Dead battery, a matter of time....

[AzNMpower32]

What I don't get is how BMW can design all these new electrical systems without seriously beefing up the battery, or at least making them more reliable.

My 2004 X3 has almost every electronic option except sat nav. It's parked outside most of the time. It's seen scorching summer heat and severe cold (-18°C overnight). I've left the radar detector plugged in overnight. I've left my aftermarket parking lights on for 7 hours by accident. The car is almost 7 years old with 100k miles. The battery has never failed (knock on wood) and still runs strong.

My mom's 2006 325i has every option except sat nav, but including the notorious battery-drain Comfort Access. Still starts fine too.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

My 2004 X3 has almost every electronic option except sat nav. It's parked outside most of the time. It's seen scorching summer heat and severe cold (-18°C overnight). I've left the radar detector plugged in overnight. I've left my aftermarket parking lights on for 7 hours by accident. The car is almost 7 years old with 100k miles. The battery has never failed (knock on wood) and still runs strong.

My mom's 2006 325i has every option except sat nav, but including the notorious battery-drain Comfort Access. Still starts fine too.

That's they way it should be.

BMW messed-up and they are stonewalling it and shooting themselves in the foot.

Maybe you should write to the local Problem Solver column in the Phoenix newspaper or TV station. I visit there once or twice a year and recall they have a similar column. Companies seem to take a more personal interest in your problems when they realize what they did, or didn't, do to fix it might be in the Sunday newspaper. You might try this:

Online Complaint Form - 12 News - azcentral.com

And provide a link to the Chicago Tribune article in your complaint so they can see what another newspaper did.

I wonder what is it worth in BMW advertising dollars to have an article in the Chicago Tribune start-out like this:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
"John Bergee paid almost $45,000 last fall for his used 2008 BMW 535i sedan.

At the time, the Champaign resident thought he was buying a well-made luxury machine.

What he got, he says, is a very expensive driveway ornament.

Repeatedly the car's battery has drained while sitting in his garage, leaving him unable to start the vehicle."
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I wonder how many thousand of dollars of "Joy of Driving" advertising it takes in the Chicago area to offset that article?

I hope someone at BMW is computing that number...

[motordavid]

Interesting thread...the crummy batt/charging/electronics & gizmo glitches just won't go away on these cars. And, with cold weather here, for much of the country, it seems to exacerbate the situ; right up there with CV problems.

It is remarkable that BMW is so unwilling to really address the problem and make some fix(es)...if it wasn't for some willing dlrs, a lot of people would be replacing batts every year or two. It almost seems more pronounced on the E70s than our old E53s.

AznMpower: $600 for a new batt?! It must have the 22k gold posts.
Do your Pop an Xmas favor: if the stlr doesn't cover a new one, buy one from AZ or Batts Plus, and install it for him, as an Xmas gift.
GL, mD

[Craig]

Same BS I went through, but BMW never offered me a free battery tender. I had to purchase my own...

Craig

[apw2607]

So ... Today I had a new error message. It said remote discharge warning ... Or something like that. Pretty certain it's different from the regular discharge warnings I was getting.

Anyway, the bad news is I just had the battery replaced a couple of weeks ago.

I'm tired of this cr*p. It's bloody p*ss poor.

Last time I started a good rant against BMW it resulted in a thread with 1,762 posts and 134,720 reads ! It's the famous m3 Dct software fiasco which BMW finally have fixed after 18 months or so !

Perhaps we need to start a sticky regarding the battery issue and get some media attention to prompt BMW to sort this out.

[FunfDreisig]

Originally Posted by Penguin

.....Either the BMW charging system is flawed, the batteries are flawed, or there are flaws that cause excessive battery load when the vehicle is shut-down....

I agree.

As some of you know, this battery drain issue was my main concern when we ordered our 2009 35d last summer. In fact, this is the only reason I haven't hot wired the cargo area 12v plug for the cooler we used in our E53 for over 8 yrs with no problems. The battery drain issue is still a concern, but much less so, since we have had our 35d for 16 months now with no electrical problems.

IMHO the issue is probably the 3rd option "... flaws that cause excessive battery load when the vehicle is shut down". Simply because too many of us have X5's that don't seem to have the problem. Maybe we are just lucky or drive our X5s just enough, or use fewer power draining options to barely avoid the issue. But I don't think so.This is almost certainly a flaw in the X5 electrical system that causes these meltdowns. The only real question is whether this flaw is in ALL X5s just waiting to happen or whether the flaw only effects X5s with certain combinations of options.

Funf Dreisig

[apw2607]

Originally Posted by FunfDreisig

I agree.

As some of you know, this battery drain issue was my main concern when we ordered our 2009 35d last summer. In fact, this is the only reason I haven't hot wired the cargo area 12v plug for the cooler we used in our E53 for over 8 yrs with no problems. The battery drain issue is still a concern, but much less so, since we have had our 35d for 16 months now with no electrical problems.

IMHO the issue is probably the 3rd option "... flaws that cause excessive battery load when the vehicle is shut down". Simply because too many of us have X5's that don't seem to have the problem. Maybe we are just lucky or drive our X5s just enough, or use fewer power draining options to barely avoid the issue. But I don't think so.This is almost certainly a flaw in the X5 electrical system that causes these meltdowns. The only real question is whether this flaw is in ALL X5s just waiting to happen or whether the flaw only effects X5s certain combinations of options.

Funf Dreisig

Yes exactly. Probably the reason they never found this in testing. It will be a certain configuration of options, used in a particular scenario. Needle in a haystack ... as they say.

[ICX5]

No battery problems with my 2009 35d to date (since July 2009).

Living here in Anchorage, AK, I'm sure electrical system is heavily taxed over the winter (heavy use of lights, seat heaters, steering wheel heater, aux heaters, glow plugs on start-up, etc). I'll knock of wood for now and hope no problems develop.

Daily commute is 14 miles one-way at highway speeds (55 - 65 mph). Has sat at the airport for nearly two weeks in cold before (-10 to 20 degF). Sits outside during work day, with temps as low as -20 degF. To date, has always started up with no problems. As someone mentioned earlier, is this problem widespread to the X5s? Any idea of what percentage of forum members have reported problems?

The main purpose of this note was to point out that while I was roaming around at the local BMW dealer a while back, I noted (and I apologize for forgetting what model it was) but a new BMW had a battery tender added to the dealer equipment sticker. I for one, would not purchase a car if you told me I had to constantly keep it on a battery tender. Not a very good sales point in my view. Even a possible weekend driver, which I don't think it was, (Z4, M3, roadster, etc) should be able to keep a battery charged. Hell, my first car (1974 Dodge Dart) could sit for months and still start!

[X-cellent]

My guess is comfort access is somehow one of the key players. My business partner has an 09 4.8 and drives 3 miles to work each day...car is two years old and i don't think he has 10k miles on it, and has more options than i do (ventilated seats) and NO comfort access and his car sits for weeks on end not being used when he travels and he's never had an issue.

With C.A. i know to lock the car each time i walk away, keep the keys far away at night, but suspect that this has been the major factor in my issues over the last year, and finally got to the point that the battery just couldn't take it.

[deutsch100]

Originally Posted by X-cellent

My guess is comfort access is somehow one of the key players. My business partner has an 09 4.8 and drives 3 miles to work each day...car is two years old and i don't think he has 10k miles on it, and has more options than i do (ventilated seats) and NO comfort access and his car sits for weeks on end not being used when he travels and he's never had an issue.

With C.A. i know to lock the car each time i walk away, keep the keys far away at night, but suspect that this has been the major factor in my issues over the last year, and finally got to the point that the battery just couldn't take it.

Both my 2007 3.0si and 2008 4.8i did NOT have Comfort Access (and I think the 3.0si didn't even have heated seats).

BOTH the '07 and '08 WITHOUT Comfort Access were constantly displaying Low Battery warnings (with the '07 not starting many, many times).

As a former frustrted E70 owner, I know we all want "to find" the answer & reason for battery issues, but IMO, I do not think Comfort Access is the reason. I still think the car is just not properly "going to sleep" when not in use, and too many functions are just continually pulling juice from the battery!

Does anyone know why the 2011 35d does NOT have regenerative braking, but the 2011 35i and 50i do? I had that on my 2010 750, and it is an amazing feature. Marginally better mpg, but virtually no brake dust and the battery gets an added recharging helper! Also, wonder why the 2011 35i and 50i get the awesome new 8 speed transmission & the 35d still uses the 6 speed (although the tranny in my 35d is very smooth, I love BMWs new 8 speed).