[SummerallGuard04]

So this is going to sound odd but was looking to hear some thoughts on this situation/QUESTION 1:

QUESTION 1: I've owned my '16 550i for a little over 3 months now. In those 3 months, I've washed it 3 times. ALL 3 times after i'm done washing it, starting it up and going to move it 10' from my driveway to my garage, I get the "battery discharging" warning message. All 3 times! But then, after I park it and come back to it an hour or so later, I never see the warning message again. I leave the key in the designated slot, near the shifter, when I wash it. Not sure if the proximity of the key has anything to do with it when I wash or if it has something to do with the comfort access but it boggles my mind. Also, the battery is brand new and i trickle charge it every 2 weeks or so to 100% so I know it's not the battery. Any ideas as to why this ONLY happens when I wash the car?

QUESTION 2: I was looking at the Carfax report that came with the sale of the car and I saw that the dealership installed a battery charger. Is this a module of some sort? What is the benefit of this and where on the car would it be located? I mean I know it's to extend the life of the battery, in some capacity, but is this something that I should be using or engaging? Is this a "set it and forget it" mod? I'm guessing its located in the rear, near the actually battery?

[Hoa]

If the key is in the car, it will always be active. Don't leave it in the car if you are not going to drive it.

Replacing the battery will require you to register it. If the dealer you got the car from did not register the new battery, it won't know how to charge the new battery properly. Your car is designed to charge up to 80% so don't be alarmed if it is not 100% even though you drove for a long time.

Not sure about the dealership installing a charger. It is not common for any dealership to install a charger.

[Unspec]

Leaving the key in the car and then washing it means it'll keep activating the comfort access and keep the car awake, thus your battery discharging message.

[Surly73]

If I have my fob in range while hand washing the car it's locking, unlocking, beeping and booping all over because the water stream grounds out and activates the touch sensors on the handles. Keep your remote out of range when washing the car.

Search this forum for my posts on battery related messages and don't lump them all together. "Battery discharging while stopped" means something is drawing more power than it should when the car is supposed to be asleep. It could be anything. On my car it was a parking brake module. Unplug any non-factory electrical loads (stereos, scan tools, insurance-provided OBD2 spies), scan with ISTA and go from there. DO NOT replace the battery or alternator because of this message.

"Remote Control. Replace Battery" is the battery in the key. Easy peasy.

"Charge battery" means that everything is fine but the state of charge is low. Plug it in or go for a drive. It takes another restart to clear. I recommend having a good plug in charger connected to the under hood terminals (or the vehicle does not track the energy in and out of the battery properly). Something like a CTEK MXS 5.0 or Noco Genius 5. Use it now and then overnight depending on your climate, weather and usage patterns.

I believe I have seen "Replace battery". It's rare, but is telling you that the battery has exceeded its service life and doesn't have sufficient capacity. The car stores battery replacement codes that only ISTA or a BMW code reader can read but generally doesn't tell the operator on the displays.