Question About Battery Trickle Charger for the E60 M5
I have moved to Hong Kong but have decided to keep my E60 M5 in San Francisco. I go back to San Francisco once every two or three months which I am sure is a bad thing for the battery.
I bought one of those trickle charges from BMW that plugs into the cigarette socket. But I found that for the E60s, all the "cigarette" sockets are disabled when the engine is turned off and the key is disconnected. The only time the sockets seem to work is when the key is turned three quarters or when the engine is running.
Since the socket is disconnected when the engine is off, I cannot leave the trickle charger plugged into my car when I am in Hong Kong because when the sockets are disabled, the charger does not work.
The BMW dealer could not address this issue and did not have a solution for me.
Can anyone help me here? Thanks a lot!
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2006 M5 Black Sapphire Metallic / Silverstone
Last edited by SWP; 6th January 2008 at 20:40.
Reason: I accidentally spelled Charger wrong in the title.
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BMW sells a trickle charger that attaches directly to your battery. You can also use a motorcycle charger. Harley Davidson makes one that is supposed to be "intelligent"-it shuts off when the battery is fully charged to avoid overcharging it.
There are temporary clamps and hardwire lugs included with the charger.
These can be connected in the engine compartment to the contacts provided to jump start the engine (these should be unswitched). Or connect directly to the battery in the trunk.
The Battery Tender company manufactures the charger you bought from the dealer. Pepboys and many car parts stores sell the Battery Tender.
+1(too) on the battery tender. It works great, and it has a quick disconnect connection that you can use, and that way you don't have to go in and unscrew the connections on the terminal. Also....if you have this problem, you can get battery tenders that charge up to 3 cars I believe.
I have been using Battery Tender for years on everything, cars, bikes, tractors, mowers.....they are automatic and shut down charging and stay on standby for when voltage drops while the car sits for days... . You can put the clips on the battery in the truckeasily, just lift up the trunk cover leave it propped up, i use a roll of paper towels, remove the + red cover and clip it on securley and attach the neg. clip...OR you can charge from under the hood, clip on to where you jump start the car, positive and negative...see your manual for locations.....real easy, you can shut hood or trunk while the battery is charging....there you go !!! I charge my car if it is idle for a week or more.
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Thanks. Would you think it is better to connect directly to battery in trunk or the the contacts in under the hood. I can figure out the + red clip, but where the best palce to clip the - black clip in the trunk and under the hood?
Thanks again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by unfoundhorsepower
I have been using Battery Tender for years on everything, cars, bikes, tractors, mowers.....they are automatic and shut down charging and stay on standby for when voltage drops while the car sits for days... . You can put the clips on the battery in the truckeasily, just lift up the trunk cover leave it propped up, i use a roll of paper towels, remove the + red cover and clip it on securley and attach the neg. clip...OR you can charge from under the hood, clip on to where you jump start the car, positive and negative...see your manual for locations.....real easy, you can shut hood or trunk while the battery is charging....there you go !!! I charge my car if it is idle for a week or more.
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2006 M5 Black Sapphire Metallic / Silverstone
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you have to connect the battery charger to the red clip + on engine bay and the black cable - to the nut over the right front schock.
if you connect directly to battery on rear trunk the battery sensor will not work and the the car will not know that the battery is charged, so you must always charge the battery using the front connectors to avoid discharged battery warnings.
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