Battery drain while parked

I have been told that I must lock my new 2012 650i coupe when it is parked overnight in order to prevent excessive battery drainage. Does anybody know what the facts are about this?

Mine stays in the garage and is never locked at night. I haven't had an issue.

I can't imagine the engineers at BMW missing that one and allowing the battery to be drained just because you left the doors unlocked. Possible, but not probable.

I know it doesn't sound logical. It was the SA at my dealership who told me this. I used to have a problem with my 2007. I got into the habit of putting it on a maintainer if I didn't plan to use it for a couple of days. That was the first time I was told about keeping it locked to help preserve the battery. Now I got the same warning for my 2012. I can not find any reference anywhere to substantiate this requirement. I prefer to leave the car unlocked in my garage if it doesn't make a difference but I can not find out for sure if it does or not.

My 2009 stayed unlocked in my garage or three years. I never had a problem with it.

My 2012 has only 500 miles on it, and I have never locked it. It has been in my garage for two months unlocked. No issues.

Never lock mine at night in the garage, either (or any of my BMWs, for that matter) and haven't had an issue.

Knock on wood, please.

I drive a 2012 650Xi and noticed the same thing. I get a message after overnight parking (sometimes after 2 days) that there was excessive battery drain and the electrical connections were switched off. I also do not lock the car at night.

I just got Escort Passport 9500ci installed and I thought that device was draining the battery. It happened when I left the radar/laser detector on and so started powering the device off. It still happens, but after 2 days of parking.

On a side note, my custom installer for the passport 9500 ci says that the new BMW does not have a interrupted power supply to which he can connect the radar device. If that was possible, the 9500ci should power off when I switch off the car ignition. It does not now and have to power it off manually. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks.

Ravi

My dealer said more or less the same thing, but slightly different:

1. It is good to lock the car, because it runs through its shutdown process faster. We have all heard if you remain in the garage after a drive that the car makes little sounds for a while. This is normal, other BMWs do the same thing.) It just supposedly runs through this process faster if you lock it.

2. The car will protect itself from excessive battery drainage if required.

I seldom shut mine, and no issues (but I have only had it for a few weeks).

roadsta

got the same thing with mine... If I do not lock it and leave it 2-3 days without using it,.. it warns me of excessive battery drain... My SA also told me that it does not go completly to sleep...

IDK but I have a K40 installed in mine and it turns on with the ignition and off when I shut it off. I never use the remote. The only issue that I had was with the K band...it kept sensing the cameras on the front bumper, so the dealer shut off the K band and left only the Ka band. They said that all of the BMW's that have the parking assist set off K band radar.

I've been doing a little more research on this problem. When I park my car in my garage, I press the "start/stop" button to shut off the engine. The dash remains lit and radio remains on. The car is in the "ignition" mode.

When I press the "start/stop" button again, the ignition shuts off and the car goes into the "radio ready state". If I press the radio button, the radio comes on immediately. According to the Owner's Manual: "Some electronic systems/power consumers remain ready for operation".

This may be the circumstance that the SA is referring to that causes the battery drain.

Reading further in the Owner's Manual:

"Radio ready state switches off automatically:

-After approx. 8 minutes

-When the vehicle is locked using the central locking system

-Shortly before the battery is discharged completely, so that the engine can still be started"

I don't know how much battery drain there is while in the "radio ready state", but if your battery is somewhat less than completely charged, the 8 minutes of battery drain might cause a problem.

Apparently, in order to be sure that there is no battery drain while the car is parked, you have to lock the car to shut down the "radio ready state" manually.

well the reason why the SA told you this, maybe because the light on P when the car is unlocked, but consider this, with curb parking light or both parking lights on over night, you wouldn't have any problems, as that is one of the features of German cars, so I don't think the logic is sound.

The car enters different sleep modes as time passes. However it never completely turns off. Some system like the key sensing circuits and security circuits do stay on. I have left my 650i a number of times in my garage or at the airport without a problem starting for more than a couple of week, the longest being a month. It wouldn't surprise me you have an electrical leak or a bad battery. Since the car is under warranty why not have the dealer work on the problem. If you have to, ask the dealer to come pick the car up the next time you have a dead battery.

My wife's 2011 328i recently started showing a battery drain warning. Her SA went through all the instructions about shut down (press on/off button w/o brake, lock w/ fob, etc). SA said if problem continues, it's a problem with the ignition system. Well, the problems continue. She'll take it to the dealer tomorrow. I'll post again when we get an answer.

I was told to always push the start/stop button twice before leaving the car.

Yeah, I know; but there's still a drain. It's on its way to the dealer as we speak (type!)

i brought my 2012 650i xdrive convertible in yesterday due to "charge battery" and "battery discharging while stopped-electrical devices were temporarily switched off" and other similar notices. the dealer Motorwerks BMW Bloomington MN is telling me the battery needs replacing and warranty will not cover because something was left on and drained the battery. I drive short distances like my office is less than 1 mile from my home-they say that is not good because battery never fully charges. The car has never failed to start. I told them if i have to pay for the battery i will never buy another BMW.

As noted in the thread, my wife had the same problem, as do many other owners. BMW agreed to eat the cost of the battery a couple of weeks ago. I haven't had time to test the system to see if there is still a drain.

Originally Posted by rogersar

i brought my 2012 650i xdrive convertible in yesterday due to "charge battery" and "battery discharging while stopped-electrical devices were temporarily switched off" and other similar notices. the dealer Motorwerks BMW Bloomington MN is telling me the battery needs replacing and warranty will not cover because something was left on and drained the battery. I drive short distances like my office is less than 1 mile from my home-they say that is not good because battery never fully charges. The car has never failed to start. I told them if i have to pay for the battery i will never buy another BMW.

roger, I cannot imagine any BMW dealer that is willing to sacrifice a customer due to a battery!!!

Originally Posted by rogersar

.... I drive short distances like my office is less than 1 mile from my home-they say that is not good because battery never fully charges....

This is a bunch of malarkey (who said that recently). I drive less than 2 miles to work. My 650 is little over 1 year old, never had problems. All the other cars I owned lately were similar. That being said, I always lock my car at night.

Even if the battery was completely depleted, I imagine it would still be good after a recharge. Never heard of a battery that dies completely after a single deplete cycle. If that;s the case, BMW should cover it. Btw, you can also go to Minnetonka - coverage is not by the dealer only, but by BMW

thanks for your comments...the dealer said warranty would not cover the "failed battery"...they did replace the battery but not under warranty...."C&A goodwill provided by Motorwerks BMW submit to rep for auth battery has failed"....the dealer said when the car was in on 12/20/12 for oil change & inspection they may have left it on...but the car being left on was the cause.......they said further that the car needs to be locked for all the "modules" to be completely off and the car needs to be driven 20 min. every day or every other day to keep battery charged up.....go figure!

I don't mean to start a debate or sound critical - just curious - why not just lock your car when you get out (even if it is in a locked garage with a security system)? I've always had to park outside, so locking it isn't an option and have never given it much thought. I could see if you had to unlock the car with a key or even use a button on a remote, but Comfort Access (standard for all US F12/13s) kinda gets rid of this.

This is assuming that not locking the car is contributing to the battery drainage issue. You'd think the car would automatically shut off the electronics after 15 minutes or so if the electronics pulling power from the battery were to be left on.

i discussed the issue with the SA and he is certain it is best to lock the car

the warning message the car was showing: "battery discharging while stopped-electrical devices were temporarily switched off. other cars i have had like my 2009 SL600, Porsches, CLK600, E320, BMW540 and my wife's 2010 328ix have not had to be locked to shut down

the main reason i was not locking the car in my locked garage is-when i purchased the 650 the salesman or anybody did not say that it was necessary to prevent battery drainage and I haven't had a problem since i purchased the car 2/27/12 until now.

the second reason is a matter of inconvenience if the car is locked and i am in the garage without my key i would need to go in to get it-i am frequently in the garage doing other things as my garage is my workroom and it is a very nice garage: heated, special coated floor, plastic sheating on the walls, nice storage cupboards, etc.

just the same i will now lock in the garage

Originally Posted by rogersar

the main reason i was not locking the car in my locked garage is-when i purchased the 650 the salesman or anybody did not say that it was necessary to prevent battery drainage and I haven't had a problem since i purchased the car 2/27/12 until now.

the second reason is a matter of inconvenience if the car is locked and i am in the garage without my key i would need to go in to get it-i am frequently in the garage doing other things as my garage is my workroom and it is a very nice garage: heated, special coated floor, plastic sheating on the walls, nice storage cupboards, etc.

just the same i will now lock in the garage

That's a good answer.

The Owner's Manual clearly states that the car will shut itself down within a matter of minutes when "off". Even if you need to "double tap" the start/stop button to make sure it's out of "radio ready", the car is smart enough to know when the engine is off and the seats are empty. Just considering the thousands (literally) of posts concerning this issue on this and other forums, there must be an engineering problem here or there's a faulty component that should be recalled.