RRH

Guys, just before christmas I had a new battery fitted to the X5. If we left it more than about 48 hours it was too flat to start it.

The new battery seems exactly the same.

What's concerning me is how quickly a massive battery is being drained. If there is a leak somewhere, surely it would have to be substantial to flatten it totally between Friday night and this morning?

I've checked the obvious stuff- lights, etc, but this is getting beyond a joke.

I suppose there's a slim possibility that the battery didn't get replaced, but I know the garage pretty well and very much doubt they'd try to shaft me.

Any ideas?

Snazy

Poor earth is the answer.... Finding it... well thats another matter.

SunnySideUp

Does the battery look old or new? They may have thought they changed it, but didn't!

It won't be a bad earth ..... it's a damned GOOD earth as you are draining the battery somewhere.

Measure the current being drawn from the Battery - this will give you a clue as to what is happening.

What is on at all times? Clock .. anything else you can think of? Ice Fridge in the boot, maybe? Something like that?

GC8

You need to identify which circuit is drawing the power. It could be the alarm, but equally it could be something tricky like a glovebox lamb that isnt going out...

GC8

Something like this:

AUTOMOTIVE CURRENT AMMETER TESTER, CAR DIAGNOSTICS, NEW on eBay (end time 17-Feb-10 21:23:59 GMT)

Will help you here.

BOB.T

I think there's a sneaky boot light that can stay on with these, also check for lights on the sun visors, the ones that come on with the mirror.

I assume the alternator is working ok?

Nigel H

A glovebox lamb

Made me laff

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

That'll be your Hedgehog matey.
I bought a 4.6IS V8 this year and it was doing exactly the same thing, get over to x5drivers forum and have a nosey. 50 quid from GSF and a 30 min DIY job, maybe worth a new battery too if you have been jump starting it a lot.

turbotye

i had the same prob on a car and it was the light in the boot not going out.

nik52wrx

Parents had a similar problem on their VW Touareg, after many visits to VW it was eventually traced to a faulty rear window motor.
Nik.

500

Sounds right, sit in the car, lock it and have a listen for the fan going very slowly.

We have a 545i and have had battery problems this month. I have a mate that works for BMW and he brought his battery tester home after we charged it up, came up as '90% charged - Good Battery'. Saved me £170!

Still no drain now after 5 days so fingers crossed it has sorted itself out but next step would be the hedgehog or final stage resistor(same thing, different name). apparently it's more common on the E39 (which the X5 is based on) than the E60 (ours) but can still happen. BMW have advanced power diagnostics and could help you find the fault although this could work out expensive.

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

do a search in google for PARASITIC BATTERY DRAIN

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm if the FSR had failed (aka hedgehog - stupid yank terminologies call it what its supposed to be called - a final stage resistor), usually you find the interior heater fans won't go onto full speed, regardless of control settings. Whilst your playing with the dash controls, make sure nobody has set the heater to come on via the timer (forgot where the menu option is, but its in there somewhere).

Early X5s don't shut off the boot lights if the boot isn't shut properly (or pops open randomly - they sometimes do that), later models will shut off after 30mins (same for e39s and e46s ).

Voltage regulators on the alternator can go on the blink. Air cooled alternators its only a £25 part (from a Bosch parts supplier, not BMW ). Models with water cooled alternators - god knows; I haven't had the pleasure to play with one yet.

GC8

...and all of this can be identified/confirmed with the tool in the link that I posted above (apart from the glovebox lamb, which would need Mr Impreza).

Leslie

Do you have a tracker fitted, they can drain the battery pretty fast and you cant switch them off of course.

Is the battery getting fully recharged again after you have found it to be flat?

Les

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

LOL it still looks like a hedgehog! I asked for the final stage resistor in GSF and they didnt know what it was, they called it the heater module, I called it the hedgehog and they knew what I was talking about!

RRH

Sorry chaps, missed loads of replies.

I took it in to the garage that fitted the battery today. He told me he has had a couple of issues with 'non genuine' batteries on X5's. He's fitted a genuine BMW battery today and wants me to see how we get on for the next week or so- no charge- pay the extra if it works.

At the risk of being flamed, where do I find the hedgehog thing?

There's a box under the bonnet that makes a fan type noise the second you unlock the car- no idea what it is but always reckoned it didn't sound right. Can't remember when it started happening.

As far as I'm aware, all lights are going out correctly (our drive is real dark, I think I'd be able to see a light) and windows are functioning normally.

I'll pop over to ebay now and have a look at the diagnostic tool. If I can resolve this myself then I'd be real pleased. What I want to avoid is taking it to the local auto-electrician as from past experience he'll have the whole loom out and charge a fortune.

Thanks again everyone

GC8

The beauty of the tool is that for £16 you will almost certainly be able to find the current draw yourself. Even if its not a simple fix then you should have saved many times the cost in diagnostic time.

Simon

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

You get to it via the driverside footwell in front of the gearstick/autostick.
BMW X5 • View topic - Final Stage Resistor ( unplanned d.i.y.)

RRH

Bought one, thanks

RRH

Excellent, thank you