Yet another Battery drain question

Hey fellas,

New here, went back 10 pages or so of the forum, didn't find similar issue.

Need help locating a battery drain in wife's X3. Last two weeks on Monday had to jump start her car, battery was almost dead. Car sat in a driveway over the weekend. If the car is driven during daily on weekdays, it is completely fine in the morning.

Went to Pep Boys , they did battery test and it is OK, although 4+ years old.

Also, I've noticed that radio panel doesn't completely turns off in the last two weeks when car is locked. The panel and clock stay on. So, is this a possible battery drain (this doesn't look right), and if yes how can I make radio turn itself off? (sorry, not in the manual, and the car is off warranty).

Also, do you recommend replacing battery anyway since it is 4+ years old?

Thanks

These battery drain issue seem to crop up occasionally on the forum; but I can't recall anyone ever finding a definitive solution/culprit. Rather than scrolling down the list of threads, try the search utility using a few key words like "radio" and "battery drain." The consensus seems to be that some module (in your case, perhaps it's the radio head) isn't going to 'sleep' when the vehicle is locked.

By design, the radio head is supplied with power for a period of time after the engine is shut off, or until a door is opened. Sounds like something in that path isn't getting set properly... Either way, my memory tells me that the radio/clock display should go out immediately after the engine is shut off. Over time, this could be the source of the battery drain; I had a similar problem develop in the radio head of my '97 GMC Jimmy, and the battery would be dead after only a few days of sitting idle in that state. You may need to employ the same solution I did for my Jimmy (replace the radio head)... In the short term, you may need to try pulling the fuse on the circuit that supplies power to the radio head when the ignition is off (which is, again, what I did with my Jimmy until I could obtain a replacement radio head).

Thanks , I give it a try and see what I can dig. Don't want to replace battery and find out that nothing changed.

I had battery drain it was Bluetooth module I removed the module since my car didn't have necessary components formitmand no longer have any problems.

Thanks. Unfortunately can't deactivate it. My wife uses Bluetooth all the time, she would rather buy a new car than have it deactivated.

You can try unplugging blue tooth module its in the back left corner pocket in trunk and clean all the contact points on the harness and module. People have seen success in fixing the drain by doing this.

Traced my issues to the audio head unit. Noticed that aftermarket GPS that plugs in the back of the head unit did not turn off sometimes - ie GPS remained powered up long after ignition is off. Never an issue if I turn off the head unit manually before exit the car. You might try this for a while and see if cures your issue - at least will isolate the problem to the audio head unit. I can leave car standing for 2-3 weeks now with no issue.

Hello. I recommend replacing the battery.3 to 4 years old is long life for a battery although batteries that live inside the vehicle usually last a while longer.Also use a amp clamp to check for drain.it is a meter that hooks around the negative cable.it should be no more than 250 milli amps,there is a 1000 milli amps in 1 amp.make sure when checking for a drain that there is nothing on .if door is open roll the latch,you can always tell when bmw goes to sleep because the park shift light goes out. replace battery start fresh.goodluck

The TCU (Bluetooth) is probably the culprit. It has a tendency to not go into the sleep mode (and keeps trying to pair). You could buy a newer version TCU or purchase a ULF (ULFs don't have this problem).

My 2006 X5 had the same battery drain. One weekend we didn't use it at all and on Monday morning it was completely dead. I took the vehicle to the dealer and they said it was the bluetooth TCU that would not allow the vehicle to go to sleep and therefore needed to be replaced. Instead of paying $650 to replace the module I just had them disconnect it. This was a year ago and I haven't had an issue, but yesterday after reading in this forum about cleaning the TCU connections could possibly solve the issue I decided to reconnect the TCU.

How can I tell if the vehicle goes to sleep? The bluetooth stops working when I turn of the vehicle but not sure how to tell if the vehicle is completely asleep.

Also, could the phone model have any thing to do with the TCU not going to sleep? I previously had a blackberry when the problem first occurred, but now I use a iPhone 4S and 5.

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Originally Posted by mp96b

How can I tell if the vehicle goes to sleep? The bluetooth stops working when I turn of the vehicle but not sure how to tell if the vehicle is completely asleep..

The LED light by the shift leaver and by the drivers side controls on the door will go out. Sometimes it takes as much as 15 minutes or so .
Good luck
cheers
vern

Appreciate it, it looks like it is going to sleep now.