Leaving a zed for three months

Maria1 · Post by **Maria1** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:43 am

I will need to leave my zed again this winter without access to a battery conditioner. My plan was to put the old battery in, let it go flatish, open up the car manually and then activate the electronics with the good battery (which was to be on a conditioner) and then having jumped the boot open swap the batteries over. However the old battery is kaput. Two options then. First buy another battery again for when the current good one fails. Don’t really want to do that. Or disconnect or even remove battery keep it in charge in the apartment and then replace in three months. The question is though will the boot lid self lock in this condition meaning that I won’t be able to reinstall the battery?

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:18 am

can you not use a solar charger? there is almost always a solution to this, my car is parked outside during the winter lay up too, i just made a really long flylead up, run it though an air brick in the house and have the charger indoors on the window ledge, very easy and works a treat.
Its really not good to let these batteries on the e89 run flat as you know so its best to try and find a solution of some sort

Chippie · Post by **Chippie** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:39 am

What about buying another battery (£100) and then swapping them over every month and recharging the one you have removed

Maria1 · Post by **Maria1** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:40 am

Thank you both but neither of these are an option. The car is in an open garage (the charger would be nicked). And no point in buying a battery and then swapping them over every month when the problem is having to leave the car for three months. The question was - will the e89 boot self lock without a battery in it?

Jasonn · Post by **Jasonn** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:59 am

I wouldn't leave it to go flat as you could be setting yourself up for all sorts of problems.

I had one of those FWD MGs which had an electric boot release many years ago and i let the battery die. I ended up having to fold down the rear seats and partially dismantling the bike in the boot before i could get to the boot release and open it that way.

Our cars don't have a manual opener in the boot and even if they did, I can't see how you'd get to it from the cabin.

It might be possible to rig some cabling leading to the battery that you could hide, then attach a battery to give you just enough to pop the lock, but BMW electronics are a nightmare

There's always a solution though, this might help

ECO-WORTHY 10W 12V Solar Trickle Charger Car Battery Maintainer, Portable Solar Panel Power Backup Kit with Alligator Clip Adapter for RV Boat Automobile Motorcycle https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08K3BQTN ... UTF8&psc=1

Zed Baron · Post by **Zed Baron** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:05 pm

Hi, Im not suggesting any correct procedure here and hopefully a genius will be along soon, but I did have an experience where I had disconnected the negative terminal of the battery to do some work on the car and accidentally shut the boot... It wouldn't open and with the roof down, rain in the air and being automatic, I couldn't just roll the car back into the garage! Luckily the car was open and I could gain access to the bonnet release and was able to attach jump leads to the charging point in the engine bay and to one of my other cars. It either gave (can't remember which I did) enough power to operate the central locking switch (double press and boot will open) or use the key fob boot open and I was able to open the boot, attached the negative terminal and all back to normal.

mcbutler · Post by **mcbutler** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:27 pm

It wont go flat in 3 months if its healthy, itl'l be absolutely fine. During my military career I frequently left my cars for periods ranfing from 3 - 9 months. 6 can be a problem but 3 is ok.

Deepseaskateboard · Post by **Deepseaskateboard** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:44 pm

Maria1 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:43 am I will need to leave my zed again this winter without access to a battery conditioner. My plan was to put the old battery in, let it go flatish, open up the car manually and then activate the electronics with the good battery (which was to be on a conditioner) and then having jumped the boot open swap the batteries over. However the old battery is kaput. Two options then. First buy another battery again for when the current good one fails. Don’t really want to do that. Or disconnect or even remove battery keep it in charge in the apartment and then replace in three months. The question is though will the boot lid self lock in this condition meaning that I won’t be able to reinstall the battery?

Another option is this:

CTEK Portable Battery Charger Maintainer 40-462 - featuring Adaptive Boost Technology https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WNCYNTH/ ... UTF8&psc=1

This is a charger which has it’s own internal battery, so it should keep things topped up. Also from a reliable brand.

A little on the expensive side, but if you will have this kind of set up for a few years, then a decent investment.

Deepseaskateboard · Post by **Deepseaskateboard** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:00 pm

Also, if you want to leave the boot open, you can just put some cardboard or a microfibre cloth in the latch when disconnecting the battery.

Then it can’t lock, but should sit fairly flat.

Maria1 · Post by **Maria1** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:58 pm

Thanks everyone for your replies. The idea of the posh ctek charger is a good one but I suspect it won’t be there when I get back....

I have looked at another forum and it would appear that a) you can manually move the soft close locks so that they are already locked before the boot is lowered. This stops the boot from locking itself. Also and while some have said it doesn’t work others have said that with the battery removed it is possible to force the actuators to open after a battery is connected to the posts under the bonnet. This move does not start the engine though.

My probable solution is to take the battery out and place on charge inside the apartment. At the same time manually move the soft close actuators to “closed “ and place a duvet between the boot and the boot lid. It has to be very thick as anothe put just a towel between the two and it locked with the towel stuck between them....,

Deepseaskateboard · Post by **Deepseaskateboard** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:01 pm

Maria1 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:58 pm Thanks everyone for your replies. The idea of the posh ctek charger is a good one but I suspect it won’t be there when I get back....

I have looked at another forum and it would appear that a) you can manually move the soft close locks so that they are already locked before the boot is lowered. This stops the boot from locking itself. Also and while some have said it doesn’t work others have said that with the battery removed it is possible to force the actuators to open after a battery is connected to the posts under the bonnet. This move does not start the engine though.

My probable solution is to take the battery out and place on charge inside the apartment. At the same time manually move the soft close actuators to “closed “ and place a duvet between the boot and the boot lid. It has to be very thick as anothe put just a towel between the two and it locked with the towel stuck between them....,

You would wire in the Ctek under the bonnet and when you lock the car, it will be locked in.

No one would know it’s there.

Zed Baron · Post by **Zed Baron** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 6:26 pm

Maria1 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:58 pm Also and while some have said it doesn’t work others have said that with the battery removed it is possible to force the actuators to open after a battery is connected to the posts under the bonnet. This move does not start the engine though.

Thats exactly what I did and it worked, you don't have to take the battery out just disconnect the negative terminal.

Maria1 · Post by **Maria1** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 1:50 pm

Thanks zed baron. One final thing if I did disconnect (or better take out the battery to allow it to trickle charge in the flat) can I lock the car up. Presumably I would have to manually lock the passenger side (can you do that on a zed) and then use the key to manually lock the drivers side. As the car will be a communal garage it would be nice for it to be locked.....

Maria1 · Post by **Maria1** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:51 pm

To finish this thread off (nearly) an electronics engineer friend of mine has advised that i can easily test if the boot actuators work by taking out the battery, leaving the boot open (important bit that), and reconnecting the battery at the front with jump leads and then seeing if the car’s minor electronics including the boot lock actuators respond. If they do, job done. The solution to this perennial problem therefore appears to be simple - jump it open. However, I have to test this (gulp) and b) this method does require the battery leads in the boot to be isolated. Unfortunately most cases of locking the boot with battery disconnected are achieved with the positive cable shorting against the chassis

Kiwi_Mike · Post by **Kiwi_Mike** » Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:26 pm

Zed Baron wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:05 pm one of my other cars

What other cars do you have in your collection?

Z4-forum.com

Z4-forum.com