how much does the battery drain

[Smeeagain]

my wife came back to a flat battery (third time in 3 months and only when she uses the car and i used it far more than she does ....)

Anyway, having forgotten all the instructions I gave her about jump starting she called the AA. He got her going but said that it needed a new battery because there was too much drain off it.

Now I wasnt there and she cant quite remember how much he said it was/should be draining. It is is a four year old Bosch silver S5 battery in an E53 3.0 Do Sport Auto 2004 - can someone tell me how much a good battery should be draining with the various permanent systems (he also didn't wait til it had gone to sleep as far as I can tell so presumably that would give him an 'incorrect' value)

Smee

[X5Sport]

Current drain when asleep should be less than 100mA.  When it's awake it will be a lot more!  Mine draws up to 60A in 'radio ready' mode.

A four year old battery will be getting towards the end of its life, and more so if it has gone flat regularly.  These modern Calcium and AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) type batteries are far less tolerant of having gone flat than the old 'wet' batteries from a twenty years ago and going flat can seriously shorten their service lives.

Is the battery not still under warranty though?  I thought the S5's had a 5 year warranty?

Richard

[Smeeagain]

Yes its till under warranty although i don't think it is faulty - the first time she hadn't closed the boot properly, the second time she left the lights on. God knows what she did this time.

I've been away since Friday and not back till Wednesday - it started fine overnight on Friday/Sat and Sat/Sun but I also know she did eight trips over the weekend of less than one mile duration which wont have helped.

She think the guy said it was drawing two amps?????

Also, does anyone know the procedure for claiming the warranty - if I can bag a new one just before five years is up then that would be handy - by local indy fitted the Bosch Silver S5 at my insistence but I don't recall getting any warranty paperwork - is the date stamp on it good enough?

[X5Sport]

You'll need the proof of purchase according to Bosch.

Richard

[Smeeagain]

Thats a bugger. Well I may well push the onus back on the Indy and i will watch out next time

What did you think the the 'drawing two amps' comments (she may well have that wrong because a) she wasn't listening and b) she would have understood way less than me about any such conversation

Smee

[X5Sport]

If it was 'asleep' then that current draw is way too high.  If it really is the case then you'll need to start pulling fuses until the right circuit dies.

Richard

[Smeeagain]

So what should the draw be when its asleep and just prior to going to sleep?

[X5Sport]

Less than 100mA for the first and depends upon build and options fitted for the second.

Richard

[Gaff]

This is such a shame about the battery drains on the X5s, and how many reported cases there are. Well, to say the least I've still got the problem on the E53. I've read abit and found that most fingers point to the FSR. That's the first step, then with that omitted, it's a case of plugging a reader at the battery lead, testing the amps, then sequentially unplugging each fuse to see if the drain stops. Can you all confirm this would be the most appropriate step forward? And with the car asleep, it should be under 100mA?

[X5Sport]

As long as you don't wake the car when pulling a fuse...which is always possible.....it should be less than 100mA asleep.  The power is drawn by the alarm, clock circuit and that's about it.

The phone system is a known issue, as is the FSR as both prevent the car going to sleep.

On my E53 I think the 'sleep' current was about 75mA because I had a tracker fitted and that drew a tiny amount of current too (15mA).  Anything less than 100mA is good, lower is better.

Richard

[Smeeagain]

Good info thanks - what is the FSR?

[Smeeagain]

Can you do the test at the charging points under the bonnet?

[chrisn7]

According to the WDS the X5 closed circuit current drain should be no more than 40 mA

[X5Sport]

[quote="Smeeagain"]
Can you do the test at the charging points under the bonnet?
[/quote]

No.  You need to disconnect one side of the battery and put an ammeter in circuit, or run the BMW test system on the car.  I don't know which part of the software suite does it though.

Richard

[X5Sport]

[quote="chrisn7"]
According to the WDS the X5 closed circuit current drain should be no more than 40 mA
[/quote]

US or UK version?  UK have an alarm system that is not fitted to the U.S. spec cars - and may not be fitted in Europe either.  That brings it up a little bit.

Richard