X-5 Battery Drain
 

I have a 2005 X-5, which has had a chronic problem with the battery discharging while parked in the parking garage where I keep it in NYC. I have had it to the dealer 3 times for this problem. They found a problem twice according to their diagnostics, and the third time replaced a part that they said was one of three potential, historical X-5 causes of battery drain (even though they found no actual problem this time). In other words, they have been EXTREMELY responsive in trying to correct the problem. After the third fix, I drove the SAV from NYC to Key West (with a trailer that it towed like a dream, BTW), and it ran PERFECTLY for months. I am now back in NYC, and after 4 days in the parking garage, the battery was STONE dead again!

I have to believe at this point that they are doing something in the garage. The guys are conscientous, so I don't think they are sitting in it and listening to the stereo... Is there anything that might cause this discharge in the way they park it? Would leaving the valet key in the ignition keep some computer system from going to sleep? Has anyone else encountered this problem?

General notes:
- The garage is underground, and never really gets below 60 degrees, so it's not too cold
- The vehicle in not equipped w/ stability control (not trying to level itself while parked)
- They keep the windows down, and keep the car unlocked (could that somehow affect security features?)

HELP!!!

Hey there-
Looks like a lot of people are having the same exact problem...

http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...t=dead+battery

JAndersonX5, I've had the same problem recently and I just replaced my battery and final stage resistor today but I don't think I fixed the problem. Is your orange shift indicator light still lit after 15 minutes? Something is draining the battery and the shift indicator still lit after 15 minutes is part of the problem. I have two other bimmers, and they go to "sleep" lights out after 15 minutes. My X5, stays "awake" (shifter light lit) all night long - that's the problem. I haven't found a resolution and I'm sure my new battery will be dead within a month! If you find a solution, please let me know. My car is garaged parked in Connecticut at a constant 55 degrees, so cold is not a factor!

If your light does not go out as it should and you cannot find the cause among the usual suspects you may need a dealer to test the vehicle as one or more electronic modules may be faulty. These are hard to diagnose without the proper equipment, expensive to purchase and, in many cases, need to be programmed to your vehicle. That is something that can only be accomplished using either the expensive OEM or aftermarket software/computer package.
GL.

Zulu95, thanks for the reply. Any idea on how long my new battery will last under this condition? If I get a couple of years, then who cares. but if I'm only going to get a week or two, then I do care. I'm day 5 on the new battery and all is well, but the shifter light still proudly glows it's orange color day and night!!!

I fought the same problem for a couple of months on my 2000 X5, it turned out to be the final stage resistor for the climate control. I was clued in here when a member mentioned a running fan with the key off, I heard the same thing one day. I bought the part on ebay for around $60 and followed instructions posted here, problem solved. During my troubleshooting I connected a multimeter between the positive terminal and battery cable and measured the amp draw after all the interior lights turned off. I compared that to my other cars and they were all about the same with the alarms and all, about .5 amps if I remember right. You might want to try that and see what you get. Good Luck!

.5 amps is above the .038 amps maximum required to allow the system to go into "sleep" mode.
msammy: If you keep the battery on a trickle charger then you should be OK. However, if a module is going bad it still could fail completly and at the worst possible time.

If your Shifter light is on, the car is definitely staying awake.
Your Battery will go down within days. If the light is not on
you can have a parasitic draw, while the car is in sleep mode.
The only difference, is the second draw is from a module
witch can’t wake the system (not mission critical), and it will
take a lot longer to discharge the battery.
If you want I can give you a procedure to narrow down the fault.
But you will need a good voltage meter (Fluke 83).

Steve

Thanks everyone for the replies and now I'm really nervous since we're away this weekend and we took the X5! I hope it continues to start so we can get back home Sunday. Anyway, I do have a Fluke at home - I'm not sure what model, but it's a high-end one. If you could send me the procedure, I'd love to give it a try. I have an electrical background, but I don't know alot about car electronics with all the modules, etc. By the way, I did change the final stage resistor on Monday, but it definitely was not the problem since the shifter light won't go out. My dealer charged me $115 for the part! After I heard that price, I decided to install myself and it was pretty easy.

Shifter light NOT on: (battery fully charged)
Find the ground cable on the battery, but do not disconnect.
(the cable end connected to the body not the battery, is easier to handle.)
Connect the Positive lead from the “Fluke” to the body of the car (good ground)
Connect the Negative lead to the (brown) ground cable (you can puncture it)
Make sure it’s easy to disconnect the (brown) cable from the body, but don’t
take it off yet.
Open the glove box and remove and disable the switch so the light will not turn on, locate the fuse box.
Start the car and run at idle, turn EVERYTHING on, and activate
all the components (sunroof, windows, a/c, lights …..) run 5 min.
turn the car off and remove the key. Open all doors and trunk, and with a screw driver,
close the door locks so the system thinks all doors and the trunk is closed.
Now lock the vehicle with the remote.
The “Fluke” must be set up to “A” not “mA” otherwise you will blow the
fuse in the meter. Remove the nut from the ground cable and remove the cable from the stud. You meter will indicate around (300mA).
Let the car go to sleep. (16 min) minimum, if this is not happening start over.
After the sleep mode is on the draw should not be more then 50mA, if it’s more
go to the glove box and start puling fuses one by one and check the draw after each one, but do NOT re-install the fuse. Pull the fuse and leave it out
There are some fuses under the right cover in the trunk. If you pull a fuse and car wakes up start over (next time ignore this fuse). If you pull a fuse and the draw drops to around 50mA, read the label on the fuse, you will know witch circuit is faulty.
Let me know the fuse # and I will look up the diagram to see what is on that circuit.

Steve