[smuler]

anyone had the error message ;

Increased battery drainage whilst stationary

I had it today , after virtually no usage for a week, cold weather, and a dashcam , briefly left on with parking mode.
Started okay and message cleared when I arrived home after 50 miles highway driving.

Was thinking no big deal , but after 7 hours on driveway , the message is back,
when I came to start car.
Dash cam definitely not left on.

F31 340i 2017 31k Miles.

Any ideas ?
Thanks

[visionaut]

Get a trickle charger?

Your battery might be faulty or dying, but non-use, cold weather, short or infrequent trips, and running accessories when off, will all put a greater than normal burden on it. Your 50mi trip might not have gotten it fully recharged, depending on the drive, and how low your battery got, and it’s health.

[Billfitz]

Chances are you've got a power drain. One common cause is the dashboard, another the water pump. You'll get lots of people saying it's the battery, but it probably isn't. If you search you'll find many had the same problem and willy nilly put in a new battery just to have the same problem come back immediately. For instance: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1200906

[Wgosma]

4 y/o car with pretty low mileage....not driven regularly?

It's possible battery is marginal in holding sufficient charge- I'd have a shop load test the battery and checkout charging system health. Determine root cause.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by smuler

anyone had the error message ;

Increased battery drainage whilst stationary

I had it today , after virtually no usage for a week, cold weather, and a dashcam , briefly left on with parking mode.
Started okay and message cleared when I arrived home after 50 miles highway driving.

Was thinking no big deal , but after 7 hours on driveway , the message is back,
when I came to start car.
Dash cam definitely not left on.

F31 340i 2017 31k Miles.

Any ideas ?
Thanks

The message is telling you there is an additional battery drain, over and above the normal sleeping power usage. Typically triggers if above 80mA.

When I had the message, mine was due to a faulty door handle with comfort access.

[smuler]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

4 y/o car with pretty low mileage....not driven regularly?

It's possible battery is marginal in holding sufficient charge- I'd have a shop load test the battery and checkout charging system health. Determine root cause.

Only 6k miles since April due to the lockdowns. Prior to that I did 1500 a month. But previous owner didn’t use it too much.

I have a very important long trip first thing Monday , so I’m hoping that it’s lack of use particularly this week and for the last 4 that’s caused today’s message.

I will definitely get it into a shop. I don’t have a charger at present.

*Thanks to all who answered*

[im_an_alien]

I've gotten this message one chilly morning (i was in new england at the time in the fall) with the car hooked up on the charger all night and battery full. Cold temps alone can also trigger it, not necessarily bad battery or parasitic drain.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by smuler

Only 6k miles since April due to the lockdowns. Prior to that I did 1500 a month. But previous owner didn’t use it too much.

I have a very important long trip first thing Monday , so I’m hoping that it’s lack of use particularly this week and for the last 4 that’s caused today’s message.

I will definitely get it into a shop. I don’t have a charger at present.

*Thanks to all who answered*

Whether the battery holds up, will depend on how severe the drain. Mine was quite fast and got the next message in the chain.... and had to use the key fob against the steering column to start.

[smuler]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

The message is telling you there is an additional battery drain, over and above the normal sleeping power usage. Typically triggers if above 80mA.

When I had the message, mine was due to a faulty door handle with comfort access.

Could the culprit still be the dashcam ?

Or is the fact that the message cleared after a drive only to come on 7 hours later when dash cam was not left on , proof it’s something else ?

[smuler]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Whether the battery holds up, will depend on how severe the drain. Mine was quite fast and got the next message in the chain.... and had to use the key fob against the steering column to start.

That’s helpful , I had googled generally and saw a few screenshots like that ; which isn’t the warning I’ve had , not yet anyway.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by im_an_alien

I've gotten this message one chilly morning (i was in new england at the time in the fall) with the car hooked up on the charger all night and battery full. Cold temps alone can also trigger it, not necessarily bad battery or parasitic drain.

Was that a discharge while stationary warning, or a low battery warning? Some users get the low battery warning in cold conditions.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by smuler

Could the culprit still be the dashcam ?

Or is the fact that the message cleared after a drive only to come on 7 hours later when dash cam was not left on , proof it’s something else ?

Users have had issues with dashcams, can be erratic as well.

If it is a parasitic drain, (and dashcam disconnected/switched off) sometimes a module doesn't switch down when the car is locked. Finding it, is the problem.

My neighbour has an issue at the moment in his BMW. Fine if he leaves the car unlocked, but lock it and sometimes no problem, another day the battery will go down overnight. He's put it in his garage, until he's the time to test all the circuits.

[Wgosma]

Originally Posted by smuler

Could the culprit still be the dashcam ?

Or is the fact that the message cleared after a drive only to come on 7 hours later when dash cam was not left on , proof it’s something else ?

would seem it's not the dashcam based on the return of the error message w/o cam in circuit, but can't be certain. Best to have car battery/electrical system checked out as previously mentioned.

[Wires]

You just need to charge the battery up, and it should be fine. BMW only charges to 75%, and having it sit idle for a week with extra drain (like a dash cam) will toss that error. Short trips don't charge the battery, and this "pain" will continue until you recharge the battery.

If I let my car sit for 2 weeks I start getting those errors, especially when it's cold outside since a cold battery won't charge as fast, and our batteries are stuck in the back with no heat.

Mine typically did the "idrive was running with the power off" or something like that, with another message about the car powering it down. Put the trickle charger on it, and "voila!" problems disappear.

[im_an_alien]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Was that a discharge while stationary warning, or a low battery warning? Some users get the low battery warning in cold conditions.

Increased battery drain while stationary. With the car having been on the ctek all night and showing full charge. That particular night was chilly, and haven't seen the message again...
So why would a message pop up about increased battery drain when the car was just taken off the charger a minute ago...

[Billfitz]

It would pop up because something is draining serious power that shouldn't be. Cold weather makes it worse, but it's not likely to be the only factor. The definitive test is to park the car, check the voltage with a DMM, lock the car. Measure it again in the morning. It should not go down more than 1/2 volt. If it does do the same the next time you park for the night, but this time disconnect the battery negative terminal. The next morning check the voltage again, before reconnecting the negative terminal. If the battery went down more that 1/2 volt overnight it's not holding a charge. If it didn't something that's supposed to be off when the car is off and locked isn't off.

[im_an_alien]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

It would pop up because something is draining serious power that shouldn't be. Cold weather makes it worse, but it's not likely to be the only factor. The definitive test is to park the car, check the voltage with a DMM, lock the car. Measure it again in the morning. It should not go down more than 1/2 volt. If it does do the same the next time you park for the night, but this time disconnect the battery negative terminal. The next morning check the voltage again, before reconnecting the negative terminal. If the battery went down more that 1/2 volt overnight it's not holding a charge. If it didn't something that's supposed to be off when the car is off and locked isn't off.

Maybe you didn't see the part about the car was on the ctek all night. Charger showed battery fully charged and being maintained at that level, no faults. So how can the battery drain with the charger connected?
Let me be more clear. Drove the car all over that day (it had been on the charger the night before too), pull into the garage, park and pop the hood. Connect charger. Secure garage until next morning, back in the garage and the first thing I noticed was that comfort access didn't work. First time this ever happened so I made a note to look it up. Disconnect charger, close hood and get in the car, and got the warning about increased battery drain. The night was particularly cold and morning was still chilly. Strange, no?

[smuler]

Thanks again, all.

As an update, to share my experience with others for the future, 14 hours of standing , 7 degrees colder, @ -4 this morning when it started *without* the message.

I've put some more highway miles on it, so I'm now totaling over 200 since the period it stood virtually still a week and the dash cam was left on for a period , I believe until the cut off point with battery.

I've no opportunity for remedial action before my next use, which assuming it all goes okay will put near 400 miles on mostly highway.

Will update again with anything else I learn.

[Trossuk]

I had similar warning messages on and off last year in my F 36. Went into bmw a couple of times before they identified the problem. The unit that controls the telematic functions was faulty. £1500 later problem solved....fortunately it was covered under warranty. There was nothing wrong with the battery. Just coming up to 3 years old low mileage.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by im_an_alien

Maybe you didn't see the part about the car was on the ctek all night. Charger showed battery fully charged and being maintained at that level, no faults. So how can the battery drain with the charger connected?
Let me be more clear. Drove the car all over that day (it had been on the charger the night before too), pull into the garage, park and pop the hood. Connect charger. Secure garage until next morning, back in the garage and the first thing I noticed was that comfort access didn't work. First time this ever happened so I made a note to look it up. Disconnect charger, close hood and get in the car, and got the warning about increased battery drain. The night was particularly cold and morning was still chilly. Strange, no?

Strange yes... you do mention comfort access didn't work. That could be a good clue to an intermittent, or one of fault. Clearly the battery wasn't likely low with a charger connected, but doesn't mean there wasn't a current draw occurring and logged during the night.

[im_an_alien]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Strange yes... you do mention comfort access didn't work. That could be a good clue to an intermittent, or one of fault. Clearly the battery wasn't likely low with a charger connected, but doesn't mean there wasn't a drain occurring and logged during the night.

Research shows that when the battery drain message pops up comfort access is disabled, so that's normal for the circumstance. What I don't understand is how there can be battery drain with the charger connected, hence my point about low temps alone could be a factor. BTW I've not done anything about the battery drain message and it's never come back.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by im_an_alien

Research shows that when the battery drain message pops up comfort access is disabled, so that's normal for the circumstance. What I don't understand is how there can be battery drain with the charger connected, hence my point about low temps alone could be a factor. BTW I've not done anything about the battery drain message and it's never come back.

I believe we rightly assume the systems work faultlessly and only genuine messages will be triggered. I suspect we do get erroneous triggers for warning messages on occasion.

The "battery drain when stopped, or stationary" warning is signalling an abnormal current draw. "Battery low and drive..." is simply indicating a low state of charge.

I don't doubt lower voltage and unusual conditions have a lot to do with some of the issues we get with warning messages. It's not fool proof.

As an example, I've noted my car when locking, doesn't always go to sleep correctly. Unlock, open the driver's door, close and lock again, shuts down correctly. Can be caused by the time the car is left unlocked from use, before locking.