Increased Battery Discharge issue

Originally Posted by ctuna

You hooked up a battery charger during coding was it one that had a power supply
function ? Did you register the battery or install any stuff like the ipod interface or alarm that required you to process the car or mess with the VO?

Don't what to hijack this thread but did battery reg with INPA and coded lots of stuff with NCS on 07' e92 and 11' e70. The best was coding to be able to close the rear hatch with the key fob or dash button on the e70. :thumb up: I'm still looking for a coolant temp display for the e70 KOMBI module without have to use the secret menu. It nice to have coolant temp when towing up and down the grades in the summer. PM me if you want more info.

Hi NJ_Ray Yes, I bought a BMW and I will never trade my car for a Honda and a '92? BMW is a fun car, I love driving it and sometimes I take a longer route to go home just so I can be in it longer.

Oh and I don't drive just 5 minutes a day

Hi Sunny5280! I don't have this problem until about 7 months later. I bought my car in mid March. First Increased Battery Discharge in mid October. And about 2 weeks later, again "Increased Battery Discharge" and same time "Battery Charged Level Low".

I guess my car gets more exercise than yours

I hope your X5 won't have my problem. It makes me worried when a warning message pops up.

sunny5280: I forgot, thank you for sharing your past experiences. I hope I don't have to replace the battery within a year or even 2. This car is brand new, so I am trying hard to save the battery

Just got my car back from it spending the night on the dealers trickle charger. Low battery issues since early 2010 that I've nursed along by periodic charging & attention to full vehicle shut down.

g/l

Originally Posted by terri_atl

sunny5280: I forgot, thank you for sharing your past experiences. I hope I don't have to replace the battery within a year or even 2. This car is brand new, so I am trying hard to save the battery

I've only replaced three batteries in all of my BMW's. And all three were due to age of the battery and not insufficient driving (though I suspect lack of driving probably shortened their lives but not to the extend you're experiencing). Given I drive them primarily short distances (10 miles or less) or don't drive them for extended periods (328i / 330xi) I'm surprised I haven't replaced more given the recommendations of BMW.

With that said it might be easier for you to buy a new battery and swap them out every few months. That way you can charge the battery in a convenient place. Not the best solution...one shouldn't have to swap batteries every few months. If I had your experience I would not be driving a BMW.

Hi Sunny5280, this is my first BMW. Personally it's sad to have this experience. Hopefully this not going to be my last. So you saying only BMW has this issue? Then again I am thinking we do have somewhat the same driving habit, but I am experiencing this problem but you don't.

Sunny5280, sorry I may have misinterpret what you said, the part about if you have my experience, you won't be driving a BMW. I never drive a BMW before, but I went to many sites when I first had the warning message. Seems that BMW not kind to car drivers who don't drive their cars far and on highways. My friend thinks that's a joke.

Hi GarySL: so you saying even with periodic charging, your battery still have issues? I believe the next time I send my car in, the dealer is going to charge me

Originally Posted by terri_atl

Hi GarySL: so you saying even with periodic charging, your battery still have issues? I believe the next time I send my car in, the dealer is going to charge me

Yeah, it's been placed on the dealers trickle charger at least three separate occasions (the dealer has suggested low mileage or chronic improper shut down). I just drop it off late Friday & pick it up sometime Saturday, when the garage isn't being used. There has never been any discussion of a cost involved. g/l

Originally Posted by terri_atl

Hi Sunny5280, this is my first BMW. Personally it's sad to have this experience. Hopefully this not going to be my last. So you saying only BMW has this issue? Then again I am thinking we do have somewhat the same driving habit, but I am experiencing this problem but you don't.

I'm not saying it's limited to BMW however I don't see it being a problem on other vehicles. But then I don't hang out in forums for other vehicles. I do see it being plausible to BMW and other vehicles so I don't believe those reporting the problem are mistaken nor do I think it's limited to BMW.

Regarding our driving habits I believe mine might be more harsh on the battery or similar. My primary driving, with the X5, is within 6 miles. The six miles is primarily 60% city and 40% highway. Occasionally I'll take it on a longer highway drive.

The 2006 330xi was even worse. I rarely drove it (3,000 miles in almost 18 months with 1,500 of that being a trip to North Dakota) and when I did it was typically within 10 miles...primarily city driving. I did replace the battery in this car back in mid-March of this year. I just traded it in back at the end of October. That was six months with little use and the use was primarily city driving. The battery was fine and I had no doubt it would continue to work.

Have you replaced the battery at all?

Hi Ctuna, yikes98 and all who have been kind to help.. I just saw this website, I am not sure if it is relevant or if it works..it is a post by a Prius car owner at

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-p...ct-cycles.html

Someone by the name of Patrick Wong actually replied this..

"Considering that much of the year there isn't much sunlight, and although this will be painful to do, the best solution for you would be to 1) remove the 12V battery, carry it into your apartment, and hook up a 12V battery charger. 2) Once the battery is fully charged, then bring it back out to the car. Don't connect the negative side until you are ready to drive the car. 3) 2x per month, repeat the battery removal and charging process."

Is that possible? ie removing a battery from the car and say bring it home to charge? I know a Prius battery is different from that in my car. I hope I can have that option too

Also, is there any way to know what is the battery charged level using the idrive?

Gary: the first and last time I was at the service center, the technician told me this time it was a complimentary charge, which led me to think they are going to charge me the next time I do not mind paying say $50 every 6 months if I have to. But I really don't want the battery to die immaturely. And also me worrying every time I drive out and ever see those "Increased Battery Discharge" which gets me worried that the car would not start somewhere. Or worse if there is an underlying problem

Sunny: Not sure if you get a chance to read my earlier posts. I live within a city. I do almost everything in the city. But I do drive more than 6 miles a day. When I first had the problem, I googled key words like high battery discharge, most if not all posts were from BMW owners. I used to drive Mercedes. No such problem. Then again I have Navigation in this car, but I don't use Nav everyday. I only use it on a Tuesday when I need to travel to this place which I like to call "Timbuktu". I have this fear that I will get lost in that area, stranded and the cellular coverage is non-existence. It's a scary thought to be lost in that area.

Anyway, I have a strong feeling BMWs may be more susceptible to such problem (city driving/short distances = battery issue). I have a neighbor, she has a DB9. her car is in the deck most of the time, and if she is out, she probably out at the mall or anyway within a 3 miles from home. Her DB9 has none of my problem. I believe her car should have more gadgets or things that use lots of electricity.

No, I have not replace my battery :O I bought this car mid March., only has this problem arise in mid Oct. But strangely with more miles put in after my Nov 1 service center appt, one month later, I see the "Increased Batt Discharge" showing up. It is like now I put in more miles with the advice of the BMW tech, the problem seemed to be more serious cos it was only one month after I get a full charge at dealer.

Originally Posted by terri_atl

Sunny: Not sure if you get a chance to read my earlier posts. I live within a city. I do almost everything in the city. But I do drive more than 6 miles a day. When I first had the problem, I googled key words like high battery discharge, most if not all posts were from BMW owners. I used to drive Mercedes. No such problem. Then again I have Navigation in this car, but I don't use Nav everyday. I only use it on a Tuesday when I need to travel to this place which I like to call "Timbuktu". I have this fear that I will get lost in that area, stranded and the cellular coverage is non-existence. It's a scary thought to be lost in that area.

I did have an opporunity to read your earlier posts. That's why I'm surprised you're having this problem whereas I did not. IMO my 2006 330xi was used far less frequently (sometimes months at a time went by without use) and for short distances (roughly six miles or less per trip) yet didn't exhibit this problem. And it was fully loaded...including navigation. I did replace the battery but it was the original battery so the need to replace it seemed reasonable. For the following seven months I never had a problem with a low battery warning with the new battery.

Originally Posted by terri_atl

Anyway, I have a strong feeling BMWs may be more susceptible to such problem (city driving/short distances = battery issue). I have a neighbor, she has a DB9. her car is in the deck most of the time, and if she is out, she probably out at the mall or anyway within a 3 miles from home. Her DB9 has none of my problem. I believe her car should have more gadgets or things that use lots of electricity.

I haven't heard of this with any other vehicle but, as I said earlier, I don't really follow other manufacturers. What I do know is I would not put up with paying the dealer to charge my battery every five months, leaving it on trickle charge every night (assuming you could), or trying some other means to keep the battery charged. That is completely unacceptable to me...especially in such an expensive vehicle as BMW.

Originally Posted by terri_atl

No, I have not replace my battery :O I bought this car mid March., only has this problem arise in mid Oct. But strangely with more miles put in after my Nov 1 service center appt, one month later, I see the "Increased Batt Discharge" showing up. It is like now I put in more miles with the advice of the BMW tech, the problem seemed to be more serious cos it was only one month after I get a full charge at dealer.

Being new isn't a guarantee the battery is good. My recommendation would be to purchase a new battery and see how it goes with the new one. Even if the new battery exhibits the same behavior as the previous one you could swap them out and charge the one that is out of the car. While it would be annoying to do this it seems to be a more reasonable approach than the other options.

i understand that our factory Batteries are AGM, but conventional GEL battery can be installed and the car coded to know its a GEL battery. The car then adjusts charging schedule accordingly. im not sure if changing from a AGM type battery to GEL would help the OP, just brain storming.

the only other thing i can think of aside from the CTEK weather proof trickle charger and extension cord, is a gas powered generator and a trickle charger

Originally Posted by terri_atl

Hi Ctuna, yikes98 and all who have been kind to help.. I just saw this website, I am not sure if it is relevant or if it works..it is a post by a Prius car owner at

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-p...ct-cycles.html

Someone by the name of Patrick Wong actually replied this..

"Considering that much of the year there isn't much sunlight, and although this will be painful to do, the best solution for you would be to 1) remove the 12V battery, carry it into your apartment, and hook up a 12V battery charger. 2) Once the battery is fully charged, then bring it back out to the car. Don't connect the negative side until you are ready to drive the car. 3) 2x per month, repeat the battery removal and charging process."

Is that possible? ie removing a battery from the car and say bring it home to charge? I know a Prius battery is different from that in my car. I hope I can have that option too

Also, is there any way to know what is the battery charged level using the idrive?

Sorry, I just change the battery on the e92 a couple weeks ago...what pain in the BTW I like to see him lug his 1 or 2 kWh Prius battery around.

Hi Sunny, thanks for your prompt response. So is it a norm to replace a car battery once every 4-5 years? Of cos I am not optimistic mine can last that long. I can't leave my car to trickle charge cos I don't have a private garage.

How much a new battery will cost? Surely I can't install it myself, that means I have to add in labor costs. I posted a link to a prius website where someone said they can remove the battery and charge it at home. Is that an option for me? You don't think solar panel will work? I quite like that option and yours too, ie I can charge the battery out of the car (will it catch fire or something?)

If my car battery is bad, won't the service center able to diagnose that? But of cos they been saying the problem is caused by my "unfavorable driving patterns".

Hi B737: I remember you suggested a CTEK waterproof charger before. A gas powered generator and a trickle charger? I live in a condo

yikes98: hahaha... ok they are heavy? Like our battery? then that is not an option for me.

Originally Posted by terri_atl

So is it a norm to replace a car battery once every 4-5 years? Of cos I am not optimistic mine can last that long. I can't leave my car to trickle charge cos I don't have a private garage.

How much a new battery will cost? Surely I can't install it myself, that means I have to add in labor costs.

4~5 years is an acceptable lifespan for a car battery - especially if it is being periodically discharged.

Since BMW batteries must be registered (programmed to play nice with the IBS & other electrical system componenets), you may want to have it replaced by a dealer. Figure on $300 to $500 including labor.

Tom

Hi Tom, thanks! that is is what I suspected. About $500

They can run a line off the light fixture in the garage.

Originally Posted by terri_atl

Hi Sunny, thanks for your prompt response. So is it a norm to replace a car battery once every 4-5 years? Of cos I am not optimistic mine can last that long. I can't leave my car to trickle charge cos I don't have a private garage.

How much a new battery will cost? Surely I can't install it myself, that means I have to add in labor costs. I posted a link to a prius website where someone said they can remove the battery and charge it at home. Is that an option for me? You don't think solar panel will work? I quite like that option and yours too, ie I can charge the battery out of the car (will it catch fire or something?)

If my car battery is bad, won't the service center able to diagnose that? But of cos they been saying the problem is caused by my "unfavorable driving patterns".

4-5 years is reasonable for a car battery. As for the cost of a new battery my indy charged me $160 for the battery, installation, and registration.

I don't have a lot of hope for the solar panel charger. To be honest you shouldn't have to resort to solar panel chargers, nightly trickle charging, battery swaps, etc. in order to drive a > $40K vehicle. My recommendation is to bite the bullet and buy a new battery (hopefully from a good indy at substantially less cost) and see how it goes. If not then my suggestion would be to sell the BMW for something else. A daily driver shouldn't require these kinds of gimmicks to drive it.