'96 intermittent winter mode followed by dead battery
 

Have a '96 850 sedan (non-turbo) that will intermittently go into winter mode by itself, and no jacking with the switch or shifter will make it go away. Once, it did go away on it's own. Two times with this winter mode problem, the car was shut off, and then would not start (presumably because it thought it was in gear and in winter mode). Then, that fault seems to drain the battery. Jump starting overcomes the problem and the car will return to normal operation. Seemingly unrelated, the radio which now needs it code since the battery died, does not unlock with the code on the card as acquired with car 2 months ago. Never had to use the code before, so perhaps I have the wrong user manual and code for this car... dunno. Mostly concerned about the winter mode since it seems to have some very negative side effects to 1. driveability and then 2. battery drain. Could this be a PnP problem, and ECU problem, something else? Do you think the radio is collateral damage, or, somehow related to this funky intermittent winter problem? Any help appreciated here. Thanks, Jeff

I would have the codes pulled but my guess is bad PNP switch.
Check with local dealer about radio code. Take the radio into the Dealer with you and let them look up the code by the radio serial number.