[Addbuyer]

I know this part of the forum isn’t the right place for this thread but I need some quick help and most peeps seem to read this part of the forum.
I drive 6 miles a day Monday to Friday just lately so my battery has depleted to a state where everything has shut down other than starting, no warning, just shut down. Went to the car in the dark this morning and no light of any sorts, puddle, door handles, interior or headlights.
I am reading there are two battery’s, boot and engine bay plus I have the active suspension which drains one of them further than norm.
So does anyone know if there’s a battery charger hook up point that will charge both at the same time?
Thanks guys

[SmartSaves]

Only use the battery hook up point in the engine bay and select Auto AGM setting on the battery tender. Both batteries will be charged. Many owners here like CTEK MXS 5.0

Here is a good thread on this topic:

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=25574804

[Alan l.]

^^ what he said

If you charge at the terminals under the hood the car will figure out the rest in terms of which battery needs charging. Keep in mind with the ctek it will take a good 15-24 hours to get it fully charged up. Maybe longer if your battery is so drained.

[Addbuyer]

I've put a standard battery charger on it to get some juice in. That said, the battery terminal reading under the bonnet was 13.5v which is fully charged?
My thoughts are that the X5 gremlins are at work again and the battery wasn't so discharged that it shut everything down.

As stated, for a couple of months my usage has been 10 x 3 mile journeys per week and with it being winter I've had all the creature comforts burning juice, so it certainly points to a discharged battery.
If you can imagine walking up to your car in total darkness and the comfort entry doesn't acknowledge your presence, no lights of any kind come on, not even when the door is opened and upon starting the car a warning comes up saying the battery is critical (i think thats what it said)

[Alan l.]

Is there anything aftermarket installed on the car that could be draining the battery? I also disable the feature that automatically unlocks/locks the car when it senses the keys. This will most definitely cause more battery drain when its parked.

Maybe its time for a trip to the dealership just to be on the safe side.

This reminds me i should probably top off my battery as the temps has been dropping and I don't do a lot of highway driving to fully charge up my batteries as well.

[CaboM4]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a couple of these and they work great. (BMW rebrands these and applies their logo for a price premium) I use the CTEK's on the Z4 and the Mini which spend a lot of time sitting in the garage, so I can peoperly maintain the AGM battery.

On my Tundra that sits outside in the sun most of the time, I use this placed in the dash to maintain my Lead Acid battery.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Addbuyer]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Is there anything aftermarket installed on the car that could be draining the battery? I also disable the feature that automatically unlocks/locks the car when it senses the keys. This will most definitely cause more battery drain when its parked.

The car is as naked as the day it left the factory i.e. nothing installed that could be draining the battery.

Ironically, I have just reverted back to auto locking when walking away. I got so fed up with the car failing to lock from the door handle touch, worked well in principle with having a dog but was so temperamental! Worst touch locking I've had a car EVER
Anyone know if the handle sensitivity can be adjusted by BMW?

[Addbuyer]

Originally Posted by CaboM4

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a couple of these and they work great. (BMW rebrands these and applies their logo for a price premium) I use the CTEK's on the Z4 and the Mini which spend a lot of time sitting in the garage, so I can peoperly maintain the AGM battery.

On my Tundra that sits outside in the sun most of the time, I use this placed in the dash to maintain my Lead Acid battery.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks, I have a C-Tec trickle charger which i use permanently on a bank of batteries for maintenance. I needed to get some voltage back into the X5's battery quickly yesterday so i used a booster charger.
Maybe i need to put the X5 on the C-Tec over the weekends from now on

[NavyGimp]

Not that I want you to have an issue with your car, but I hope this isn't the norm. With all of the travel restrictions in place, my wife and I are pretty much staying at home are we're lucky if we make a trip to the grocery store every other week. I definitely don't want to be coming out to a dead battery on these rare trips.

[MystroX5]

We have hit this topic so many times in other threads with great advise on chargers and under the hood charging points.

[codex57]

Originally Posted by Addbuyer

The car is as naked as the day it left the factory i.e. nothing installed that could be draining the battery.

Ironically, I have just reverted back to auto locking when walking away. I got so fed up with the car failing to lock from the door handle touch, worked well in principle with having a dog but was so temperamental! Worst touch locking I've had a car EVER
Anyone know if the handle sensitivity can be adjusted by BMW?

Sadly, I've had cheap accessories that plug into the cigarette lighter drain my batteries in other cars before. IIRC, I probably bought them off eBay or a gas station. Lately, I've noticed Amazon has a lot of that sketchy stuff from China. I'd check to see if you've got any accessories like phone chargers plugged in. If so, maybe remove them and see if that helps after you've charged the battery back up.

[jad03060]

The vehicle turns the 12vdc sockets off after about 15-minutes after you shut it off.

Short trips in the winter where you may be using all of the heating can suck a battery down fairly fast, and you may have some idling in there that also inhibits the ability to recharge at a decent rate.

It's possible that you have a module(s) that is not getting the shutdown message and staying in active mode. That can drain the battery, too. There's a specific test that can be done to check on that. The alarm and other similar stuff have known power drains, so anything higher than that needs investigation.

On my previous vehicle a 535GT, it only got driven periodically, and if I didn't put a trickle charger on it, it would eat through a battery in a couple of weeks to a max of a month. Even with an AGM, they don't like frequent deep discharges.
When it was driven, it got maybe 1K miles or so on it, but in between, I drove my EV for all local trips.

The X5 45e just sits plugged in when it's home, so that isn't an issue.

It's best if your charger is settable to AGM battery type.

[biterror]

Originally Posted by jad03060

TShort trips in the winter where you may be using all of the heating can suck a battery down fairly fast, and you may have some idling in there that also inhibits the ability to recharge at a decent rate.

I haven't done any measurements on X5 (yet?), but one cold winter day (around -30 C or -22 F) I checked the charging voltage on my Saab 9-5 and it was 14.7 V at the battery terminals with the engine idling and all imaginable electric loads switched on (lights, seat heaters, heater fan, audio, windscreen wipers etc.). The problem with the battery is that when it's cold, it just doesn't accept much charging current - and the charging voltage should be pretty high (expecially for AGM batteries). And the batteries in many BMW models are in the coldest possible place, under the boot.

[CaboM4]

Originally Posted by Addbuyer

Thanks, I have a C-Tec trickle charger which i use permanently on a bank of batteries for maintenance. I needed to get some voltage back into the X5's battery quickly yesterday so i used a booster charger.
Maybe i need to put the X5 on the C-Tec over the weekends from now on

You do fairly short daily weekday trips, however with frequent daily use i've never run into this with my BMWs in the past ... however my problems arose when the car sat for a couple of weeks, and then only a few short trips and sitting again.

How old is your battery?

[Addbuyer]

Originally Posted by CaboM4

How old is your battery?

14 months

Lets face it, the X5 is loaded with computer this that and the other so its obviously heavy on the battery.
I have to adjust..... drive it or charge it

[Paladin1]

Trickle charger; charge fully every couple of weeks in these strange times, unless you still regularly commute. Battery should go for a month or two cold, and restart the car, but odd gremlins may start to pop up, and short jaunts never fully recharge the battery. BMW is not unique in having a host of electronic parasites on board - nature of the beast in a nearly fully automated, electronically controlled and driven automobile. A '57 Chevy battery, in a '57 Chevy, will last much longer without topping off.

[CaboM4]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

A '57 Chevy battery, in a '57 Chevy, will last much longer without topping off.

On my '55 Bel Air I still keep a basic craftsman trickle charger on the battery to maintain as well despite no electronic computer in that car

I think the best advice for any battery is to use a proper battery tender when it will not be cycled for regular duty.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by CaboM4

On my '55 Bel Air I still keep a basic craftsman trickle charger on the battery to maintain as well despite no electronic computer in that car

I think the best advice for any battery is to use a proper battery tender when it will not be cycled for regular duty.

Always good advice, although my '64 Karman Ghia convertible sometimes sat up on the rack for 6 months between starts, and cranked like a champ when I broke it out in the Spring.

[spoolzer]

Howdy everyone, I found this thread super helpful for my 2021 G05 X5 that had a dead battery. My wife drove our son to daycare in the morning and came to find it dead later in the afternoon. No power to unlock doors or anything. Used the key to open the driver door and had the alarm going off. Finally plugged in my CTek 7002 to find that the battery was completely dead. Left it on for about 3h and still nothing. Boosted the car and drove it around for 30m to get some charge. Plugged it back in and found it's at about 25%. Left it charging over night and come this morning to see the charge level hasn't changed. Is this normal?

For reference I've used this charger on my 2017 F30 and usually after 1 nigh the battery is fully topped up.

[spoolzer]

And also for reference, I'm using the connectors in the engine bay

[spoolzer]

Update:

I found this thread which seems to be very similar to what I am seeing. Will leave it to charge for the day and see if I see any changes.

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1&postcount=63

[jad03060]

What's the max charge rate on that unit? Some are only in the 3A range, so that could be over a day if the battery was that low to bring it back.