Can anyone recommend a particular make/model of battery conditioner for use with the E34 whilst in storage for the winter months?
I use C-TEK conditioners on other cars for this purpose but from memory these only hook-up via terminal connectors to the battery directly and the situation of the battery under the rear seat of the E34 is not too convenient for this.
It might be possible the positive terminal in the engine bay can be utilised with a suitable earth, but I'm not too sure and the instructions on the current model I use is not clear on this application.
Any recommendations or advice much appreciated as always.
CTEK are the best and the professional car storage people swear by these. BMW are just difficult re the battery location for charging but it is simple to just lift the rear seat squad and keep the charger plugged in for a few hours each week.
__________________
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn-out,shouting, 'Holy sh*t! What a ride!'"
E34 M5 LE 20/50 Rosso Red
The Following User Says Thank You to legacy260 For This Useful Post:
Hi Duncan,
I've used a Ctek for several winter seasons and they are great. According to the M5 manual it's ok to charge the car via the + terminal under the hood so I use the 'crocodile clips' to hook up the Ctek there. (The bolts on the suspension tower work fine for the 'minus' connection). The cable can exit the engine bay at the front of the hood with the hood shut, it's not that tight.
Beware of keeping it plugged in for weeks though; a worn battery can 'cook' one of its cells and leak acid. (Happened to me). Use a timer or plug it in occasionally.
Good luck,
Patrik
Hi Duncan,
I've used a Ctek for several winter seasons and they are great. According to the M5 manual it's ok to charge the car via the + terminal under the hood so I use the 'crocodile clips' to hook up the Ctek there. (The bolts on the suspension tower work fine for the 'minus' connection). The cable can exit the engine bay at the front of the hood with the hood shut, it's not that tight.
Beware of keeping it plugged in for weeks though; a worn battery can 'cook' one of its cells and leak acid. (Happened to me). Use a timer or plug it in occasionally.
Good luck,
Patrik
Patrik,
Many thanks indeed for your advice on this. I wasn't sure about using the engine bay connection but it would certainly be a lot more convenient!
Good advice re the timer too....never thought of that although I've never had a problem leaving the CTEK on permanently with other cars in the stable. A leaking battery next to all those control units under the seat would be very bad though...
I have a permanent connection on the battery beneath the rear seat, I simply move the plastic cover away, and connect the cable when I park the M5. Works great.
I use a DataTool that has 2 forms of connectors. One has the large Croc clips and the other you hard wire in. Which I have done and it just pokes out from under the seat to allow easy hookup.
Hope that helps.
__________________
Remember you can't race your house, you can sleep in your car!
Just about to get a C-TEK, deciding on whether to get the Multi XS 3600 or Multi XS 7000.. the fact that the 7000 can be switched to supply mode (you can then remove your battery to swap with a new one and not loose ecu settings apparently) is attractive. My car took 1hr to re-learn how to catch the revs on decelleration, for the first 30mins of driving decelleration and clutch-in = engine dies almost instantly.
My battery is a Delkor Puma 58515 85Ah, 750CCA and it has two venting holes and neither are hooked up... neither have nipples... I'll be rigging up some form of tubing to each hole and then connect to the oem ventilation hose.
The battery is a Calcium-Calcium and says "do not fast charge".. the XS7000 reckons it'll take 10.5hrs to get it to 80%, the XS3600 would take 20-22hrs to do the same. Is either of these considered "fast charging"?
I plan to leave the charger on 24/7 as I only drive the car on the weekends, would you guys recommend getting an acid absorbing mat to fit underneath the battery and the surrounding area?
I see that C-TEK sell a comfort indicator which has a traffic light system and connecter for the charger.. I plan on either mounting one of these or the included eyelet connector in the engine bay to the + terminal and a bolt somewhere nearby... There is also an option of using the cigarette lighter socket, but i think a dedicated connector is fine.
Linear Mode
