3rd Dead Battery in M3

[wuzupfoo]

Just out of curiousity what dealership are you going to?

I had random starting problems but it ended up not being the battery at all. The incompetant fools at dealership "a" kept blaming my driving, bad gas (wtf?), bad battery, etc. Until I got tired of getting fed BS and took it to dealership "b" and they fixed the problem

[330iToy]

You started off saying it is her daily driver, 5000 miles, owned for almost 14mths. Something does not added up. She needs to drive it. I thought E9X BMW's shut down everything on the car when it detects the battery is almost drained. So it will be able to start?

[Mahzari]

After reading the other thread, BMW's answer seems to be not to drive more, but to drive further from the time you start the car. So because the car wastes battery continuously searching for a key, I need to make my commute 4 or 5 times longer? Good solution.

Originally Posted by Space Ghost

Do you leave the key in the consule when the car is at home parked in the garage?

My SA told me that regardless of the proximity to the key, the car will always look for a key, and thus will always be draining the battery.

[gaalforce]

i have a 328 same issue but it turned out i had a bad ground. swapped and no problems but im sure that would have been detected

[tibra1]

Charging system issue or a short some where..be sure to register the new battery when you install..skipping this could reduce the battery's life.

[Edjay]

Try and go to another dealer.
But very possible you had multipe issues. Sounds like the first visit, your battery just drained from not being charged enought. Possible charging system problem, or just lack of use.
Then very possible the dealer replaced he battery, and did not tighten the cables enough. So hopefylly your third vist fixed that. Mind if i ask how much do you use the car?
1. How many times do you drive it, days in a week? does it sit long not being used, if so how long?

2. When you do drive it, how far or how long do you drive it.

3 lastly, do you drive to to your destination, shut the car off, then drive to the next location shut the car off and so on, if so how far and how often.

Btw my wife drives about 5 miles to work, but on weekedns we or I take the car on trips either cruising, canyon or track. No issues with the battery, and its the original.
Transpoder in her purse, on the pass floor sometimes.

Edit. The longest the car sat was 1 1/2 weeks while we were on vacation. No problem at all. While my dads E92 dis charged the battery in 2 weeks of sitting.
He asked me if he should buy a tender for when they go on vacation, I said no need I'll just drive it for him when hes not around

[Foodle]

How about OP and his sister switch cars for a month. If problem remains with sister's car, then it is clearly not an issue with not driving enough since OP does not have these problems in his car. Or if OP's car exhibits the problem when his sister is driving it, then it is a low mileage problem, since his car is usually fine.

Worth a shot, right?

[My 10th BMW]

I have owned My 011 for a year and a half.
I dont drive it everyday, and I only have 5,000 miles on it.
I have never had a battery problem.
I would try another Dealer

[BPMSport]

I highly recommend replacing the IBS cable in the rear, I had this problem for months and since the replacement years ago not a problem since.

[TTG]

Originally Posted by ///My5UV

I think I found her problem. She should drive more or get a battery tender.

Our 2002 Mini Cooper S is a garage queen with only 45K miles on original battery. Still going very strong.

[fuddman]

Originally Posted by My 10th BMW

I have owned My 011 for a year and a half.
I dont drive it everyday, and I only have 5,000 miles on it.
I have never had a battery problem.
I would try another Dealer

Agree.
I drive my '11 M3 about once a week and the battery has never been a problem.
I have a '68 Vette I drive once a week for about 30 miles. Never had a problem with the battery being discharged.
Your car has an electrical problem and they're a bitch to troubleshoot. Stay on the dealer and take it in when you have the problem. Keep track of the number of days you take it in.

[calintexas]

The Battery Tender Plus really does work well. It's best to connect it to the jumper connections in the engine compartment(not greasy at all). Leave the hood open when the Battery Tender Plus is connected so that you don't forget and drive off with it connected. You want to get the one with alligator clip connectors. I had to buy an adapter from Radio Shack for my older cigarette lighter plug. The cigarette lighter plug in the interior is switched and isn't suitable for use with a charger.

[Mr.Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Space Ghost

Do you leave the key in the consule when the car is at home parked in the garage?

No, the key is never left in the car. The car is locked in the garage and then the key goes inside the house.

[Mr.Bimmer]

Originally Posted by fuddman

Agree.
I drive my '11 M3 about once a week and the battery has never been a problem.
I have a '68 Vette I drive once a week for about 30 miles. Never had a problem with the battery being discharged.
Your car has an electrical problem and they're a bitch to troubleshoot. Stay on the dealer and take it in when you have the problem. Keep track of the number of days you take it in.

This feedback is helpful. Thank you. It's interesting to hear that you both have low mileage and have had no battery issues.

330iToy: when she first got the car she had a long commute to work. She has since transferred closer to her home and doesn't drive far daily. Plus, after so many issues starting the car, she tries to avoid driving because she doesn't want to get stuck somewhere.

EdJay:
1. Probably 5 times a week. If it sits, it's for maybe 24 hours.
2. It varies every time. Today for example she drove 94 miles, yesterday she drove 3.
3. Yes, she drives to her destination and shuts off the car. Mileage truly varies daily. Sometimes the car has 3 short 1-mile trips a day and then goes home. Sometimes there are a couple 20 mile trips in a day.

Dealership = Sterling in Newport Beach

[Mr.Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

I highly recommend replacing the IBS cable in the rear, I had this problem for months and since the replacement years ago not a problem since.

Interesting. Thank you, Mike. Will tell the dealer this next time. Thanks for the constructive advice!!

[Silvertige]

Originally Posted by TheLegendStig

I m sorry, but your sister needs to properly drive her car. 5000 miles in 14 months is unacceptable for this car. Thats around 300 miles a month. Its basic car mechanics, you should google how a car battery recharges itself. Driving 5 miles a day is much worse than driving 50 miles only one day in a week.

Dealership is completely right in their assessment, you really shouldn't complain but be grateful they are covering this under warranty. If it were me, I'd deny it for incorrect operator usage right away.

I'd have to agree with this assessment. And that this has been discussed ad nauseam in almost every issue in Mike Miller's technical section in Roundel. Tons of electronics will drain the battery in modern BMW's quickly depending on your driving style based on short frequent trips vs. long drives.

I do think that its rather annoying to have to worry about battery tenders and such. I have a BatteryMinderPlus and have used it several times on my 2011 already. I will average about 8k miles/year vs OP's sister at 4400 miles/year.

[Edjay]

Your problem might be those 3. 1 mile trips. Do this enough with no long trips, and your battery will drain, and not get recharge. If anything keep track of her driving. Write doen on a piece of paper, date how many start stop and miles along those trips. If you notice a pattern. If the battery goes dead after short trips and no long trips then the problem lies with her driving style.
If the battery goes dead even after she has been driving long distance, then safe to say there is a problem with the electrical system.

Btw a 68 vette will Should not drain a battery just by sittng a few. There is no electrical components other than radio, clock and maybe an alarm that will drain the battery.

[crabman]

C6 vettes and other cars have this too, don't drive far enough in a session and you slowly lose charge on the batt until it wont start. Its not about the mileage over time, its about driving enough per session that the battery remains charged rather than slowly losing ground every drive. I used a charger occasionally on mine to top off and it really isn't a big deal. All you have to do is figure out how often you need to charge and this does not require an advanced engineering degree. If your car is dying regularly at 3 weeks charge it overnight at two. You will not see this problem again.

Already stated but leave your hood open when you charge it. Given time you will drive off while its still plugged in if you don't.

[slo_guy]

I have an 08 E92 ///M. In the first two years of ownership I only had 11,230. That's just a little over her pace. I even left for vacation for 3 weeks in those first two years, and never had that problem. I now drive 2-3 times a week with an average of 100 miles a week. I have yet to encounter a drained battery.

[Schmitzb]

We just had our 2011 5 series hauled to the dealership because the battery was totallly dead (after using the car a few hours before with no problem) this has also happened twice to our 2006 BMW 5xi. We replaced the battery in the 2006 and it works for a year or two before it happens again. We lease the 2011 and said we didn't want it back. (unfortunately we own the 2006) We told them we could buy that is was a fluke with one car, but having it happen to both of them was too much.

They got back to us and said they would replace the battery, but that we need to keep the keys at least 20 - 30 feet away from the car when we park it at night. (Silly us...we put them in a drawer in the room we enter off the garage. What an illogical thing to do). So now we will keep the keys in a room on the other side of the house from the garage. They said the car will find the key if it is too close and it will drain the battery. When you drive the car, it will recharge only to the level that it was at recently (advance electronics??) so over time it will drain down to nothing. They never told us that with the 2006, but it applies to that too. Very aggravating. When this lease is up, it will be the last BMW we have.

[BPMSport]

Keeping the key near the car does not cause battery drain.

As far as charging the battery when you drive the car, what they told you doesn't make much sense out of context. Consistent battery problems can be caused by an issue with the IBS cable, or failure to perform a battery reset on previous replacements, if not an issue with draw from components connected to the car. I get increased battery discharge if I leave the car for a few weeks, but it always fires up and it doesn't come back unless I leave it for an extended period of time.

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Keeping the key near the car does not cause battery drain.

Agree. I keep seeing this thing about keeping the key too close... I don't buy it. I leave my key in my car in the garage every day. Have for 4 years. (Garage is locked). Sometimes the car doesn't get used for a few days. In the winter it might sit for 2 or 3 weeks at a time. More than a couple weeks and I'll throw a maintenance charger on it, but other than that, no special treatment and no battery problems. It lasted 4 years like that. And I only live 7 miles from work. It's not unusual to just drive it to work and back for several days at a time with no other driving other than the 7 miles to work and 12 hours later, 7 miles home.