My wife bought me the BMW Battery Maintainer from Roadster Solutions for Christmas (http://www.roadstersolutions.com/page65.html). For best battery life, should this be left plugged in while my car is garaged for the winter or should I only use it to bring the battery back up to full charge and then disconnect it? The manual is not clear on this.
Battery Maintainer
- Thread starter ay8306
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Should be plugged-in during winter for maintaining the proper level, since it was not intended as a charger. (Although it will bring it back up) I was also told by a BMW Dealer that the Z4's lighter receptacle turns off after a certain period of time, so we need to use the one that connects to the battery posts, not the version that goes into the lighter receptacle. Cheers!
powerontap said:
X-2
Thanks for the replies. I do have the cigarette lighter style, which seems to be working OK. It has been plugged in overnight and the charger has gone from a red indicator (charging) to a flashing green indicator (80% charged). I would assume that if the lighter receptacle was to disconnect, it would have done so by now. I think I saw somewhere that the US spec cars do not turn off the lighter receptacle when the car is off.
Caddyshk said:Thats (Dealer) not true - I've had mine plugged through the lighter for months over the past two winters - The Dealer is FOS (as are most). The BMW unit is made by BatteryTenderpowerontap said:
http://www.batterytender.com/
I am not sure where the maintainer is connected at the dealers, all I can say for sure is that at my BMW dealer there is a cord coming out of all the new BMWs coming out of the trunk. I guess Boot for you non USA folks. I have used one for years on all my vehicles and would not even think of using anything other than the Battery Tender which is in fact the same as the one BMW sells but for about half the price. Don’t skimp on this devise. There are many cheap ones on the market, but unless you have money to burn, get the good one. I do not see why anyone would use the cigarette connection as the Tender comes with very nice quick disconnect cables that you place one time on the battery and then when you want to take it out of the trunk all you have to do is pull the disconnect apart and replug it when you put the Tender back on line. There is a little slot on the lip of the trunk where you can run the cord from the Tender over so the trunk can be closed and the car locked up. Looks like the car was designed to do it that way to me.
ay8306 said:
Mine is a 2003 US spec car and the lighter does turn off. Maybe different years, different set up...?
Below are the only BMW models listed that have "smart" accessory plugs managed by the ECU and require the unit with gator clips. Even roadster solutions sells the plugin item for all Z3/4 applications? Perhaps something else has been programed after the fact that shuts it down in your car?powerontap said:
E90 3 Series, E60 5 Series, 6 Series and 7 Series.
Below are the only BMW models listed that have "smart" accessory plugs managed by the ECU and require the unit with gator clips. Even roadster solutions sells the plugin item for all Z3/4 applications? Perhaps something else has been programed after the fact that shuts it down in your car?powerontap said:
E90 3 Series, E60 5 Series, 6 Series and 7 Series.
*bump*
So there is a guy who stored his Z4M roadster from November until today. The place he stored it had no electricity so he figured he'd stop by every week to start the car . Of course he didn't make it every week, but when he did, the car started fine, no problem. So today when he went to pick up the car, it wouldn't start. :x He got a jump and was on his way. Drove about 35 minutes and stopped. Car wouldn't start again. Battery was DEAD. Another jump and then off to the dealer. Battery had to be replaced. Fortunately I, er, he was covered by warranty, (which apparently covers stupidity) and it was replaced at no charge.
Lesson learned. Use a battery maintainer in the future.
So there is a guy who stored his Z4M roadster from November until today. The place he stored it had no electricity so he figured he'd stop by every week to start the car . Of course he didn't make it every week, but when he did, the car started fine, no problem.
So today when he went to pick up the car, it wouldn't start. :x He got a jump and was on his way. Drove about 35 minutes and stopped. Car wouldn't start again. Battery was DEAD. Another jump and then off to the dealer. Battery had to be replaced. Fortunately I, er, he was covered by warranty, (which apparently covers stupidity) and it was replaced at no charge. Lesson learned. Use a battery maintainer in the future.
