[Mookie469]

Greetings,
Less than 6-7 months ago I change my battery at a BMW dealership. They performed the battery reset in accordance with BMW instructions. Now, just two days ago I wash and wax my car left it in the garage for two days and this morning the battery didnt have enough juice to turn the engine. I have checked the battery terminals with no signs of corrosion of miss contact. After I jumped the car I went for a ride 20 mins or so and it was fine. Now it starts fine.

I am wondering if this is happening to anyone else out there?
I stopped by autozone and bought me a battery tender 1.5 amp to make sure the battery gets fully charge before I take it to the stealership and troubleshoot the problem. If anyone has encounter this problem could you tell me what did you find? That is if you found the source of the problem.

Thanks in advance.

[BMWM.D.]

A lot of things can cause a battery to be discharged. If you drive it on a regular basis and long enough to properly charge the battery, it should maintain a decent state-of-charge. Short trips, lots of vehicle use (opening doors, etc.) without actually driving the car, and accessory use without the engine running can all lead to the battery becoming discharged over time.

It's also possible you had a large amperage draw that quickly discharged the battery. The most common thing I see is the side lights being accidently left on via the European parking light feature. If you push the turn signal stalk switch to the left or right blinker detent with the car off, it will activate the parking lights on that side of the car only. They will stay on until the battery gets heavily discharged. Most people don't even know their car has this feature.

The other common things I see is problems with the Intelligent Battery Sensor, or IBS. It can cause issues like you mention when it has a problem.

Good luck

[Mookie469]

Thanks for the reply. I recently move down to the Miami area do I drove from VA, with no issues. Usually I drive more than 20 minutes a day, my car never sits still unless I am ok vacation then I will use the truck to carry the whole family around.

I read about the turn signal feature and the IBS, additional I talked with my old Service Agent in VA. He mentioned the possibility for the battery to be at fault, another option is that the car is not going to sleep ( so he told me to check the transmission lever when in park if the light right next to the parking position is on the car is not in sleep mode, but it is)

I have completely charge the battery by now. So I will give it a try and see how it behaves this week when I start working, maybe the commuting will help.

Thanks for the info.

[BMWM.D.]

Originally Posted by Mookie469

Thanks for the reply. I recently move down to the Miami area do I drove from VA, with no issues. Usually I drive more than 20 minutes a day, my car never sits still unless I am ok vacation then I will use the truck to carry the whole family around.

I read about the turn signal feature and the IBS, additional I talked with my old Service Agent in VA. He mentioned the possibility for the battery to be at fault, another option is that the car is not going to sleep ( so he told me to check the transmission lever when in park if the light right next to the parking position is on the car is not in sleep mode, but it is)

I have completely charge the battery by now. So I will give it a try and see how it behaves this week when I start working, maybe the commuting will help.

Thanks for the info.

Sure, it could be the car "staying awake", it could be something causing a draw, it could be the car constantly being "woken" by a defective part or customer operation (pressing the remote buttons, etc.).

I'd monitor it and see what happens for now. Probably not a bad cell in the battery, otherwise it likely wouldn't work properly even after a full charge.

[Mookie469]

Well I removed the battery tender after the indicator showed the green status. Guess what? It didn't worked. I had to jump start the car once again.

I did placed the keys in a location that nobody would touch them. So I don't think it was the key fob. In the other hand like you mentioned it could be something staying on in the car. What? I don't know. If the Parking light is off the sleep mode is engage I don't have any custom sound systems or alarms so I really don't know what the heck is going on.

Now I am just getting frustrated. BTW, I checked the alternator in three different locations, battery terminals 14.20v, at the alternator itself 14.20-23v, and at the jumper terminals with the same voltage.

I guess I will have to pay the stealership the $200 for the initial troubleshooting and then who knows.

[Mookie469]

Today, the battery was sitting at 11.78v. No bueno!

[BMWM.D.]

So you fully charged the battery, and it still wouldn't start the engine without a jump? How long after removing the charger did you try this?

[Mookie469]

I try to start the car as soon as I removed the battery tender with no luck. I will leave it on it overnight and I will check it in the am before going to work. I will post the updates then. Also, in the afternoon I will take it to the stealership. Maybe they will figure it out.

[crypticc]

Up to date charger? Mine was in similar situation though I could manage a week. Now atek charge later working fine.

I think that is pretty good on original 07 battery and low mileage too.

Point is your dealer should replace the one they just installed and do it right in my view.

Chris

P.s. the cause on older batteries is often just calcification of the lead plates. Good chargers are both able to tell if that coating prevents taking a charge and holding it and can trigger an over current to break down the coating. it is not advised to do often, especially on maintenance free like ours as there's no way to replace the water that fizzes away and vented as H2 and O2. But once mid life for a battery is almost obligatory.

P.p.s.
That's also one of the reasons battery tender need to be carefully chosen. A modern one will shut down when fully charged. An old one design for refillable batteries shouldn't be left connected.

[Mookie469]

The battery tender is brand new. It will go in maintenance mode once full charge is achieved.

This morning the battery was at 12.68v I think that is the best that I have seen in the last couple of days. I removed the battery tender to see if it holds the charge until this afternoon. If it doesn't I guess I will take it to the stealership.

Thanks for the replies!

[ajsalida]

Where did you hook up the charger and where did you measure voltage?

Couple of things I have found out WRT BMW batteries and charging system. Washing the car with the FOB in your pocket if you have CA will drive the car crazy. Locking and unlocking almost every time the door handles get wet. This will drain a battery quickly esp if it is not fully charged. If at all possible let it go to sleep and put the key in a faraday cage (wire basket or far away or both).

Car has a not exactly perfect "smart" charging system that is not so smart unless the battery is charged up completely. My car did what your car is doing over and over (and went to the dealer and they said they reprogrammed it but did not solve it) UNTIL I charged it up, now it never does it unless I leave it undriven for weeks. It is possible your battery was never fully charged IOW. If the dealer had it on a fast charge likely it was not fully charged.

Leave it on a trickle charger for 2 full days, charge it at the jumper points under the hood. Make sure you have a good contact. Measure voltage same place. Should read above 12.5v.

You can tell it is getting low if you lose trip odo miles and/or CA access starts to not work. Also get low battery warnings on the dash.

FWIW I got a ctek 3300 trickle charger, works on all my cars and bikes.

edit: it is also possible dealer mis-coded battery in for reset, either type or amp/hr.

[BMWM.D.]

Originally Posted by Mookie469

The battery tender is brand new. It will go in maintenance mode once full charge is achieved.

This morning the battery was at 12.68v I think that is the best that I have seen in the last couple of days. I removed the battery tender to see if it holds the charge until this afternoon. If it doesn't I guess I will take it to the stealership.

Thanks for the replies!

Most battery tenders should enter a "storage" mode once it sees the battery has reached full charge. My BMW tender maintains around 13.5 volts at that point. 12.68 volts is a good open-circuit voltage for a charged battery, but not usually with a tender device connected. Are you sure you're allowing the battery to fully charge?

I'll also add that once a battery has been deep-discharged (as yours has been), it is just never the same. If your car has a problem that is causing the battery to become discharged, I'd recommend replacing that battery after it is fixed. Maybe you can get the dealership to replace it under warranty. It's also possible it is a defective battery -- it's just really hard to tell from your description of things.

[Mookie469]

I will let you guys know what's up after It gets fixed. I will request a new battery under warranty since it was replace not a while ago.

To answer you other question, I believe that I am letting the tender fully charge the battery. This morning when I removed it the indicator light in the tender was green meaning the charge was complete. I don't think I have measure the voltage with the tender on if I did I don't remember. Go figure!

Thanks for the recommendations they are welcome.

r/
Ed

[Mookie469]

The dealership down here found a problem, that is that the battery was never change. Surprise! I was able to contact my old SA and talked about the situation. Apparently they had an apprentice work on my car last time and he grab the old battery and re installed in the car. My old dealership is going to pay for the battery and the labor since it was their mistake. Now I hope that's the only issue with the car, I hope they don't find anything else on the electrical side.

[BMWM.D.]

Originally Posted by Mookie469

The dealership down here found a problem, that is that the battery was never change. Surprise! I was able to contact my old SA and talked about the situation. Apparently they had an apprentice work on my car last time and he grab the old battery and re installed in the car. My old dealership is going to pay for the battery and the labor since it was their mistake. Now I hope that's the only issue with the car, I hope they don't find anything else on the electrical side.

Wow....So your original battery was still in the car? It's pretty easy to tell from a quick visual. There should be a date code stamped on the negative terminal that lists the week and year of battery production. Besides that, the newer replacement batteries look different than the original.

[Mookie469]

Yeah I guess the battery code was 4106. Meaning the 41 week of 2006, so around October and the car was finally assembled in Nov 2006. I guess it was a rookie mistake, I am glad that I got along with my old SA. He did own up to it and solve the problem.

[Mookie469]

There she is "Roxanne" ha!

[ajsalida]

Originally Posted by Mookie469

The dealership down here found a problem, that is that the battery was never change. Surprise! I was able to contact my old SA and talked about the situation. Apparently they had an apprentice work on my car last time and he grab the old battery and re installed in the car. My old dealership is going to pay for the battery and the labor since it was their mistake. Now I hope that's the only issue with the car, I hope they don't find anything else on the electrical side.

Amazing. Glad they owned up to it and made it right but Jeez.

One thing I'd call and make very sure the car was properly programmed for the new battery. I wonder if you were driving around with an old battery but programmed for a new one?

[bayerischemexiko]

Hello there all,

I was super very frustrated towards this issue, I search and search in all possible forum.

First mistake: I thought was the battery, so I went to Costco to buy a new one .
Second mistake: I thought was the rele G30, I didn't buy it because was out of stock, thank Jesus!

Finally I had a hunch and put in ZERO position my Control element light (61 31 6 932 796), and guess what....

IT STOPPED DRAINING MY NEW BATTERY, so far I don't know what the problem is but certainly could be the light sensor in the windshield or the control light, either way I'm happy even that always I park the car for long periods I have to switch it off....

BTW, my bimmer is a E90 2007 325i, regards and hope this is useful...

[2jzn54]

i was going to ask what you meant by a battery "reset" because a new battery shouldn't be dying like that. so did you find out what he really did? did he just charge the battery and give the car back to you, but charged you for a new battery??

[Aussieatlarge]

I realize this is an old thread but my 2007 E93 is a battery killer. As soon as I stopped driving it regularly, the issue started. This is going to sound crazy but it seems that as soon as the voltage drops below a certain level, something causes a massive AMP draw to the point where a charger cannot even charge the battery above 5 volts. As soon as I disconnect the ground cable, the charger charges the battery and everything is good to go. Its like the battery (second one I have tried) is either capable of starting the car, or completely dead and nonchargeable while connected.

The car always seems alive to me after it is turned off. Sometimes in the garage, hours after it is turned off, the strangest sounds emanating from it. One sounds is like a vacuum canister actuating a flap. Any ideas?

[Steve Sas]

There was an issue with the voltage regulator failing on the alternator from reading older posts.
Have you monitored battery voltage from the kombi display?

You can rule out alternator by disconnecting it over night at the battery fuse assy.
Sounds like the alternator is driving the stator winding even when engine is off.