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      10-07-2011, 11:42 AM   #20
sfax
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Drives: BMW X3 2011 F25
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Berkshire, UK

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Quote:
Originally Posted by dkonigs View Post
Hi everyone,

I just purchased a 2011 X3, and I received it on September 12th. On September 29th, the "engine" light on my dashboard lit up, so I took the car in for service. I was given the same story -- the battery was drained too far and I need to drive at least 10 miles a day.

I live in Boulder, CO, and my office is about 2 miles from my work. My wife works about 10-15 miles from our home. Over the course of the 17 days between receiving the car and the issue's (first) occurrence, I drove the car to work most days, my wife drove the car to her work a few days, a couple days the car sat all day, and there were a couple very short trips to the supermarket and other very close (mile or less) destinations. We also took two longish (20 miles?) drives to enjoy the car during that period of time.

Does this sound like something is wrong with the battery or is this car simply not a good fit for our regular driving style? During the winter, we will make long (90+ miles) trips to the mountains for skiing every two or three weeks, but other than that we tend to stay relatively close to Boulder, aside from periodic 30-50 mile trips to Denver or Fort Collins.

The dealership has told me to plug in the car using a trickle charger once a week overnight. This seems like a ridiculous inconvenience to me that I shouldn't have to endure with a luxury vehicle.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Mine gets a very similar usage to yours: a couple of 1-5 mile trips during the week, less than 1/2 mile to the supermarket once or twice a week, a few days with no use at all, and occasional longer trips at the weekends.

I've had it 7 1/2 months and have not had any problems at all with the battery. I can see how you might need to trickle charge if it's left for weeks without being used but I don't buy this excuse (from your dealer) at all and wouldn't be happy if I had battery problems using the car as I do. It's perfectly normal use and you shouldn't get any problems.

I also have stop-start on mine which must increase the load on the battery
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