We’ve been having a problem with our BMW X5. Normally a fantastic car, there’s is something that is intermittently draining the battery so that every couple of weeks it won’t start and we have to jump it. This sucks mainly because B drives around the bay area a lot with a side job in Berkeley, going to grad school in SF, and working in Palo Alto. She can’t be getting stranded in Berkeley. Not an option. The car has spent days with my friend and car doctor Ted May at Valaya Racing with no luck. We’ve hooked every computer known to man up to it and still we’re not sure what the problem is. If the car isn’t exhibiting the problem, then it’s really not very possible to track down what that problem is. So basically Ted suggested we get rid of the car. And when your car doctor tells you this, you listen. So, long term, replace this car. Short term, make it reliable if we can.

Today I found this “Battery Brain” device on the web which hooks up to your battery and detects if the charge is becoming dangerously low. If it is, it cuts all the power to the car and when you get in the car and it won’t start all you have to do is reset the Battery Brain (which allows the juice to flow again) and the car will start. This kicks ass. Cars should have this built in! Anyway, I ordered one of these and we’ll see if this gives us the reliability we need for B’s driving needs. I ordered type II with the remote control, that way she doesn’t need to pop the hood to reset it. Nice. Not as good as the car working properly but better than having to jump the car. Plus draining the battery all the way will ruin the battery very quickly. Car batteries aren’t designed to be drained all the way.

If this really works, I’ll probably order one for our other cars too and I recommend everyone ordering one for your car.

I’ll post again about this once we’ve given it a go.