BMW - Increased battery discharge while stationary

from_atozinc

Hi

I have a 2006 BMW 523i (E60)
Drive about 25 miles a day 3 days a week.
Lately, I have been getting the attached message........I have the car for a couple of years.

i.e. Vehicle Battery: Increased battery discharge while stationary

Sometimes I may not drive the cars for 4-5 days. And then sometimes, I just use it for a 5 minute trip to shops etc. Car is parked outside

Anyone else ever experience this problem ?

Anyone have a fix for it ?

Note 1 : I have a parrot Bluetooth kit, don't know if this is issue. Seems to switch off when car is turned off.

Note 2 : every time I start up car the climate control automatically comes on and I normally just press the "off" button. When I switch the car off , 9 times out of 10, the climate control would be in the "off" position (the "off" light becomes lit to signify it is indeed off) .....,but when I switch car on again, the climate control automatically comes on - don't know if this is anything to do with issue.

Voodoomelon

Could be the Parrot kit, depends on how it's wired up. Have you tried popping the battery on a charge with a trickle charger once a week to see if the error disappears?

Regards the climate control; they all do this. The car only remembers your last climate control setting up to about 25 minutes. If you don't get back in the car for several hours or days, it will default to turning on again.

from_atozinc

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Could be the Parrot kit, depends on how it's wired up. Have you tried popping the battery on a charge with a trickle charger once a week to see if the error disappears?

Regards the climate control; they all do this. The car only remembers your last climate control setting up to about 25 minutes. If you don't get back in the car for several hours or days, it will default to turning on again.

Thanks.
I haven't tried the thing with the trickle charger, I don't even know what a trickle charger is exactly.

Fair enough regarding climate control - I just wished it stayed off, pain in the arse the way it turns on every time I start car.

jimgoose

I see that regularly on an F10 that's been parked up for a while. I could just be time for a new battery.

AhHaor

It sounds like one of two things, new battery is needed, or the IBS. The IBS is the intelligent battery sensor and this controls and monitors the battery condition. A battery is about 130 and the IBS is about 300 IIRC.

from_atozinc

AhHaor wrote: »

It sounds like one of two things, new battery is needed, or the IBS. The IBS is the intelligent battery sensor and this controls and monitors the battery condition. A battery is about 130 and the IBS is about 300 IIRC.

Thanks.

Jaysus, never ends with car expenses. Throw in labour then on top.

AhHaor

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks.

Jaysus, never ends with car expenses. Throw in labour then on top.

The battery was programmed on side of the road and the IBS cost quoted there was incl of labour in an indy garage.

from_atozinc

AhHaor wrote: »

The battery was programmed on side of the road and the IBS cost quoted there was incl of labour in an indy garage.

Oh ok. Thanks.

Don't get ya about battery and the side of the road.

jimgoose

from_atozinc wrote: »

Oh ok. Thanks.

Don't get ya about battery and the side of the road.

BMW's intelligent charging system means the computer needs to be "told" about a new battery.

mfceiling

Tbh OP I wouldn't worry about it. We had a 520d and every second day we used to get some sort of warning.
Got that message every few weeks but nothing ever came of it. Used to get the tyre pressure sensor telling us we had a flat wheel - was always fine.
Brake pads needs changing - yeah they were replaced 4000kms ago - they're hardly fcuked already.
I genuinely think they are not a well engineered car at all.

Special Circumstances

mfceiling wrote: »

Tbh OP I wouldn't worry about it. We had a 520d and every second day we used to get some sort of warning.
Got that message every few weeks but nothing ever came of it. Used to get the tyre pressure sensor telling us we had a flat wheel - was always fine.
Brake pads needs changing - yeah they were replaced 4000kms ago - they're hardly fcuked already.
I genuinely think they are not a well engineered car at all.

ALAAAAARM!
All men forward, someone is slagging off BMW on the Motors forum!!



:pac::D

from_atozinc

mfceiling wrote: »

Tbh OP I wouldn't worry about it. We had a 520d and every second day we used to get some sort of warning.
Got that message every few weeks but nothing ever came of it. Used to get the tyre pressure sensor telling us we had a flat wheel - was always fine.
Brake pads needs changing - yeah they were replaced 4000kms ago - they're hardly fcuked already.
I genuinely think they are not a well engineered car at all.

mmmmm. Yeah you could be right I suppose. It always starts etc and battery has never gone dead or anything. But just annoying seeing the message pop up every so often.

listermint

If it is the original battery at 2006, the long and short if it is the car needs a new pacemaker.

BMWs are ultra sensitive to power. It will eventually die in the new year and you will be left stranded. Trickle charger for this issue would be a mugs game that battery if its the original has over stayed its welcome you will not get another year out of it.

Get a new one, have it programmed to car. dont go to dealer use an Indy or one of the large forecourt specialists to change it.

Special Circumstances

An original bmw battery will have its birthday recorded somewhere on the battery. BMW do seem to fit very good batteries from the factory, replaced an 8 year old one, maybe 10? But time to replace now if it is original as listermint says.

Gumbo

Very common on the E60.

Could be ageing battery, faulty IBS Cable (this goes on them all).
My cousins E60 taxi has a meter connected constantly and he took the IBS cable out after getting these warnings and it has never caused an issue since.

from_atozinc

kceire wrote: »

Very common on the E60.

Could be ageing battery, faulty IBS Cable (this goes on them all).
My cousins E60 taxi has a meter connected constantly and he took the IBS cable out after getting these warnings and it has never caused an issue since.

Thanks. But is taking out the ibs cable a bad thing ?

Is it a tricky job to take it out ?

ironclaw

Given the time of year (cold), short runs you are doing and the darker days (More time on lights) the battery can be placed under greater strain. A battery in decent health with handle this but if its borderline, you may start to dip a shade below what the car is happy with. I'd strongly suggest an overnight charge before going down any other route. Its a potentially cheap solution to the problem.

As regards the Parrot kit, the drain on the battery would be minimal but being constantly on won't help a battery that is struggling as above. Some auto-electricians will wire 'constant on' for a faster pairing when you get into the car, others on ignition live. Either way, its not the root of your problem

Gumbo

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks. But is taking out the ibs cable a bad thing ?

Is it a tricky job to take it out ?

couple of bolts, that's it. I heard of people coding it out, but I don't think its required.

TJJP

Check fuel filter heater too. Unusually I had this problem on an F10 leading to battery discharge warning, was common on the E60 though I believe and there was a recall at one stage.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=4548FA0E62FAE50C802578FF0037765E

Sorry, just copped it's a 523i so not likely to be this...

Gumbo

TJJP wrote: »

Check fuel filter heater too. Unusually I had this problem on an F10 leading to battery discharge warning, was common on the E60 though I believe and there was a recall at one stage.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=4548FA0E62FAE50C802578FF0037765E

Sorry, just copped it's a 523i so not likely to be this...

The E60 battery recall was for a simple plastic connector on the battery wiring, it's separate to the IBS Cable issue unfortunately.