E46, trying to find electrical short.

[Rickkins]

Bought this test light, Innova 3410 but it's not giving much joy.(two stupid lights, why oh why do the have to reinvent the wheel)

At any rate, light comes on when placed between battery post and connector.
Remove each fuse, one by one, light never goes off.
Brand new Kirkland battery.

At this point, any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[randy72877]

A test light is NOT the tool to use for testing parasitic draw. A long time ago when cars had carburetors and distributors and no computers and modules, that was a valid test. Any car with electronic components will require a multimeter. E46's, like other bmws of the era, requires 16 minutes for the modules/systems to completely shut down or "go to sleep". At this point the parasitic draw on the battery is supposed to be 10-30mA (.01-.03A) depending on the options installed. You will notice the shifter light go off (auto only) when the car goes to sleep. Opening or closing doors, hood or trunk will cause the car to wake up. The vehicle will still go to sleep with doors, hood and trunk open but they must not change. You will want the trunk, hood and lf door open to access the battery, fuses ect. The most common causes of an excessive parasitic draw are the final stage unit and the electric cooling fan. Get yourself a multimeter capable of measuring 10A and good luck.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[Rickkins]

Thanks for the detailed answer, much appreciated. And it looks like I revealed my age here too.
And I do of course have such a multimeter.

We'll give this plan a shot...

Thanks.

[MarcoZandrini]

To determine what’s drawing power you need to set up the digital multimeter to read milliamps (ma). Disconnect the negative cable from the battery and connect one meter lead to the cable. Connect the other lead to the battery’s ground post. Allow the car to go to sleep. Check the meter. Anything over 70ma (0.070 amps) is too high. If the draw is too high start removing one fuse at a time. In the E46 the first thing to check is the passenger compartment heating/cooling system. This is controlled by the climate control module in the dash. It’s called “IHKA” in BMWspeak. The IHKA uses a part called the “final stage resistor” to provide a wide variety of blower speeds. The FSR can short out and drain the battery.

[Rickkins]

Great info, thanks.

[Eaglesail]

Kirkland battery?.....I get mine from 'Job Lot' here in New england...labelled China. Snap-On...makes accurate electronic measuring tools.....and with truth to be known.....

[Rickkins]

Kirkland battery?.....I get mine from 'Job Lot' here in New england...labelled China. Snap-On...makes accurate electronic measuring tools.....and with truth to be known.....

Kirkland battery is the house brand from Costco.

Made by "Interstate Battery" if I'm not mistaken.

[GoodVictor]

Mate, be careful with that. I had an incident last year, I wanted to change my electric wires in my bedroom, and that guy burns all my electric wire system, and since then I don't trust everyone. I only hire electricians that someone recommends me. Personally, I can recommend you electrician Miami, FL , they are good professionals, they know what to do. I don't want to scare, but to aware, just be careful who you hire. Hope I helped you.