Battery Drain - Solved
 

I went out this morning and tried to start my X. Starter just clicked. Charged the battery for 5 min with my Schumacher automatic charger and she started right up. Don't know what happened. Maybe the rear hatch was not fully closed or the radio was left on, I'm not sure as the last time I used her was on Saturday afternoon to buy groceries.

How could I leave the radio on? Well maybe the volume was all the way down but the radio was still on. I was pretty tired and could of left it on I'm not sure. My radio doesn't power off when you remove the key, it stays on and you can also use it without the key. When I went to start her radio was off but I have noticed that sometimes it turns off by itself with no warning.

Battery is brand new. I'm going to let the battery fully charge and see what happens. Incase it discharges again, is there anything specific I should be looking for as far as the power draw? (If there is one) My shifter light also does not turn off when she goes into sleep mode. It has always been like that since I got her and seem to recall other member stating that their X shifter light also does not turn off. Let me know what you guys think.


(Update)

Alternator is toast. Wasn't charging battery. Got no battery light in the instrument cluster at first. Battery light later started to flicker on and off when in drive. Light wouldn't turn on while in park and idling. Tested alternator by putting it in drive applying the parking brake and turning on a few things such as headlight wipers radio ect. Used a multimeter to check voltage and got 11.1 volt. Bad alternator.

BMWX5CHI hi
the light normally goes off after about 16mins, BUT have read it does not for everyone, only way to see if you have a drain is pull out spare and get to battery and wire up a digital voltmeter in the circuit (use a screwdriver to get hatch lock closed so the lights go out too, and just close all doors no need to lock) and wait 16-17mins you should see the amp draw drop on the meter to sub 0.05amps after this time........there are loads of sites on the web with pics on setting up the multimeter....officially the drain for an e53 shuold be max 40ma....but thinking of it now if you have a drain slighlty above this e.g 50ma and happen to purchase a replacement battery with a higher capacity than the OEM this must be a good thing as you are counteracting the slightly higher drain with a bigger battery (anyone out there please feel free to correct me)

My shifter light never goes out. I've waited for it to turn off in the past and it never did. I hope my problem was because of something I left on or open. Got the battery charging right now so I guess Ill try that if it drains again.

Just an FYI about the new gen radios...they can be operated without the ignition being on...and should turn off after a specified time limit...usually within the 15-17 minute time interval when the BUS goes into SLEEP mode...which only occurs after no calls being made on the P-bus after removing the key from the ignition:

TIP about KL R:
KL R = ignition position 1
KL 15 = ignition psotion 2
KL 50 = ignition start position
KL 30 = position ignition returns to after starting vehicle

So the radio would of turned itself off if I left it on ? What about the tail gate lights ?

If I do have a parasitic battery drain, what is the most common cause if there is one ?

Most parasitic drains are due to people installing a non factory item in the car and the boys at Best Buy are clueless as to the electronic in a BMW. Do you have a remote starter, paging alarm system, after market amp or HU, LoJack tracking device?

Other item that are factory related is a nav dvd spinning ALL NIGHT. lol JUST NOTICE THE ALL NIGHT.

Mine was the TCU and many people report the FSR.

Ha ha. I don't have anything aftermarket. I just checked the charger and battery seems to be fully charged. So at the moment she's just sitting in my garage. Last time I drove her was Saturday afternoon so she sat in my garage until this morning when I tired to start her up. The Starter just clicked. Battery wasn't fully drained as I connected my charger for a few minutes and she started right up.


My X is a base model (if there is a base model). It has no fancy features that I know of. I sat inside for a minute. Didn't hear any noises of any kind. I'm hoping this was a one time thing as I don't want the new battery to keep draining. I will see if she starts tomorrow. I will check the battery with a multimeter. With the alarm active and in sleep mode, how much power should the multimeter be reading ?

Does your charger have a 2 amps charge option?
if so,let the battery charger overnight at 2 amps for a couple of nights.That way your battery would get a deep charge instead of superficial caused by higher currents provided by the on board charging system.

The 2 amp setting wasn't recommended with my battery so I charged it with 4 amps. Just hope if there is a problem it isn't too serious.

I just went out to my garage to see if I could see any extra lights on like the glove box or the radio screen on and didn't see anything besides the alarm light and the shifter light which has always stayed on. Couldn't hear any noises either. At least I can rule out those things.

Tomorrow I will check with multimeter and check for any draw after the 16 minutes. What should the multimeter read after the 16 minute sleep mode ????

Interesting...how would 2 amps hurt?
Look for the hitch and telephone fuses in the trunk fuses compartment.
Even if you don't have any of those installed you may still have the fuses in place feeding some weird circuits with loose connectors making ground connections because of corrosion etc.

Yeah that's what I thought but I don't want to take any chances. Good idea those will definitely be one of the first things I check.

Yes, eventually. And the interior lights are designed to shuuut off after 15 minutes:

Yup that is what I have done also, pulled telephone fuse (dont have phone installed) but best test was to get the multimeter hooked up to circuit and start pulling fuses and see what fuse causes a drop, all dependant on whether you sleep mode 'drain' is under 40ma if it is then you are ok I guess....like I mentioned in my posts I have a drain 0.02amps caused by fuse 83 (luggage compt socket - no issue as can do without it) and the darn fuse 43 ( instrument cluster- abit more tricky)

Went to sears to get a decent multimeter and the battery light was flickering. Any thoughts ?

I got 14.1 volts with engine running so alternator is good correct ? After I turn the engine off battery voltage goes to 12.3 I assume the battery is also ok ? Now I'm going to see if she goes into sleep mode and check is there is a draw.

That indicates something hinky with the alternator...during the time that it is flickering/flashing...it is not charging the battery.

I would suggest that if this happens again while driving around...open up OBC TEST 9 to see what the alternator/charging system voltage is at that time. You may have a regulator going bad in the alternator.

Last night I fully charged the battery and this morning it was a bit drained again starter clicked a few times and she started up. The multimeter with the engine running is 14.1 so it looks like it's charging the battery but I think I might have a problem with the ''New" battery. I'm not finding any power draw so far. What is the normal voltage for a battery at rest ?

Well the multimeter I got from sears was defective as it would not read amperage. I had to borrow one and found this the multimeter read 03.6ma when connected and after a few minutes it read 01.1ma . I removed all the fuses in the trunk area while multimeter was reading 01.1 ma and no change so I guess it nothing in the back. I'm going to check in a little bit to see if it goes any lower. How many amps are present when in sleep mode ?

The X is in sleep mode as multimeter read 0.01 and 0.02 ma. I don't know how much amps it draws with the alarm on but I take it it isn't the alarm. I'm going to take my battery and have it checked tomorrow. I don't think it's the alternator? as it reads 14.1 with the engine running. It went into sleep mode so my only guess is a bad battery?

0.01 & 0.02 amps you mean? either way this is good in sleep mode, I get 70ma and got it down to 50ma 0.05amps

If you get the flickering battery on the dash you need to get the alternator checked out -had this in our e46 and despite changing battery the voltage regulator (on the alternator) was shot, after replacing this was fine.....

Well I had the battery checked and it's fine. WTF. So no power draw keeping the X awake. I charged the battery on Monday then Tuesday morning the starter clicked for a few seconds then started. Could my starter be shot ? Battery is brand new what the hell is going on ?

Monitor the alternator as suggested with test 9. The alternator may be charging some of the time and not others.

You mentioned the battery is new. Are the cables tight?

When you try to start it each morning turn the bright lights on and see if they dim.

After you charged the battery overnight did you check the battery amps in the morning before you tried to start it?

Was the battery load tested?

Well looks like it is the alternator. I put it in drive applied the parking brake turned on lights heater radio wipers defroster and got a reading of 11.1 volts so alternator is toast if I'm correct. Seems like the light only turns on when your actually driving it. So even in drive with nothing on the battery light flickers. Well time to order one.http://www.xoutpost.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

You are correct in your diagnostics. When the engine is running voltage should always be over 13V

What about the voltage regulator on the actual alternator....

It could be the voltage regulator but don't want to mess with it nor did I check it. I ordered a Reman Bosch alternator off eBay from a seller I have purchased from before. Good seller, sells Genuine OEM parts. Man did I have a hard time getting to the alternator. Fan clutch wouldn't off come. I even have the fan clutch tool and still wouldn't budge. Nut got stripped.

Water pump pulley broken into pieces when trying to 'Wedge' a screw driver and remove fan clutch as some people have done. I might have over tighten it the last time I took it off, my mistake. Waiting for parts to arrive. Going to add some anti-seize to the treads so later on I can replace the fan clutch in the summer when I do the cooling system overhaul. For now I will put it back as I need my X running as next week she will be in the body shop as result of me getting rear ended in December. Long story.

Bored ? - Read here - http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ear-ended.html;)

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Bump for many users who are experiencing
the dreaded battery dead in am problem