Battery Charger

[Anonymous]

Long dissertation is here..

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e89-z4-sdrive20i-roa/wiring-functional-info/body/voltage-supply/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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Busterboo]

Thank you very much, Pbondar!

 

[enuff_zed]

Engine bay, as you know. Hence my question, "Is it really verboten …".

Given your propensity to stick rigidly to BMW advice for tyre pressures, why are you even asking?

The jibe was feeble the first time and not worth repeating.

Oh well; bored, it's raining, can't get out in my Z and spotted a soft target.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much, Pbondar!

Glad to help..

 

[ronk]

I have a Lidl battery charger and I decided to connect it today as the gizmo lights showed 1/2 charge (multi meter read 12.72v ) I Clipped it on and it won’t cycle thro any of the functions. Dead as a door nail. I’ve only used it once. :thumbsdown:

The chargers instructions do instruct the user to disconnect the battery terminals but I can’t see why - I always make the charger connections to the under bonnet posts.

Just checked with Lidl customer service and apparently I bought it May 2012 looks like I might have to invest in a Ctek after all.

 

[Smartbear]

I have a Lidl battery charger and I decided to connect it today as the gizmo lights showed 1/2 charge (multi meter read 12.72v ) I Clipped it on and it won’t cycle thro any of the functions. Dead as a door nail. I’ve only used it once. :thumbsdown:

The chargers instructions do instruct the user to disconnect the battery terminals but I can’t see why - I always make the charger connections to the under bonnet posts.

Just checked with Lidl customer service and apparently I bought it May 2012 looks like I might have to invest in a Ctek after all.

The Lidl chargers are a different design now Ron, I had an early one which went the same way as yours but the newer version has been fine for the last couple of years. I think you could buy 5 Lidl chargers for the cost of a ctek
Rob

 

[ronk]

I’ve never been disappointed with the Lidl kit until now so I will try not let this hiccup colour my judgement - re assuring to know the design has been modified / updated.

The fallback plan is one of my two cheap and nasty golf cart maintenance chargers. They were about £6 each from Makro years ago!
The leaflet states that they are supposed to cycle 12.5 /13.5 and they have always worked on the Z during its winter hibernation. We will see how it copes over the summer hibernation now!

 

[Anonymous]

I’ve never been disappointed with the Lidl kit until now so I will try not let this hiccup colour my judgement - re assuring to know the design has been modified / updated.

The fallback plan is one of my two cheap and nasty golf cart maintenance chargers. They were about £6 each from Makro years ago!
The leaflet states that they are supposed to cycle 12.5 /13.5 and they have always worked on the Z during its winter hibernation. We will see how it copes over the summer hibernation now!

To be pedantic golf cart batteries ain’t AGM I believe so a golf cart optimised charger may not be suitable for an AGM. Battery in an E89...

 

[ihadablackdog]

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.

 

[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

 

[ihadablackdog]

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

 

[ronk]

I have a Lidl battery charger and I decided to connect it today as the gizmo lights showed 1/2 charge (multi meter read 12.72v ) I Clipped it on and it won’t cycle thro any of the functions. Dead as a door nail. I’ve only used it once. :thumbsdown:

The chargers instructions do instruct the user to disconnect the battery terminals but I can’t see why - I always make the charger connections to the under bonnet posts.

Just checked with Lidl customer service and apparently I bought it May 2012 looks like I might have to invest in a Ctek after all.

The Lidl chargers are a different design now Ron, I had an early one which went the same way as yours but the newer version has been fine for the last couple of years. I think you could buy 5 Lidl chargers for the cost of a ctek
Rob

I did a bit of internet digging and the common issue is a 6mm switch on the board that fails - they are only £1 each but in these lockdown days £2.50 postage - I’ve unsoldered the defective switch and hope to find a replacement switch somewhere soon

Just hope Lidl or Aldi get them in stock and will replace it to save any more hassle- it wasn’t an easy task to disassemble. Like most jobs things never go to plan - I dropped a triangular drive and holder and kicked it under a fitted freezer in the kitchen- had to take off trim - then couldn’t reach the tool - had to find a magnet and secure to stick -etc etc - now I wish I hadn’t bothered!!!

 

[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.

 

[Jembo]

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?

 

[Anonymous]

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?

That sounds about right..

 

[Jembo]

 

[ronk]

To be pedantic golf cart batteries ain’t AGM I believe so a golf cart optimised charger may not be suitable for an AGM. Battery in an E89...

I took notice of your post and had a look at my two chargers -as you suggested they do quote lead acid and gel. The AGM type were not around way back then!

The Z4 was reading 13.4v and the 335 showed 12.4v with the multi meter. I’ve used the charger on the Z4 for three years worth of winters now so I assume it’s ok but just Incase I’ve only been lucky I’ve ordered a couple of smart chargers from the internet.
I’m sure the batteries will be ok until late next week.

Thanks for the heads up I would have gone blindly on as I’d not given it a second thought .

 

[maxman]

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 .

 

[Anonymous]

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[maxman]

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.