If you have a battery going dead in two days, there must be something drawing a bunch of power and to find it, I recommend starting with a fully charged battery, and that the charging system is functional. Close all the doors and windows and let it sit for at least 16 minutes. The light in the shifter display is an indicator of the bus systems' activity, when it goes out, the car should be "asleep" and current consumption must be below 50 milliamps. Watch for the light to be out, if it not going out, then the car is not going to sleep and the battery will be drained. This could be due to a failed or failing general module, an aftermarket sound system not installed or recommended by BMW, or a final stage for the auxiliary fan/blower fan. If you get past that test, then the key off draw amperage test is next. Install a digital multi meter set to measure current on at least a 10 amp scale and when the car sleeps the consumption should go down to <50ma. If it does not then pull the fuses one at a time to find the one that is pulling power. This diagnosis takes time and diligence and patience, which is a rare at the dealership level since the techs are flat rate, nobody likes to work for "free", not even me. If you find the problem, please share it with us so we can spread the word.
Saturday, February 20th, 2010 AT 9:33 AM