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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums General 5-Series Sedan and Wagon (F10 / F11) Forum Charge battery message
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      02-23-2015, 02:43 PM   #23
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Im having this same problem. The mechanic shop won't let me pass emissions until I am able to solve the issue with the battery. Will try to keep it in sport mode only and try a few free way trips and bring it back to them later this week.

Also, I am still under emissions warranty and since the battery is causing me to fail the emissions test, does make me applicable for a free battery?
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      02-23-2015, 03:13 PM   #24
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Every BMW owner I know in the DC area have had problems with battery warning in the past week. The drop in temperature caused it.

Go on the highway in sport, get up to speed and then let off the gas so it charges the battery. Watch the efficient dynamics bar, it shows you when it charges the battery. Your battery will probably be fully charged that way in 30 minutes. I did that on my way to work and the battery warning went away even when the temp drop to only 5 F.

If your battery is just bad, BMW is supposed to replace it under a service bulletin. That's if you're still under warranty.
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      02-24-2015, 09:32 PM   #25
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Another very cold day, week without using trickle charger, another warning came on. Trickle charger overnight once a week when this cold seems to take care of it.

Same as others on this thread, I find it ridiculous that this type of car has to be plugged in regularly, but in all fairness, it has been very cold recently. Apparently it hasn't been quite this cold since 1934.

".....warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Monday that current mean temperature for February is -16.3 C. That’s 8 degrees colder than the normal mean temperature in the city for the month, which is -8.1 C....."

This type of cold will (and does) affect any battery, several co-workers had hard time starting or were unable to start at all last few weeks.
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      02-25-2015, 02:18 AM   #26
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It happen couple of times with my wife X3 when away on holidays but never with my F10 I wonder is this specific to cars with auto Stop Start function not in my car?
My assumption it is maybe down to the auto stop start cars needing a more charged battery than the normal system, hence more incline to see this message now.
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      02-25-2015, 09:31 AM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martin mustang View Post
It happen couple of times with my wife X3 when away on holidays but never with my F10 I wonder is this specific to cars with auto Stop Start function not in my car?
My assumption it is maybe down to the auto stop start cars needing a more charged battery than the normal system, hence more incline to see this message now.
I don't have auto stop-start in the 550xi. The problem isn't that. BMW switched out the old school alternator for the new type that gave them regenerative braking. That means their battery needs to be able to handle much faster charge/discharge since the battery won't get a constant charge from the alternator. The drawback for high charge/discharge rate batteries is that they won't hold their charge as long as those with lower charge/discharge rates. When you introduce extreme low temperature to them that can reduce up to 20% of performance, you get a drop in voltage that triggers the warning.

Good news is that batteries have improved substantially so these types of problems will be mitigated in the next gen.

Bad news is current F10 owners won't get it lol.
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      02-25-2015, 09:44 AM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 493263 View Post
I don't have auto stop-start in the 550xi. The problem isn't that. BMW switched out the old school alternator for the new type that gave them regenerative braking. That means their battery needs to be able to handle much faster charge/discharge since the battery won't get a constant charge from the alternator. The drawback for high charge/discharge rate batteries is that they won't hold their charge as long as those with lower charge/discharge rates. When you introduce extreme low temperature to them that can reduce up to 20% of performance, you get a drop in voltage that triggers the warning.

Good news is that batteries have improved substantially so these types of problems will be mitigated in the next gen.

Bad news is current F10 owners won't get it lol.
Thanks for the explanation, I guess the mild boring weather we have in Ireland is not that bad after all, never extreme so should do just fine even with 20% missing from my battery!
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      02-25-2015, 11:27 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martin mustang View Post
I wonder is this specific to cars with auto Stop Start function not in my car?
My assumption it is maybe down to the auto stop start cars needing a more charged battery than the normal system, hence more incline to see this message now.
Good question Martin.
However, in very cold temps the ASS doesn't even function due to programming. On rare 'warm' days, and a car up to full operating temperature it may work. This is my third winter with my F10 and ASS has only operated a max of 5 times. I have had two occasions where the message has come on so I use a 100/15/2 amp charger to top up the battery.
When the battery is depleted (less than 80%) numerous items in the car power down about a week before the message appears, such as the 'automatic' part of the 'automatic climate control' stops functioning and I also get camera messages and camera failures on the 'top' and 'surround' views as well as the side view cameras.
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      02-26-2015, 01:11 PM   #30
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I had the same issue a few months ago. I was running the same issue for about a year or so, but most prevalent during cold weather months. I finally brought it in and they determined that it was due to the turbo cooling fans continuing to run after the engine shut off. This would put a strain on the battery, hence after a few years, the battery would go bad. Ultimately, they have since replaced the battery with a larger battery. I am guessing that is why it is part of the N63 customer care package to replace the battery.
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      02-26-2015, 02:47 PM   #31
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I need to check if my battery is the newer bigger one. Does anyone know the difference so I can make sure I have the right battery.
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      02-27-2015, 10:41 AM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 493263 View Post
I need to check if my battery is the newer bigger one. Does anyone know the difference so I can make sure I have the right battery.
I'd also like to understand how to tell the difference. I live in MN, and this is my first winter with the car (purchased it CPO this July). Been getting the low battery warning on cold days regularly for the last couple months. It's pretty aggravating that on the coldest days of winter (-10F), the heat doesn't work. What kind of BS is that?? I had also driven 4 hours north on Friday and back 4 hours on Sunday, and was still getting the battery warnings through it all.

Just took it in this week, and should be getting it back later today. They replaced the battery, and also informed me of the N63 engine service bulletin. I'll post back any additional details I learn from my SA once I get my car back.
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      02-27-2015, 04:59 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lode_BMW View Post
I'd also like to understand how to tell the difference. I live in MN, and this is my first winter with the car (purchased it CPO this July). Been getting the low battery warning on cold days regularly for the last couple months. It's pretty aggravating that on the coldest days of winter (-10F), the heat doesn't work. What kind of BS is that?? I had also driven 4 hours north on Friday and back 4 hours on Sunday, and was still getting the battery warnings through it all.
Heat will still work but only in windshield defrost settings, in case you're stuck with this again.

Same for me though, driving extended periods does not clear the warning.
It will only clear once temperature rises a bit or trickle charger is used.
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      02-28-2015, 12:38 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lode_BMW View Post
I'd also like to understand how to tell the difference. I live in MN, and this is my first winter with the car (purchased it CPO this July). Been getting the low battery warning on cold days regularly for the last couple months. It's pretty aggravating that on the coldest days of winter (-10F), the heat doesn't work. What kind of BS is that?? I had also driven 4 hours north on Friday and back 4 hours on Sunday, and was still getting the battery warnings through it all.

Just took it in this week, and should be getting it back later today. They replaced the battery, and also informed me of the N63 engine service bulletin. I'll post back any additional details I learn from my SA once I get my car back.
It warmed up a bit here in NY now.. at least over the teens. Havent gotten the message since but please keep us posted on what is the result of your service.
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      02-28-2015, 04:23 PM   #35
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I was digging through the old service records from the original owner today. His original factory battery was replaced two years ago in Feb 2013. They installed a 92 amp hour AGM battery from Exide - part number "61-21-7-639-053". I've seen in other threads that BMW is now replacing these 90 and 92AH batteries with 105 amp batteries. Hopefully they have a longer life span.

My car is still in the shop getting work done for the N63 service bulletin. I'll update again when I know more.
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      02-17-2016, 09:27 PM   #36
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Bumping this back up as I'm starting to get the charge battery message if the car sits for more than 24 hours. I feel I need to replace the battery soon as the deep freeze we had in NY last week might have killed the battery.

Does anybody go another brand of battery or stick with OEM? Thanks!
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      02-18-2016, 02:22 AM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonm3ny View Post
Bumping this back up as I'm starting to get the charge battery message if the car sits for more than 24 hours. I feel I need to replace the battery soon as the deep freeze we had in NY last week might have killed the battery.

Does anybody go another brand of battery or stick with OEM? Thanks!
http://skyhighcaraudio.com/xs-power-d3100/


This is what I would recommend, I had mine replaced by the stealer last March for $549 with the (BS battery registration) garbage. I've done a lot of research on this subject and all I can say is try to charge it overnight on a 10amp smart charger that will shut off when done. If it still gives you this message in a few days it's time for a new battery. I'll skip the details on the charging system since its been covered, but I can tell you to skip the battery registration since the battery will never get fully charged or overcharged because the charging system keeps the battery at 80% charge and uses the efficient dynamics to maintain it above 80% and the car keeps it below 100% by default from use. Trust me it will never be overcharged from skipping the registration nonsense the dealer will say it needs, but this only applies to cars with efficient dynamics and it's not so great charging system. If it worked like it was supposed too we wouldn't be getting low battery messages, and a battery like ours should last longer than 3-4 years.
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      02-18-2016, 07:36 AM   #38
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Question thought... what is the difference in recharging if the car is driven vs a trickle charger? I have a trickle charger and I will probably put it on later but if i drive the car daily i dont get this charge battery message. I drive the car about 120 miles on my daily commute. its no my only car so i dont use it everyday. its when i leave the car a minimum of two nights, the next morning i start it up, i get the excess discharge while stopped message followed by a charge battery message.
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      02-18-2016, 11:00 AM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonm3ny View Post
Question thought... what is the difference in recharging if the car is driven vs a trickle charger? I have a trickle charger and I will probably put it on later but if i drive the car daily i dont get this charge battery message. I drive the car about 120 miles on my daily commute. its no my only car so i dont use it everyday. its when i leave the car a minimum of two nights, the next morning i start it up, i get the excess discharge while stopped message followed by a charge battery message.
In my personal experience - others have mentioned theirs was different, no reasonable amount of driving (100ish miles or so) cleared the warning. Warmer temperature and/or trickle charger however both clear it every time.
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      02-18-2016, 01:05 PM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonm3ny View Post
Question thought... what is the difference in recharging if the car is driven vs a trickle charger? I have a trickle charger and I will probably put it on later but if i drive the car daily i dont get this charge battery message. I drive the car about 120 miles on my daily commute. its no my only car so i dont use it everyday. its when i leave the car a minimum of two nights, the next morning i start it up, i get the excess discharge while stopped message followed by a charge battery message.
When your driving the alternator will charge the battery faster than a trickle charger can, for example I was getting a battery drain from the 5000watt amp I just installed and I put my car on the charger at a 10amp fast charge and after 20 mins it only went from 11.5 volts to 11.7 volts. So I decided to disconnect the charger and start the car and see if the alternator would be faster and or better, well after letting it idle for 18 minutes it I checked the voltage and it went from 11.7 to 12.3 so clearly the alternator was faster. But in your case from what you say you either have a battery drain or your battery is needing to be replaced. Do your own test and check the battery voltage with a meter and see where it's at when you get the message, then check it after the 120 mile daily commute, it should be way higher than before the drive. You can also check while the car is running, you should see around 15 volts at the battery while the engine is running, if way lower than that you might have a bad alternator. It might be a good idea to have your battery and alt tested if you can't test it the way I just explained. But if I had to guess I would say its the battery that's bad. The one from my previous post is bigger (110amp hour) than the upgraded battery the dealer is now giving us and it's designed for the kind of abuse this car gives batteries.

Last edited by Teddylongtooth; 02-18-2016 at 03:24 PM..
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      02-18-2016, 05:03 PM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonm3ny View Post
Question thought... what is the difference in recharging if the car is driven vs a trickle charger? I have a trickle charger and I will probably put it on later but if i drive the car daily i dont get this charge battery message. I drive the car about 120 miles on my daily commute. its no my only car so i dont use it everyday. its when i leave the car a minimum of two nights, the next morning i start it up, i get the excess discharge while stopped message followed by a charge battery message.
I'd be concentrating on the reason for the discharge. I suspect something is draining the battery, not a battery fault. The "excess discharge while stopped" message is the clue.

Is the Check Control showing "Battery: Discharging when stationary"?
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      02-19-2016, 09:43 AM   #42
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Originally Posted by HighlandPete View Post
I'd be concentrating on the reason for the discharge. I suspect something is draining the battery, not a battery fault. The "excess discharge while stopped" message is the clue.

Is the Check Control showing "Battery: Discharging when stationary"?
I might know what it is... I think its my JB4 thats draining my battery. there is a comment on the installation guide about it but it was too much of a coincidence of this and the cold weather. The very first post I wrote on here was without the JB4 though and that was a year ago.
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      02-26-2016, 11:21 AM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonm3ny View Post
Question thought... what is the difference in recharging if the car is driven vs a trickle charger? I have a trickle charger and I will probably put it on later but if i drive the car daily i dont get this charge battery message. I drive the car about 120 miles on my daily commute. its no my only car so i dont use it everyday. its when i leave the car a minimum of two nights, the next morning i start it up, i get the excess discharge while stopped message followed by a charge battery message.
The main difference is that an alternator isn't designed to recharge a battery the same way as an old dynamo system would on an old car. The alternator is designed to just run all the electrical consumers as and when they are demanding power, the battery will demand and consume some power off the alternator but it wont be pumping in a charge the same as a dedicated battery charger. In fact Bosch tell you that when changing an alternator make sure the battery is in a good charge state or you will shorten the life of the new alternator if it is trying to charge the battery.

I have never had a battery issue with my car but I put it on charge this summer just to top the battery up and it took over 4 hrs to fully charge it.
Be aware not to use a normal car charger on these vehicles you need a charger which is capable of charging AGM/Leisure batteries, which are what have been fitted to the 5 series since 2007.
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      02-26-2016, 04:28 PM   #44
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OK readers, there's a WHOLE lot of misinformation in this thread.

First - the operating voltage of the system doesn't just depend on the little blue EfficientDynamics bar, sport mode or all that other stuff. It's influenced by MANY factors, including the charge level of the battery as determined by the IBS. (Everyone remembers to always register new batteries, and always charge via the underhood terminals instead of directly connected to the battery so that IBS has an accurate record of battery condition and state-of-charge, right??)

The EfficientDynamics "regenerative braking" only comes into operation when the battery reaches 80% charged. At any lower state of charge, the system runs at a higher voltage at all times in order to charge the battery. In my F10 and my E90 after coding for an AGM battery, this is 14.8VDC which is exactly the maximum specification voltage for AGM chemistry. If the system has determined that the battery should be rapidly charged then the system target voltage is 14.8VDC - driving, idling, blue bar, no blue bar, DS, D whatever...

Not sure you believe me? Get one of these things and monitor for yourself:

Incidentally, the car doesn't "choose" to charge more or less at high RPMs, coasting downhill or anything like that. At idle, most alternators cannot produce maximum output. If load is high, system voltage may drop below the target at idle. By 1200rpm (engine rpm) most brands of alternators out there are capable of maximum output.

Second, the reasoning behind not using the alternator to recharge a dead battery is not because it can't, it's because a dead battery in otherwise good condition has very low internal resistance and represents a very heavy load. The alternator will be running at maximum output at all times charging the battery which leads to a lot of heat in the alternator. If a habit is made of this behaviour alternator life will be shortened.

If you have no choice but to charge a dead battery or you have a car that was just boosted, DRIVE instead of idle. This keeps airflow across the alternator and allows maximum alternator output. Lots of BMWs (and presumably other cars) have liquid cooled alternators and it may not be strictly necessary, but it's still a good practice.

While you're recharging, turn everything electrical that you don't need OFF. All possible energy will go into the battery. Radio, lights, seat warmers, climate control, everything.

Third, all battery chemistries deteriorate once the charge drops below 75% or so. This is one reason occasional overnight trickle charging is recommended. Batteries will start to sulfate at less than 75% charge which will shorten their service life and effectiveness. Google 'sulfation' and 'de-sulfating chargers'.

Fourth, more of a public service announcement - all of this fancy stuff is WHY YOU NEED TO REGISTER A NEW BATTERY in any BMW with IBS. It's not a scam by the dealers and it's not all that hard. Failing to register a new battery could either undercharge the new battery (it presumes it's already topped up and lowers the system voltage prematurely), or overcharge (presumes that it needs to have the crap cooked out of it to start the engine the next time) and can limit your use of accessories (IBS cuts non-essential systems in order to ensure that you can start the engine next time). Don't cut corners, register the battery.


Concerning the battery-related error messages: There are several, which a lot of people tend to confuse.

"Charge battery" means just that. The IBS system feels that the battery needs charging, but there isn't necessarily anything wrong with the battery or anything else in the electrical system. In my experience the warning may illuminate one or two more starts even after charging the battery. If you have a plug in charger - use it. NORMAL USE CAN CAUSE THIS if you short-trip, or discharged the battery in some way without fully recharging it (e.g. radio video while parked for a while without a drive afterwards to charge back up). I've seen this on my F10 when parked undriven for a long time.

"Battery discharging while stopped" or "Increased battery discharge when stationary" is something different. There is something wrong with your car and IBS started shutting down branches of the vehicle electrical system so your battery wasn't dead when you tried to restart it. There is a malfunction keeping all modules from going to sleep, or an aftermarket stereo, a computer needs resetting or something. Contact your dealer or do a full reset. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. There still may be nothing wrong with your battery or alternator. I've seen this on my F10 due to a parking brake actuator that didn't sleep properly.

"Replace battery". THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Do what it says. IBS has determined that your battery's full capacity has reduced due to age/defect to a point that it's not reliable. Of course it could be an IBS malfunction and your battery is fine, but chances are it's right. In some cases the car doesn't tell the driver to replace the battery but a code is stored for the dealer telling them that the battery needs replacement. (I had that happen).


Last edited by Surly73; 02-27-2016 at 08:24 AM..
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