Getting to bottom of Battery drain...

[cn90]

Re: testing for current drain, sure one can attach the ammeter in series with the appropriate fuse (one probe at each end of the connector in fuse box, with the actual fuse removed), but most ammeters stop at 10A or so.

A friend told me about this tool that I have not tried. Basically very simple, but you have to buy the tool that fits the fuse slot ("normal" European or mini fuse type):
- Remove the fuse and place it in the slot in the device.
- Insert the tool into the now empty slot in the fuse box.
- This creates an ammeter connected in series with the circuit.

Read the current draw and compare against published values.

This seems to be a good tool to diagnose current draw.



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[johnlacson]

Temp was below freezing, parked the car outside Friday night. Monday afternoon, battery was dead (new Bosch AGM battery) ... is this parasitic drain, or about normal for 20F (-6C) temp for 3 days? Date/clock stopped the night before at 11pm.

[jspd234]

Update: got my x5 back from Indy shop. No more battery drain but now airbag light is on solid. Took it back to shop and they say cant reset it because of a code for internal fault in airbag module....ugh....I tried using a snap on scanner with the same results. So I guess I need a new srs module???

[Dickster]

i've been chasing a drain for a few months. Fuse 75 (audio/satnav), has a constant draw of nearly .5 amps when car is in sleep mode. Anyway, i tried disconnecting the satnav but that didnt solve it so i changed the head unit - still no joy.

today i have removed the satnav with the replacement head unit connected - now i get zero amps on fuse 75 - result, i hope!

it appears to be a combination of the head unit and satnav unit. i will leave the satnav disconnected and replace the whole lot with a pioneer apple carplay satnav unit.

[Jonasleal462]

Hello everyone. I am a new owner to a 2003 BMW X5. I got it home And the following day got into the car to go to church And it wouldn't start. So I went and bought a battery So I went and bought a battery And now nothing happens. Radio comes on, All the Instrument panel information comes on, But it won't turn over. I've never owned A BMW I just need someAdvice from this group. Thank you in advance

[StephenVA]

See multiple posts on resetting your computer as the car is in disabled mode. You will need a BMW specific tester or one of the BMW cracker softwares to "unlock" the security setting. When cars with lots of electronics see 9.6V or less they tend to go home to momma, which in this case is factory set up mode.

Reset key memories: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...71#post8097371

See EWS postings, if my memory is correct. As it sounds like an ews / dme sync that is lost. Happens way too often when battery is changed. You need to resync the modules and you will need a computer and a cable to connect and the RIGHT program to talk to the modules to do this. research INPA and how to communicate with the modules / computers in your car.
Try this website. They are more active in BMW software.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/f...ostic-Software