Electrical issues 97 318i

[DangerRangerDan]

A problem started occuring a few months ago. Thebattery would die within even a few hours when the car was off. All lights are off radio everything as far as i can tell. I bought a new battery and the problem continued. I resorted to disconnecting the negative terminal between drives. I figured I must have a parasitic drain. Yesterday I picked up a multimeter, jumped the car and drove around for a few. Shut the car off and proceeded to conduct a drain test, only the multimeter shows the amp draw at 35 milliamps. Which in my understanding in normal. I know that after market radios are one of the most common causes so i pulled the fuses and connected the battery. After a few hours the car wont start.

[breakaway]

There are generally two things that cause a battery to drain in a couple of hours; A major power draw or a bad battery. Since you do not have a major power draw check the battery. New batteries can be bad.
You said you just bought a multimeter, how many volts is the battery showing at rest and while running?

I resorted to disconnecting the negative terminal between drives. I figured I must have a parasitic drain (http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/#). Yesterday I picked up a multimeter (http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/#), jumped the car and drove around for a few
If you had to jump it even though you disconnected the battery to prevent any drain and it still needs to be jumped there are several reasons why. Need more information about how it does not start.
check:
Battery - voltage at rest and while running, also a load test. This will let you know if the battery and alternator are working.
EWS - You can have an intermittent short in the EWS system.
Fuses - BMW fuses SUCK!!! I recommend replacing all of them. A visual check DOES NOT WORK. A continuity check DOES NOT WORK. A voltage check DOES NOT WORK. I have had intermittent electrical problems and the BMW fuses PASSED all the checks in spite of being bad. The thin wire in the fuse "breaks" but are still touching together (you can not see the break) creating a weak connection that sometimes works and sometimes does not.
Connections - make sure all ground straps, battery connections, starter and ignition connections are tight and corrosion free.

Please check these items and give us more information on how the car will not start. Does it click? Does it crank? what does it do?

[DangerRangerDan]

I bench tested the alternator, it has a blown diode so battery doesn't get charged fully charged and what little charge it has gets drawn from the normal amp draw

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Thanks for the info much appreciated. Ill replace the diodes and update with the results

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The battery shows barely 14 with the engine running. Lights and fan on it drops down to 13.5. After running for a good long while and testing connections for votage drop, the battery shows not fully charged.

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The car will click. After i replace the diodes i will replace the fuses if the problem persists