LED bulbs draining battery

[X5ist]

I replaced some of the interior light bulbs with LED bulbs this afternoon but after awhile when I went back to start the X, clock got reset and increased battery recharge warning came on, and I was scratching my head. 5 mins ago I replaced all the old bulbs and the warning gone, so my advise do not switch to LED bulbs it might drained the battery. Anybody have this experience before? Maybe it just me or maybe one of the bulb act up.

[nachilus]

Originally Posted by X5ist

I replaced some of the interior light bulbs with LED bulbs this afternoon but after awhile when I went back to start the X, clock got reset and increased battery recharge warning came on, and I was scratching my head. 5 mins ago I replaced all the old bulbs and the warning gone, so my advise do not switch to LED bulbs it might drained the battery. Anybody have this experience before? Maybe it just me or maybe one of the bulb act up.

I have LED bulbs for over two years now and no problem at all.

You may have some over device draining your battery or the battery is on its last leg.

[Brian425]

This does not make sense. LEDs will draw less power then incandescent bulbs. I would bet that it is another problem that just showed up now.

The E70 is known for charging issues and batteries only seem to last 2-3 years.

If you have a multimeter, you can check it yourself. Put the multimeter in series with the neg battery cable. Wait till the car goes into sleep mode and see what parasitic draw you have. It should be around 30-50 milliamperes. If it is higher, something is pulling more power than it should.

[blue dragon]

I know if you have a trailer with LEDs, the hitch instructions specifically say to disconnect if you are parked for a long time as the LEDs will drain the battery. Don't know for the interior of the car.

[shadow191]

Maybe the lower draw of the LEDs is causing the system to think something else is wrong. Not a BMW, but on my Infiniti, switching the interior bulbs to LED's causes an issue where the front map lights turn on if you switch the dome light to the "door" position. If you just turn the dome light on, no other light turns on. But if you switch the dome light to the door position, the front map light will turn on and so will the dome light even though the doors are closed. I can't figure out why, but I'm guessing because the system was designed with a certain current draw in mind and the LED bulbs are so much lower, it's causing the issue.

It can't be the LED bulb itself causing the drain. They draw so little current that even if a bulb was on full time for days or weeks, it wouldn't drain your battery.

[X5ist]

Maybe it just a coincidence, I just replaced my suspensions airbags too on that day, I think my battery is ready to kaput soon.......btw the warning on increased battery charge is gone