Unknown Parasitic drain

[BlakePK]

I'm currently dealing with a parasitic drain on my 2008 125i.

Initially when driving my car's electronics started to go crazy and the wiper would randomly go, lights would go on and off etc. I ended up replacing the battery but found out the alternator was overcharging it. I replaced the voltage regulator which seems to have fixed the overcharging but theres still the parasitic drain there.

I've tested and the battery reads about 6.5 amps with the negative terminal disconnected and using a multimeter. I get the exact same reading with the alternator completely removed from the car, I've tried removing every fuse one by one and testing it which didn't really have any luck. The only indicator I have so far is that after removing the number 36 Fuse the multimeter only shows about 4.4 amps.

I've looked at the diagram and apparently 36 is one of the start stop fuses, does anyone know specifically what it does? Is it part of the ignition sequence so potentially the starter motor could be causing the drain?

Thnaks for any advice.

[NorthernDancer]

Loose and/or dirty connections on battery cables can cause all sorts of very weird electrical issues. Bad ground cable low on left side of engine is first place to look. Lots of posts here on this issue.