[import36]

my car is a 2008 335i Coupe...with a production date of 2/08.

i started experiencing an issue this past December where i would start the car, and the clock/date would be reset. there was also an error indicating low battery...or battery is being drained while the car is stopped/off. i did a here on the forums and found a couple things...so i checked what was recommended with no results. the problem is intermittent and doesn't happen every time i start the car. it also doesn't have to be extremely cold for this to happen. in any case, i figured i'd wait to start a new thread until after i made a dealer visit.

so i brought my car into the dealer this past week for regular maintenance (brake fluid flush, oil change, etc.), and had them check out the problem. this was there finding:

straight from the printout:
"No fix available yet. Perform short test and found nothing in the codes for energy diag or power supply. Perform energy diag anyways. Found that it had turned off the 30gf relay. Perform test plan and it advised that BMW is working on a fix, currently there is none. Diag code D1621_00ENGDIAG_70_902"

my SA told me it appears to be a software programming issue. the DME receives a signal indicating that the battery is being drained, so it cuts power to the clock. when in actuality there is no drain on the battery at all. it's like a false alarm.

has anyone else experienced this?

[F104]

A) can you roll down windows with key fob? If not car does believe battery is low and shuts off these comfort functions
B) check battery voltage. Above protection only starts below 12V, and even if you're at 12V that is low- replace battery. Should be at 12.5 or so

www.batteryuniversity.com - even mentioned in BMW SIB

[John 070]

Isn't software MY blind? So if there is no fix, wouldn't everyone be having the same problem? Or are they reluctant to update your software because they wont get reimbursed as it's not a known fix? I just don't get BMW dealerships, they duplicate an issue, which is not normal, but let customers leave after having done nothing to correct the issue.

That's like my comfort access, locking the car when it should be unlocking. They duplicated the action, and said BMWNA told them it is normal. They're like a bunch of robots who can't think for themselves.

[Oulixes]

Originally Posted by import36

my car is a 2008 335i Coupe...with a production date of 2/08.

i started experiencing an issue this past December where i would start the car, and the clock/date would be reset. there was also an error indicating low battery...or battery is being drained while the car is stopped/off. i did a here on the forums and found a couple things...so i checked what was recommended with no results. the problem is intermittent and doesn't happen every time i start the car. it also doesn't have to be extremely cold for this to happen. in any case, i figured i'd wait to start a new thread until after i made a dealer visit.

so i brought my car into the dealer this past week for regular maintenance (brake fluid flush, oil change, etc.), and had them check out the problem. this was there finding:

straight from the printout:
"No fix available yet. Perform short test and found nothing in the codes for energy diag or power supply. Perform energy diag anyways. Found that it had turned off the 30gf relay. Perform test plan and it advised that BMW is working on a fix, currently there is none. Diag code D1621_00ENGDIAG_70_902"

my SA told me it appears to be a software programming issue. the DME receives a signal indicating that the battery is being drained, so it cuts power to the clock. when in actuality there is no drain on the battery at all. it's like a false alarm.

has anyone else experienced this?

My clock gets reset when the power from the battery is interrupted, for any reason. Compared to other load on the battery, the clock takes next to nothing - the explanation that the OS would be cutting power to the clock to limit battery drain does not seem reasonable.

[LagMode335i]

I had the same issue with the clock reset. Took it to the dealer; said no codes were shown. My personal belief was the battery was junk; the car is still young. They showed my normal average trip mileage start/stop time and said I did not drive it far enough. My response to that was; due to long cranks (which probably killed the battery) and poor fuel pumps, I only use the car in the city. I got to believe the long cranks (6-10) seconds has to have an effect on battery life. They topped off the battery with a charge and sent me on my way. The clock has only reset 4 times, but I thought that was suspect.....anyway......

[import36]

Originally Posted by F104

A) can you roll down windows with key fob? If not car does believe battery is low and shuts off these comfort functions
B) check battery voltage. Above protection only starts below 12V, and even if you're at 12V that is low- replace battery. Should be at 12.5 or so

www.batteryuniversity.com - even mentioned in BMW SIB

- haven't actually tried to roll the windows down with the key fob when this happens...will give it a go next time.

- i'll check the battery next time as well

thanks...

Originally Posted by John 070

Isn't software MY blind? So if there is no fix, wouldn't everyone be having the same problem? Or are they reluctant to update your software because they wont get reimbursed as it's not a known fix? I just don't get BMW dealerships, they duplicate an issue, which is not normal, but let customers leave after having done nothing to correct the issue.

That's like my comfort access, locking the car when it should be unlocking. They duplicated the action, and said BMWNA told them it is normal. They're like a bunch of robots who can't think for themselves.

thats what i don't understand...i haven't heard of anyone else really having this problem. granted not everyone with a e9x is on this forum...but if it were a software issue i'd assume more people would have reported it.

also, the problem didn't start until Dec 2009...i've had the car since Feb 2008.

Originally Posted by Oulixes

My clock gets reset when the power from the battery is interrupted, for any reason. Compared to other load on the battery, the clock takes next to nothing - the explanation that the OS would be cutting power to the clock to limit battery drain does not seem reasonable.

i agree.

Originally Posted by LagMode335i

I had the same issue with the clock reset. Took it to the dealer; said no codes were shown. My personal belief was the battery was junk; the car is still young. They showed my normal average trip mileage start/stop time and said I did not drive it far enough. My response to that was; due to long cranks (which probably killed the battery) and poor fuel pumps, I only use the car in the city. I got to believe the long cranks (6-10) seconds has to have an effect on battery life. They topped off the battery with a charge and sent me on my way. The clock has only reset 4 times, but I thought that was suspect.....anyway......

luckily haven't experienced any long cranks. even when the clock has reset itself the car starts right up...no hesitation at all.

[John 070]

What burns me up is the no code, no fix mentality.

Just think about this, say you have some sort of application that uses 3 servers--if they all go out at the same time (there is usually a sequence to taking them down and back up), they will often have no record of anything that happened with respect to one another. Sure, server A rebooted at such and such a time. But it has no record that a service which communicates with server B went out at that time.

Just because there is no code, doesn't mean it didn't happen or that there isn't a problem. That really burned me up when my car died not once, but twice while driving, and they gave me that no code = nothing we can do BS.

[GarySL]

Hey John, My e90 (03/08 build) is doing the exact same thing. My dealer suggested placing it on their battery tender overnight. That was last Friday night so maybe too early to tell if the experiment was helpful or not. If it's a software issue in my car as well, then the trickle charge would likely be of little help.

[mr.bob]

Yes, Have had the same issue this winter when the car sat for more than one day.

[hensta]

I have had a similar situation with the battery draining. I have an '08 e92 and the clock would reset frequently. At times the car would not start when pushing the start button. I took it to the dealer and they said I didn't drive it enough and no problem with the elect system or battery. I bought a battery tender to top off the battery, but it recurs if I do not drive it for 6-7 days. So every 3-4 days I have to top it off with a battery tender. This is my 3rd car so I do not use it daily. I use it about once every 3 days. I can't see ever leaving it a the airport when I travel for a week or more.

[dave herzog]

+1 battery light/drain issue. told me I should drive differently. no fix.

[shibikot]

Had a similar issue on my 2006 330i with 30K miles. I noticed the issue while test driving and before i actually bought the car. They took it to a dealer who replaced the battery and the cable (a really expensive part!) that goes to it.
Sorry cant be more helpful, i could try to gid out the old paperwork for it.

[Race_Doc11]

Yes I got it once or twice and I thought I'm must have done something wrong while I was washing the car...No fix hummmm...really! isn't that why people are trying to avoid by not going for american cars??

Originally Posted by import36

my car is a 2008 335i Coupe...with a production date of 2/08.

i started experiencing an issue this past December where i would start the car, and the clock/date would be reset. there was also an error indicating low battery...or battery is being drained while the car is stopped/off. i did a here on the forums and found a couple things...so i checked what was recommended with no results. the problem is intermittent and doesn't happen every time i start the car. it also doesn't have to be extremely cold for this to happen. in any case, i figured i'd wait to start a new thread until after i made a dealer visit.

so i brought my car into the dealer this past week for regular maintenance (brake fluid flush, oil change, etc.), and had them check out the problem. this was there finding:

straight from the printout:
"No fix available yet. Perform short test and found nothing in the codes for energy diag or power supply. Perform energy diag anyways. Found that it had turned off the 30gf relay. Perform test plan and it advised that BMW is working on a fix, currently there is none. Diag code D1621_00ENGDIAG_70_902"

my SA told me it appears to be a software programming issue. the DME receives a signal indicating that the battery is being drained, so it cuts power to the clock. when in actuality there is no drain on the battery at all. it's like a false alarm.

has anyone else experienced this?

[undecided]

Get them to charge it for you. If it discharges quickly you have charging issues. If it take a whole year to get discharged again it's your trip duration. On my car it happened twice. Once it was the alternator going bad and it left me stranded. The 2nd time it must have been the trip duration because after they charged it, it was ok.

[import36]

my car is daily driven more than 10 miles....so it doesn't sit like some of the other folks have posted. i honestly don't know what the issue is...and i don't think BMW does either.

[blueaudi18]

same problem here... clock reset intermittenly... comfort access all wacky sometime.

people wiht the problem.. do u guys have any aftermarket things?

[GarySL]

Originally Posted by blueaudi18

same problem here... clock reset intermittently... comfort access all wacky sometime.

people with the problem.. do u guys have any aftermarket things?

No add-ons here.

It's fresh from the dealers tender over the weekend but a work trip to San Jose has left the e90 parked in the garage. Will see how it operates tomorrow when I get back.

[mid-corner fun]

same problem here but with a solution, '08 335i. I get the clock reset if I let the car parked indoors for more than 2 days, takes longer to drain if parked outdoors. Took it to the dealer which diagnosed it as constant battery draw preventing the electronics from shutting down due to my hard drive being plugged in all the time in the USB port.
I've watched the hard drive power off after 10-15 mins of locking the car but the dealer insists that leaving it plugged in forces the electronics to stay on constantly. Started detaching the USB cable prior to locking the car and the battery is fine now.

[cashmethod]

this is why when i bought my car i bought it with high-efficiently battery.

[aspiring335]

I believe this issue with the battery / clock reset is a known issue with the E60 5 series. Was just reading a review of the 5 as a used car buy, and it's one of the issues that the writer mentions.

[Andrew_C5]

Originally Posted by import36

my car is a 2008 335i Coupe...with a production date of 2/08.

i started experiencing an issue this past December where i would start the car, and the clock/date would be reset. there was also an error indicating low battery...or battery is being drained while the car is stopped/off. i did a here on the forums and found a couple things...so i checked what was recommended with no results. the problem is intermittent and doesn't happen every time i start the car. it also doesn't have to be extremely cold for this to happen. in any case, i figured i'd wait to start a new thread until after i made a dealer visit.

so i brought my car into the dealer this past week for regular maintenance (brake fluid flush, oil change, etc.), and had them check out the problem. this was there finding:

straight from the printout:
"No fix available yet. Perform short test and found nothing in the codes for energy diag or power supply. Perform energy diag anyways. Found that it had turned off the 30gf relay. Perform test plan and it advised that BMW is working on a fix, currently there is none. Diag code D1621_00ENGDIAG_70_902"

my SA told me it appears to be a software programming issue. the DME receives a signal indicating that the battery is being drained, so it cuts power to the clock. when in actuality there is no drain on the battery at all. it's like a false alarm.

has anyone else experienced this?

I have the same issue after taking my car to the dealership. They replaced 2 shocks and some other stuff... after driving it a few miles it began losing date, time and the last miles. Dealership said they didn't do anything and have no idea what is causing that behavior. its been a month and I still have no clue about how to fix it. Any help? Thanks