Battery Charger

[Smartbear]

I get what you have pointed out above.I will put it another way ,has anybody had a problem charging across the battery on the e89..I am not looking to start a confrontational debate.For myself it's a lot easier to charge via the boot.As I said I have been doing this way for ages with no issue.

I think the issue that arises if charging directly onto the battery is a shortened battery life compared to the owner who charges via the under bonnet points as the charging algorithms are fubard, nobody knows how much shorter exactly but you’ll be buying replacement batteries more often
Rob

 

[ronk]

I’ve used what seems to have been a totally inappropriate charger for the last three winter layups and it seems I might have got away with it. Maybe you’ve just been lucky ?
Given that there are some fancy electronics in the system and a battery at £350 : 400 retail at the other end , I’m not going to take the risk to go against BMW ‘s instructions. I’m sure they have a good reason.

 

[Smartbear]

Hi,

The charger arrived ok the other week and I set it up on Deb's 1'er, using the terminal in the engine bay. I had also bought the extension lead so was able to run that down through a tiny gap between the headlight and the bonnet, under the garage door and then into the charger and socket, so the charger is in the garage.

Had it plugged in since!

Rob - you've got yours permanently installed....how have you connected it in the engine bay and routed the cables, could you take a picture for me? I like the idea of what you've done.

I’ll get out in the garage tomorrow & take a couple of pics for you
Rob

Thank-you

Pics as requested
You can just see the wires disappearing through a hole on the far r/h side behind the grill, the wire then sits in the channel I’m pointing at & travels along until it’s connected to the positive terminal on the bulkhead.
The negative connects below the r/h strut brace where all the brown wires congregate. It’s convenient being able to hook up without opening boot/bonnet.

 

[Anonymous]

I get what you have pointed out above.I will put it another way ,has anybody had a problem charging across the battery on the e89..I am not looking to start a confrontational debate.For myself it's a lot easier to charge via the boot.As I said I have been doing this way for ages with no issue.

No worries as SmartBear alludes it falls into the “well my dad smoked 80 cigarettes a day and it never did him any harm” or “I use Castrol R and my engine runs great, forget that multi grade” type arguments...

It is interesting generally how long the OE fit original battery lasts before they keel over so as installed it’s not doing a bad job..

 

[ihadablackdog]

I’ll get out in the garage tomorrow & take a couple of pics for you
Rob

Thank-you

Pics as requested
You can just see the wires disappearing through a hole on the far r/h side behind the grill, the wire then sits in the channel I’m pointing at & travels along until it’s connected to the positive terminal on the bulkhead.
The negative connects below the r/h strut brace where all the brown wires congregate. It’s convenient being able to hook up without opening boot/bonnet.

Thank-you

 

[ronk]

Euro Parts retail price for a replacement car Bosch battery is £349 - I’m going to do my utmost to take good care of the one I’ve got!

 

[Smartbear]

Euro Parts retail price for a replacement car Bosch battery is £349 - I’m going to do my utmost to take good care of the one I’ve got!

That sounds very expensive, have you tried Tanya battery’s? I’m sure when i looked they were less than half that amount.
Rob

 

[ronk]

They do offer a 50% discount code - but I was browsing just incase the non suitable battery chargers I’ve used have goosed it!

I think it will be ok as they cycle the battery between 12.5 and 13.5v so shouldn’t have got to the gassing off stage.

 

[enzed4]

Pics as requested
You can just see the wires disappearing through a hole on the far r/h side behind the grill, the wire then sits in the channel I’m pointing at & travels along until it’s connected to the positive terminal on the bulkhead.
The negative connects below the r/h strut brace where all the brown wires congregate. It’s convenient being able to hook up without opening boot/bonnet.
0EE4F781-F281-4F17-B178-EABBB3ED15E7.jpeg1810ADD5-F33F-4516-9CA5-1FBAEA8405B4.jpeg49740F05-E9C5-4282-97DA-6EE5D25CEFDC.jpegB473C480-144F-4E71-B92B-07DE5F03F788.jpeg2C1A2C36-37D8-4553-913C-A17E5939A83E.jpeg26A1A759-FA9B-4886-B016-577AFA48F784.jpeg

Thank you

I have something similar to Smartbear. A basic CTEK from BMW with a quick disconnect plug wired under the bonnet. It's supposed be installed at the grilles for easy connect/disconnect, but I couldn't find anywhere out of sight to mount it so ended up attaching it above the headlight panel/cover. I can close the bonnet, but if I do I leave a sign on the steering wheel to remind me not to drive off with the charger still connected :roll: .

 

[Wyldie85]

I had a warning last week on my Mercedes app that the battery on the C Class was apparently ‘critical’ and needed charging. Thankfully I have a CTECK MXS 5.0 battery conditioner and charger so have used this on the Mercedes and the Z4. It works really well and goes through a whole eight point cycle of cleaning, reconditioning and charging the battery and then keeping it topped up. Would highly recommend this.

I did say that I bet a lot of people wont have thought about their cars and will come to use them sometime in the future and will find that they have gone flat.

How long did it take, as mine took over 24 hours on the low charge AGM setting last week?

Yep, about the same. Just been out and looked at the Mercedes and there’s the final light to appear. By the time the cycle completes, I’d say 24 hrs is about right.

 

[ihadablackdog]

So are we saying that running the recon mode on an agm battery could damage it?

The ctek charger allowed me to select both options at the same time (which I did).

 

[Anonymous]

So are we saying that running the recon mode on an agm battery could damage it?

The ctek charger allowed me to select both options at the same time (which I did).

PH001 is the man who waxes on this subject...IMHO unless you’ve run an AGM battery flat I would just use the normal AGM charge option as I would think the re-con modes do some incremental small damage, otherwise why would you have different modes?

 

[warmasice]

I purchased one from Aldi for £9.99 and works a treat. Has all the modes you'd expect. I was so impressed I went back to purchase another one for the other car.

 

[acm]

I can close the bonnet, but if I do I leave a sign on the steering wheel to remind me not to drive off with the charger still connected

Has anyone considered using the MagCode connectors as used by Ferrari, Maybach, RR, Bentley and Aston Martin?

Reports on other car forums say that they just separate if the car is driven off while still connected to the charger

Came across a prebuilt CTEK cabled kits here and here, but it seems like you can make your own more cheaply by sourcing parts separately.

Cheers!
Andy

 

[Anonymous]

I can close the bonnet, but if I do I leave a sign on the steering wheel to remind me not to drive off with the charger still connected

Has anyone considered using the MagCode connectors as used by Ferrari, Maybach, RR, Bentley and Aston Martin?

Reports on other car forums say that they just separate if the car is driven off while still connected to the charger

Came across a prebuilt CTEK cabled kits here and here, but it seems like you can make your own more cheaply by sourcing parts separately.

Cheers!
Andy

Seems overkill for what is not a Saturn 5 Rocket or a Typhoon on QRA..but if it floats your boat do it..

Makes a Lidl charger at a fraction of the price of the connector seem cheap..

So A for effort/commitment on toys for toys sake..maybe a fold up blast shield as in Thunderbird 2 next?

Says a man spending fortunes on amps/speakers/cam chains/ARBs/wheels/tyres/steering wheels/shocks/steering components etc

 

[ronk]

He who goes thro the pearly gates with most toys - Wins!

 

[Big Bad Boris]

A slight mis-quote from Top Gear, the only way to go through the pearly gates is.....in a super car, backwards in a ball of flame

 

[ronk]

I’d rather go thro calmly with my toys!

 

[enzed4]

I can close the bonnet, but if I do I leave a sign on the steering wheel to remind me not to drive off with the charger still connected

Has anyone considered using the MagCode connectors as used by Ferrari, Maybach, RR, Bentley and Aston Martin?

Reports on other car forums say that they just separate if the car is driven off while still connected to the charger

Came across a prebuilt CTEK cabled kits here and here, but it seems like you can make your own more cheaply by sourcing parts separately.

Cheers!
Andy

Seems overkill for what is not a Saturn 5 Rocket or a Typhoon on QRA..but if it floats your boat do it..

Makes a Lidl charger at a fraction of the price of the connector seem cheap..

So A for effort/commitment on toys for toys sake..maybe a fold up blast shield as in Thunderbird 2 next?

Says a man spending fortunes on amps/speakers/cam chains/ARBs/wheels/tyres/steering wheels/shocks/steering components etc

Glad you added that last line, otherwise it would have been 'pot calling kettle black' :lol:

 

[kis]

I have my ctek connected to the battery in the boot,have done it this way for nearly 12 months with no problems.The connectors under the bonnet are there for jump starting in the main.I am not saying it's wrong to charge that way ,just it's not a must do .

I love it when people read the wh ole thread before replying..

Long dissertation is here..

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e89- ... ly/YDj5gs8

Short version..

Notes for Service department
General notes
Notice! Charging and trickle charging of the battery
The battery may only be recharged with a battery charger that has been approved by BMW and that has a constant charging voltage of 14.8V.

If possible, the battery temperature should be between 15 °C and 25 °C during charging. Under these preconditions, the battery is adequately charged when the charge current drops below 2.5 amps.

If the battery is recharged at low temperatures, the charging procedure should not be ended until the charge current drops below 1.5 A.

On vehicles with IBS, recharging the battery directly at the battery terminals could lead to a misinterpretation of the battery condition and even unwanted Check Control messages or fault entries.

If the battery is recharged while it is installed, it must be recharged using the jump start terminal points, whenever jump start terminal points are provided in the engine compartment. Only then can you be sure that charging is correctly recognised by the vehicle electronics on vehicles with an intelligent battery sensor (IBS).


SO NO DO NOT CHARGE THE BATTERY ACROSS ITS CONNECTORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And how do you know if you have IBS? The battery one... not the bowel one