Car Battery
 

Hi,

I hadn't drive a 2001 x5 for a couple weeks and then when I got in, the battery was dead. I called a tow truck for a jump and he said it was probably from the drop in temperature lately (it's about 32F/0C)....and then I got in today (after less than 24 hours) and the battery was dead again.

Any idea why? I've never had this happen before...and I drove it a couple times last night with no problem.

Take it out for a nice long drive (~45mins) with only 1 start. Multiple starts on a low battery will kill it sooner. Either way the battery will likely need replacing soon. Batteries Plus battery store - All your battery needs for Laptop, camera, cell phone, camcorder, SLA, batteries recycling and much more.

every time the truck starts it needs 20 minutes above 1000 rpm to replace the power used by the starter .
could try fully charging the battery to see if it helps .
if it is an old battery it will probably require replacement .
sometimes the heater resistor can cause the fan to run continually with the ignition off .

Hmmm, I did not know that. This may explain my dead battery today, well that and the -20C temp.

When temperatures drop to around freezing or lower I will put my battery charger on over night every couple of weeks just to keep the battery at full charge.

its not an issue with the fan staying on, pretty sure the battery is toast. damnit... more money spent

Cody, if it was the orig batt, it was long past due; if it was a replaced batt, along the way of the car's life, it was still on borrowed time.
Add in the didn't drive it for a couple of weeks and, kaboom!

There are pages of threads here on unexpectedly short batt life, batts going bad from sitting, etc. Many of us here use a Battery Tender
or some low amp maintenance charger when the X is parked/not driven long trips, on a regular basis.
It's nothing you "did". Swap it out, and maintain it with charger, and Good Luck.
BR, mD

yeah thanks for the tips, how come nobody upgrades to a Optima or something like that? i use one in my truck and it lasts forever... unfortunatly the option of a battery tender isnt really there, as we rent and the vehicle is parked on the road all the time. would a solar charger work plugged into the lighter socket?

Any battery "brand" recommendation?
I saw this listed on Batteries Plus website -
SLI49H8 Battery - 2000 to 2001 V8 4.4L 850CCA - X5 - BMW - Car and Truck - Batteries Plus

Has anyone used Rayovac before? Thanks!

If a car has multiple battery discharge problems, in my experience with an X5, the cause will most likely not be the battery or how long the car is driven. Electrical components in the X5 go bad and they consume electricity from the battery when the car is parked. I had three components go bad in a 2002 X5 3.0 which included the rain sensor, the light control module and the final stage resistor. These problems were found by the dealer checking the current draw after the car was parked. The car would also not go into sleep mode and changing the light control module solved that problem. I replaced a perfectly good one year old interstate battery and the new battery kept discharging in spite of the car being driven daily. Search on the battery drain problem and see that replacing the battery is not a cure. I wrote a thread on this subject which includes part numbers that were replaced. Now my car is working very well and thankfully the problem is solved. Hope this helps and please let me know if you have any further questions.