High Battery Drain

I hope you all have been enjoying the holidays thus far.

I was wondering if any of you guys have experienced the high battery drain control message after a heavy rain storm? My car is parked outdoor in the driveway, no garage unfortunately and on extremely heavy down pour days, I get the high battery drain warning the next day. Any thoughts?

Good morning. I just had that problem this morning although last night's rain was not all that heavy. I have no idea what would cause it, so I don't have any solutions for you, just the same issue.

So I'm having a similar issue and encourage you to track down the Smart Charging fuse/relay in the trunk. It is apparently the culprit many times. Moreover the part is only $20 from BMW.

Read up on it here;

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=316911

Edit BMW Part Number;

6136-6901469

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out.

Thanks for the post reply gggunchi. I had a dead vehicle and thought maybe that relay was the culprit because I could hear it make a clicking sound when I had someone turn on the ignition switch. I disconnected the IBS connector and the vehicle started.

I may just replace that part too.


OP, check your battery compartment for water. Check under the spare tire too. I ended up drilling to small holes under spare and one in battery compartment.

Post pictures of the IBS connector. I'm working on a DIY for the thread. Hopefully admin with sticky it.

Originally Posted by gggunchi

Post pictures of the IBS connector. I'm working on a DIY for the thread. Hopefully admin with sticky it.

I will definitely post pics; however, I'm not sure what part I'm looking for, I need to identify which part exactly it is on the realoem schematic:

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...60&hg=61&fg=10

Thanks for the insight fellas.
I have some maintenance to be done in the coming weeks, I will be sure to bring this up to my SA.

Ok, so here is the old negative cable w/ IBS


Here is the actual IBS sensor on the underside of the negative cable


Old cable side-by-side with the new negative battery cable/IBS sensor installed


New negative cable/IBS with two additional new required connector/wires


I apologize, I had intended on taking pics of the new IBS sensor prior to installation but totally forgot until it was already in - I was in a hurry.

So here is the breakdown from BMW of San Diego:

12-42-7-603-567 Battery cable, nega $249.83
61-12-9-123-572 Adapter Lead IBS $34.78
12-51-7-615-476 Adapter for IBS $65.46

So it is a total of 3 parts, not two. Instead of integrating the cable coming right off the IBS sensor, it is now a separate required part at $65.46! That little change is a $66 kick in profit that looks like a $5 part - even the sales clerk was confused.