[dethsrider]

I just bought this car with 160k miles for a good price and am willing to put work into it but it's giving me a terrible time trying to find a parasitic draw. I've taken in and out every fuse while monitoring the battery draw to look for anything drawing and found nothing but a dead end. I'm at the point where I'm just sitting in my car watching my ignition button turn on and off every 1-2 min and listen to two or three modules turn on and off. I can take care of the mechanical problems the car has, I just can't figure this out for the life of me and am hoping someone else has had the same problem or someone can give me something I haven't tried yet.

[Mike K]

Any after market accessories? My car didn’t like even a bluetooth dongle left in the OBD port.

You can also measure current in series or with a clamp style amp-meter as you pull fuses and take readings.

[mainbearing]

And the battery cable connector and blower motor recalls were done on that car?

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by dethsrider

... trying to find a parasitic draw. I've taken in and out every fuse while monitoring the battery draw to look for anything drawing and found nothing... watching my ignition button turn on and off every 1-2 min and listen to two or three modules turn on and off. [You can hear Relays "Click", but NOT sure you can hear "Modules turn on & off". What do you hear, & WHERE does that sound come from?]...

If you actually have "parasitic draw", as opposed to a battery that simply loses its charge over 12 to 24 hours, AND you have noted continuing draw even though you have removed EACH fuse, that leaves bad Diodes in the Alternator. If you are reading Amp draw with meter, WHAT is the Amp/mA Value read? Have you checked for Battery Voltage decrease per hour? What is that Value?

There are different ways to assess "Quiescent Current" or "Parasitic Draw":
1) If you have INPA, on 328i/xi with MSV80 DME, use "INPA > DME (Engine | MSV80) > F5 Status > F5 PM (Power Management) > F4 PM InfoField 3", which shows if there was any Quiescent Current, & the mA rate of Draw. It does NOT tell you WHAT is drawing current, but it tells you HOW MUCH draw.

2) If you have a "Clamp Meter" (~$40) that can measure DC Current (Amps) without opening circuit, simply clamp (One cable at a time ;-) EACH of the 3 B+ Cables from the Battery: (a) Large B+ Cable to Outboard "Transfer Point", that goes to Jumpstart Terminal, Alternator & Starter, under hood; (b) Medium B+Cable that goes to X13020 on right of JB Fuse Panel; (c) Small B+ Cable that goes to VVT Relay in E-box on 328i/xi.

3) You can disconnect the Negative Battery Terminal, & see how many volts are lost in an hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, etc. COMPARE that with voltage lost AFTER reconnecting Negative Terminal.

4) You can CAREFULLY, AFTER disconnecting (-) battery terminal, disconnect large B+ cable from Alternator, INSULATE it, and see if drain ceases.

You MAY have to use "Pull ONE Fuse at-a-time" method if the drain is in Medium B+ Cable that goes to Fuse Panel, but at least you can know the AMOUNT of drain (Amps) you are chasing. BTW, if you have any Fault Codes, those may offer clues. Please post.
George