I will need to leave my zed again this winter without access to a battery conditioner. My plan was to put the old battery in, let it go flatish, open up the car manually and then activate the electronics with the good battery (which was to be on a conditioner) and then having jumped the boot open swap the batteries over. However the old battery is kaput. Two options then. First buy another battery again for when the current good one fails. Don’t really want to do that. Or disconnect or even remove battery keep it in charge in the apartment and then replace in three months. The question is though will the boot lid self lock in this condition meaning that I won’t be able to reinstall the battery?
Leaving a zed for three months
- Thread starter Maria1
- Start date
can you not use a solar charger? there is almost always a solution to this, my car is parked outside during the winter lay up too, i just made a really long flylead up, run it though an air brick in the house and have the charger indoors on the window ledge, very easy and works a treat.
Its really not good to let these batteries on the e89 run flat as you know so its best to try and find a solution of some sort
Its really not good to let these batteries on the e89 run flat as you know so its best to try and find a solution of some sort
Thank you both but neither of these are an option. The car is in an open garage (the charger would be nicked). And no point in buying a battery and then swapping them over every month when the problem is having to leave the car for three months. The question was - will the e89 boot self lock without a battery in it?
I wouldn't leave it to go flat as you could be setting yourself up for all sorts of problems.
I had one of those FWD MGs which had an electric boot release many years ago and i let the battery die. I ended up having to fold down the rear seats and partially dismantling the bike in the boot before i could get to the boot release and open it that way.
Our cars don't have a manual opener in the boot and even if they did, I can't see how you'd get to it from the cabin.
It might be possible to rig some cabling leading to the battery that you could hide, then attach a battery to give you just enough to pop the lock, but BMW electronics are a nightmare
There's always a solution though, this might help
ECO-WORTHY 10W 12V Solar Trickle Charger Car Battery Maintainer, Portable Solar Panel Power Backup Kit with Alligator Clip Adapter for RV Boat Automobile Motorcycle https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08K3BQTNK/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_J5WT97GH9TH3H0CA3D7Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I had one of those FWD MGs which had an electric boot release many years ago and i let the battery die. I ended up having to fold down the rear seats and partially dismantling the bike in the boot before i could get to the boot release and open it that way.
Our cars don't have a manual opener in the boot and even if they did, I can't see how you'd get to it from the cabin.
It might be possible to rig some cabling leading to the battery that you could hide, then attach a battery to give you just enough to pop the lock, but BMW electronics are a nightmare
There's always a solution though, this might help
ECO-WORTHY 10W 12V Solar Trickle Charger Car Battery Maintainer, Portable Solar Panel Power Backup Kit with Alligator Clip Adapter for RV Boat Automobile Motorcycle https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08K3BQTNK/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_J5WT97GH9TH3H0CA3D7Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Hi, Im not suggesting any correct procedure here and hopefully a genius will be along soon, but I did have an experience where I had disconnected the negative terminal of the battery to do some work on the car and accidentally shut the boot... It wouldn't open and with the roof down, rain in the air and being automatic, I couldn't just roll the car back into the garage! Luckily the car was open and I could gain access to the bonnet release and was able to attach jump leads to the charging point in the engine bay and to one of my other cars. It either gave (can't remember which I did) enough power to operate the central locking switch (double press and boot will open) or use the key fob boot open and I was able to open the boot, attached the negative terminal and all back to normal.
Deepseaskateboard
Senior member
Maria1 said:
Another option is this:
CTEK Portable Battery Charger Maintainer 40-462 - featuring Adaptive Boost Technology https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WNCYNTH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_X7G8FA06S41247NH3SND?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This is a charger which has it’s own internal battery, so it should keep things topped up. Also from a reliable brand.
A little on the expensive side, but if you will have this kind of set up for a few years, then a decent investment.
Deepseaskateboard
Senior member
Also, if you want to leave the boot open, you can just put some cardboard or a microfibre cloth in the latch when disconnecting the battery.
Then it can’t lock, but should sit fairly flat.
Then it can’t lock, but should sit fairly flat.
Thanks everyone for your replies. The idea of the posh ctek charger is a good one but I suspect it won’t be there when I get back....
I have looked at another forum and it would appear that a) you can manually move the soft close locks so that they are already locked before the boot is lowered. This stops the boot from locking itself. Also and while some have said it doesn’t work others have said that with the battery removed it is possible to force the actuators to open after a battery is connected to the posts under the bonnet. This move does not start the engine though.
My probable solution is to take the battery out and place on charge inside the apartment. At the same time manually move the soft close actuators to “closed “ and place a duvet between the boot and the boot lid. It has to be very thick as anothe put just a towel between the two and it locked with the towel stuck between them....,
I have looked at another forum and it would appear that a) you can manually move the soft close locks so that they are already locked before the boot is lowered. This stops the boot from locking itself. Also and while some have said it doesn’t work others have said that with the battery removed it is possible to force the actuators to open after a battery is connected to the posts under the bonnet. This move does not start the engine though.
My probable solution is to take the battery out and place on charge inside the apartment. At the same time manually move the soft close actuators to “closed “ and place a duvet between the boot and the boot lid. It has to be very thick as anothe put just a towel between the two and it locked with the towel stuck between them....,
Deepseaskateboard
Senior member
Maria1 said:
You would wire in the Ctek under the bonnet and when you lock the car, it will be locked in.
No one would know it’s there.
Thanks zed baron. One final thing if I did disconnect (or better take out the battery to allow it to trickle charge in the flat) can I lock the car up. Presumably I would have to manually lock the passenger side (can you do that on a zed) and then use the key to manually lock the drivers side. As the car will be a communal garage it would be nice for it to be locked.....
To finish this thread off (nearly) an electronics engineer friend of mine has advised that i can easily test if the boot actuators work by taking out the battery, leaving the boot open (important bit that), and reconnecting the battery at the front with jump leads and then seeing if the car’s minor electronics including the boot lock actuators respond. If they do, job done. The solution to this perennial problem therefore appears to be simple - jump it open. However, I have to test this (gulp) and b) this method does require the battery leads in the boot to be isolated. Unfortunately most cases of locking the boot with battery disconnected are achieved with the positive cable shorting against the chassis
Kiwi_Mike said:What other cars do you have in your collection?
Mike nothing exciting a couple of small toyotas a new aygo and my crazy iq, 0 Road tax and buttons to service/run/insure. Working from home now permanently so I don't really need a car, after having a few Jags I bought the Z4... something a bit different. I remember seeing an E89 for the first time and actually stopping to watch it drive by, thought it was stunning.Zed Baron said:
Im thinking of changing to a 4x4 also Mike, handy for when the weather turns bad here and we have a horse, so it would be handy for the stables. Had a 4wd Jag and it was great in the snow and funnily enough so is the IQ. Its got keyless entry, automatic climate control and push button start, Aston Martin created a version of the car they called it the Cygnet. When I was out in NZ the vehicles of choice were a Toyota Hi-ace, utes or a Holden 8)Kiwi_Mike said:
