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      01-29-2020, 03:02 PM   #1
Joemac8
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As the proverbial doornail!

I parked my 2019 X7 40i in my garage two weeks ago and had hip replacement surgery the next day. The vehicle is six months old with 9K miles on it, all long highway trips.
Yesterday my daughter went to get something out of my car and it wouldn't open. I gave her the other fob and that too wouldn't work. The battery was dead.

I had BMW roadside assistance come out, they jumped the car and it immediately started. They then took it to my dealer on a flatbed.

Today the dealer called the car was done. They replaced the battery. I questioned this wondering why it went dead in two weeks. He said there are so many constant drains with all of the electronics on the car, any time you will leave it over a week, you should put it on a trickle charger.

This just doesn't seem right to me. I have left other cars for months and they started right up. My 67 Corvette sat all winder and started right up. I know there are no electronics to deal with, but that short of an interval you loose reliability?

Any thoughts?
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      01-29-2020, 03:16 PM   #2
Crimsonboz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joemac8 View Post
I parked my 2019 X7 40i in my garage two weeks ago and had hip replacement surgery the next day. The vehicle is six months old with 9K miles on it, all long highway trips.
Yesterday my daughter went to get something out of my car and it wouldn't open. I gave her the other fob and that too wouldn't work. The battery was dead.

I had BMW roadside assistance come out, they jumped the car and it immediately started. They then took it to my dealer on a flatbed.

Today the dealer called the car was done. They replaced the battery. I questioned this wondering why it went dead in two weeks. He said there are so many constant drains with all of the electronics on the car, any time you will leave it over a week, you should put it on a trickle charger.

This just doesn't seem right to me. I have left other cars for months and they started right up. My 67 Corvette sat all winder and started right up. I know there are no electronics to deal with, but that short of an interval you loose reliability?

Any thoughts?
What the dealer said is horsesh*t and if it isn't that isn't acceptable for this level of vehicle.
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      01-30-2020, 11:03 AM   #3
Joemac8
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That was pretty much my feeling. Why would a manufacturer make a vehicle which by design would self-destruct in two weeks?
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      01-30-2020, 01:14 PM   #4
Crimsonboz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joemac8 View Post
That was pretty much my feeling. Why would a manufacturer make a vehicle which by design would self-destruct in two weeks?
That’s just ridiculous, they wouldn’t. I swear dealerships will say anything.
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      01-30-2020, 04:02 PM   #5
swissguy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joemac8 View Post
I parked my 2019 X7 40i in my garage two weeks ago and had hip replacement surgery the next day. The vehicle is six months old with 9K miles on it, all long highway trips.
Yesterday my daughter went to get something out of my car and it wouldn't open. I gave her the other fob and that too wouldn't work. The battery was dead.

I had BMW roadside assistance come out, they jumped the car and it immediately started. They then took it to my dealer on a flatbed.

Today the dealer called the car was done. They replaced the battery. I questioned this wondering why it went dead in two weeks. He said there are so many constant drains with all of the electronics on the car, any time you will leave it over a week, you should put it on a trickle charger.

This just doesn't seem right to me. I have left other cars for months and they started right up. My 67 Corvette sat all winder and started right up. I know there are no electronics to deal with, but that short of an interval you loose reliability?

Any thoughts?
That is interesting. We left ours parked at the airport while we went to Europe for 3 weeks and the car started just fine when we got back. It sounds like yours has a battery problem specific to your car, not the X7 line
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      01-30-2020, 04:10 PM   #6
BzsBimmer
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Well there are quite a few electronics on this beast and many that are proximity based.

Can’t say for sure what happened to your vehicle while you were out for surgery (hope all worked out) but your X7 could have stayed on due to CA etc.

Your vehicle could have had a poor battery from the get go. It’s been known to happen. These are not your traditional lead or AGM. The X7 uses the newer Li-ion types and can suffer different fates than your C7 era battery.

I agree about the 1 week trickle charger thing as that should not be needed but like I stated, either you had a drain unknowingly (search for CA posts leaving car on etc) or a bad battery/charging system.

Main thing is that you now have a new battery under warranty.
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      01-30-2020, 06:22 PM   #7
Joemac8
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I will be driving again in about a week. Hopefully it was just a poor battery. If however, it doesn't start in a week, we will have to change the mind of the service writer
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      02-01-2020, 05:39 AM   #8
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Was the vehicle locked for the two weeks or unlocked?

As I said in another thread:

If you don’t lock your BMW overnight you will run into real problems. I have an X4 and a 7 Series and this is well documented on the power hungry cars like the 7 Series. When you lock the car it puts the electrical system to sleep, except for the alarm, door sensors for comfort access and other essentials. If you don’t lock it, many other circuits remain active and will drain the battery. On the 7 Series if you do this too many nights in a row you will get a warning on the iDrive system advising of excessive battery drain.
Lock the car each night and see if it makes a difference.
Luke
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      02-01-2020, 10:20 AM   #9
Joemac8
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It locks automatically when I walk away from the car, so I assume that it was locked. It certainly was locked when I returned to find it dead. I had to use the solid key to gain entrance to the vehicle.
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      02-01-2020, 11:27 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luke.jenner View Post
Was the vehicle locked for the two weeks or unlocked?

As I said in another thread:

If you don’t lock your BMW overnight you will run into real problems. I have an X4 and a 7 Series and this is well documented on the power hungry cars like the 7 Series. When you lock the car it puts the electrical system to sleep, except for the alarm, door sensors for comfort access and other essentials. If you don’t lock it, many other circuits remain active and will drain the battery. On the 7 Series if you do this too many nights in a row you will get a warning on the iDrive system advising of excessive battery drain.
Lock the car each night and see if it makes a difference.
Luke
Not sure I buy this, unless BMW has made sweeping changes to the power management of the electronics in the G-series cars (which I guess is possible). If what you are saying is really true, that this is a "normal" function of the electronics in the car, I think there would be more reports of this issue. Leaving the car unlocked in the garage is very common. I leave my F80 in my garage unlocked all of the time, for several days straight during the week sometimes, and I have never had any electrical issues - and I have monitored my car going "to sleep" in the past. Is there something specific in the owners manual that mentions this requirement to lock the car to avoid battery issues?

I think this is an unfortunate electrical gremlin that needs to be addressed by the dealer.
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Last edited by jmciver; 02-01-2020 at 11:36 AM..
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      02-01-2020, 01:40 PM   #11
Joemac8
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Not that I am aware of. Also, it would be illogical to sell a vehicle that would require frequent driving or it be connected to an external, add-on battery minder.

Either the "service tech" was blowing smoke up my posterior, OR he was partaking in the recent legalization of hallucinogenic vegetable matter in Illinois.
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      02-01-2020, 03:58 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joemac8 View Post
Not that I am aware of. Also, it would be illogical to sell a vehicle that would require frequent driving or it be connected to an external, add-on battery minder.

Either the "service tech" was blowing smoke up my posterior, OR he was partaking in the recent legalization of hallucinogenic vegetable matter in Illinois.
I think either of your conclusions are correct or both. Sometimes I wonder about dealerships.
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