Bmw E30

[Tyrone Jacobs]

Hi guys, my cars battery keep on going down, took the alarm out already still not working.... what can the problem be???

 

[DikJoe]

i know of a few e30's that this happened to.one of mine, one of my brother and another of a frend.lol.seems to be a norm for e30's.check the battery.maybe its causing this.also check for earth leakage around the radio?

 

[Tyrone Jacobs]

i know of a few e30's that this happened to.one of mine, one of my brother and another of a frend.lol.seems to be a norm for e30's.check the battery.maybe its causing this.also check for earth leakage around the radio?

new battery, no radio in the car at the moment took it out... giving me a headache

 

[328ii]

Your car's battery is probably not getting charged properly.
Hook a DC voltmeter across the battery terminals while the engine is running
- the meter voltage should read ~13.5Vdc or more at rpm

Also DO check the earth/ground lead where it meet with the chassis..!
Any discoloration must be fixed - fitting a new lead is best

8?>

 

[Tyrone Jacobs]

thanks guys, ill check it out tonight, miss driving my baby

 

[Major]

It is winter, so taking your car for a quick battery test won't do any harm and shouldn't cost you anything. If you have a bad battery winter makes it worse.

Beyond that, make sure the alternator is doing it's job as people have already said, and do a current draw test to see if anything abnormal is sucking your battery dry. Pull fuses until it stops, narrow it down. On E30's you're likely to find grimey or corroded earth points.

 

[pain68]

I had the same problem then it was the battery, I replaced the battery and it was doing the same thing but only when the car was warm, or at operating temperature. And for some unknown reason I was told to put an extra relay on the starter and this fixed the problem :thumbs:

 

[mr t]

Replace the Voltage Regulator on the Alternator. Wont be more than 200 bucks. Sounds like your battery is not charging.

 

[jeff_denning]

Replace the Voltage Regulator on the Alternator. Wont be more than 200 bucks. Sounds like your battery is not charging.

+1.
Sounds alternator related.

 

[zaleonardz]

Define what you mean by the battery is going down.

If you drive the car all day, its fine, but if you leave it parked over night, does it discharge.

If its perfectly fine while driving, it may rule out alternator and or bridge reg, mostly, they still could be at fault. If you cant drive down the road without getting stuck, Its altenator. This can be checked easily with the car started, and a multimeter across the battery terminals, you should get between 13 and 15 volt, ideal is 13.8 i think ?

Next if all that is in order, possibly battery.

If it drains over night, you have a parasitic drain in the system, which is damm harsh to pick up. The only way to do this is to wire in an amp meter (in series) across each fuse with the car and everything off.

If you find a current draw (or siginificant one), then thats your issue, and figure out what is attached to that fuse.

 

[Raybimmer]

If you take negative lead off battery and test for current ( amps ) across battery lead and battery terminal you will get a reading , say 800 milliamps ( 0.8 amps ) . Now you have to take out each fuse and check reading , the fuse that gives the high ( est ) reading will be the system pulling power whwn the car is standing . Check boot light - close boot and feel globe after 5 or 10 minutes - is it warm ? You can check all lights like this - even cubby hole light etc . Good luck
what model e30 ?