Battery Charger

[enuff_zed]

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

If you are driving and your car suddenly, without warning, dives into a lay-by or service area......................... it's got IBS! :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

All E89s have IBS...

 

[acm]

I never said I was planning on buying and installing a MagCode connector... I was just asking if it had been considered by anyone

Cheers!
Andy

 

[kis]

All E89s have IBS...

And other models? e87?

 

[Anonymous]

All E89s have IBS...

And other models? e87?

Pass, I only know anything in detail about E89s..others may advise

 

[Anonymous]

I never said I was planning on buying and installing a MagCode connector... I was just asking if it had been considered by anyone

Cheers!
Andy

In my experience there is only a thin line between ‘others considering’ and ‘moi leaping in’

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Today’s job:

Installed Ctek bracket.
Installed comfort connector to battery terminals.

Battery was showing 11.5v normal, and 14.5v with the engine running, so I have starred an AGM condition cycle, as never been done, and hopefully will restore charge to around 12.5v

 

[enuff_zed]

Today’s job:

Installed Ctek bracket.
Installed comfort connector to battery terminals.

Battery was showing 11.5v normal, and 14.5v with the engine running, so I have starred an AGM condition cycle, as never been done, and hopefully will restore charge to around 12.5v

No doubt this will serve only to throw the lid of the can of worms further away but..............
I am a little confused that, after all the advice and discussion, you have fitted this direct to the battery? Given the location you are charging in, could you not have gone nose up to the wall and charged through the bonnet connections.

 

[Argyll Andy]

Today’s job:

Installed Ctek bracket.
Installed comfort connector to battery terminals.

Battery was showing 11.5v normal, and 14.5v with the engine running, so I have starred an AGM condition cycle, as never been done, and hopefully will restore charge to around 12.5v

No doubt this will serve only to throw the lid of the can of worms further away but..............
I am a little confused that, after all the advice and discussion, you have fitted this direct to the battery? Given the location you are charging in, could you not have gone nose up to the wall and charged through the bonnet connections.

And also the advice about not running the recon cycle on an AGM battery

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Today’s job:

Installed Ctek bracket.
Installed comfort connector to battery terminals.

Battery was showing 11.5v normal, and 14.5v with the engine running, so I have starred an AGM condition cycle, as never been done, and hopefully will restore charge to around 12.5v

No doubt this will serve only to throw the lid of the can of worms further away but..............
I am a little confused that, after all the advice and discussion, you have fitted this direct to the battery? Given the location you are charging in, could you not have gone nose up to the wall and charged through the bonnet connections.

And also the advice about not running the recon cycle on an AGM battery

It would beg the question why it has a specific AGM recondition mode?

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Today’s job:

Installed Ctek bracket.
Installed comfort connector to battery terminals.

Battery was showing 11.5v normal, and 14.5v with the engine running, so I have starred an AGM condition cycle, as never been done, and hopefully will restore charge to around 12.5v

No doubt this will serve only to throw the lid of the can of worms further away but..............
I am a little confused that, after all the advice and discussion, you have fitted this direct to the battery? Given the location you are charging in, could you not have gone nose up to the wall and charged through the bonnet connections.

Not sure if the clips were long enough to fit..

I am not sure how the comfort connector has been fitted into the engine bay on previous posts. I can’t see any bolts to put the eyelets around. They fit around the battery connectors.

It has been charging for around two hours now, would I be better to just disconnect and have this fitted properly?

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

I have dug something up on AGM reconditioning.

God only knows, or someone at CTek knows why they have an AGM recondition option, if AGM batteries do not need reconditioning. Jesus wept.

It’s like Donald Trump telling people to inject themselves with household disinfectant to kill corona virus!

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1663141

I will disconnect now, and reconnect at the charge terminals.

 

[ronk]

I would say the under bonnet is the only way to go - it is in the book - In my experience, German engineers always have a reason for an instruction.
There are plenty of good reasons posted on here to show why this is the method to use which are technically backed up - others have used the battery posts and they’ve been ok - but that method has not been technically verified - I err on the side of caution.

You could have the comfort plug fitted but in the short term, just use the croc clips to the posts on the bulkhead and suspension tower.
It’s no hardship to do once in a while - Mine is clipped on in October/Nov and off again April - so I can live with that

Seems it’s likely to be connected a lot longer during these times :thumbsdown:

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

I would say the under bonnet is the only way to go - it is in the book - In my experience, German engineers always have a reason for an instruction.

You could have the comfort plug fitted but in the short term, just use the croc clips to the posts on the bulkhead and suspension tower.
It’s no hardship to do once in a while - Mine is clipped on in October/Nov and off again April - so I can live with that

Seems it’s likely to be connected a lot longer during these times :thumbsdown:

Yeah, I have just changed it.

Hopefully no damage has been done already.

I think I will need to email Ctek first hand about this AGM reconditioning cycle.

Knowing my luck, disconnecting whilst on step four writes the car off.

 

[enuff_zed]

Must be a different model?
My MXS 5.0 give the options to select Motorcycle (small battery) OR Car(Large battery), and AGM OR Recond, but not both?

 

[enuff_zed]

Must be a different model?
My MXS 5.0 give the options to select Motorcycle (small battery) OR Car(Large battery), and AGM OR Recond, but not both?

Yup, just checked the manual. It says Recond is 'used to return energy to empty WET and CA/CA batteries.'

It says that Recond adds the step 6 to the cycle. On mine I have set it so the amber lights are lit for the car symbol and AGM. When I connect it, the charger gradually lights up all the steps including Step 6, but it seems to pass straight through that?
I have kept mine in that configuration for the last couple of years, on a car that hibernates mostly from November to February. I have never selected Recond. All seems ok with it at the moment.....................touch wood!

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Must be a different model?
My MXS 5.0 give the options to select Motorcycle (small battery) OR Car(Large battery), and AGM OR Recond, but not both?

Mine is a MXS 5.0 too, perhaps it’s an added feature?
I have just left it to charge normally for now until I find out more. I purchased this so I didn’t have to buy a new battery at the end of lockdown, so far, I am not doing a great job of achieving that objective!

 

[enuff_zed]

Must be a different model?
My MXS 5.0 give the options to select Motorcycle (small battery) OR Car(Large battery), and AGM OR Recond, but not both?

Mine is a MXS 5.0 too, perhaps it’s an added feature?
I have just left it to charge normally for now until I find out more. I purchased this so I didn’t have to buy a new battery at the end of lockdown, so far, I am not doing a great job of achieving that objective!

Well bugger me! I stand corrected.
Went out to the car, unplugged the CTEK from the car, just in case, and cycled the Mode button. Sure enough, it selects AGM, then that light goes out and it selects Recond.........but press it again and both AGM AND Recond come on. I never knew that?
However, I would still suggest that if you set it so the two amber lights are on, for Car and AGM, you will be fine.
As mentioned, I have never used a Recond and I believe mine is the original battery, so now nearly 6 years old.

I'd still connect under the bonnet though. :wink:

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Must be a different model?
My MXS 5.0 give the options to select Motorcycle (small battery) OR Car(Large battery), and AGM OR Recond, but not both?

Mine is a MXS 5.0 too, perhaps it’s an added feature?
I have just left it to charge normally for now until I find out more. I purchased this so I didn’t have to buy a new battery at the end of lockdown, so far, I am not doing a great job of achieving that objective!

Well bugger me! I stand corrected.
Went out to the car, unplugged the CTEK from the car, just in case, and cycled the Mode button. Sure enough, it selects AGM, then that light goes out and it selects Recond.........but press it again and both AGM AND Recond come on. I never knew that?
However, I would still suggest that if you set it so the two amber lights are on, for Car and AGM, you will be fine.
As mentioned, I have never used a Recond and I believe mine is the original battery, so now nearly 6 years old.

I'd still connect under the bonnet though. :wink:

Yeah, I have done now. Next project is to wire in the comfort connection kit, preferably the oem bmw one.

 

[ronk]

Re the new battery after lockdown- I’ve just had an emai from the dealer that I bought the 335D from - they say start the car and let it run for 30mins
I think I will leave it on a maintenance charge rather than clog the DPF !

The charger on the 335 currently shows 12.7v
and 100 %
The Z4 which until yesterday was connected to what I now know was an inappropriate charger, is showing 13.4v and 100%
Both cars are on a maintenance/background charge. Who knows until when?