B+ & B- are far from the battery, and the cables are too small
 

I've been reading about the BST on the battery; it gets triggered by the airbag sensor system, and shouldn't be affected by just hooking up the battery load tester (shouldn't ?!?). So, I'll be careful using my tester, and not create sparks on that post.

And, if the BST does blow, there are generic replacements (the BMW OEM part is stupid expensive), or I can just not replace it at all.

Just pull the battery. I have done so many times and not lost sync. If you do it's still a minor problem as opposed to the risk of nuking something expensive/difficult or hard to find....

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battery doesn't read BAD, but it's certainly not GOOD
 

Ok, I let the X sit for almost two days, without charging, starting, or testing it.

First thing, today, I checked the "state of charge %" and the battery voltage, on the "Clore/Solar Pro-Logic PL2320" I left hooked-up under the hood. It read 48%, and 12.3 volts, though I had fully charged the battery two days ago. I hadn't started the X since the charge, so unless I have a massive battery drain, the battery has little reserve power left.

Second, just to see if it would, I started the truck, and turned on the A/C and my Flex-A-Lite fan (for a load), and the X's alternator responded by furnishing 14.5+ volts. I ran it for about five minutes, then checked the SOC% (it went up to 95%), and battery voltage (now 12.7v), before going to the trunk for the next test.

Third: I used a needle-nosed vise-grip to clamp on the battery+ terminal (avoiding the BST), and ran three tests within five minutes (per instructions, and past experience) using the HF/Chicago Electric analog battery tester. First test said good, but with 12.3v, second test (after a cool-down interval) showed it hovering between good and weak at 12.0v, and the third test at five minutes had the needle just above weak, with voltage during the test at 11.5v.

Back to the PL2320, I saw that the SOC% had dropped to 58%, and battery voltage to 12.3v. I then returned to post this here.

Though the battery was warranted for 36 months, and is about 41 months old, I guess it's past its' prime. I've read that Autocraft Gold batteries (by Johnson Controls), have a history of just lasting as long as their warranty, then failing soon afterwards. Figures. Time to get a new one, but this time I'll either get a Duracell from Sam's Club (made by East Penn), which I've had good luck using before, or an EverStart Maxx from Walmart (which I've had last for 10 years . or more).

Also, I just bought a "Clore Automotive/SOLAR ESA30 OBD II Memory Saver Connector" for $11, which I'll use when changing the battery. Better safe than sorry.

That's a cool device for keeping the settings while the battery is out. I haven't had any problems other than resetting the clock on mine. I guess I lose some of historical data too, avg mpg, etc. In reading the reviews on a couple of the devices, some people said that the device fried their electronics. So I'll probably hold off on buying one.

As I mentioned, with my Bluetooth tester Thinkcar-Bluetooth-Battery-Tester, it seems only to work reliably with the battery disconnected from the X5. One of the HD reviews says you need an Internet connection to use it. That is not my experience, but I may have an earlier model. Mine doesn't have the voltage display on the cable like the one pictured.

I buy my batteries from Sam's Club generally, recently the non-AGM Duracell ones. I think I've had three, plus the original BMW one, which lasted about 8 years, in 21 years of ownership

just can't bring myself to buy a new battery, for some reason
 

Previously, I had used every bit of a battery's life, before I would buy a replacement; there would be no doubt in my mind if it was truly done for, or not.

The recent tests I've done on the 41 month old battery were comparatively ambiguous, with no "bad" or even "weak" judgments proclaimed by either the digital or analog test meters I used. So, I tried testing for current draw, just to see if that would tell me why the battery is never staying above 70% (last two days), and usually goes to 55-58% after cranking (w/o recharging).

First, I used my amp clamp in the trunk, and it showed a 3.5 amp draw, but that was with the trunk lights etc. on, and I didn't want to remove the bulbs or fuses, so I moved up to the B+ cable, underhood. There, the amp draw was around .40, and after 16 minutes, that dropped to .13 to .15 amps, after the truck went to sleep. Seems OK to me.

If/when I do buy a new battery, and the X fails to crank using it, I'll never hear the last of it from my CFO. I'm expected to keep the house, cars, and pets in fine fettle, without spending anything (my monthly "allowance" is entirely spent doing just that). Damn, I wish it was like the first 30 years, when I spent freely, pursuing my car hobby, without worry (of course, my current income is <20% of what I formerly made).

Oh well. sh#t happens, and then you die. P.S. I already informed her we'll be getting the battery tomorrow, but I'd just like to see positive-proof that the battery is totally done.

0.13 - 0.15 amps is 130-150mA - about 3-4 times higher than the nominal spec. of 30-50mA

While 150mA is not a huge load, it will drain your battery over the course of a week or two....

didn't unplug the hood sensor
 

I ran that amp test with the hood open, and didn't unplug the hood sensor; I saw the amp reading drop after 16 minutes, so I assumed that there was no current flowing inside the X...was the hood sensor still drawing power?

Not likely but something may have still been active... and a DC clamp meter is not very accurate at low currents like that. The best accurate draw test is multimeter in line with a battery lead (pos or neg), set to the 10Amp range.

You are probably fine... I'd guess that the DC clamp meter is off a bit at those currents - and the big drop at 16 mins is good! :thumbup:

Mine sleeps at spec, 11 mA. Took me over a year to find an amp draw. Temporarily deleting the EWS helped me solve the issue. When body options start to act up, the problem is likely a bad GMIII module.

possible parasitic drain cause; it's hell to get old & have to recover between jobs
 

I think I figured out the parasitic drain that was still drawing power, even after the rest of the X went to sleep, at 16 minutes. Even though I haven't checked the veracity of the info I read, some electronic battery charger/maintainers will draw power from the battery itself, even when they're unplugged from the AC voltage source.

While I was testing, I had both my Clore/Solar Pro-Logic PL2320 still hooked to the B+ and B- posts underhood, and my Battery Tender 1.25A charger/maintainer still plugged into the outlet at the rear of the console. I think the PL2320 was still connected to the 120vac (but not turned on), as I was monitoring both DC voltage and state-of-charge %, as displayed on the device; but, the Battery Tender (which is always left plugged into the rear cigarette-lighter socket) hasn't been connected to the ac power, during the tests I've been doing for several days.

I found a report that the PL2320 has been known to draw power, and it's a recent product, so the Battery Tender (at least 12 years old) is probably drawing power, too. I'm not going to test further, having removed my chargers and testing tools from the X, prior to switching out batteries, later today, if it doesn't rain (drizzling now, and I must work oytside).

In regards to the battery swap, I bought a Duracell-Group Size 49 H8 battery from Sam's Club, two days ago, but I haven't installed it yet. I bought the larger H8 since it was the same price as the smaller H7 (the prices dropped $20 today, of course). I put off doing the battery swap yesterday, because I threw out my back moving

• 1) the 52.5 lb battery in the garage (15 feet),
• 2) two 44 lb bags of dry cat food into my storage room/office (60 feet),
• 3) two 50 lb bags of chicken scratch to the Poultry Palace, a fancy, oversized 12x8x8 hen house, 100 feet), and
• 4) a 45 lb box of cat litter to the washer/dryer/utility room...where our four house cats have their beds and litter boxes (80 feet)

That doesn't include moving a full car-load of groceries from unattached garage into the kitchen (75 feet). Didn't do my bad knees any favors, either. At my age, even doing a simple job becomes painful.

The wife figured that it was a good day (prior to a week of predicted T-storms) to replenish our supplies, depleted while she's been away off-on for the best part of two months, and to replace the $500+ of meat that was ruined when the LG fridge's compressor (now repaired) died unnoticed, because she was out of town...as usual...and I was using food from a different fridge.