E70 Increased Battery Discharge while Stationary

[rufusdedog]

I wrote about a possible fix in April. I had the following parts replaced:
Replaced Battery 61-21-7-594-976 (made in Italy)
Replaced Battery Cable 61-12-9-215-954
Replaced Battery Cable 61-12-9-217-004
Replaced IBS and BST (no part nrs, one is Intelligent Battery System, no idea what the other is).
Not saying this is the solution, but I have not seen an error
message since.

Here is a pic of the IBS (top right).

[rufusdedog]

Here's a better pic. It's the black part with the Rolls Royce, Mini, BMW logos:

[ard]

OP-

First, threatening this board with talk of "having to switch to MB" is just silly. Seriously. Half of your thread will now be argument on MB versus BMW.... and honestly WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU OR WHAT CAR YOU DECIDE TO DRIVE. This forum is not "BMW Corporation". Threatening it will not motivate a solution.

OK?

Now, once you've gone to the SA, keep in mind that there is a notorious issue with drain. Is this original battery? If so, I would just replace it but not at a dealer- save yourself $200. Once the obvious stuff has been checked, there is an BMW SIB for battery drain, and specifically how to test for this. If you allow the SA to decide what they will do next, and you are paying the tab, it can be a lng and frustrating road. make sure you bring this SIB to his attention early on and make sure you have this explicitly listed in a work order. if they fail to do it and ultimately it turns out they have to do it- you have some leverage.

Good luck with getting the X5 fixed. And if not, MB makes a fine car.

A

[bd3500]

Originally Posted by ard

OP-
Is this original battery? If so, I would just replace it but not at a dealer- save yourself $200.

If battery needs replaced and OP has an 08 model, wouldn't battery be covered under new BMW warranty? No need for purchase from dealer or autozone.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by bd3500

If battery needs replaced and OP has an 08 model, wouldn't battery be covered under new BMW warranty? No need for purchase from dealer or autozone.

I/some of us US based posters don't "know" what the warranty/maintenance program is, in Qatar...

I recall several posts of people having difficulty getting their batts
"covered" by BMW, even early on, under warranty. Back at the ranch,
I hope the OP's dlr figures out the drain or the problem and gets him
back in shape.
GL, mD

[deutsch100]

Originally Posted by newmanium

Electrical problems are worse with MB, not sure why you think that would fix things.

I had similar messages on my E60, they eventually traced it to a loose ground connector.

So wrong! While I am a big, big BMW fan (sold my 2009 ML63 AMG to get into a 2010 BMW 750i)...BMW (E70 X5) has way, way more Electrical problems that Mercedes ML. I had both a 2007 and 2008 E70..and they were BOTH electrical nightmares. When BMW and my dealer were working on my buyback package for my first new E70, there were 2 other people also working on E70 buybacks!

Both my 2008 and 2009 ML63 Mercedes had many, many fewer electrical problems compared to both my E70s. My 2 MLs were far from perfect...but the problems were more mechanical. I would confidently say the E70 is more problem prone in terms of electical issues!

[pongpap]

Ok, Thanks everyone. Enough said about MZB.

After 3 days in the shop now my SA told me that the dealer is trying to blame the false on me. SA said that their tech team got read out from my X5 memory that I left the ignition in "ON" position 3 times so the battery drain out. How can I leave the ignition in "ON" postion when I remove the key and lock the car everytime.

The funny thing is that I never even try to listen to my radio when my car is not running. How could these stupid things be on my X5 memory??

The first day
They replace battery and reprogram my car. After completion, battery drain out again.

Second day
They were trying to find the cause of battery discharged.

Third day
They finally found the cause of battery discharged (That's what they claim) So, it took them 3 days to fix this memory related problem (which they have just realized on the 3rd day).
Hope that it will be fix for good. I will check my car carefully tomorrow.
My SA told me that there is a long report and I will read it carefully. And yes, I fight for it be a warranty claim.

Thanks so much refusdedog for a great pic. I will also check if they replace IBS.

[pongpap]

Originally Posted by motordavid

I/some of us US based posters don't "know" what the warranty/maintenance program is, in Qatar...

BMW in Qatar come with 3 years BSI 60,000 km and warranty. So, I'm a bit lucky. Still got another 7 months of warranty left.

[mickym0u53]

BMW SA are crooks... the BMW techies are idiots... never will i buy another BMW do to poor customer service!

I had a battery drain problem also. They claimed that it was the aftermarket stereo system that was installed because supposedly someone spilled some liquid onto a loom of wires. I told them to take pictures of the area before they cut and splice in new wires and what did they do? They replaced the supposedly damaged wires without taking the pics like i asked them to. total cost? $1000!!! i still get the high discharge alert at times.

[Weasel]

Hey now, don't lump us all together in one boat... I understand why you are upset with what happened, but understand that not all SA's are crooks and not all techs are idiots. If you feel your service adviser is shady ask to be switched to another one of your choosing. If you had a bad experience with a techs work, ask that it not go back to that tech on future visits.

The dealer I work for has some advisers that have been dealing with the same customers for over a decade and are great to deal with, and a few techs there including myself have customers that request us only to do their work. You can fix the situation, and the service department is usually happy to do whatever it takes to remedy bad experiences.