Electrical Problems

[Jeffersonwillis]

I have a 94 325i, that has a pretty horrendous drain on the battery. Using a test light I attempted to track it; placing the light between battery negative terminal and battery ground cable. Light stayed on when every fuse was pulled, when alternator and starter werected each disconnected. When I pulled the cable going to the fuse panel from the battery, the light went out. Where should I go from here?

[bmwdirtracer]

Buy a multimeter. A test light cannot possibly test electrical draw. You test electrical draw by carefully measuring milliamps.

Do you have any aftermarket electrical items, like stereo or alarm?

[Jeffersonwillis]

There are no aftermarket items in the car that I have been able to find. Stereo is also removed.
If it helps, a week or so ago after the battery was charged and connected, one of the warning signals was constantly on until I pulled it out.

[bmwdirtracer]

You can buy a cheap multimeter at Sears or Autozone or NAPA for ~$20.
Read the directions, set the meter to read milliamps (0.000 Amps).
You'll be needing to hook one wire to the negative terminal, and the other to the negative cable (disconnected). The trunk will need to be latched (use a screwdriver to roll the latch)....same for the hood (I can't remember if an E36 has a hood switch, so roll both latches.)

With doors closed, wait for shifter light (if an automatic), or wait at least 15 minutes, for the car to go to sleep.

You want to see numbers around 0.035 to 0.050 Amps. If you see a zero reading, check that the red wire of the multimeter is plugged in correctly, and push the "Range" button until you see a reading like this.

Then, if the reading exceeds this by much, start pulling fuses, one at a time, until the reading suddenly drops to an acceptable level. (Of course, you can immediately replace each fuse, if the reading doesn't change after it's removed.)

Tell us which fuses cause the reading to drop, and how much.

What "warning signal was on until you pulled it"?

[Jeffersonwillis]

I'll acquire and perform the multimeter test sometime this weekend as it is going to be a fairly busy week and repost. The warning signal fuse for the e36 refers to the two relays that emit sound under the dash (to the best of my knowledge) ie. The seat belt warning, that you left the lights on a door is open etc.

[bmwdirtracer]

Thanks for clarifying the "warning signal". This is likely very much connected to your battery drain issue. The car thinks that the lights are on, or that a door is open with key in the ignition. Therefore, it's not going to sleep. Plug the warning device back in. When you make the buzzer go away, you'll have solved the problem. My wild-assed guess is a bad ignition switch. but DO NOT replace it until you' ve disconnected it to see if the warning goes away, and also disconnected the light switch and any other items which might cause the buzzer.

[Upup12]

Check the battery positive cable to see its loose check all grounds to see if its loose also have the alternator checked by starting the car and removing the positive battery cable if the car shuts off the alternator is not working its not taking charging it should be charging over 14v