[Nobby Clark]

Hi

Just thought I'd pass this on if anyone is concerned about battery drain.

My car was in for a service recently and on checking the dashcam noticed that, due to the dumb way BMW insist on keeping the entertainment system running until you lock the car, the radio is frequently left on until the battery protection kicks in and switches it off.

So for my service:
Car driven to outside service bay
Car moved to another space
Car moved into service bay
Car back to space outside service bay
Car moved to bay outside washing station (I know!)
Car to washing station
Car moved back to bay outside washing station
Car moved to collection point

On each occasion the car was not locked so that's 8 times the system was running on battery only.

[Kal101]

Does it actually turn the radio off as in no power going into it at all or just mutes it - ie quiet but still draining battery???

[225]

Coding is your friend. I did mine so as soon as you open the door the radio switches off like a normal car.

[dangerous_al]

Same here, code it to turn the radio off when the car door is opened, and while you are in there, code stop/start to remember last setting

[NISFAN]

OP I think you are missing the proper guidance. Using the 'lock car' method to switch off the ignition is a lazy way of switching the car off. The correct way is to press the ignition button once to stop the engine, then pressing it again (without foot on brake pedal) to switch the ignition completely off.

[philiper1]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

OP I think you are missing the proper guidance. Using the 'lock car' method to switch off the ignition is a lazy way of switching the car off. The correct way is to press the ignition button once to stop the engine, then pressing it again (without foot on brake pedal) to switch the ignition completely off.

what he said

[Nobby Clark]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

OP I think you are missing the proper guidance. Using the 'lock car' method to switch off the ignition is a lazy way of switching the car off. The correct way is to press the ignition button once to stop the engine, then pressing it again (without foot on brake pedal) to switch the ignition completely off.

I'm not using the car, it's at the dealers. THEY are not shutting the car down.

That said, it's a daft scenario anyway. One press should shut the car down, not two.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

I'm not using the car, it's at the dealers. THEY are not shutting the car down.

That said, it's a daft scenario anyway. One press should shut the car down, not two.

Surely one visit to the dealer and a few times of half shutdown (without sleeping) won't kill a good battery? Something is wrong if it does.

Not everyone wants a complete shut down on the first press, no more than key users necessarily want the radio off with an engine switch off.

IMO, BMW have it correct, it is really the same as the old days with ignition 1 & 2 positions.

[mofomat]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

That said, it's a daft scenario anyway. One press should shut the car down, not two.

And that would be annoying if you didn't want everything shut down. I think the present way works fine. I've never had an issue with it in over 11 years of driving BMWs with the push button ignition.

[Nobby Clark]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Surely one visit to the dealer and a few times of half shutdown (without sleeping) won't kill a good battery? Something is wrong if it does.

Not everyone wants a complete shut down on the first press, no more than key users necessarily want the radio off with an engine switch off.

IMO, BMW have it correct, it is really the same as the old days with ignition 1 & 2 positions.

It can't help the battery running it down like that. Fine with a new car but an ageing car?

Fair point not everyone wants everything off with an engine shut down. Time for a poll on that one? LOL

This conversation has been had before. It's not the same as Key 1 & 2 positions because keys spring back to position 1 from 2 after starting the car so when you turn the key one more position (same as one press of the start/stop button) everything goes off.

[4WDriver]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

This conversation has been had before. It's not the same as Key 1 & 2 positions because keys spring back to position 1 from 2 after starting the car so when you turn the key one more position (same as one press of the start/stop button) everything goes off.

No, real cars have 4 key positions:
1) Off
2) Accessory
3) Ignition
4) Start

So the key springs back to position 3, ignition not 2 (your 1)

[4WDriver]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

Hi

Just thought I'd pass this on if anyone is concerned about battery drain.

My car was in for a service recently and on checking the dashcam noticed that, due to the dumb way BMW insist on keeping the entertainment system running until you lock the car, the radio is frequently left on until the battery protection kicks in and switches it off.

So for my service:
Car driven to outside service bay
Car moved to another space
Car moved into service bay
Car back to space outside service bay
Car moved to bay outside washing station (I know!)
Car to washing station
Car moved back to bay outside washing station
Car moved to collection point

On each occasion the car was not locked so that's 8 times the system was running on battery only.

But of course this wont happen at your main stealer because the highly paid and thus immensely knowledgeable & mechanically sympathetic technician will naturally know that s/he must press it twice to save battery drain. No?? Oh OK sorry

[Canary_Yellow]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

I'm not using the car, it's at the dealers. THEY are not shutting the car down.

That said, it's a daft scenario anyway. One press should shut the car down, not two.

It turns itself off after a certain period in any case. I can't see it really being likely to cause any big problems, and if it did run the battery all the way down? Happy days, the car's at the dealer already.

[225]

It was the irritation factor for me. Fine leaving the radio and wipers on when I have just switched off the engine but I expect them to switch off when I open the door. 1st world problem and all that!

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by 4WDriver

No, real cars have 4 key positions:
1) Off
2) Accessory
3) Ignition
4) Start

So the key springs back to position 3, ignition not 2 (your 1)

Being a BMW anorak, in a BMW it used to run as follows.

0) Steering lock engaged.
1) Steering lock disengaged. (Individual electrical accessories are ready for operation).
2) Ignition on. (All electrical equipment and accessories are available for use).
3) Starting the engine

For the OP; Hence why I stated positions 1 & 2. First push on shut down puts us from the equivalent position 2, back to position 1. Just as it has been for many years with BMW, (key or start button).

[dangerous_al]

Some like that the radio stays on (for passengers), others hate it, me included, and that is the beauty of an F30, £10 for a cable and 10 minutes work and you can set it to go off when the drivers door opens.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by 225

It was the irritation factor for me. Fine leaving the radio and wipers on when I have just switched off the engine but I expect them to switch off when I open the door. 1st world problem and all that!

Again this is not peculiar to our current start-stop system. Has been the BMW way for as long as I can remember, certainly from the first generation 3-series. (May even have been so on the 2002). You could get out and still have the radio and intermittent wipers working. You had to switch to position 0 to switch everything off. Only difference I suppose, we had to do so, to withdraw the key and take it with us to lock the car.

[stefan4]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

OP I think you are missing the proper guidance. Using the 'lock car' method to switch off the ignition is a lazy way of switching the car off. The correct way is to press the ignition button once to stop the engine, then pressing it again (without foot on brake pedal) to switch the ignition completely off.

or hold the ignition button

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by mofomat

And that would be annoying if you didn't want everything shut down. I think the present way works fine. I've never had an issue with it in over 11 years of driving BMWs with the push button ignition.

Same.

I'd be concerned if I'd ever had a problem....but simply have not had any battery drain concerns.

[ukbeemerboy]

The cars are connected to a charger as soon as they are in the workshop. I'm a bit confused by this thread, if my car battery went flat after the car being moved 8 times, they can have it back!

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

Hi

Just thought I'd pass this on if anyone is concerned about battery drain.

My car was in for a service recently and on checking the dashcam noticed that, due to the dumb way BMW insist on keeping the entertainment system running until you lock the car, the radio is frequently left on until the battery protection kicks in and switches it off.

So for my service:
Car driven to outside service bay
Car moved to another space
Car moved into service bay
Car back to space outside service bay
Car moved to bay outside washing station (I know!)
Car to washing station
Car moved back to bay outside washing station
Car moved to collection point

On each occasion the car was not locked so that's 8 times the system was running on battery only.

When you mentioned "battery protection kicks in", it got me thinking........ Maybe the car is clever enough to switch the radio off immediately on turning the car off if it detects a low battery? So it may not be a worry.

[Spacer]

Yep, that's what I thought. Even if the radio stays on (for eight minutes), if you did it often enough the car would shut it off due to the low voltage of the battery. Ironically, with Connected Drive, it would also let the dealer know the battery was nearly flat!