What is causing the battery drain?

[X5 Guy]

Originally Posted by emcman

I have a trickle charger and I was thinkiing about running it overnight but was worried it might do more harm than good. I gather you charged the battery fine.

Ya.. I have a trickle charger. I read that if you do short trips the battery does not get a full charge. It was recommended that you charge the battery every 6 months.

[HIRISC]

Ok, X5 novice question - can I trick charge via the jump-start posts in the engine compartment or do I have to dissasemble the back 1/2 of the car to get to the actual battery?

Mine was dead this a.m... Probably my fault, but they don't make working on the battery very simple, do they?

[rufusdedog]

You can use the posts in the engine compartment. I've done it.

[HIRISC]

Originally Posted by rufusdedog

You can use the posts in the engine compartment. I've done it.

Thanks, I'll try it out

[emcman]

That would be the only way I would do it. If you can jump from there you can charge.

For what it is worth I got my excess battery drain notice a week ago and nothing since. I think in my case it is a quirk and the X5 has a few but still it is a blast.

[bsklar]

Also at around 6000 miles have received the message 3 times in the last week. First time I have seen the message. Am not using the auto vent feature.

[X5 Guy]

The owners manual advises to never connect directly to the battery. You should always pop the hood.