BMW Alsway has an excuse
 

Well, the X5 has been doing odd stuff this last month, mostly indicating a bad battery, e.g., excessive discharge messages, won't crank more than a half second, etc. So I've been using a battery charger to keep it going. Finally took it into the dealer today and told him I wasn't interested in hearing any excuses about too many short trips, etc.

Got a call this afternoon and the tech told him it's my fault, because the computer tells him I lock/unlock and open the hood too much, waking the modules and running down the battery.

Well duh! The only reason I open the hood is because if I don't put the battery charger on for a few hours, the vehicle won't start!

Kudos to the service adviser, who told him to replace the battery under warranty anyway.

So it looks like BMW has a great excuse ready no matter what... if the battery dies, they tell you you have to use a battery charger, and if you use a battery charger, they tell you you are opening the hood too much!

Jay Leno couldn't make this stuff up...

I hook my trickle charger up to a cable that is permanently attached under the driver's side top of the engine bay and pokes out to the left of the driver's side wiper. I don't have to open the hood to attach the charger.

My first battery lasted almost 8 years which I thought was quite good. In fact, it might have been good for another year or so. I had to replace the final stage resistor a second time which was causing the battery drain.

That's funny. I just picked mine up today and they gave me same exact story. Too many short trips, I don't drive it long enough and that I need a trickle charger :wow: I laughed and walked away....Unbelievable

I think I'll have to replace my battery sometime soon. My X5 is a 08/15/2007 and it's the original battery, I believe.

I keep getting parking brake malfunction. The last time the vehicle was in for service (a month and a half ago) the tech wrote that "unfavorable driving was causing excessive battery drain" and that he charged it, cleared the code, and the code never tripped again. Four days after I picked the vehicle up, I got the parking brake malfunction warning again. I'm under CPO, so I doubt I'll get anything under warranty...so I may just bite the bullet, replace the battery, and have the code cleared. IF it comes back, I'll ask them what excuses they have, given the brand new battery.

It seems to be a BMW NA character trait. Back in the early 1990's, some new BMW motorcycles had similar problems, and BMW NA blamed it on "driving in the city too much at low RPM." BMW NA's solution was to (1) for the first year, just tell people to buy a battery charger since it was their fault for driving at low RPMs, and (2) for a couple of years, give every purchaser of a BMW motorcycle a free BMW battery charger.

And then?

Well, after about three years, they redesigned the electrical system, put a larger alternator on the bikes, and stopped giving a free battery charger with every bike sold. And guess what? Nobody had a problem after they revised the system to include a higher-output alternator.

And they never admitted they had a design flaw.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

I'll bet that the 2014 redesigned X5 will not have an electrical problem with short trips, and will have either a higher-output alternator, or one designed to put-out more amperage at lower engine RPM.

I was thinking about a high output alternator, but with all the "programming" that needs to happen, I can't imagine it'd be plug and play. I remember replacing my stock alternator in my Trailblazer with a Power Bastards one and it greatly improved my electrical woes.

Too many short trips? Yeah that's funny,my wife A3 is running 20 minutes a day 10 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon she's workin 3 miles from home for the last 3 years whit no problems whatso'ever from the electrical system. But whit BMW there's always a story... as usual.

Lets face it, the newer bmw's are electrical hogs... In the time you do a short trip, the vehicle doesn't have enough running time to replenish the battery from the energy of start up, the blower, the heated seats, the heated wheel, and everything else that requires 12v. I deal with the concerns almost daily, and can see both sides of the fence.... Change the battery and at least let the car fully warm in the driveway in the am, and also remember very cold temps make startup require more energy. Just a heads if you change the battery you have to register it to the vehicle. This tells the vehicle the batt is new and adjusts charging strategy accordingly.. If you do not register you run the risk of new batt damage or premature failure

Sorry, I don't buy it.

The UPS trucks start-up and stop every time they deliver a package. And how about the newer models that stop and start themselves at every stoplight or stop sign.

It is quite simply a design flaw, as the alternator can certainly replace the power in short trips IF it is designed to do so. And in many cases the actual problem is modules not going to sleep, or re-awakening by themselves while the vehicle is parked. Unfortunately, the system BMW designed requires a very long test to diagnose such problems, and therefore the dealers, and BMW NA, are quite reluctant to do the test, preferring to blame it on the customer if possible.

Ok what long test are you referring to? A draw test..? BMW equipment is more than capable to do an extended draw test and record all results for hours or days if need be. The power management control unit does all of this and keeps running records of all events/ closed circuit infringement violations. So why is BMW going to perform a draw test, waste tech time for something they can see with a scan of the vehicle. And as far as keep locking and unlocking the doors supposed dealer excuse, the control unit that controls these functions is the jbe. I have replaced jbe's before but never for sporadic self locking of even failed locking/unlocking all together. So stop sitting on your keys while sitting on the couch!!!