Charging Battery

Have just had a fun time with a BMW dealer :x I've had a few minor electrical problems recently (the OBC reset itself and dims occasionally, and last night I took the key out and locked up and the instrument panel was still lit up) so I decided to get it checked as the car still has a few months of the AUC warranty left.

The guy said he suspected a battery problem but said he would check it out before any costs were discussed. The fault reader said the battery was 79% charged and needed recharging urgently :? I told him I do quite a lot of 30 mile trips which apprently is not enough to keep charge in the battery. He also said as these are new types of batteries/alternators that even a trip to Scotland and back with nothing draining the power would make no difference and it needed to be re-charged by them (Christ knows how much that would cost).

He then decided that this would cost me £85 whereupon I went bright red and told him what I thought of this. The upshot of this encounter being:

1) Don't do a lot of small trips
2) The AUC warranty doesn't cover batteries
3) I need to find somewhere else to get my car fixed :oops:
4) I need to get myself one of those CTEK XS800 jobbies
5) The dealer will change his tune when your 3yr warranty expires

Why oh why do we get so stressed about such trivial things?
 
On all 3 cars - yes. Only take it off when I am about to drive any of the cars.
 
Is that something you have to do or is it a preference of yours? (Stupid question probably)
 
Atleast my dealer was only going to charge me £25 to charge the battery, and I told them what I though of that, but £85 :o

Is you car now over three years old then flimper?
 
The warranty ran out 2 or 3 weeks ago. The £85 was just to tell me what the problem was, the battery charging was a whole different ball game!
 
I could understand it if I had no warranty at all, but having the AUC warranty I thought I might be ok. :evil: The woman in Customer Services reckoned that all the recent warranty work I've had done has been off the AUC rather than the manufacturers 3yr warranty :?
 
What a load of rubbish, first thing delaer looks at is the age of the car, if it's under three years they will use the Manufacturers warranty.

My AUC warranty ran out May 08, a year after I bough the car.

I would contact BMW customer services at Bracknell and kick up a fuss.
 
I've bought a CTEK 3600 but am embarassed to say I've got no idea how to connect it :oops: Is it idiot proof to fit?
 
C-teks are amazing. I've used one on my MGB (v8 :P ) for 9 months without unpluging it at all.

If you are interested you can get adaptors to plug into the cigarette lighter, it charges the battery through there! They are about £12 and save a lot of time!

The company I work for (classic car parts company) sells them and I assure you I make no profit if you buy it from them. I could get them to do a deal on all kinds of C-teks and accessories for members. Let me know if you are interested. As I have already said I do not gain from this but thought you would want to know a good UK supplier. I won't name the company unless people are interested.
 
My lack of technical experise knows no bounds, I've just realised that you need to connect it to the mains to charge and you can't just drive round with it connected! Am I right in thinking that the cigar lighter doesn't work with the ignition off? Was considering buying the adaptor as I don't have easy access to a mains socket.
 
flimper you need to plug the CTEk into the mains, the fag cigarete lighter option it to save you from having to open the bonnet or boot in the Z4's case to connect to the battery.
 
He did say his lack of technical knowledge had no boundaries :D

If you plug the cigarete lighter in and the other side on the battery itself, it somehow charges itself :rofl:
 
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