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Thread: Current draw draining battery Z3 1997 1.9

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    scotland uk
    Posts
    15
    My Cars
    e36 coupe

    Current draw draining battery Z3 1997 1.9

    Hi I seem to have a parasitic draw that's draining my battery. With everything switched off an amp clamp is showing a draw of 0.4 amps. Strangely though when I close the door and the interior light is on this current drops to almost 0 then, when the interior light dims and goes out, the current climbs back to 0.4 amps again. I've taken the interior light fuse out but the current remains constant. I'd be grateful for any suggestions as to why this is happening. Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Great Dismal Swamp
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    16,026
    My Cars
    E36/7 E36/8x2 E46 F25
    If it goes to 0 when ~500 mA of lights are on, I would first verify the calibration and zero point on the amp clamp.


    /.randy

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    2,353
    My Cars
    2000 m roadster 2010 x3
    Does you clamp have the option of using leads? If so I’d use them just to be sure. Your working with pretty low amperage. Most meters are good to 6-10 amps. What time frame is the battery going flat in.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Phoenix
    Posts
    6
    My Cars
    i10
    Quote Originally Posted by davedougan View Post
    Hi I seem to have a parasitic draw that's draining my battery. With everything switched off an amp clamp is showing a draw of 0.4 amps. Strangely though when I close the door and the interior light is on this current drops to almost 0 then, when the interior light dims and goes out, the current climbs back to 0.4 amps again. I've taken the interior light fuse out but the current remains constant. I'd be grateful for any suggestions as to why this is happening. Thanks in advance.
    https://autofthings.com/best-battery-tender/
    Hello.

    To pinpoint the problem, try removing fuses, one by one.
    If during this you get a 0A draw, that will be the cirrcuit that is the source of the problem.
    After that, try eliminiating each component, one by one.

    Hope that will get you somewhere.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Timaru, New Zealand
    Posts
    1,132
    My Cars
    Two Z3 Roadsters
    The Z3 has a draw of about 40 mA when asleep to drive unlock monitoring , radio codes, clock etc. Don't expect it to go to Zero mA.
    1999 2.8L Z3 Roadster,
    2000 3.0L Z3 Roadster,

    There is only one thing more pleasurable than working on a Z3, that's driving it top down on a fine day.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Houston, TX, USA
    Posts
    1,064
    My Cars
    1999 BMW Z3 Coupe 2.8
    Maybe this method will help. I’ve not tried it

    https://youtu.be/lRcj1fQcWwU



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    scotland uk
    Posts
    15
    My Cars
    e36 coupe
    Thanks for the replies, I'll try the fuse switching method to try to pinpoint the module causing it. The battery takes about 5 days to drain but I've got it on a conditioning charger meantime.

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