Ice>Link Power

[X5Sport]

Probably one for Tom, but can anyone tell me what the current drain of the Ice>Link Plus is when the car is switched off and the iPod disconnected from the car?

I have a system professionally fitted to my X (car has the CD changer & full Mk4 nav as well) and am having battery problems. The dealer is trying to find a current leak and the technician is possibly blaming the Ice>Link.

With no iPod, and the car shutdown and locked there should be no drain caused by the Ice>Link - correct? As the system effectively replaces the CD changer and does not charge the iPod when any other input mode is selected (e.g. if FM is the mode, the iPod is off) I would expect there to be no power on the Ice>Link - but if there is, it should be drawing very little if anything.

The car has now been in a number of times for this after suffering a dead battery 14months ago. The boot lock was blamed at that time and replaced. Two subsequent checks have found no current drain, but this dealer wants to have another look. Personally I suspect that as the battery has been deep discharged it's had its day - but BMW UK won't agree to change it under warranty - even though the original problem was caused by a faulty lock (under warranty!!)

Just lining up my ducks ready to argue with the dealer.

Rick

[Tom G.]

Originally Posted by X5Sport

Probably one for Tom, but can anyone tell me what the current drain of the Ice>Link Plus is when the car is switched off and the iPod disconnected from the car?

I have a system professionally fitted to my X (car has the CD changer & full Mk4 nav as well) and am having battery problems. The dealer is trying to find a current leak and the technician is possibly blaming the Ice>Link.

With no iPod, and the car shutdown and locked there should be no drain caused by the Ice>Link - correct? As the system effectively replaces the CD changer and does not charge the iPod when any other input mode is selected (e.g. if FM is the mode, the iPod is off) I would expect there to be no power on the Ice>Link - but if there is, it should be drawing very little if anything.

The car has now been in a number of times for this after suffering a dead battery 14months ago. The boot lock was blamed at that time and replaced. Two subsequent checks have found no current drain, but this dealer wants to have another look. Personally I suspect that as the battery has been deep discharged it's had its day - but BMW UK won't agree to change it under warranty - even though the original problem was caused by a faulty lock (under warranty!!)

Just lining up my ducks ready to argue with the dealer.

Rick

Modules will vary, but it is well below the 40mA the stock CD changer would pull.

[DeeCee]

The Ice Link Plus I had was very flaky. It would occasionally get upset and continually communicate on the I-Bus. This kept the rest of the audio equipment awake, causing a much higher battery drain, from what I remember the drain was over 2 amps.
When the Ice Link Plus was in this condition it had to be powered down to clear the problem

Ended up changing it to a Dice system about a year ago and have not had battery drain problems since.

Only two minus points for the Dice...

1... I preferred the Ice Link Plus playlist selection

2... The Ice Link plus charged the Ipod when ignition was on even if the Ipod was not selected. The Dice only charges the Ipod when it is selected. Because of this the Ipod battery drains if it is not used for a few weeks, this causes the Dice to fail to display track info next time the Ipod is selected.

[X5Sport]

Thanks both...........

I expected the Ice>Link to draw 0mA with the car on standby, but if I'm going to leave it for any time (more than 1 week) I'll now disconnect the cable to the actual PCB.

The dealer actually now thinks the BMW 'Professional' car phone system is the issue as there have been problems with these systems if anyone sets it to switch off after the car has been turned off. A TSB was released to dealers in the UK at least telling them to change the default from 30 mins to zero. According the the dealer the phone system has a habit of keeping the car awake if the time is not zero and this draws 300mA - which will kill the battery.

Battery tests indicate that mine is actually OK, but they have found a fault with the starter motor (drawing too much power), the Mk4 SatNav (keeps losing the GPS lock), and leaking power steering hoses!! Good thing it went in for an end of warranty check!!

Cheers again