Has anyone else had battery issues on the new 2011 X3. I got a service notification message and brought the vehicle to the dealership. The dealer said that the battery had been significantly drained and this was an erroneous message as a result of a low battery. They told me that in order to keep the battery charged the vehicle should see 30 miles of highway driving daily. Additionally they sold me a battery charger and recommended using it nightly to extend the life of the battery. I have had many cars and have never drained the battery in only 2 months. Any shared experience or insight would be appreciated?

30 miles a day? Sounds like extreme BS to me.

No battery problem here -- knock on wood. 30 miles of highway driving daily is complete crap.

On the other hand, it's possible to discharge a battery if the car hasn't been run in several weeks, and it could be worse in cold weather.

Do you let the car sit for extended periods without running it?

I drive the car 10 miles to and from work daily. It sits outside during the day and is a garage overnight.

I envy your commute!

That's not an unusual pattern of driving in any way. A 2011 vehicle should operate perfectly under those conditions -- unless you're charging 15 different devices and keeping an electric cooler going while you're at work.

Dnick wrote

I drive the car 10 miles to and from work daily. It sits outside during the day and is a garage overnight.

My work commute is a total of 10-11 miles and it too sits outside and garaged at night as well. Sounds like someone is full of it and I would sell the battery charger back to them and insist they remedy the problem!

That doesn't sound normal at all. My friend's '10 5 series had a dead battery within the 1st 3 months of purchase, and it was towed to the dealer and replaced on site. They didn't give him any other spiel abt driving X miles/day.

Echoing in my ears is the caveat that my CA told me yesterday when I took delivery of my X3 - don't leave the keys in the car when you are not using it. Something to do with the keys continuing to "talk" to the car and the car's battery draining in order to do this.

Any chance you are leaving your keys in the car overnight?

Thanks for all the input. I do make sure I take the keys with me but good thought.

One sure way to make sure the electronics goes to sleep is to hit door lock on you remote after leaving your vehicle. I had a newly purchased '08 mini cooper with a battery drain issue resulting in a battery replacement. (Many shared bmw electronics)

Dnick-what happened with your battery issues? We would love to know.

Silly question, but what kind of battery is in the UK X3? Calcium or Gel?

I agree with the above post, you HAVE to push the start/stop button twice to shut off the car completely. If you don't, the electronics will stay active for a period of time after you get out of the car.

8 min or until door lock. I never press it twice. For me no need. Car always locked when away.

I always turn the radio off before getting out. Obviously I don't lock it when parked in the garage but do wonder what other electronics are continuing that I am not thinking of (besides the radio) which may need to result in the 2nd stop.

Thanks for the info as always Lotus7! This does worry me though when we go on vacation but we have had no problem with a 2007 328. Is it different?

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?

These cars like to be driven a lot. Short trips like you are doing are not great for any vehicle.....however, you have to do what you do. There are so many power drains on the car as it sits (security, etc) that reduced battery charge is a common problem. Many of us have trickle chargers, but I don't use mine unless I am going to letting it sit for several weeks. Your battery may not have been fully charged when you got the X3. Get the shop to make sure you have a fully charged battery now, and try to drive it longer distances.

Sorry, not much help.

dkonigs wrote

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

midlifecrisis wrote

30 miles a day? Sounds like extreme BS to me.

Me too total B shit.

Was you vehicle possibly left in "transport mode"? This will happen if it was. I remember reading other posts from a few others on this. When the dealer preps the car for delivery, they are supposed to take it out of tranport mode. This will cause battery issues if they forgot to.