery does not solve your problem, Do a parasitic drain test:

1. Measure Milliamps on the negative terminal of battery

If below 50 Mamps in sleep mode
2. Probe the back of each fuse (don't pull) and look for Millivolts

In my case, it was the sunroof fuse. But it coudl several others.

[getty150]

Roughly about the same happened to me ...just coming off of a 233 mile round trip. As soon as I took the off ramp 5miles from my driveway the 235k x3 went dead at the stop light. Not only was the alternator dies but the 5 year old AGM battery is on its last leg. I should have know n better. however it gave me reason to change the
CCV
Starter
Position sensor
Alternator
Fuel pump
Hot water valve
Ignition switch
Flushed radiator

Not saying that's all what you should do...

[Bdc101]

Originally Posted by getty150

Roughly about the same happened to me ...just coming off of a 233 mile round trip. As soon as I took the off ramp 5miles from my driveway the 235k x3 went dead at the stop light. Not only was the alternator dies but the 5 year old AGM battery is on its last leg. I should have know n better.

It was probably the alternator that took out your perfectly good AGM battery too! Just like happened to me.



This year I have replaced three AGM batteries: One was 10 years old, one was 14 years old, and one was 3 years old and died because of a failed alternator. AGM should last longer than 5 years in a healthy electrical system.

[80stech]

+1 on that, 10yrs. should be expected.

[X5only]

I'm getting a new battery tomorrow. What is the recommended AGM battery? This time I'd like to go for an AGM battery. Just from observation, seems to be the battery not holding enough charge to start the vehicle. I began with a fully charged battery using my battery charger. Car could start. Turned it off and parked for two nights. Car would not start in the morning, but the battery was not fully drained. The radio, A/C, windows operated with no issue.