SORN And Ctek?

[Yoghurt]

Decided to SORN my E89 as I know I will not use it for at least the next 3 months.

Can see other people have mentioned this and they have connected it to a Ctek charger.

Just asking if this is recommend , rather than just disconnecting the battery which may then cause issues later on? Guess the car is still pulling a small amount of energy if you just left it connected for a period of time.
Are Ctek chargers good or could I just get an Aldi special when they come up?!

Many thanks

 

[Number5]

I've just SORN'd my ZMR. I cant see the point in paying circa £50 a month when we know damn well its not going to be going anywhere for a month - if not three.

Its well worth investing £35 on a CTEK too. Both my M and the Alpina are sat on them and it keeps them well maintained all winter too. Unplugging the battery completely may cause all sorts of complications long term.

 

[idej_z4]

Just been contemplating this today myself...Si isn't as much per month as an ///M but might as well save a few quid as it ain't going anywhere for a while.

 

[Tinker15]

My Z4 has been on SORN for the last 3 months. It was due to come off on at the beginning of April but will now stay connected to my CTEK until all this is over.

 

[Beedub]

mines sat un MOT'd and not taxed... was due to be getting it ready for shows etc but absolutely no point until i no where we are going to be in the coming months.....

 

[golfgeezer]

Yep mine is now on SORN....again after just 3 weeks of being on the road :roll:
Plugged into my CTEK like it was all Winter. I have an Aldi charger too which I bought after the CTEK and it works just as well. I use that for my motorbike which is also awaiting this lockdown to be over although summer may be over by then too

 

[firebobby]

My Zed has been Sorned since October last year, was going to be taxing it again in April, but not now.
I am going to sorn the 4x4 and MR2, just leave the Fiesta on the road...that's zero tax anyway :wink:

 

[ph001]

Only problem with the aldi / lidl chargers is that if you get a glitch on the mains they abort the charge and don’t restart. Otherwise they are great value for money.

 

[Grumpyowl]

My Zed has been Sorned since October last year, was going to be taxing it again in April, but not now.


Same here except my car only did just over 200 miles last year due to my ill health.

I was really looking forward to this summer, now I’ll probably pull it out of the garage clean it do an oil and filter change put it back in garage maybe on 4x axle stands and leave it there till spring 21

 

[saj77]

Got mine connected to a Ctek 5.0 with a comfort indicator connector.




And just ordered another for my daily which has an AGM battery.

It has a reconditioning function which apparently you should use once a year to maintain your battery health / life.

Great bit of kit

 

[NickDE]

If you can get power to your car, put it on a CTEK.

 

[mcbutler]

Anyone whos MOT is due after the 30th March you will be given a 6 month extension..

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-mots-for-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-due-from-30-march-2020

 

[mcbutler]

Anyone whos MOT is due after the 30th March you will be given a 6 month extension..

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-mots-for-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-due-from-30-march-2020

I have the Lidl charger, it runs perfectly for weeks on end, has special programmes to revive deeply discharged batteries and a unique programme for AGM (absorbent glass mat) batteries. I think it was around £16, I also got an alternator tester for around fiver...

 

[Yoghurt]

Thanks everyone , will take a look at the ctek and also/ Lidl ones although the latter may have to wait until in stock.

 

[Smartbear]

Anyone whos MOT is due after the 30th March you will be given a 6 month extension..

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-mots-for-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-due-from-30-march-2020

I have the Lidl charger, it runs perfectly for weeks on end, has special programmes to revive deeply discharged batteries and a unique programme for AGM (absorbent glass mat) batteries. I think it was around £16, I also got an alternator tester for around fiver...

Same here, no issues. I just check it once a week in case the power’s been off
Rob

 

[Mr Tidy]

I've only had my M three months!

So sod it, I'll be using it to collect my next prescription and for my next essential shopping!

It may be extravagant in terms of road tax, but it's not like I'm spending anything on trips out, petrol, etc.

And I've no power supply to my allocated parking space. :roll:

 

[Yoghurt]

Managed to source a LIDL/Aldi charger via Ebay ('Ultimate Speed' and just thought I would wire it up now.
Car produced a low battery warning so quite timely.
I am going to connect via the engine bay as per the BWM manual. The charger instructions say I have to disconnect the negative lead from the car to the battery but am I correct in thinking I should not do this please?

Thank you

Really missing taking 'Dave' out for a spin!

 

[ph001]

You don’t need to disconnect any leads, just go ahead and connect directly in the engine bay.

 

[Yoghurt]

Thanks ph001. I did that and it appears to be charging ok.

The charger initially read 12v but it has slowly been creeping up to around 12.8 when I looked last. However when i opened the boot I am not sure if it used much power as the reading dropped back down to 12.2v
I had a look and its a BMW Varta battery with the date on the terminal stamped as 05/10 so it sounds like the original battery. If so that's pretty good for 10 years old but may mean a new replacement one soon! New one (same make/spec appears to be about £125. It sounds like I may then have the fun of registering it!

 

[Smartbear]

Thanks ph001. I did that and it appears to be charging ok.

The charger initially read 12v but it has slowly been creeping up to around 12.8 when I looked last. However when i opened the boot I am not sure if it used much power as the reading dropped back down to 12.2v
I had a look and its a BMW Varta battery with the date on the terminal stamped as 05/10 so it sounds like the original battery. If so that's pretty good for 10 years old but may mean a new replacement one soon! New one (same make/spec appears to be about £125. It sounds like I may then have the fun of registering it!

Are you sure of that price? Sounds cheap for an an AGM battery :?
Rob