1985 325e Parasitic Drain - need assistance diagnosing

[Dicdo]

I have zero parasitic draw when fuse 21, 27, and K5 relay are not in. As soon as I put any one of those in, I have a 2.5-4 amp draw on the battery. I don’t need to put all of them in; any one (21, 27, or k5 installed) will give the same draw as all of them installed together. 2.5 to 4 amps, depending on what the car feels like taking. K5 will also be very warm to the touch even after car has sat all night, over 140 degrees by laser which I found odd.

I am at a loss trying to figure what they all have in common.

Also not sure if relevant to this issue but there is no fuse installed in 28 due to the power antenna being stuck or for the heater blower (I forget the number offhand) possibly from previous owner. I also have installed a new SI board from Bavarian restoration. Which got my gauges running again, though speedo sometimes will not work which also shuts down the fuel mileage meter temporarily.

If there are any gurus who could provide insight or visualize this in a way I can’t, please let me know. I am working on ironing out the kinks with my e30.

Thanks in advance.

[tomstin]

Anything change recently? Or is this car new to you? Aftermarket alarm installed?

I can't find a wiring diagram for the K5 but fuses 21 and 27 also feed other fuses by my wiring diagram. To start with the easiest, pull the interior lamps, including the trunk and glove box which are notorious for draws but not that much. Unfortunately, I think you are going to have to start unplugging things and go from there. Sorry, no easy answer.

[tomstin]

Anything change recently? Or is this car new to you? Aftermarket alarm installed?

I can't find a wiring diagram for the K5 but fuses 21 and 27 also feed other fuses by my wiring diagram. To start with the easiest, pull the interior lamps, including the trunk and glove box which are notorious for draws but not that much. Unfortunately, I think you are going to have to start unplugging things and go from there. Sorry, no easy answer.

[Dicdo]

Relatively new to me but just now starting to get more serious into fixing this draw. Previous owner fought it and eventually installed a kill switch so they wouldn’t have the dead battery issue. I have been using it daily with a new battery so it is getting charged up but want to fix it.

I have the wiring diagrams that are in the Bentley manual but I am going to try to find one with that unloader K5 relay, the fact that it is warm to the touch when it’s 50 out makes me think there is some good amperage going through it.

- - - Updated - - -

And no aftermarket alarm but there was some clipped aftermarket speaker wires so I need to check into that.

[richardodn]

You can grab the wiring diagrams from BMW here http://wedophones.com/BMWManualsLead.htm

[Mikealwa]

Shot in the dark, but my trunk light would always be on, put my phone camera in and closed the lid to figure it out. Adjusting the latch with the nut to get a tighter close fixed that. Sorry didn't look into if any of those fuses are even related to the trunk light.

[superj]

is the car a stick? do your reverse lights work? if not, the reverse light switch wire usually gets cut where it passes through the shift area and can ground out.

pull trunk and glove box bulbs.

starter might be shorted internally causing a draw.

as for the gauges, you might have some cracked solder lines on the cluster mother board. you can check with a multimeter set on ohms and just check from point to point. if you find any, you can get a magnifying glass and look for the cracks and reflow the solder to fix it, but i have had to solder in replacement wires because of corrosion on the boards in the past so be ready for that possibility too.

[Dicdo]

Thank you for that link!

[Dicdo]

I did the cell phone trick in the trunk and glove box. Both are operating as they should.

It is a 5 speed, reverse lights work as they should.

An internal short in the starter could be. Will need to disconnect the wires and see if my draw goes away.

Also not sure if could be something similar with the alternator. I ran a test. No accessories on at approx. 1750 rpm I had 13.5v at the battery. With brights, hazards, interior lights, and wipers running at 1750 rpm, I had 13.25v at the battery. Does that sound like a failing alternator? Can it be rebuilt and is there any chance the alternator could have some issue causing the parasitic draw?

Thank you all for the feedback. I really want to get this thing dialed in.

[323i E30]

(…)
Also not sure if could be something similar with the alternator. I ran a test. No accessories on at approx. 1750 rpm I had 13.5v at the battery. With brights, hazards, interior lights, and wipers running at 1750 rpm, I had 13.25v at the battery. Does that sound like a failing alternator? Can it be rebuilt and is there any chance the alternator could have some issue causing the parasitic draw?
(…)

I’ve had an alternator draining my battery in the past, but that gave a battery warning light as soon as the ignition went off.
For reference: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...gnition-is-off

I assume it would still be draining with fuse 21 & 27 out, while you mention that you have zero draw with those out though.