Dead battery
 

The week before last I bought a 1 owner 67k e53 3.0 L sports Package. Today I went in the morning to move it outside temperature was 35 degrees the car was cold dead. The car will not start. I tried to jump start the car and the result was the same. So I put it on the charger and the battery showed that it was totally discharged. Charged the battery and let the wife drive it for the day. Took it out tonight and all is good. I checked the voltage in the dash with the car running, light on and I got a reading of 12.9-13.00 V Drove the vehicle and the voltage was up to 13.2-13.3 V.

Do in need to worry about anything or is this the normal expected reading.

How old is the battery?

Also remember to run TEST 9 with the ignition in position 1 (engine NOT running) two-three hours after shutting down the engine so you can see what the battery's voltage is after the surface charge has depleted.

Running TEST 9 with the engine running is only showing the alternator and charging system....with the engine off...you see the battery's voltage.

So Battery is dead again today. Jump started the vehicle pulled the battery and getting charged. The battery was changed 11/25/2011,

Called the shop next to my House and he stated that I have to pay 55% of the price to get a new one. I think I am going this way I know I have a new battery and see if it will hold.

Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

From the pic your posted,your alternator isnt fully charging your battery!12.9 v even at idle is very low (I see 13.5v on mine and 13.7 thereon).
Still I have reason not to trust the OBD volt nr.9 volt display!Today ,it was showing 12,0 v,when I stopped engine ,yet when I checked the voltage in the engine compartment with my multimeter,it showed 12.32 v...which is quite a dfference.
There are a lot threads here on this subject but they are still not conclusive!Simplest way to check a battery voltage is with a cheap multimeter.Best way is to check the crank amps but this involves a more expensive conductance tester.
If you get hold of a multimeter ,first thing you should do is,disconnect battery from the car (remove terminal cables) ,fully charge it and check the voltage thereafter.Fully charged it should read 12,60 (make sure you take a reading after about 10 minutes of charging,thus allowing battery to settle).Check voltage again after about 3 hours and if battery has dropped to 12,4 or below ,then battery not holding charge and needs to be replaced.
If battery doesnt register a considerable drop ,then next thing you need to do is connect the + positive terminal and remove the - negative terminal.With your multimeter in the 10 amp section ,put the one prong in the battery - negative terminar and the other in the negative cable.Check the reading on your multimeter and it should be "0.00" ,,Anything over and you have a parasitic draw in the car,which you can find out (tediousy)by removing each fuse one by one until you find the one thats drawing amps (your multimeter will then show "0.00".
Additionaly,you can find someone with a battery conductance tester SOLAR BA5 100-1200 Cold Cranking Amps Electronic Battery Tester Brand New! | eBay
and check the crank amps.(this is a great way to check if battery has enough "juice" to start a car and easiest and quickest way to check a bad battery!I had batteries showing 13,0 volts but only 400 amp out of 900amp!

Hope it helps and let us know how you get on:thumbup:

OEM battery or Wally Mart MAXX battery?

What is the dead battery's voltage when running TEST 9 (or if you have a multimeter)?

My suggestion for replacement battery is either a 49/H8 or 95R/H9 battery class size. You can find lots of different battery brands...many made by the same manufacutrer...but what fits and usually has specs great enough to handle your vehicle is a battery in either of the 2 battery class size aforementioned.

Also...don't forget to vent the battery...or if having someone else install the battery...let them know there's a vent tube that must be connected to the battery when they install it.

The chart below gives yiu an idea of what specs to look for when searching for a replacement battery. You can go lead acid or AGM etc...but you can see what the average specs for the 49/H8 & 95R/H9 batterires shouldbe close to:

So here is the results:

Charged the battery got it back in the car and took it to an interstate battery shoip since it was an interstate battery. Still under warranty.
1- Battery tested all good.
2-Took the car to advanced Auto and they tested the battery and it is all good.

The guy at the intersate was thinking that something was draining the battery since the latch light for the tailgate was on and he had a hard time closing it.
I drive the car got home park it and shut it down and the guage was showing 12.1 V

All quiet and I hear a faint fan noise in the car. I thought I left teh heater on. Looked at it and it was off. Turn the key to position 1 without starting the car. Turn it off make sure the heater is off and still I hear fan. I locked the car and I still hear the fan. I get out of the car and go to the outside vents on the hood and I hear the fan running.
I have no clue what is going on.

Checked the car at 3:27 PM and the fan is off and the V through the dash OBD show battery at 11.7. I will keep on monitoring.

salnj, with a reading of 12.2v via OBC with car OFF, my 3.0d sometimes has problems starting, at 12.1v has major problems need to turn key to on then back to off then on again and works...

I get via the OBC test 9 car off & after sitting all nite:
12.2-12.3v

13.9-14.0v NO accessories on when driving

13.5-13.6V (with aircon on, radio on, high beams, biggest drop is caused when I switch on the fron fog lights )

unless you have a good mutlimeter dont bother with it , my mutlimeter was reading figures quite a bit higher than the OBC

PS that whirring noise unless it is a mssively loud noise of the main heater fan etc is the small fan behind the air con controls, its normal for it to spin until car sleeps, wait about 16mins (leave windows down and car in quiet location) you should here it stopped after 16mins

Finally narrowed it down I made sure yesterday that all doors and hatches are closed tight. Battery held charge overnight. Car started right up. The drain coming from a faulty rear top Hatch lock. I went to open it today and I realized even when you unlock it does not open it release the hatch but still semi locked. Pulling the top hatch you feel it is loose and can wiggle it but will not open. I had to keep on locking and unlocking till finally it opened. Closed it and tried to open it and the same thing happened. Attempted to adjust the side bumpers and no difference. Guess have get a new match module and get the faulty one replaced.