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      03-18-2020, 12:17 PM   #1
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Keep battery topped up while car not being used

Hi All

Unfamiliar territory here for me! So it’s looking like my cars are going to be parked up for some time given the Coronavirus situation here and current/forthcoming travel restrictions.

Over the past couple of weeks my X5 has only done a handful of miles but it has been started a good few times to pop to the local shop and just to move it about on the drive for various reasons. It’s occurred to me this sort of limited miles is likely to deplete the battery with no chance to recover its charge.

I have a battery charger/conditioner, anybody got any tips about when to dig it out and hook it up and also any tips on where to connect it on the G05? Last time I needed a charger I connected it directly to the battery, not sure this is possible on the G05!

Mostly I’m looking to try to keep the battery in good health and ready to go when its needed but I don’t know if there are any special considerations about the type of battery(s) in the G05 and the likely drain if it’s just sat on my drive without being used?
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      03-18-2020, 12:50 PM   #2
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Info should be in your owners manual in regards to the charging/jump start terminals in the engine bay. DO NOT hook up a battery charger/tender/maintainer directly to the battery unless you're going to remove the battery completely out of the vehicle. You don't want to cause the IBS to start giving false warnings.

Remember to use the dedicated positive & negative jump start locations in the engine bay. Make sure you have the correct grounding terminal (some like to hook it to something they "think" is grounded...and may not be). Use the negative terminal designated in your owners manual.
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Last edited by Qsilver7; 03-18-2020 at 01:01 PM..
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      03-19-2020, 11:48 AM   #3
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Thanks for the info Qsilver7, very useful! I have an old Ctek charger which I’m hoping will be up the job of keeping the batteries topped up.

I don’t suppose you know of any way to call up a menu to see what the battery charge is in the G05. Would be useful to gauge if/when I should charge. I do have Bimmerlink and Bimmercode and I guess they might show a voltage. I’m not sure what the voltage will mean though, I’ll have to do some research!
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      03-19-2020, 12:05 PM   #4
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Is it confirmed that the X5 all come with Lithium ion batteries? I know my M3 does and i have a charger for it to keep it topped off.
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      03-19-2020, 12:44 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan l. View Post
Is it confirmed that the X5 all come with Lithium ion batteries? I know my M3 does and i have a charger for it to keep it topped off.
No, according to the technical training manual on vehicle electronics, with standard anti-roll bars the auxiliary battery, in the engine compartment, is a 10ah lithium ion battery, but with active roll stabilization it's a 60ah AGM.

This does not affect charging, however, since charging is done not at the terminals of the main battery, at the back of the vehicle, but at the charging points in the engine compartment and the electrical system controls charging of the auxiliary battery via the power control unit at the rear right hand corner of the vehicle.

The main battery is AGM.
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      03-19-2020, 03:50 PM   #6
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Both my new BMW’s are always attached to this tender when they are parked in their garage space. I use a tender on all the toys and it basically extends the battery life by years even over regular driving. The G05 is easiest to use clamps and charge up front at the charge/jump points.

This has enough power (4 AMP) to easily keep up with the two batteries in the X5. Set it to AMG and forget it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Last edited by MystroX5; 03-19-2020 at 03:57 PM..
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      03-19-2020, 06:33 PM   #7
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I wouldn't keep batteries tethered to a charger permanently, you will reduce their life not increase, just my opinion.

There is a lot of debate about a trickle charge regime for cars (and boats), but in my experience (I have a boat and 2 x cars) Batteries like to be discharged, especially sealed lead-acid batteries - which I am guessing are the type used in the X5.

I have a charger that tests (Voltage and CCA), conditions, restores and charges, and I've hooked the X5 up occasionally and never see the charge below 70%.

I would wait for the Battery to get down to 30-40%, then put it on a charger overnight. This is more likely to happen in Winter and the colder months. For Summer, I wouldn't bother - as Batteries like warmer weather.

My wife's F25 X3 is a 2013 model, and yet to have the Battery changed after 7 years, so my approach seems to work for her car.
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      03-19-2020, 08:25 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James_G0530d View Post
I wouldn't keep batteries tethered to a charger permanently, you will reduce their life not increase, just my opinion.

There is a lot of debate about a trickle charge regime for cars (and boats), but in my experience (I have a boat and 2 x cars) Batteries like to be discharged, especially sealed lead-acid batteries - which I am guessing are the type used in the X5.

I have a charger that tests (Voltage and CCA), conditions, restores and charges, and I've hooked the X5 up occasionally and never see the charge below 70%.

I would wait for the Battery to get down to 30-40%, then put it on a charger overnight. This is more likely to happen in Winter and the colder months. For Summer, I wouldn't bother - as Batteries like warmer weather.

My wife's F25 X3 is a 2013 model, and yet to have the Battery changed after 7 years, so my approach seems to work for her car.
Battery Tenders designed for long time charging and maintenance will give you 4x the life of a battery and never over charge. In fact they actually optimize the battery when they go through their maintenance cycle.
Been using them on all my toys for 25 years. I got 12 years out of my classic 911 battery. My Harley, ATV’s, boat will get 7 years +. I have them on 14 of my current batteries from Kubota tractors to anything that isn’t driven at least once a week. The cost of the new battery tenders have come down and most all are fully optioned so it’s cheap insurance and very convenient everything is guaranteed to start when called on.
Parasitic loss from modern high tech vehicles are very high compared to vehicles 8 years ago.

I usually hook up a quick connection as soon as I bring a new toy home.

This was much easier to do on my new M2 Competition than the X5.

Last edited by MystroX5; 03-19-2020 at 08:31 PM..
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      03-19-2020, 09:45 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MystroX5 View Post
Battery Tenders designed for long time charging and maintenance will give you 4x the life of a battery and never over charge. In fact they actually optimize the battery when they go through their maintenance cycle.
Been using them on all my toys for 25 years. I got 12 years out of my classic 911 battery. My Harley, ATV’s, boat will get 7 years +. I have them on 14 of my current batteries from Kubota tractors to anything that isn’t driven at least once a week. The cost of the new battery tenders have come down and most all are fully optioned so it’s cheap insurance and very convenient everything is guaranteed to start when called on.
Parasitic loss from modern high tech vehicles are very high compared to vehicles 8 years ago.

I usually hook up a quick connection as soon as I bring a new toy home.

This was much easier to do on my new M2 Competition than the X5.
I think it depends on the type and quality of the Battery, and the Battery charger itself.

I had an early trickle charger (15 years ago); which theoretically had a maintenance mode, and I "killed" some batteries that I used for my boat - which I only use in Spring & Summer. They were lead-acid, high CCA, serviceable in terms of electrolyte. I used to top up the electrolyte and keep them on trickle, then when Spring/Summer arrived they were "dead".

My new charger is a full blown analyser/tester, charger..etc, and I think it will do a much better job than the one I had 15 years ago..

You get the best life out of batteries when they are used consistently/frequency and hard, they love heavy use. You're likely to get 7+ years out of these newer batteries if used daily. My boat battery now lasts me 4-5 years, because I only use it at the end of Spring/Summer.

My view is if you use your car(s) for your daily drive; my wife and I use ours daily, and its at least 45-60 minutes per day - you should be right with intermittent charging - by that I mean every 3-6 months.

If you drive very sparingly or monthly, then putting it on permanent charge makes sense.

Last edited by James_G0540i; 03-19-2020 at 10:13 PM..
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      03-29-2020, 01:03 PM   #10
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Following up on this I've dug out my CTEK charger which is several years old but does seem to be suitable for AGM batteries up to 110Ah for charging and 160Ah for maintenance.

Anybody know what amp hour the main AGM battery is in the X5 40i?

It's looking increasingly likely I won't be doing many miles at all over the next few months so keeping the battery maintained is going to become a regular routine
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      03-29-2020, 04:10 PM   #11
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The battery varies by the type of options you have. You can see what is available by simply pulling up the battery diagram on one of the online part database sites like: www.realoem.com or http://bimmercat.com

Type in the last 7 digits of your VIN to make the database more specific to your BMW’s build. You’ll probably see an option for either an 80Ah, 90/92Ah, or 105Ah battery listed for the main battery.

EDIT: here’s a direct link to the battery diagram for a generic G05 X5 40i...scroll down to see the multiple #1 part Nbr’s for the various different batteries offered and you’ll see the amp hour listed in the additional info for each part number.

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Last edited by Qsilver7; 03-29-2020 at 04:17 PM..
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      03-29-2020, 04:40 PM   #12
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I can't check right now but I have a recollection one of the options in this hidden menu is the battery voltage...

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1577419
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      03-30-2020, 10:24 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Qsilver7 View Post
The battery varies by the type of options you have. You can see what is available by simply pulling up the battery diagram on one of the online part database sites like: www.realoem.com or http://bimmercat.com

Type in the last 7 digits of your VIN to make the database more specific to your BMW’s build. You’ll probably see an option for either an 80Ah, 90/92Ah, or 105Ah battery listed for the main battery.

EDIT: here’s a direct link to the battery diagram for a generic G05 X5 40i...scroll down to see the multiple #1 part Nbr’s for the various different batteries offered and you’ll see the amp hour listed in the additional info for each part number.

Cool thanks. So best I can determine is the main battery is either 92 or 105 Ah for my X5. On that basis my CTEK charger is good enough I think. Will go ahead and hook it up and see how it copes.

There is a second AGM battery option listed which is up front rather than in the load area. This seems to be about 50-60Ah but only on cars with M Sport suspension pro or auxiliary heating. I wonder if the second battery is combined to make 48v for cars with the M Sport Pro Suspension. I didn’t have that or aux hearing so presume my car only has the one rear battery
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