^

Thanks again for the info, sir! Very much appreciated.

Am I the only one who would be afraid to leave a charger of any type running in my garage for a week or two unattended? I know that battery technology has improved over the years, but you will still be "boiling" the acid and water in the battery, which releases vapor - which can be under pressure in a sealed battery. Then there is always the risk that one of the clips comes off or arcs, etc.

Personally, I would wait until I returned and then connect a charger. Or give it a full charge before leaving, etc. Maybe I'm over cautious, but I'd be nervous the whole time I was away...

LEDZEP wrote

Am I the only one who would be afraid to leave a charger of any type running in my garage for a week or two unattended? I know that battery technology has improved over the years, but you will still be "boiling" the acid and water in the battery, which releases vapor - which can be under pressure in a sealed battery. Then there is always the risk that one of the clips comes off or arcs, etc.

Personally, I would wait until I returned and then connect a charger. Or give it a full charge before leaving, etc. Maybe I'm over cautious, but I'd be nervous the whole time I was away...

You and I share the same concern.

What I am planning to do is to charge the car attended, meaning I can go in the garage and check on the car.

So let's say it takes 2 day to charge the battery - I am planning to charge the car with the charger for a full 2 days prior to leaving for my trip so this way I am leaving my car @ a 100% charge instead of a 60% charge - if that makes sense.

I left a trickle charger on a previous BMW for 9 weeks with no ill effects. FWIW.

LEDZEP and flash3,

While I can fully understand your concerns, leaving a modern charger like the Battery Tender (including BMW's rebranded version) the CTEC, a Griot's Garage charger is really safe.

The chargers contain programmed electronic regulators that prevent overcharging the battery, and even if the regulator circuit fails, the type of battery in the X3 (an "AGM" Absorbed Glass Mat) will easily tolerate the 1 to 2 amp charge without boiling off it's electrolyte.

Also, the AGM batteries don't release hydrogen and oxygen externally, it's internally converted back to water, so outgassing is not a problem.

Finally, the charging posts are at the front of the car and the battery is 15 feet away under the cargo floor. Even if the battery did produce some hydrogen gas, and even if a clip slipped off and created a spark, it would be so far away that it wouldn't ignite the gas.

I have a Battery Tender on my Lotus Seven that sits on and unattended for up to 5 months at a time and never have the slightest concern about it's safety. And the Lotus uses a conventional "wet" lead-acid battery.

From an Electrical Engineering and Physics point of view, the chance of your garage and X3 being smashed by a rogue asteroid is probably about as high as having the battery explode from leaving a "smart" charger connected.

Probibilities not withstanding, the above is strictly personal opinion and you must do what you feel comfortable doing.

Disclaimer, if you leave a charger connected and your garage blows up, you didn't hear "leave it connected" from me. Never heard of you guys and don't know "nuthin" about any "chargers".

Proceed at your own risk!

LOL....

But good points. I have a charger that has trickle, regular, and "start mode" settings that I primarily use for my riding lawn mower on occasion. Not sure I'd use it for extended charging but the ones you describe here look good. What I like about the other one is that I can use it to jumpstart if necessary, when a long charge is just not an option.

P.S. Sorry if the mental image of an asteroid smashing an X3 is disconcerting to anyone viewing the forum. Sometimes you just have to be blunt!

LEDZEP wrote

LOL....

But good points. I have a charger that has trickle, regular, and "start mode" settings that I primarily use for my riding lawn mower on occasion. Not sure I'd use it for extended charging but the ones you describe here look good. What I like about the other one is that I can use it to jumpstart if necessary, when a long charge is just not an option.

I would NOT leave a conventional charger, even with a "trickle" setting connected for an extended period. Once the battery is charged, it should be disconnected. Even for a fully discharged battery, that means no more than 2 or three days.

I'm going to rig up a Model T crank.... problem solved.

Just got back from a European vacation - 29 days away from my car - absolutely no problem on starting and driving. Unless you live in sub-zero temperatures it seems like a waste of money for all of these extras that are always pushed on this site. Even took it to the automatic car wash - had someone drive the car in all by themselves. I know we've got BMWs and mine is very precious to me but there is no way it is the most fragile car to enter a car wash. Sorry but I don't have the time, inclination or access to a hose or washing facilities.

Just my $0.02 worth

TarHeelFan wrote

Just got back from a European vacation - 29 days away from my car - absolutely no problem on starting and driving. Unless you live in sub-zero temperatures it seems like a waste of money for all of these extras that are always pushed on this site. Even took it to the automatic car wash - had someone drive the car in all by themselves. I know we've got BMWs and mine is very precious to me but there is no way it is the most fragile car to enter a car wash. Sorry but I don't have the time, inclination or access to a hose or washing facilities.

Just my $0.02 worth

Not sure how this became about bashing people for wanting to charge their batteries or washing and detailing their vehicles....

"pushed" on this site... really? I feel absolutely no pressure to run out and buy a charger like those discussed in this thread. But then again, they were discussed in the thread because that was the TOPIC of it... yeah, it's really weird to find a bunch of car enthusiasts on a car enthusasts forum.

To each his own of course, and I really don't care whether or not you wash your car or let kangaroos mate in the passenger seat. But you really don't have any call for attitude toward those who feel otherwise.

Mea Culpa. Sorry for any inadvertent attitude. It must have been a different forum but I had read about how someone spent hours washing their X3 and, to me, kind of shamed those of us who would actually take their car to an auto wash. I felt like I would be looked down upon if I admitted that I took my car in to an auto wash.
Again, my apologies.

I have regularly left my 535 for 2 months at the airport - never any problem even in winter.
Did have a problem many years ago with an Audi - most airports do have a jump start service - I did try a small photovoltaic panel on it; that did seem to work but valet parking could leave it in dark places.

I must admit I had not considered there may be a substantial drain while parked up - but if so, there must be some specification that tells how much.
5W PV panels are quite cheap but the larger marine types can be quite expensive.

TarHeelFan wrote

Mea Culpa. Sorry for any inadvertent attitude. It must have been a different forum but I had read about how someone spent hours washing their X3 and, to me, kind of shamed those of us who would actually take their car to an auto wash. I felt like I would be looked down upon if I admitted that I took my car in to an auto wash.
Again, my apologies.

Nope, you read that right here on this forum and that was me beating everyone with the shame stick. That really wasn't my intention though, and I don't look down my nose at people who make an informed choice to spend their lives doing something besides car washing (though I can't imagine what would be so important). I was more trying to educate those who didn't seem to think it was harmful. But, water under the bridge... or down the storm drain perhaps.

Simple facts: Lead-acid batteries deteriorate faster when in a discharged state.

Your car may start up just fine after sitting for a month, but your battery will last longer if you put it on a good quality tender like a Deltran.

How much longer? Who knows? But after looking at that battery, I bet the replacement cost is in stroke-inducing territory. The twenty-three bucks for a Battery Tender Jr. is cheap insurance.

So if I can coax an extra year of service out of it by putting it on a tender when I'm away, I'm going to do so.

YMMV.

LEDZEP wrote

I'm going to rig up a Model T crank.... problem solved.

When you drill the hole through the radiator and AC/condenser for the hand crank, just be sure to line it up carefully with the crank pulley center bolt.

You won't miss the A/C function too much, but don't plan on any long trips after all the coolant leaks out of the big hole in the radiator.

Just returned after 18 days out of country.
X3 (3.0d) started no problem but had a warning message displayed that ancillary electricals had been switched off due to depleted battery while static.

Rang my dealer who just suggested bring it in to be tested but warning has now gone and suspect that no error will show up without leaving it another few weeks.

Three concerns:

• Is the alarm system part of the ancillaries that are switched off to conserve the battery?
• My next trip is 2 months and the car will be left with the valet service at the airport. If they do need to restart using a external battery, are there any warnings I should be giving them? (Like ring BMW service the day before I return if they can't start the car)
• Has anyone else ever had a similar warning message? Not wishing to return to an airport and a have an early morning wait for BMW service, does this warning suggest that there is a fault I need to get serviced?

I have left my 35i (April, 2011 production) for 18 days in our condo building's garage. No battery problem (although it might have been the reason), but for 2 weeks afterwords, the camera parking sensor was acting very strange. It was signalling (flat sound for the front and red zone for the rear left) that the car was very near an object no matter how far the car was actually away from anything. It was very annoying and I could not relay on it at all. Then when I was about to call my dealer, the problem went away and did not return for the last 3 weeks. Note, that I have cleaned every camera on the car really well (therefore, no dust, no smudges), but that left side was not indicating the proper distance btw. the car and other obstacles.

If anything strange like that happens again, I would wait a bit to see if it returns itself into normal.

I left my Passat outside for 3 months last Christmas and it started when I got in it, battery was ok!!!! It did however fail it's MOT of a CV boot rubber, probably due to being stood.

flash3 wrote

All,

Gonna be outta town for a few wks which means I have to leave the x3 in the garage while I'm out.

Are there any tips of what to do in general and also more specifically around the battery not dying?

I have left my x3 for a couple of weeks without driving and no harm.

Depending on the state of charge (which can vary dramatically), options on the vehicle, and ambient temperature a X3 battery can be depleted in as little as 18 days.

Comparisons with other vehicle brands & models are totally irrelevant. The X3 BER system changes everything. This has been discussed and explained in this thread:

X3 LOW BATTERY

Posts No. 20 & 22 address this issue in detail.

troggy1969 wrote

It did however fail it's MOT of a CV boot rubber, probably due to being stood.

"Two peoples, separated by a common language." - Winston Churchill