[330Stevie]

So had the warning that battery had discharged when stationary, restart etc.

Strange in that I’d been on a 120 mile round trip yesterday and it was the warmest night of the year. Cars 2.5 years old. Could battery be lunched already??

I was in eco plop mode most of the day ( don’t shoot me as was running early for meetings). So maybe it didn’t get a decent charge. Car gets used daily and has no auxiliary devices attached.

I’ve done a search but the factors that come up don’t match; wasn’t cold, car not parked up for an age etc etc,

Thoughts?

Thanks guys

[Rich9600]

I had this once on my 330d at about this time of year. When it was 2. I kept it another 6 months without any further reoccurrence.

Car had been DA Polished and I think the alarm sensors had been working overtime.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by 330Stevie

So had the warning that battery had discharged when stationary, restart etc.

Strange in that I’d been on a 120 mile round trip yesterday and it was the warmest night of the year. Cars 2.5 years old. Could battery be lunched already??

Most unlikely it is the battery itself.

Something is causing the discharge. When it happened to me, it was the locking system. Comfort Access door handle had a short/fault.

Anything odd happening when in use?

[fat dog]

If it keeps doing it, get it back to the dealer as a warranty claim. My mum had battery discharge warnings on and off for a couple of weeks on her 420d which is a similar age to yours. Dealer replaced battery for free.

[330Stevie]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Most unlikely it is the battery itself.

Something is causing the discharge. When it happened to me, it was the locking system. Comfort Access door handle had a short/fault.

Anything odd happening when in use?

No, all is otherwise ok. And no comfort access on mine. I’ve been out again this morning and it hasn’t reoccurred however it was only left for an hour this time. Interestingly the start stop was working within a few miles of my commute

[Sasquartch]

My 328i came up with this once after a 25 mile drive. Problem just went away, that was October 2016. It seems they all have occasional glitches

[troggy1969]

I had it on my x3 a number of times if the ignition was left on without starting the engine, even after a long journey.
Never had a problem..others had it too on the X3 forum and we concluded it was a warning of what could happen

[rossm]

My battery lasted 5.5 years but started giving those warnings after about 4.5 and stop/start stopped working completely after about 5 even on a full charge with my CTEK charger

[HighlandPete]

We have to remember long runs don't necessarily charge the battery any more than regular shorter trips. Energy management runs the battery at ~80% SOC (State of Charge). Unless we drive with lots of over-run energy harvesting, the SOC may not go much above that 80%, if at all. Doesn't take much use, high consumer demands, leaving ancillaries on, left unlocked, etc., to deplete the SOC and trigger warnings.

Can disappear after a shortish run, as the energy management uses a different charging strategy at a lower SOC, to get the battery back up to ~80%.

[330Stevie]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

We have to remember long runs don't necessarily charge the battery any more than regular shorter trips. Energy management runs the battery at ~80% SOC (State of Charge). Unless we drive with lots of over-run energy harvesting, the SOC may not go much above that 80%, if at all. Doesn't take much use, high consumer demands, leaving ancillaries on, left unlocked, etc., to deplete the SOC and trigger warnings.

Can disappear after a shortish run, as the energy management uses a different charging strategy at a lower SOC, to get the battery back up to ~80%.

Noted Pete, cheers. Hadn’t appreciated the complexity of it.

I’ve not seen it again today; but overnight will be a better test. Let’s see what’s what in the morning.

[330Stevie]

No such warnings this morning. Hopefully like Pete said, cars brain decided to concentrate on charging battery whilst driving yesterday as opposed to saving me an alleged 0.001mpg

It’s in for brake fluid change shortly so I’ll get them to check it. I assume the fault code will be logged as it’s cleared from main screen etc

[330Stevie]

So it’s happened again; off to stealers she goes.
Due brake fluid anyway

[Soul_Glo]

Dude have you checked the battery resting voltage. Get a multimeter on it if you can. Anything below 12v usually doesn't help.

[stefan4]

I had this after a long drive in winter, both me and the Mrs had the heated seat on etc. took it on another decent ish run in sports mode, fave it a good thrashing and the warning has not reappeared.

[willjames]

I get this occasionally when I've not drove for a couple of days. However, I know with mine it's the Dashcam.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by 330Stevie

So it’s happened again; off to stealers she goes.
Due brake fluid anyway

Same discharge warning, or a low battery condition warning?

Mine was showing....

The check control also logged the 'discharge' problem.

[330Stevie]

“Increased battery discharge when stationary”
Only happens first thing; start stop still works within minutes of driving off as normal. Something must be draining it overnight. I have no external devices linked up at all, shut everything down prior to switch off and rarely use remote services to communicate with the car or leave gps on.

I’ll report back as it’s booked in for Tuesday, although I’m not confident they’ll establish it. The check control has logged it each time do I assume that’s stored somewhere?

Did you get yours checked Pete? If so, what was the outcome?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by 330Stevie

I’ll report back as it’s booked in for Tuesday, although I’m not confident they’ll establish it. The check control has logged it each time do I assume that’s stored somewhere?

Did you get yours checked Pete? If so, what was the outcome?

Mine was obvious, had clicking from a door lock and was quite a rapid discharge once the fault developed. To the point I had to put the key fob to the steering column position to start the car. BMW ES recommended a recovery as I could have lost all power.

Does appear your issue is not so severe, the battery is still in a relatively high SOC for the stop-start to still operate.

Not sure if the actual cause will be logged, may need some finer interrogation to find what is causing the discharge.

[330Stevie]

Cheers all; I’m confident of hearing “sorry sir, we’ve been unable to diagnose a fault”

Let’s see

[330Stevie]

Dealer has confirmed battery is being intermittently drained. They are yet to discover how/why

[330Stevie]

So I have the car back. The dealer has advised yes there has been a drain on the battery but cannot diagnose by what or how to resolve it.

Not too sure what the next steps are; what would you guys do?!

[Soul_Glo]

Originally Posted by 330Stevie

So I have the car back. The dealer has advised yes there has been a drain on the battery but cannot diagnose by what or how to resolve it.

Not too sure what the next steps are; what would you guys do?!

Test the fuses and see which one is live and drawing too much. Keep away from the airbag one though. Do not test that.

This is what you need:

http://pmmonline.co.uk/product/gunso...e-fuse-tester/

With ignition off and interior lights off go wild.

There are alternatives available to that version in the link to deal with bigger fuses.

Once you have located the live ones. Hook up a multimeter to check the current draw.

I think the process would be best done after 20 minutes. Unlock the car. Leave the door open. Interior lights off. Then check. As some fuses pulse down and you don't want false readings. One or two stay around 0.2 amps but that is nothing. Look for the bigger drains.