Battery Issue
 

hey guys
so i have a issue with my X5 for some reason i have to boost it pretty much all the time i boost it on saturday then sunday i start it up fine then monday dead..
i got a new battery installed from bmw dealer and they did a test on the alternator they said it was fine so this issue got me stumped.. now what i want to know is a friend on mine has a e39 and he said he had the same issue some one told him it was the blower regulator he fixed it and now its fine. could that be my issue as well? just wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this same issue.
thanks hope some one can help me out
(oh and the blower regulator is number 2 on the pic)

There are soooo many things in an e53 that can kill the battery. Mine was the Bluetooth module (tcu). Unplugging it is a simple test to see if that's the issue on it but again there are tons of possibilities.

But if you have the Bluetooth unit its a good a place as any to start. Search the forum for what to unplug there are post with pictures of it.

Put a multimeter on the battery and check its load while removing fuses out of the box.
Remove 1 fuse at a time and check for voltage variation. It will lead you to the culprit

The three most common causes of parasitic drain are the TCU, The Nav (if you have it) and the FSR. Pull one fuse at a time and you will find the cause. My money is on the TCU (fuse 74) as that seems to be the most common cause. Pull the fuse and see if that solves your problem.

well i have aftermarket unit that has bluetooth my stock i dont think it came wit the bluetooth

Check and make sue you don't.

well i have aftermarket unit that has bluetooth my stock i dont think it came wit the bluetooth

i am gonna have to check the original deck and see if it has bluetooth

my x5 did not come with nav stock .. my aftermarket unit does have one tho

You can have Bluetooth without nav. Overboost's X5 is like that.

ok have to concurr with other posters here, alot can cause a drain , either way I have seen a tis I found that tells you 40ma is the drain you should be getting when e53 sleeps. Mine is at 50ma and just cannot get it lower, my 'drain' problem accompanied by lazy starts (getting worse and worse at this time of year) was my starter, without a shadow of doubt, since i changed it 24 days ago i have had no issues, wish i had done it years ago.

and you checked this with a multimeter on the battery with the car off?

You will use the amp setting on the multimeter (you may have to relocate one of the lead from the multimeter to another terminal location depending on your multi-meter). Remove the negative cable from the battery. Connect one lead from the multimeter to the cable that you remove and the other lead to the battery terminal. DO NOT try and start the engine or turn on any lights. The meter will tell you how much of an amp draw is occurring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUK6RPdIrA

Happy new year to all, amp drain i tested with car asleep n multimeter connected yes...starter causing amp drain i am 100% sure was the case at each start was sapping too much juice...nearly been a month since starter changed and have not had the usual slow laboured starts....further confirmed by fact that temps have been dropping that always caused me issues for years hence employing help of a ctek charger..BUT no such issue since starter changed.... ok n wish u all a happy healthy nrw year

hey you think you can send me the link to where the bluetooth module is. i been trying to look for it myself on here or google and youtube and i can't find it :dunno:

Its a flat rectangular box all the way at the bottom of the drivers side rear compartment in the hatch area. It sat at an angle best I remember. Going from the rear of the car at its lowest point to upwards toward the front of the car. Sounds weird but should make sense when your looking at it.

Left rear compartment of the boot. Fuse 74? I think will kill the power to the TCU.

Found a better pic and its on this site to boot.

Its the large grey box.

https://xoutpost.com/attachments/x5-...4-8-image.jpeg

yesterday i charged it up took it for a ride when i came back home i took out fuse 74.. tomorrow when i get home from work i will try and start it up

so is that beside or the same side as the car amp?

driver's side (left)

Yep.

ok guys so i charged up my x5 last sunday and then itook out fuse 74 i started it on tuesday was good then yesterday it was dead again .. so does that mean it is not the bluetooth module (TCU)?

If fuse 74 completely kills it yes. I didn't do that as I unplugged the tcu itself so Im not willing to say for sure on it.

no it was running fine with fuse 74 out i left it out and started it on tuesday it worked.. and then yesterday i went to start it and it was dead.. but you think i should unplug the TCU instead?

What year is your X Cuban?

it is a 2001 4.4i

Ok did you put the fuse back in or is it still removed?

If putting the fuse back in made it drain the battery back down it may be the tcu. I would still try with the tcu unplugged and the fuse in. If the tcu is bad you need to leave it unplugged till you replace it anyways.

no i did not put the fuse back in it's in the trunk .. and im still not even sure if i have a tcu in the rear i got to check i just seen the fuse and took it out

With it draining at random I would find out if the tcu is there and unplug it then see what happens. Its hard to find drains so being methodical is the only real method to find it.

Do you have Nav?

stock i do not .. i have aftermarket nav

OK. Factory Nav is sometimes a culprit in parasitic drain. The other common item is the FSR.

well if its the FSR how would i know whice one it is because i believe there are two of them one on the front and one for the back.. but also i heard you hear a noise if it is the fan i dont hear no noise.. another thing i was readingis that little light on the shifter it is always on i notice that ever since i bought the x5 in 2010 it was always on and never went off i always found that weird

If the light never goes out the car isn't going to "sleep". That's why your battery is dying basically.

It should not go out instantly. It takes 16 minutes to "go to sleep". If you open the door or use the remote key the time is reset. So you have to look in the window after 16 minutes to see if the lights on. I have seen some take as long as 20 minutes.

The FSR failure doesn't necessarily make the fan run incessantly, it just drains the battery. There is only one that I'm aware of. It's under the dash between the foot wells. Access is on the right side.

OP has an early X5. I don't think those lights next to the shifter ever go out like ours do.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...-issues-3.html

I tried to verify if my 2001 was going out but its too bright outside to be sure. Of course once I opened the door it was on for sure when I cupped my hands over the park spot on the shifter. I can try again tonight. But the guy in the above post said his 2001 went out when he replaced his light control module.

Interesting. I was under the impression the early X5 lights never went out in sleep mode as per some of the threads here. I don't have an early model so I can't be sure. Let us know what you find on yours.

i will charge the x5 and check if that light goes out but from what i remember it never went out always was on i will check back in and let you guys know . thanks for the help guys

yeah the other one is in the rear but it is not FSR its just a blower regulator.. it looks like the FSR

ok guys so i charged the x5 about an hour ago and i just checked on it and the shifter light is off.. so i guess i need to double check if i have a TCU in the back if not im guessing it is a FSR problem?

If I recalled, you pulled fuse 74 which should kill the power to the TCU. So, it could be the FSR. The true test would be to confirm you actually have a TCU, and if you do, unplug it. Then see what happens. No parasitic drain - confirmed. If you continue to have parasitic drain it's something else. Pull the fuse for the fan circuit and see what happens.

yeah i still have fuse 74 out .i guess i should put it back in and find the fuse for the fan circuit