Discussion
Hi all,
Not after an internet diagnosis, but would be interested to hear if anyone’s had these issues before and what they did about it.
2005 650i – been getting a message saying there’s an increased battery discharge whilst stationary. Car starts and operates fine, except the clocks etc, which keep resetting.
I’ve been ignoring it, obviously. But now it says the restraint systems are faulty…sigh.
The car gets very little use, but the AGM battery is new (about a year old).
I’m sure there’s a remarkably simple, easy fix that I can do myself (not really)
Any help appreciated.
Not after an internet diagnosis, but would be interested to hear if anyone’s had these issues before and what they did about it.
2005 650i – been getting a message saying there’s an increased battery discharge whilst stationary. Car starts and operates fine, except the clocks etc, which keep resetting.
I’ve been ignoring it, obviously. But now it says the restraint systems are faulty…sigh.
The car gets very little use, but the AGM battery is new (about a year old).
I’m sure there’s a remarkably simple, easy fix that I can do myself (not really)
Any help appreciated.
My M6 and 760 like to do it too - mainly because of the ‘little use’.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AA-5060114614185-Solar-Po...
Plug it in the OBD port above the throttle pedal & stow it on the dash. No more issues.
If that doesn’t work, then either you’ve got something on the car that’s staying live instead of shutting down (takes about 25min after locking IIRC) and therefore draining the battery, or the alternator is buggered, or the battery is.
Any garage should be able to drop-test the battery in seconds, the alternator charge a bit longer, if it’s a module not sleeping, then it’s diagnostic time.
The PH solution is of course, drive it more.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AA-5060114614185-Solar-Po...
Plug it in the OBD port above the throttle pedal & stow it on the dash. No more issues.
If that doesn’t work, then either you’ve got something on the car that’s staying live instead of shutting down (takes about 25min after locking IIRC) and therefore draining the battery, or the alternator is buggered, or the battery is.
Any garage should be able to drop-test the battery in seconds, the alternator charge a bit longer, if it’s a module not sleeping, then it’s diagnostic time.
The PH solution is of course, drive it more.
Thanks for the suggestions, all. Will buy that battery charger. Was after a trickle charger that I didn’t have to plug into the mains; had no idea a solar powered one existed.
The battery discharge light is now off, but the faulty restraint system one is now on. I also found the cause of these ailments, and it was water in the boot (car is a convertible btw), and a lot of it! It almost completely filled the well where the battery sits and was almost as high as the terminals!
Managed to remove most of it, and a local garage have cleared the rest and the drains, but they were only done about 6 months ago… car is not parked near any trees etc, so can only assume that not all drains were cleared through.. bizarrely, the boot carpet was dry, didn’t smell damp, had no water marks, and I do not recall seeing any water there at all. I have no idea how it’s getting in.
Thankfully, car still starts and drives as normal. All electrics seem fine, except for the aforementioned restraint warning.
Bloody thing.
The battery discharge light is now off, but the faulty restraint system one is now on. I also found the cause of these ailments, and it was water in the boot (car is a convertible btw), and a lot of it! It almost completely filled the well where the battery sits and was almost as high as the terminals!
Managed to remove most of it, and a local garage have cleared the rest and the drains, but they were only done about 6 months ago… car is not parked near any trees etc, so can only assume that not all drains were cleared through.. bizarrely, the boot carpet was dry, didn’t smell damp, had no water marks, and I do not recall seeing any water there at all. I have no idea how it’s getting in.
Thankfully, car still starts and drives as normal. All electrics seem fine, except for the aforementioned restraint warning.
Bloody thing.
OnTheSauce said:
Many thanks for the kind offer. I should have mentioned, the garage did turn it off, but it came straight back on as I reversed off the forecourt!
I’ll ignore it and hope it goes away. Will have to investigate further if it doesn’t.
IIRC this is usually the passenger seat sensor; so get that looked into and you can buy a bypass resistor set off eBay for c£12I’ll ignore it and hope it goes away. Will have to investigate further if it doesn’t.
I had this on a previous E65; however, mine turned out to be the sensor attached to the mains battery cable; it wasn’t a cheap fix unfortunately, as it took a while for the diagnostics guy yo actually suss out the issue and then trace it etc...
Does need looking into ASAP as that system won’t be working correctly; it’s a safety system, so not to be ignored IMO
d_a_n1979 said:
IIRC this is usually the passenger seat sensor; so get that looked into and you can buy a bypass resistor set off eBay for c£12
I had this on a previous E65; however, mine turned out to be the sensor attached to the mains battery cable; it wasn’t a cheap fix unfortunately, as it took a while for the diagnostics guy yo actually suss out the issue and then trace it etc...
Does need looking into ASAP as that system won’t be working correctly; it’s a safety system, so not to be ignored IMO
I've coded out a few of the seat sensors; effectively you're telling the car it doesn't have a seat sensor, so it assumes the seat is occupied at all times. You also disable the passenger seatbelt warning system, as that will drive you crazy. Airbag system remains fully functional.I had this on a previous E65; however, mine turned out to be the sensor attached to the mains battery cable; it wasn’t a cheap fix unfortunately, as it took a while for the diagnostics guy yo actually suss out the issue and then trace it etc...
Does need looking into ASAP as that system won’t be working correctly; it’s a safety system, so not to be ignored IMO
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