High Battery Drain / at my wit's end...

[CaptainKirk]

Hello everyone,

I have a 2007 X5 4.8 /w pretty much every known option to mankind. As you can imagine, all of these gadgets and electronics will put a strain on any car battery. My X5 is "special" in the fact that in the 1.5 years that I've had the car, it's beached me 3 times. Dead battery... The dealer I go to always "claims" to fix it. They've replaced the battery, tested sensors, etc etc you name it... I've raised a stink, done all I can as a consumer can to get them to fix it...still..nothing. It, of course, always happens at the worst possible time, only adding to my frustration.

My car died last week, dead battery...had AAA come out, jump the car, limped it to the dealer, took a cab home (did I mention it was 1AM?). They replaced the battery, kept it for 3 days, did tests up the ying-yang...they return it to me. It's fine for 2 days...boom, High Battery Drain message *again* to me.

I'm closing in on totally losing it. I am afraid to take the vehicle on long road trips and/or more than 50 miles outside of my comfort zone as I have no faith in the vehicle anymore. Something is draining the battery. They keep saying they've found it at the dealer. Obviously not... They are a good dealer, I know the are trying to repair it. I also know I pay full price for this car and if I skipped a payment, repo-man would be making a pitstop at my place, so I'm not feelin' the love anymore if you know what I mean.

I've researched CA Lemon Laws, apparently 4 times the charm, if the dealer can't fix the issue after 4 times, you (I guess) can start really threatening them with some legal action. I like my X5. I just want it to work, but I'm not going to be anybody's chump and at $1230 a month, I expect this thing to perform like a BMW should. This is my 3rd BMW, I shudder to think it might be my last, losing faith guys... Recommendations? Anyone else have an issue like this with their X5?

Thanks,
Scott
Costa Mesa, CA

[rh71]

Very frustrating to have this happen, especially repeatedly.

May I ask how long your typical trips are? The alternator may not be charging it enough during repeated short trips. Personally, aside from weekends, 5-days a week I only drive it 3mi. daily but I've only seen the high battery drain message once but was still able to start the car then. Also, what options do you have, such as ipod, heated seats, etc..

[CaptainKirk]

My driving habits are all over the place. I do make a lot of short trips for work, however several times a week I drive 30+ miles for certain client visits. I like road trips, have taken the car many places hundreds of miles away on many occasions. I have 25,000 miles roughly, the vehicle in my possession 18 months, I drive a decent amount...

As I mentioned in the post, I have basically *all* options, minus the ventilated seats and the 6FL iPod connector (although I do have the old school iPod connector which replaces the 6-CD glove changer, dealer installed post purchase).

[King]

Here's another thread on the same problem. Might give you an idea on a few things to check out...

http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e70-forum/...ain-again.html

[Ziggypup]

I would have zero confidence in that dealer at this point. Is their another dealer in the area that you can take it to for a second opinion? Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can make all the difference.

[wch X5]

I also have a '07 4.8 that is heavily loaded with electronic options. I had the same high battery drain that others have reported. The dealer has recoded it and gave me a trickle charger because they thought I wasn't driving enough. However, I read in the other thread that someone recommended that locking the doors every time solved a similar problem in a Mercedes S class. Since I started locking the car every time I park it (even in my garage at night), I have never had the high battery drain again. I'm now going on 12 months without a recurrence of the problem.

Although I am not certain this fixed it (could be coincidence), I did notice that if the X is parked and unlocked, it periodically makes electronic sounds. It doesn't do this when it is locked, which makes me believe that when it is unlocked, there is some program that runs to periodically check systems.

It can't hurt to try.

PS: My M3 or 335 doesn't seem to have this problem but now I lock the M3 all the time too.

[alexmish]

I had similar problem couple of times.... Both times when I had the car sitting unlocked for extended period of times (like loading it up for long trip).

First time the dealer said it was a bad battery, replaced it. Second time they said it was a bad terminal connection, and they tighten it up.

I believe it is all the electronics in the car, and not strong enough battery. When you unlock the car, the computer starts booting up, all electronics get in stand-by mode, etc. No wonder.... It is also possible that there is a sensor, which detects discharged battery and prevents engine startup, which is miscalibrated...

I thinking of getting a car battery charger and carry it with me. Something like this : http://cgi.ebay.com/JUMP-START-CAR-B...3A1%7C294%3A50

[stockguru]

I don't think driving it every day plus 30 mile trips would constitute not enough. It is unacceptable to expect BMW customers would need to drive their cars 200 miles a week for the battery to stay a live.

There are several reasons which have been discussed that causes a high battery drain. If you keep your car unlocked, I do believe there are some things which may be on standby and cause a higher drain. Also, if you have comfort access and the key is kept close, there may be issues as well.

Personally, I have driven my 2008 x5 about 10 miles the past 3 weeks maybe 100 miles in 2 months, leaving it parked for 2 weeks straight regularly. I started it up today a bit worried but had no issues. I always make sure I lock it and I even take the measure of removing the navigation DVD when I know it will be parked for a while since I believe it continues spinning even when the car is parked and locked.

[Fastbuck]

+1 for locking the doors. Doing that certainly stopped by experience of multiple low battery messages and lost settings.

[mhoutman]

my wife's 325i touring recently also got a battery replaced.

reason is that she drives short distances only, which does not allow the battery to fully power-up. perhaps that is also in your case ?