Battery Drain Question
01-29-2009, 07:54 AM
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Just out of curiosity I see alot of people complaining that their battery is draining when the car remains parked for a couple days. Is this problem only happening to those of you with navigation.
01-29-2009, 08:23 AM
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My Ride: 2007 530i. Purchased 6/28/07. Titanium Silver Metallic, Black Dakota Leather, Dark Poplar Trim, Steptronic, Premium Package, Cold Weather Package, Bluetooth, Adaptive Control Xenons. 10/30/07 Added OEM 124s with 245/40/18 & 275/35/18 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires. Installed red Cal Covers� from BavAuto. 11/21/07 Added OEM all-weather floor mats (for winter, carpet in summer) and coat rack. 6/26/08 installed M5-style rear spoiler. 6/30/08 put on red reflectors. 8/22/08 Euro turn signal stickers applied. 3/20/09 Installed Shadowline Trim. 3/27/09 Added Matte Black Kidney Grilles from Trinity. 4/03/09 Installed Bimmian Shadow Matte Black 530i Badges. 4/04/09 Installed LED license plate lights from Trinity. 5/01/09 Installed Brabus Interior LED Kit and White Angel Eyes. 5/02/09 Put in Brabus 6K Fogs. 5/14/09 Removed charcoal filter. 5/15/09 Installed light smoke LED side marker lamps from Trinity. 5/21/09 Sprint Booster. 6/12/09 Painted exhaust tips flat black. 6/13/09 Pulled red Cal Covers and painted calipers low gloss black. 6/27/09 RPI Ram Air Scoop from Trinity. 8/15/09 Installed Brabus's silver invisibulbs front and rear. 9/24/09 Installed R-Dash license plate LEDs from Brabaus (John).
Originally Posted by JTBAZZ' post='780171' date='Jan 29 2009, 10:54 AM
Just out of curiosity I see alot of people complaining that their battery is draining when the car remains parked for a couple days. Is this problem only happening to those of you with navigation.
01-29-2009, 11:45 AM
#3
No nav here either. Just got my car back from the dealer. They had it a month debugging battery drain. Determined that the TCU was draining my battery and did a good willl replacement. Car has had 3 batteries in 2 years. Asked the dealer if they load tested the present battery after the several discharge and recharge cycles caused by the TCU, but have not received an answer.
From reading this forum and all the posts about drained batteries and fault codes it would appear that BMW does not have their act together with respect to E60 electronics. At some point we may have to weigh the enjoymnet of driving a BMW against the headaches caused by the multitude electronic bugs designed or misdesigned into the automobile. I would have expected better from German engineering. BMW should step and remedy their(our) problems. Sorry for the minivent.
From reading this forum and all the posts about drained batteries and fault codes it would appear that BMW does not have their act together with respect to E60 electronics. At some point we may have to weigh the enjoymnet of driving a BMW against the headaches caused by the multitude electronic bugs designed or misdesigned into the automobile. I would have expected better from German engineering. BMW should step and remedy their(our) problems. Sorry for the minivent.
01-29-2009, 12:17 PM
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Originally Posted by billeul' post='780366' date='Jan 29 2009, 03:45 PM
No nav here either. Just got my car back from the dealer. They had it a month debugging battery drain. Determined that the TCU was draining my battery and did a good willl replacement. Car has had 3 batteries in 2 years. Asked the dealer if they load tested the present battery after the several discharge and recharge cycles caused by the TCU, but have not received an answer.
From reading this forum and all the posts about drained batteries and fault codes it would appear that BMW does not have their act together with respect to E60 electronics. At some point we may have to weigh the enjoymnet of driving a BMW against the headaches caused by the multitude electronic bugs designed or misdesigned into the automobile. I would have expected better from German engineering. BMW should step and remedy their(our) problems. Sorry for the minivent.
From reading this forum and all the posts about drained batteries and fault codes it would appear that BMW does not have their act together with respect to E60 electronics. At some point we may have to weigh the enjoymnet of driving a BMW against the headaches caused by the multitude electronic bugs designed or misdesigned into the automobile. I would have expected better from German engineering. BMW should step and remedy their(our) problems. Sorry for the minivent.
I havent had any issues yet but when I bought my car the BMW Service Advisor recommend I buy a trickle Charger. I havent got one yet but he said if you dont drive your car alot they are a good idea to have. I work from home so there are days when I dont drive and I rarely drive far plus I have another vehicle I use when it snows alot.
Does anyone have a Trickle Charger and are they a pain to use?
01-29-2009, 12:32 PM
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My Ride: 2007 530i. Purchased 6/28/07. Titanium Silver Metallic, Black Dakota Leather, Dark Poplar Trim, Steptronic, Premium Package, Cold Weather Package, Bluetooth, Adaptive Control Xenons. 10/30/07 Added OEM 124s with 245/40/18 & 275/35/18 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires. Installed red Cal Covers� from BavAuto. 11/21/07 Added OEM all-weather floor mats (for winter, carpet in summer) and coat rack. 6/26/08 installed M5-style rear spoiler. 6/30/08 put on red reflectors. 8/22/08 Euro turn signal stickers applied. 3/20/09 Installed Shadowline Trim. 3/27/09 Added Matte Black Kidney Grilles from Trinity. 4/03/09 Installed Bimmian Shadow Matte Black 530i Badges. 4/04/09 Installed LED license plate lights from Trinity. 5/01/09 Installed Brabus Interior LED Kit and White Angel Eyes. 5/02/09 Put in Brabus 6K Fogs. 5/14/09 Removed charcoal filter. 5/15/09 Installed light smoke LED side marker lamps from Trinity. 5/21/09 Sprint Booster. 6/12/09 Painted exhaust tips flat black. 6/13/09 Pulled red Cal Covers and painted calipers low gloss black. 6/27/09 RPI Ram Air Scoop from Trinity. 8/15/09 Installed Brabus's silver invisibulbs front and rear. 9/24/09 Installed R-Dash license plate LEDs from Brabaus (John).
Originally Posted by JTBAZZ' post='780385' date='Jan 29 2009, 03:17 PM
I havent had any issues yet but when I bought my car the BMW Service Advisor recommend I buy a trickle Charger. I havent got one yet but he said if you dont drive your car alot they are a good idea to have. I work from home so there are days when I dont drive and I rarely drive far plus I have another vehicle I use when it snows alot.
Does anyone have a Trickle Charger and are they a pain to use?
Does anyone have a Trickle Charger and are they a pain to use?
Here's a pic of the Deltran, who make the chargers for BMW also:
01-29-2009, 12:41 PM
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My Ride: 2006 550i - Metallic Mystic Blue, Sport Package, STEPTRONIC Auto Transmission, Leather Interior, Power Front Seats w/Lumbar Support, Xeonon Head Lights (Angel Eyes), Park Distance Control (PDC), 6-CD Changer, Adaptive Head Light, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Professional Radio, Premium Sound Package 13-Speakers Logic 7, Weather Band Radio, Voice Control (for Bluetooth Telephone Operatoin), 18" Run Flats, Rain-Sensing Wipers, Front/Rear Heated Seats, Flat Tire Monitor (FTM), Moonroof, Fold Down Rear Seats, Hardwired Valentine One
Go to the bottom of this thread (http://forums.e60.net/index.php?show...st=30&start=30) and see the post from "unknown", Dead_Battery.pdf, Page 3 of 4 as it notes about leaving the car parked too long.. or very short driving distances can even be bad... Personally, I only drive 7 miles to work each day and I might be a victim pretty soon.... 
Dead_Battery.pdf -> http://forums.e60.net/index.php?act=attach...st&id=91253
Dead_Battery.pdf -> http://forums.e60.net/index.php?act=attach...st&id=91253
01-29-2009, 12:58 PM
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My Ride: My ex-ride: EU '08 LCI 520dA. Space Grey, Sport Seats in Black Leather/Fabric Anthracite, Sport Steering Wheel, A/C with Extended Features, Hi-Fi Speakers, Cup Holders, Cruise with Braking function, Folding Rear Seats, Xenons, Park Distance Control.
Seems that the battery in a E60 with a lot of electrical extras (nav, Logic 7 etc)
only lasts for 3 - 4 years.
A new one don't cost that much.
only lasts for 3 - 4 years.
A new one don't cost that much.
01-29-2009, 01:27 PM
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My Ride: 2008 535xi / Platinum Gray / Premium Package / Cold Weather Package / Dakota Black Leather /
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Nav=yes; Additionally, I posted this at the end of my thread on this same issue:
Closing the loop on this one... Here's what happened. The service tech tested and then replaced the battery. The service tech performed energy diagnosis and found vehicle woke up many times by CAS module, instrument cluster, kbm, and kgm. Basically, the car was waking up while parked and running a whole bunch of routines when it should have been sleeping. I guess it's normal for the car to wake up and run through basic diagnostics, but not at the frequency that my car was doing it. The service tech started the software update at 4:45PM on a Wednesday, and it finished updating the next day around 4:00PM. Regarding the version... I was told that it is: E60-07-09-530.
Closing the loop on this one... Here's what happened. The service tech tested and then replaced the battery. The service tech performed energy diagnosis and found vehicle woke up many times by CAS module, instrument cluster, kbm, and kgm. Basically, the car was waking up while parked and running a whole bunch of routines when it should have been sleeping. I guess it's normal for the car to wake up and run through basic diagnostics, but not at the frequency that my car was doing it. The service tech started the software update at 4:45PM on a Wednesday, and it finished updating the next day around 4:00PM. Regarding the version... I was told that it is: E60-07-09-530.
01-29-2009, 01:49 PM
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Originally Posted by JTBAZZ' post='780171' date='Jan 29 2009, 11:54 AM
Just out of curiosity I see alot of people complaining that their battery is draining when the car remains parked for a couple days. Is this problem only happening to those of you with navigation.
The nice thing about the BT+ is that it comes with a wiring harness (in addition to traditional allegator clips) that can be permanently installed under the hood and secured with velcro. Just pull it out and use the quick-connect to attach it to the charging unit.