My Solution to the "High Battery Drain" Warning

[mirob]

Here's a little background on how this unfolded including my post on the "official" thread.

http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showt...=624552&page=7

*I should point out that I replaced the battery due to a "Increased Battery Discharge" warning.*

I changed my battery less than three months ago (AGM) and programmed it via Carly. No issues until about a week ago. If it sits longer than a few hours I get "High Battery Drain" upon start-up on the HUD only. I took it to get it tested at O'Reilly's (suspected battery and that's where I bought it - three year warranty) and the alternator and battery are fine. Wondering if the IBS cable is the culprit or maybe CA door handles as some pointed out.

Anyone have any other ideas?

After not getting anywhere my journey began. The fear of constant drainage of the battery putting extra stress on the alternator and causing it to fail forced me to take action.

UPDATE:

I started troubleshooting this myself over the weekend. Comfort Access (CA) only worked on the driver side rear door and passenger side front door since I picked the car up. Never cared to mess with it. This weekend I removed all four door handles to see if my battery drain is somewhere there. Found nothing conclusive but decided to move the working CA handle on the drivers side rear to the front. Now both of my front doors work for CA and both rears do not.

Long story short, this DID NOT fix my "High Battery Drain" issue, I had little faith that it would. Some of the CA door handles not working has never gave me any trouble in the last 2 years I've owned the vehicle but I thought I'd check it out anyways.

IBS cable is in the mail. Will report back when I replace it.
NOTE: If the IBS cable doesn't fix my issue I may try to replace the non-working CA handles next.

UPDATE:

IBS cable did NOT resolve my issue. (I should add that the "original" IBS cable on the vehicle was the most up to date part available per part number.) Going to disconnect CA handles and see if that stops the drain.

UPDATE:

Did A LOT of research on the subject across various BMW platforms and came up with the following items that could be causing my high battery drain.

List is in order of occurrence:
Comfort Access Module malfunction (Handle or Module itself doesn't allow car to sleep)
Telemetric Control Unit malfunction (This unit controls GPS tracking and also Bluetooth)
Factory Alarm malfunction (Alarm battery dies and starts sapping power from main battery)
Radio malfunction (I didn't see a lot of this but will include anyways, Radio draws power even when off)

Decided to go with the two easiest to diagnose, the CAS and Alarm. I ALWAYS lock my car in the garage, so last night I decided to leave it unlocked. I also pulled the fuse for the CAS (#132 in trunk). NOTE: Disconnecting this fuse will also disable your speakers, Bluetooth, warning gong, radio, etc. so don't panic if that happens.

Result? NO "High Battery Drain" warning this morning. Since I carpool to work, I have left the vehicle in the usual spot LOCKED. IF the car has no warning when I come back to it today, it can only be the CAS. If I do get the warning, it's the Alarm system. If my assumptions are correct, it's the CAS and identifying which handle it is will be the next step. Really hoping its not the module itself.

UPDATE:

When I started the vehicle later in the day there was no warning. This meant that the issue was with the door handles. That night, I took off the two handles in the back and disconnected the CAS. Remember, the CA on these two never worked but also never gave me trouble.

Left the vehicle over night with the front two connected (both working) and the rears diconnected (both not) to see if the issue is at the front or the rear.

This morning started up the vehicle with no warning. Meaning one of the dead CA handles in the rear was the culprit.

Two solutions to fix the drain in my instance:

1) Troubleshoot further and find out if it's the left or right handle by leaving only the left or the right side connected over night. End result, either way, would be replacing both handles.

2) Leave both handles in the rear disconnected permanently. (Some would argue that this is not a solution at all, just masking the problem.)

I decided to go with solution number two. I rarely used the one rear handle that worked so having the rears not working is not an issue for me as long as both in the front work. Again, this only pertains to comfort access, handles themselves work fine.

NOTE: CA handle(s) can work as designed but can still draw too much power. They don't necessarily need to stop working for this to happen. Only way - that I know - to diagnose the problem in this instance is to monitor the temperature of the handle(s), they work but become warm/hot to the touch. They will eventually stop working but still drain your battery, and can short the circuit and blow your fuse when they go.

I hope this thread will help someone else avoid the headache of reading through numerous thread pages and sleepless nights wondering if the vehicle will start in the morning.

Hope this helps, good luck!

UPDATE:

Over the last couple of days, the driver side CA handle has been working intermittently. Finally, got a warning in the HUD. "Increased Battery Discharge." Pulled the handle and no warning the next day. I can no longer say, with confidence, that one warning is more specific than the other (High Battery Drain vs. Increased Battery Discharge).

[Googone20]

Awesome write-up!! Great read. I am sure this will save several people a lot of time.

[carspeconic]

Same situation with my X5M, Dealer replaced (extended warranty) both front door handles, no more "High Battery Drain" warning. One month later all is good so far.

[007_e350]

great work Op!!! thanks for sharing, sticky nomination

[maddie]

Dealer ask me $600 to replace the door handle, $400 for parts, $200 for labor

[JVX6M]

Rear CA door handle went bad on me and caused the "high battery drain".

[JMD]

Hmm, I'm getting a high battery drain,...and I know that my passenger front door CA doesn't work. So, based on your findings,...if I disconnect that door handle, I may be able to isolate the cause of the High Battery Drain on my 2012 X5M.

...now to figure out why the driver side mirror won't Fold!

[JVX6M]

Originally Posted by JMD

Hmm, I'm getting a high battery drain,...and I know that my passenger front door CA doesn't work. So, based on your findings,...if I disconnect that door handle, I may be able to isolate the cause of the High Battery Drain on my 2012 X5M.

...now to figure out why the driver side mirror won't Fold!

I'm pretty sure my SA did tell me that was one way they found the diagnosis to my High Batt Drain issue by removing the panel and disconnecting...

[mirob]

Originally Posted by JMD

Hmm, I'm getting a high battery drain,...and I know that my passenger front door CA doesn't work. So, based on your findings,...if I disconnect that door handle, I may be able to isolate the cause of the High Battery Drain on my 2012 X5M.

...now to figure out why the driver side mirror won't Fold!

Correct, disconnecting the handle should let you know where your issue is. If you disconnect it, and the warning comes back, maybe your issue is with the mirror...or a different handle. I never had mirror folding issues while dealing with this.

You could also test it by removing the CA fuse (#132), if you prefer that to pulling the handle out. It will also disconnect the sound system (ALL OF IT...even warning gong) but it will for sure let you know if your problem is with a CA component.

Originally Posted by JX5M

I'm pretty sure my SA did tell me that was one way they found the diagnosis to my High Batt Drain issue by removing the panel and disconnecting...

Correct. Except, removing the panel is overkill, the power to the handle can be disconnected by removing the handle only.

[amlax]

mirob - could you direct me to a thread or a youtube video showing how to remove those handles to get to the individual cables? I used your thread last night and started going through your list. Sure enough, removing fuse 132 stopped my battery drain warning today. And I let the X5 sit a full 24 hours. So now I want do disconnect the rear handles as you did. I did a search but couldn't find a tutorial to cover a 2008 model. Any direction would be great. And thanks for your excellent post!

[mirob]

Originally Posted by amlax

mirob - could you direct me to a thread or a youtube video showing how to remove those handles to get to the individual cables? I used your thread last night and started going through your list. Sure enough, removing fuse 132 stopped my battery drain warning today. And I let the X5 sit a full 24 hours. So now I want do disconnect the rear handles as you did. I did a search but couldn't find a tutorial to cover a 2008 model. Any direction would be great. And thanks for your excellent post!

Here you go. It's for a 3-Series but it's the same exact process. Only difference being, the X5 will have a plastic cap covering the screw hole instead of that plastic cover.

[novablackm3]

Mine they replace the front driver side door handles, then proactively change the passenger side as well. two months later I got it again after battery change and they replaced both rears. My wife mentioned one of the symptoms were the doors handles were hot. when they replaced it they also had to paint the part . Thankfully all under warranty

[amlax]

Thanks mirob. That video was perfect. It was shockingly easy to do. And after disconnecting both rear handles, the symptom went away. No battery message. Much appreciation for your post!

[sunny_j]

Originally Posted by amlax

Thanks mirob. That video was perfect. It was shockingly easy to do. And after disconnecting both rear handles, the symptom went away. No battery message. Much appreciation for your post!

is this the cable you disconnected to disable CA on the particular door?

My rear drivers door CA stopped working and I am getting the high battery discharge warning. I am thinking of disconnecting it until I find a used handle on ebay to swap it out with.

[mirob]

Originally Posted by sunny_j

is this the cable you disconnected to disable CA on the particular door?

My rear drivers door CA stopped working and I am getting the high battery discharge warning. I am thinking of disconnecting it until I find a used handle on ebay to swap it out with.

Yup, that's the cable.

Pay closer attention to what the warning is. "Drain" is usually associated with a bad CAS component, "Discharge" is usually associated with a bad battery. If your warning says "Increased Battery Discharge", have your local auto parts store or shop check your battery and alternator before you do anything else.

[amlax]

I also put a wire tie loop on the cable so I could easily hook it to pull it out again in the future. I noticed right off that I wasn't going to be able to put my fingers back in to grab it. Just a tip!

[sunny_j]

Originally Posted by mirob

Yup, that's the cable.

Pay closer attention to what the warning is. "Drain" is usually associated with a bad CAS component, "Discharge" is usually associated with a bad battery. If your warning says "Increased Battery Discharge", have your local auto parts store or shop check your battery and alternator before you do anything else.

thanks for the additional info. I will hold off doing anything until I am certain weather the warning is for excessive drain or discharge. the warning started coming up after the door handle stopped working.

my x5 was in for a recall and they mentioned that I should replace my battery.

[mirob]

Originally Posted by sunny_j

thanks for the additional info. I will hold off doing anything until I am certain weather the warning is for excessive drain or discharge. the warning started coming up after the door handle stopped working.

my x5 was in for a recall and they mentioned that I should replace my battery.

Could be either/or or both. Just bad timing I guess, but definitely do some checking before you start throwing money at it.

[philly42]

wow, great job in figuring it out...its not easy. The battery drain issue I had before was the alternator (or voltage regular) Now I know what to also check if I get the message again.
Thanks for sharing

[sunny_j]

Originally Posted by mirob

Could be either/or or both. Just bad timing I guess, but definitely do some checking before you start throwing money at it.

Got back in the x5 today after it sat outside for two days and I was greeted with high battery drain message. Should I just discontent the non functioning handle or pull the fuse? Pulling the fuse might be overkill as I still have 3 functioning handles

[amlax]

I just disconnected the two rear handles (never use them to unlock the X5 anyways) and I haven't gotten the warning in over a week now.

[mirob]

Originally Posted by sunny_j

Got back in the x5 today after it sat outside for two days and I was greeted with high battery drain message. Should I just discontent the non functioning handle or pull the fuse? Pulling the fuse might be overkill as I still have 3 functioning handles

It's very possible that the handle that stopped working is not the one draining your battery. You may have another one on it's way out.

Easiest way to find out if that's the culprit would be to disconnect all of them. If you don't get the warning, start plugging them in one at a time and see which one is messing up.