2005 X5 BATTERY DRAINING
 

I need help in identifying the cause of the draining of my battery. I just purchased a new battery about two weeks ago from WALMART EVERSTART #49 and the battery kept draining on me. One morning it was completely dead and I have to jump start it with my other vehicle in the garage. I noticed though that the shifter light was still on even after I completely turned off everything in the car. I had being jump starting the X for about 3 times now for the period of 3 weeks. Please advise.

Many thanks,
Rfcrz

X doesn't go to sleep?
I have a drain,my fuel gauge goes all the way up after 5 min X is shut down,locked or unlocked.
Already replaced a battery and it goes to the dealership for diagnostics.
Service adviser said to check on the shifter lever light if it's on all the time or it gets off after some time,mine is off after 15 min or so.Get closer to the X and check it out after 30 min after locking it,obviously without touching the remote.
Also he said that once they had one X that they had to remove all the dash and interior trim to find the draw which was a corroded cable connector.
I pulled some codes out of the Instrument Cluster and it's a Fuel level sensor related one,so I guess it's the cause in my case.
Good luck

How were you able to pulled some codes from the instrument cluster of X5? Did you replace the fuel lever sensor? Did it fix the draining of the battery?

I appreciate your quick response, many thanks again.
Rfcrz

Hi there,
Look for the codes I used a simple tool as Carsoft 6.5 interface and old laptop with Serial Port and Carsoft 6.5 Software running on Windows XP.
It's not a GT1 stuff obviously,but it's more helpful in investigating the faults than the Generic OBD II tools.
I haven't replaced anything yet,but I am getting into it,because winter is coming,next Tuesday it's going to the dealer for some suspension maintenance and drain diagnosis,will write back as soon as I find out the cause,but as I understand,the causes can be so varied that my experience may not be useful for you.
There's one more thing,is you heater blower working right? under right I mean speed is not jumping up and down.
I know that yours is 2005 and it seems that they updated the hedgehog module,but I had to replace it in my 318i before,due to speed jumps and battery concerns.

Hi,
I just picked up my X from the dealership and the minor drain it has just because of the faulty instrument cluster.
Quoted for a new cluster and for now I am gonna leave it the way it is.

Do you have any aftermarket LED bulbs???

great question! always big drains from the resistors. could be the alternator too

Crazy, but I'm having this issue as well. Just replaced battery about 2 weeks ago and just went out to vehicle and it won't start. No aftermarket anything. '05 4.8is. I suppose I'll have to take her in to figure it out.

Scott

I had a battery drain too and no one could diagnose it, but i searched online and noticed that my fan was always blowing even when i shut the car off. I tested this theory one day and shut the car off and sat in it and listened closely and to my surprise the fan went on like it was haunted by a ghost. If you have experienced this, the solution is to replace your BMW X5 Blower Motor Resistor (about $100).

Brand new 2 week old battery just died on me right now. I had the car sit for 2 days and just went to start it and it was dead. I have a 2001 3.0i, every thing was off on the car and don't understand what could cause the battery to die so soon.:dunno:

Some x5s shifter lights do not go off. Use an amp meter to measure draw

If a new battery goes dead within a couple days there is a decent sized draw... Any shop/tech with knowledge of BMW systems and BMW wiring schematics and a good quality inductive low amp clamp should be able to track down a draw, but sometimes they are a bitch to find... (it can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 days to find depending on what is causing it and if it is consistant)

I just noticed the shifter light is still on. The little amber light where park is if that is what your talking about. If that is the problem is there anything I can do to get it to stay off with out taking it to a shop?

get a drill.

For some reason on the E53's that amber light doesn't go off and in NOT indicative of a draw... it pretty much never goes off, ever. It would take an acurate way of measuring amperage down to the miliamp to track down a hidden draw.

However not all draws are hidden, lets say the ac blower fan seems to stay on low after you turn the key off, FSR.... Ok, so that's pretty much the only obvious draw that isn't harder to track down.

thats due to a software error in the GM3 processor. ive only seen pre-facelifted vehicles exhibit this phenomenon, the GM3RD does not have this issue.

Ive noticed that the cooling fan in front of the radiator hasn't been coming on at all, would this be connected to the battery draining somehow? I was just searching the forums to see whats that all about and if there is any connection. When I go for a drive and then park I would leave the car on and step out to see if the fan is running and it never is.

if the fan does not run, the check engine lamp should illuminate. on first starts the engine management sends an ON signal PWM to the aux fan, it then spins for a few seconds, and the engine management measures the amperage generated by the fan to determine if the fan is operational. usually a failed aux fan can draw up to 2 amps.

So yeah jump started the car last night, I didn't use it but let the car run for about 10 mins and then shut the car off as I wasn't going out anyway just wanted to start it. I left it over night and I just go to start the car now and the battery is completely dead. Should I have let the car run longer last night to keeps its charge or that shouldn't have mattered. I took the battery out to trickle charge it as I type this.

Got a call from my tech today and they found the telephone module was the culprit. Not covered under CPO, but it's being goodwilled. If the problem were to arise again, is there a way to just disconnect the module since I don't use it anyways?

Scott

Not sure about disconnecting the module but the fuse is in the back fuse box. Cant remember exactly but its 73, 74 or 75... I think. Its labelled anyway.