03 X5 Sleep Issues

[03X5]

All: Brand new to the forum and I sure hope you can help. Our 2003 X5 is killing the battery after a couple of days. Seems the radio does not go completely off (you can turn it on anytime after you shut down the car, open doors, close doors, whatever). When you punch off the on/off switch, the time remains in the screen and there is a faint glow where the radio station and/or BC computer display was....I was told by the BMW dealer the radio was faulty and not allowing the car to go to sleep....has anyone else had this issue and is there a way to trouble shoot to see if it really is the radio? Thanks! BTW, basic Business CD, no Nav, no DSP.

[Meiac09]

Have you been locking the car, or leaving it unlocked. Sometimes the lock "puts it to sleep"

[bmwx5nz]

You could try and pull the fuse for the radio, to test if thats the cause..

[ZsX5o3]

The radio is normally supposed to be able to be turned on/off even without the key in the ignition, but once the clock shows I believe that should fade away and turn off.

[03X5]

All: Thanks for the replies. The clock does not fade out with the radio off, keys removed, and doors locked. I pulled the fuse marked "radio" on the fuse panel and that did not turn off the radio. I'm wondering if the fuse panel is mismarked...any good sites that label the fuses? thanks!

[Zulu95]

Try unplugging the radio. Remove knob, turn small torx screw about .25 turn and the unit pulls out. Remove large plug on back, wait 10 minutes then re-plug and test. I had a similar problem with my radio and that solved it about 2 years ago. Pulling fuses did nothing.

[fs_wheel]

Originally Posted by Zulu95

Try unplugging the radio. Remove knob, turn small torx screw about .25 turn and the unit pulls out. Remove large plug on back, wait 10 minutes then re-plug and test. I had a similar problem with my radio and that solved it about 2 years ago. Pulling fuses did nothing.

But be sure to have the radio code available - otherwise radio won't work because of anti-theft feature!!

[Zulu95]

I had no issues.

[03X5]

Thanks. My owner's manual says a manual numeric code is not required for the radio. I'll give your fix a shot and see how it goes. Did you disconnect the battery before removing the radio?