High Rate of Battery Discharge

[BuntyK]

Hi,

i think i posted my original post in the wrong forus, aplogise for the double post hoefully a mod can remove?

Here is my issue


i really wish you guys can help me figure out what maybe going on with my car and a high rate of battery discharge warning.

I own a BMW 535d E60 2005 SE model.

I had my battery replaced about 4 years ago with Bosch Silvertop dont really now many details about the battery itself, it cost about £120 and was programmed in using DIS by a garage.

Everything was working fine up until a year ago, i would get a high rate of battery disacharge (HRBD) warning about every month or so but the car would start perfectly without hesitating.

Recently the car will display this message about every 3 days of the car not being used.

The only thing i have done is install a sport button as per the video below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooKbKNG7ddM

But this has been done on a friend car too, exactly the same mkae/model and he doesnt have this issue.

I used DIS to scan the car and i noticed that it says "SZM centre console multi function seat button stuck" now i believe this maybe the sport button as the part number shown shows it to be the 'DSC and PDC' module- the sport button does plug into this. but i can confirm that the button is always off, also i dont see how this can draw enough to drain the battery, please correct me if you think i am wrong. I will disconnect this tonight and let the car sit for 3 days to see if it helps, but as iv said, my friend has the same and its ok on his car, in terms of no battery discharge warnng.

Things i have done to disagnose the issue myself are:

Removed the PDC module and let the car sit for 3 days
Checked the boot area for water ingress
scanned the car with DIS
taken the car for a long drive to charge her up

I can also confirm that after locking the car and leaving it for half hour or so the orange light on the gear shift goes out, which i believe means that car has gone to sleep properly?

So my guess is that the battery is possibly dead? but i would like to have some means of checking this if possible, i have no issue buying a new battery but would like to make sure that it is the battery that is dead or dying, can someone help me out and explain what i can do to test the battery and maybe find if anything else maybe causing the issue?

Any help would be very much appreciated please.

Many many thanks everyone

[Scott525i95]

My experience is that these cars eat batteries... My E60 needs a new battery every 4 yrs or so. I have a very short drive and I am suspecting that does not help. My 95 525 went 10 yrs on one battery

[BuntyK]

I think you are correct, i have been doing a lot of research and found that if you only use your ar for short journeys, it detroys the cells within the battery so they no longer accept a full charge and over time the number of cells that actually fully charge reduces. I have found the source of my battery drain, it was in fact the sport button i had installed, however i think the battery is in need of changing, i shall buy one this weekend. Thanks for your help Scott....

[Gilgorm]

E60s are notorious for going through batteries. The electrical system is designed to 'save' as much battery power as possible for starting. Any drain will often result in a dead battery and often shows up when any number of electronic items in the car start shutting down or throwing codes. A car that is driven very little often has battery problems. My retired E60 had the original battery and one replacement (under warranty) in the time I had my car (2009-2012). Four years is a long time for a little used E60. I used a battery charger in between as well.

[Graham8252]

Hi all, my 2009 520d had the water ingress issue on the boot which was sorted and electronics replaced etc. the battery was also replace at the time but ever since I get the high rate of discharge message every time the car is left for more than about 6-8 hours. It's been to electricians who record the drain as well in acceptable limits. The car can be left weeks when I'm away and will always start no problem. I think I may be looking at an overly sensitive warning message being activated somehow?? Any ideas greatly appreciated! Thanks Graham

[Johnweedon]

E60s are notorious for going through batteries. The electrical system is designed to 'save' as much battery power as possible for starting. Any drain will often result in a dead battery and often shows up when any number of electronic items in the car start shutting down or throwing codes. A car that is driven very little often has battery problems. My retired E60 had the original battery and one replacement (under warranty) in the time I had my car (2009-2012). Four years is a long time for a little used E60. I used a battery charger in between as well.

My battery keeps going flat. Had to call out AA, they said that battery is discharging at 0.5amps even when engine switched off.
Went to BMW, they said that my 2004 E60 Series 5 still uses a lot of battery even when switched off, they said that I am not doing enough miles each day to keep it fully charged

[Wicca]

Car will use battery up to 30 mins after you have locked it.
You could have a parasitic power usage.

Below video helped me on my E60 535D LCI and is quite easy to do (and you can actually do it without the need of the clamp amp meter, just measure mV usage over every fuse with a multimeter), remember you have both fuses in the storage panel in the front (where CD changer is also located) and in the rear (over the battery).

https://youtu.be/UhWEeDE996k

/Wicca

[scottalexander]

Car will use battery up to 30 mins after you have locked it.
You could have a parasitic power usage.

Below video helped me on my E60 535D LCI and is quite easy to do (and you can actually do it without the need of the clamp amp meter, just measure mV usage over every fuse with a multimeter), remember you have both fuses in the storage panel in the front (where CD changer is also located) and in the rear (over the battery).

https://youtu.be/UhWEeDE996k

/Wicca

You have to buy a good trickle charger and use it often. I bought a Noco Genius 7200.

Know that your alternator will never charge your battery over 80%.

You need a quality trickle charger to maintain the life of the battery.

There are BMW people who have their batteries for 8 years when using trickle chargers. We can learn something from them.

Few BMW people proactively replace their voltage regulators in the alternator (its about $30). At 50,000 miles do yourself a favor and replace the voltage regulator for $30, clean the slip rings of the black goo that is all over it.

You'll be glad you did.

[Wicca]

Good feedback Scott, will look into the part about changing the voltage regulator

Thumbs up !