RE BATTERY FOR E46 BMW 323i SE

[Rst250]

Hi all, I'm new here so just like to say hi!

I am having an issue with my 99 323i SE. The battery seems to be going flat within a few hours. I have done the "dash test" with the following results

Idle is at around 13
Driving with lights on etc is at 14ish

Got home left a few hours jumped back in and car just clicked.

Done the dash test again and the reading was around 10.3

It would seem the alternator is charging as when driving it fluctuates between 12 and 14, so I assume it's charging.

Has anyone got any ideas what this could be? I had the battery tested and they said its not faulty?

[Arunas B]

Check if your heater blower motor goes off then you switc ignition of.

[Rst250]

Hi yes it does seem to. The car is silent after switching off, so I assume it's off?

[siraff]

Check the boot light is going off when it's closed.

[Rst250]

I checked that tonight and it was going off. I opened the back seats to make sure.

[goldieandblackie]

I repaced my battery last year on my 323ci with one from Europarts (Bosch S5) which comes with a 5 year warranty.Enter BATTERY15 for a 15% discount,there are cheaper bosch batteries as well.

[Rst250]

But I don't want to spend money on a new battery if it's just something that's draining it. Surely if I replaced a non faulty battery, it would just drain again?

[tenchiten]

Check if your heater blower motor goes off then you switc ignition of.

Yeah, I wondered if it may be a hedgehog related thing as well.

[Rst250]

Hedgehog related thing?

[tenchiten]

A dodgy hedgehog may drain the battery.
Run a search for hedgehog or final stage resistor.

[Rst250]

Lol I see why it's called a hedgehog now... My blowers blow and turn off fine? Would this indicate that this part is fine?

[tenchiten]

It's just a possible cause of battery drain to consider, amongst others.
Symptoms of a dodgy hedgehog seem to vary but some drain the battery overnight, others give the fan a mind of it's own and some just "pulse".
Mine was of the latter persuasion but never flattened the battery. I changed it before it could

Anyhow, just a thought.

[Rst250]

Hmmmm. Well, I am going to let my mate have a look at it tonight. It doesn't seem to drain right down, as central locking, etc all seem to work fine, so it would suggest to me that its possibly the battery, but hey, I am no mechanic, or electrician, so I think I had best leave it to the experts to diagnose the issue.

[Rst250]

OK, my friend run the battery diagnosis test and the Amps should have been somewhere around 680 and where down at only 111. The charging system is working fine, and the advice from the testing unit was to replace battery. So I will give that a go, and hopefully, I will have no more issues. Well fingers crossed anyway.

[goldieandblackie]

Well i did say replace your battery

[Rst250]

You did, and thank you for the advice. Most appreciated.

[gonz0]

people go through all this messing about, 1st proper answer at this time of year should be

"how olds the battery"

[goldieandblackie]

Well i manged 10.5 years out of my original battery,but i guess they dont make emm like they use too.