dawidoku

Hi,
Check IBS (Inteligent Battery Sensor). That was a problem in my BMW, after Service replaced it I've never have this problem again, so far.

methodsound

Ok I am making myself a list as I might need it later:

1. MPM micro power module- location: ?
2. IBS intelligent battery sensor- location: negative battery terminal
3. TCU telematics control unit- location: left fender wall in trunk

I am not including the alternator and battery here as they are not battery drain items to check for, they relate to charging and storage and should always be checked first. And can anyone confirm the placement of the MPM?

skibarefoot

That's great info. You're reading my mind.

Now today we put the car on the road. The radio doesn't work. When you look at it on the screen. The highlighted selection is jumping all over the screen. I can't select bluetooth to activate so that's out too. Also we get a yellow sos message in between the speedo and tach

The battery has been pretty much disconnected for the past couple of days while troubleshooting. Is ther a way to do a reboot? And yes everything worked fine before, just the battery drained down

skibarefoot

Also are these all the computers or just the mostly likely causes of my trouble? Might as well know where they all are for now and future referance.

Thanks.

methodsound

During your battery drain testing you said you pulled out all the fuses on at a time right? It is expected that your airbag light ( SRS) will be on, as well as dynamic drive, active steering, and so on. You can manually re-program the front and rear windows, dynamic drive and active steering will reset if you turn the wheel all the way left and right during slow driving. But the airbag light needs a computer reset. I would wait until you fix the drain issue before you pay money to reset the airbag light since you might set it off again looking for the battery drain.

Mizuno

Hi,

New member here, from Oslo, Norway. I have had the exact same problem on my 2004 E60 the last week. Last Friday night the alarm went off for no reason. Next morning it was totally dead and I measured the battery to 3,35 volts. Got the car to a local BMW dealer and they told me the battery had to be replaced. Cost me $450 incl. registering the battery and removing some failure codes. Yes, service & parts IS expensive here.

Drove the car happily for two days and this morning it was dead again. Measured the battery to 4,4 volts.

Will bring it back to the dealer on Monday. If they identify the problem I will let you know. In the meantime I hope to see some posts here that I can use to put the dealer in the right direction. I suspect that a general search for electrical failures will cost me a small fortune

Ola

skibarefoot

We have no air bag or abs messages. This morning the battery voltage read 11.7v and the car fired right up. No charger or maintainer was used all night. Yesterday while driving my wife noticed the following and these faults are still present.

1. No sound from the speakers, warnings radio, park distance, seat belt, key in ignition etc.

2. Yellow SOS call system malfuction message at the bottom of the screen and between the tach and speedo. This message come and goes.

3. Bluetooth does not work. The selection for enabling Bluetooth is there but I can't select it.

4. When trying to change inputs for the radio or change stations the highlighted selection bounces around the screen by itself.

UGGG!!! What to do? What to do?

cornfed

The same is happening to my '04 530i (automatic)...from testing at Advanced Auto Parts; after turning the car off, there's an 8.5 amp draw for about a minute (figure courtesy lighing?), then it drops gradually over about 30 seconds to drawing 2.5 amps, and stayed there for about a minute until their tester shut off from being idle... grrr. Listening to this thread, I located a faint click or spark-like noise coming from either the back of the alternator or another electical piece in close proximity. It's a rapid and rhythmic nose, that eventually stops with a quick, quiet buzz of a unit at the right side of the intake manifold...this happens in under 5 minutes.

So I begin changing the oil (key is out of the ignition, driver window down, hood up) and 5 minutes later the buzz again and the rhythmic sparking starts back up for about the same durration. I drive the car for about 30 minutes a day which seems to be enough to keep the battery charged to start it fine, but if it sits for 2 weeks, it'll barely turn over from the draining.

Same components to check as mentioned above? Or, does the location and the type of sound allow anyone to pinpoint an electrical component that may be notorious for causing this issue?

Much thanks in advance...

Phil75070

I've read through the entire thread and I don't think the OP ever stated how old the battery is. Mine was almost exactly 4 years old when I started seeing the signs that it was going. Also, have you ever replaced the battery with a new one, doing it yourself? If so, were the specs exactly the same? If you did and the specs differed, doesn't the battery have to be "registered" with the ECU to insure that proper charging voltages, etc., are provided to the battery?

skibarefoot

The battery is new. Same spec just alittle higher cca.