Any chance you can be a little more specific about where the expose wires were? I'm chasing an electrical drain as well and that would really help. Which end of the armrest should I take apart first?

Thanks for your help.


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i found the led bulbs with resistors did me in on my x. could be your final stage resistor if it is keeping the blower on. you need to get that voltage tool that measures a draw and start pulling fuses that pertain to it. one of my friends also had his ipod hooked up allnight and that charged throughout the night and drained the battery. could also be the voltage regulator in your alternator. thats just a couple of things to look at

If you open up the armrest, running up the inside of the two visible arms are wires for the BMW telephone. Mine were all broken right where they bend.....BUT I was also intermittently blowing fuses in the rear fuse panel. (As the wires would rub and short, they would blow the fuses in the rear) Only after a while of this (and apparently some chance) when a wire that was "hot" with the key off shorted onto the purple accessory wire did it cause the massive drain I experienced.

One of the tell-tale symptoms of this whole fiasco would be if your MID stays powered up when the key is off and out. I don't see any harm in pulling that harness as a preventative measure for future....but if you don't have the symptoms I detailed, it would probably be best to start looking for a drain elsewhere.

Just wanted to say thank you to those who partecipated at this thread. Fuse 74 kept blowing trough the last couple of weeks on my 2006 3.0i X5 (not immediately.... on a random base) causing the bluetooth phone function to stop working.

I was thinking of the phone module first...but then I came across this thread. Checked the cables that come up to the armrest for phone preparation (no phone physically installed) and the wires were shortening.

Unplugging the harness from under the park brake seems to be quite difficult if not impossible without removing the drivers seat to gain access. As the cable is obviously damaged and there is no purpose for it (at least for me), I just decided to cut it under the storage box, which can be taken out without removing any screw.

I have been reading trough this forum since years and have always taken a lot of benefit from it when working on my X. This time i finally decided to say thank you...