High Battery Drain
 

For the second time in 2 1/2 months since owning my E70, I have gotten the warning message "high battery drain." When starting the car the check symbol showing the car up on a ramp is displayed and the text "high battery drain" (or something very similar) is visible. The first time this happened over a month ago, I thought it might be related to leaving my iPod plugged into the 6fl connections. But it hasn't happened again till now. But as before, it did not repeat after reentering and restarting the car later. I did unhook the iPod this time.

I guess I don't know for a fact that this is a real problem, but I wouldn't want to be caught with a dead battery at an inopportune time. Anybody have a similar experience or notion of what this is? Thanks, Roger

I have gotten that same message couple of days ago when starting my X5 like you. I plan to drop my car off on the next service and ask the Service Dept. about this problem.

I've had this problem several times usually after listening to music for a while (CD Changer) with the engine off. It also usually means I need to reset the date/time. Running version 27.1 SW. It's been to dealer a few times but no problem detected. It does make reference to resetting date etc in the manual when the battery runs low.

Hmm. Maybe the hookup/radio button to the iPod was not turned off when engine was turned off. Instruction book says power to radio remains on for some 15 mins. Wonder if this could be causing the problem?
In any case Stevev, welcome your feedback after dealer gets a look!

I had the same problem. Turns out the Boomerang (Lojack) system was faulty and needed to be replaced.

Hello,

I have here in France the same problem.

What is exactly the Boomerang (Lojack) ?

It is a device in the vehcile that can be activated and tracked after the car is stolen. In some states in the US an insurance credit is given if a vehicle has this device.

Cheers,
KEF

I had exact same problem with battery warning several days ago. I am sure I left nothing plugged in. Next day the error is gone.

However, yesterday I got an error that one of the tires is underinflated.:dunno: 200 miles away from home! Start checking with i-drive and it showed that ALL my tires are underinflated. :excited:

These must be some glitches. With the tires I just reset the TPM and everything went back to normal. :bounce:

I am wondering if this is related to some temperature fluctuations, we indeed got some cold air here in Northern Ca but nothing essential. It would be great to know if there is any solution to this, pretty clear that going to dealers wouldn't help unless you show that something is really faulty.

Thank for your answer.

But I don't have such a device. So, my problem must have another origin...

While I can not say with any degree of confidence, I would tend to believe you do and don't know it.

It isn't a option you order, it simply comes installed. I was unaware of it until my salesman gave me a printed page to send to my insurance company.

In any case, best of luck.

KEF

Thanks.

I'll bring it back to my dealer next week. Perhaps he will find something wrong...

I've had this error many times. In fact, in both my new 335 and my X5, I've had the battery drain completely.

The X5 was the worst, as EVERYTHING is electronic, from the rear door (to access jumper cables) to the shifter (trying to put in nuetral to reposition dead car).

I've found that if I leave my Radar detector on, I always get the message in the X5. On the other hand, I can leave it on in the 335 and no problems.

My guess is the CD's are constantly spinning, as the radio doesn't seem to turn off. I've noticed that I turn off the car with one song on, and next morning, it's on completely different song. Who knows what other systems are constantly running.

ADVISE: Never use the climate feature that cools the car without you in it. It WILL RUN THE BATTERY DEAD.

Such a stupid feature - wouldn't you think BMW would shut down systems to save enough battery life to start your vehicle???

@ burnin m:

there is something wrong in your car. normally all systems are shut down
in a 15-30 minutes period after locking the car. even the ipod will be turned off...
is your radar detector wired to the car electric system (hard wired) ?
Yes it is as you post in the other thread. and you took power from the next suitable cable around, aha. In aviation this is called hot wired meaning when the device is on it will remain on even you shut off the rest of the systems. In your case the V1 thing blocks the shut down procedure of your car as the BMW controllers can´t shut off the detector and so the systems will stay alive (CD players included) and kill your battery !!!
Better get this "rebuildt" in your BMW shop. The bus system of the E70 is a totally new one, so you have to be very carefully when you try to bring non BMW approved stuff in.

So long

Christian

interesting!!!

guess I'll need to find an alternate source for a radar hookup!:confused:

drod, try to get a cable of the cigarette lighter up to the mirror, there are no control units involved in this (I hope so... never heard of it so far).
The cigarette should be shut down after a time period . You may test that, take an old lighter cable and install a bulb (Thats the word for light ?) at the end. Lock the car and wait for a while. The light should go out.
I had a Volkswagen Touareg before and if you don´t lock the car it will kill the battery in 2-3 days even with no external online...

Regards

Christian

This is a very interesting post. I have an E53 X5 and have the same sort of problems (occasional reseting of the date and time, etc.) which I am told are most likely due to battery discharge. In any case, I am amazed that BMW did not solve this problem sooner. Here is what I think they should have done/do: BMW currently sells a solar panel battery charger that consists of a placemat size solar panel with a cable that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket that slowly maintains battery charge (provided the car is out in the sun). My suggestion would be to make the entire sunroof (or panorama roof) have this solar panel and as long as the car is stationary and in the sun the battery would be fully charged. Anyway, just a thought.

This is the reason to use the switched source for 12V power IMO

I had a similar message when I first got the X5...for me it turned out to be that when I had my car in the garage and it was not locked(secure), my cell/bluetooth function would continue to function and it would be maintaining a connection to the vehicle...bluetooth can go for 30ft...if I locked the vehicle it would shut down all the systems including bluetooth

just a Q .. how do u activate or deactivate this feature ? everytime i switch on the engine , i see the AC starting up and its getting a pain in the a$$ , how do i stop this ? i need to warm up the engine without the AC running ..

thanks in advance :)

Seems like a common problem.. I have had this issue twice now. Dealer just put in my 3rd new battery today, but this will NOT solve the issue. I insisted on finding the root cause, which seems to be impossible judging from all the above posts.

There must be some electrical device(s) that keep on pulling power from the battery, even after the 15 min shutdown period. Otherwise, the battery drain cannot be explained. I have no hot wired connections at all, I never play the radio with car shutoff. I always lock the car when its parked.

Seems to be much harder to find the root cause because of all the electronics in the car. A shame that BMW did not test this all the way to the end...

I also told my dealer that I do not want to have my car back until they have solved this once and for all.

Will keep you guys updated !

I had this for the second time yesterday. I have noticed that it happened after my wife used her key to unlock the car and the battery is not actually drained.
Someone posted a bulletin number and I will take it to the dealer to check this.
I do not believe that changing the battery is solving the issue.

This is a VERY good question. We've had 8+ BMWS, and only our 4 X5s did this. If you turn the A/C/Climate control off before turning the car off, when you restart it later, the climate control comes on at about speed 1-2 (fan speed).

NO other BMW does this in their entire line up (since 2004-2008), only the X5. I've asked our dealer several times, and even called BMWNA, and they said it's for fresh air when you start the car. What a crock! If I turn my climate control off, I want it to stay off when I start the car. Not even the owner's manual for X5s (2004-2008, E53 & E70) talk about this "fresh air" feature. Odd, very odd!!

I've given up, and just never take it of "Auto" for the climate.

It IS actually drained. My car does not light up the welcome lights when I open the car in a 'battery-drained-situation'. Changing the battery solves the issue for a few weeks, until the car drained the new one also.

Root cause : power extraction by one of the electrical components after the car is closed.

My car is already 4 days at the dealer now, still no solution...

WE were just woken up this morning at 5 am with X5 alarm blaring.......... remote doesn't work............ car doesn't start. I threw on the battery charger and everything back to normal. So I seem to now have this issue as well. *crap*

Question, if any of you have a chance when you lock the X5 at night, look in and see if the little light on the shifter showing that it's in park is on. Ours is. I'm not sure if this stays on all night or not as I keep forgettting to check it in the morning.

I know this is the E70 forum, but thought I'd add our experience. We have a 2002 and the battery has never been change.


*update*

Big thing with the E53's is the final stage resistors for the heater and I know ours is pouched due to the huffing sound it's doing sometimes. THe other thing was a recall on the radio unit that apparently comes on in the very cold temps. Anyways, continuing to look into this.

The light on the shifter stays on forever (both E53 and E70). However, this cannot be the cause of the battery drain, especially when you drive the car every single day (like myself).

My battery has been on a charger all morning. It was tested earlier today and they said it's fine. Just needs to be charged.

Picked up a new Final Stage (heater) resistor this morning at the Stealership ($100 CAN plus taxes) and installed it. It's not too hard to do actually.

So hopefully the X5 will be back on the road this afternoon and we'll monitor it for the next while and see what happens.

I've had my E70 X5 for over a year now, and the simple answer is there are some sort of electrical devices that are creating a constant drain on the battery.

Had the dealer install the iPod kit, which required them to upgrade all the software. Couple of cool benefits - new colors on iDrive/NAV screen. Vehicle accelerates alot more aggresively, i.e., you barely give it half throttle, and the beast is just taking off.

However, now everytime I put it in Drive, it says "shifter malfunction" for like 2 seconds. Bottom line - X5 is a great vehicle, but there are some electrical screwy things with it. I've simply learned to deal with them. Otherwise, like the previous poster, you have your car in the shop for 4 days :rolleyes:

I have a 2008 X5 3.0D and it would seem that the s/ware on this vehicle is a little flakey to say the least.
I got the Battery Discharge message this morning for the 1st time..... so lets wait and see .. :dunno:
Initially I had the issue where the trip meter (not the odometer) would sporadically reset or increase more than the odometer. it took BMW 7 months and 3 re-programming sessions later before they admitted that it was a "known " issue and it was fixed in the Sept 08 release of their software. So it would not surprise me that the Battery issue is also a software "un-documented feature"
Please let me know if you've experienced similar issues.
Hans (otherwisehappyBMW owner)

Hi all

Had a similar problem with my 540 recently. Kept having to reset the clock, courtesy lights not working etc etc...

Took it to my dealer who found the cause after several days of testing. Apparently there was a fault in the display unit for the Idrive, which kept on 'waking the car up' every half hour or so, and as I don't drive long distances anymore, the battery was not being recharged.

The electronics are designed to shut down non essential functions so the car can still be started. As the charge gets lower, the list of functions deactivated increases.

Haven't had a problem since.....

Cheers


John

Ive had all the problems mentioned here over the last 3 months heres what happened….

The high rate of battery discharge warning will also bring up other faults within idrive I had all the symptoms mentioned here and also *4x4 system unstable* etc..before finding out the software in my tracker system was not shutting the module down before the idrive did, the tracker company downloaded new software to the system and all was well after that.

Things that were checked before this was found was, the connection points of the tracking system to the power source, apparently there’s only 2 terminals that it should be connected to. Also the module type fitted; when the tracker is installed it should be made apparent to the tracking company the type of car the tracker is being fitted to, so the correct shut down procedure is set up in the tracking device. I believe it has to be shut down within 40mins of the engine being switched off.

I was told that if you’re tracking system or any other system fitter afterwards pulls more than 80mA when on standby that the car will detect this as a high rate of battery discharge.

I hope this helps

Btw im using a RAC Trackstar Plus with GPS