[sorin1987]

I have recently had a dash cam installed in my G31 and the cam has an option for parking monitoring where it can record while the car is parked (and engine off). When I started the car next morning I got the power consumption warning (I can't remember the exact wording of it). I had to turn the parking function off fearing that it will drain the battery slowly.

Question is: is this warning something the car gives even if the power consumption of the dash cam is minimal and I should ignore it, or a dash cam would actually drain enough power to render the battery flat?

I use the car every day but during the week I use it only for two short trips of about 3-4 miles each to and from my kids nursery and maybe a supermarket stop. So not really ideal for car batteries anyway.

[Joe-BMW33]

I am guessing the voltage or amperage is being compromised significantly enough that the car is reading that. These cars are too advanced to give just a "heads-up" type of warning. The car is already pulling juice on it's own when off to keep monitoring systems active, this is how you can read things in the MyBMW app, for example. I am guessing it's going to decrease the life of your battery over time.

If you are up for it. Put a meter on the main battery after you have been driving before you are going to leave it for a few days. Then read it before you start it up and see just how much drain is going on. A multimeter on Amazon is cheap.

[sorin1987]

Thank you! I think I would rather turn off the parking mode. I already have my driveway security cam pointing right at my car all the time.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by sorin1987

Thank you! I think I would rather turn off the parking mode. I already have my driveway security cam pointing right at my car all the time.

Yeah, I’d probably do the same. I’ve considered a dash cam several times, but more for servalence when I’m not in the car. Either the ability to turn it on remotely or motion triggered. As you can see from your experience, the first isn’t so-able and the second drains the battery.