Putting my M3 to bed for the winter

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Beemdog

Never say never ... on most cars, connecting directly to the battery is just fine. BMW just happens to make it a PITA to do so.

My easy way and in 5 secondes ! => "# 26" http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...1#post15488771

[G80indy]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

My easy way and in 5 secondes ! => "# 26" http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...1#post15488771

e92 M3 requires underhood connection for proper battery charging management system to calibrate state of charge.
it's in the manual. do your research, people.

[bigfy39]

One thing that I learned from one of the S2K forums is to put the car in neutral, do not engage the ebrake and then chock the wheels. This way, your brake pads in the rear have no possibility of rusting onto the rotor.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by 330indy

e92 M3 requires underhood connection for proper battery charging management system to calibrate state of charge.
it's in the manual. do your research, people.

Why my BMW/dealer has the CTEK battery charger also in the trunk and connected directly to the battery to show the angeleyes all day long with the hood closed ?
Maybe you should do your research....
Anyway directly on the battery the charging works better and faster , i've tried under the hood and after 2 day's it was only on 50 % of charge !
Last winter my CTEK was for more than 4 months in my trunk and connected directly to my battery , just perfect....no problem !
I'm doing this for more than 2 years every weekend overnight...
Don't know where the problem is my friend....my battery is always in top condition !

[///M3Fresh]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Why my BMW/dealer has the CTEK battery charger also in the trunk and connected directly to the battery to show the angeleyes all day long with the hood closed ?
Maybe you should do your research....
Anyway directly on the battery the charging works better and faster , i've tried under the hood and after 2 day's it was only on 50 % of charge !
Last winter my CTEK was for more than 4 months in my trunk and connected directly to my battery , just perfect....no problem !
I'm doing this for more than 2 years every weekend overnight...
Don't know where the problem is my friend....my battery is always in top condition !

The dealers have also shown to be correct 100% of the time?

My guess would be that it looks cleaner to hook the tender to the battery. especially if they are trying to show off the front end of the car with the AE's running.

In your situation, it could of been a multiple different things, one being a poor connection? If it works for you, then great, but in the manual, its states where it should be hooked up to charge.

FYI i use the battery too, and never had issues. one year I used under the hood and didnt have issues. I dont think it matters much.

[SYT_Shadow]

So if where we garage the car for winter leaves us no option of a battery tender, what are we supposed to do?

Remove the battery and hook it up at home to a battery tender? Leave it in the car and just disconnect the negative terminal?

[Beemdog]

Originally Posted by 330indy

e92 M3 requires underhood connection for proper battery charging management system to calibrate state of charge.
it's in the manual. do your research, people.

I looked in the manual under "Charging the Battery" and it says: "Only charge the battery via the terminals in the engine compartment with the engine off." I see nothing about the charging management system mentioned. So my research failed. I suppose one could make various inferences from that statement in the owner's manual, but in reality you'd need a service manual to figure out out where and how the ECU monitors charge current.

[maloo]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

So if where we garage the car for winter leaves us no option of a battery tender, what are we supposed to do?

Remove the battery and hook it up at home to a battery tender? Leave it in the car and just disconnect the negative terminal?

Deltran makes solar panels for cars. I have never used one but it might solve your problem if you have access to sun light?

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by ///M3Fresh

The dealers have also shown to be correct 100% of the time?

My guess would be that it looks cleaner to hook the tender to the battery. especially if they are trying to show off the front end of the car with the AE's running.

In your situation, it could of been a multiple different things, one being a poor connection? If it works for you, then great, but in the manual, its states where it should be hooked up to charge.

FYI i use the battery too, and never had issues. one year I used under the hood and didnt have issues. I dont think it matters much.

Agreed !
Before I installed the O rings on my battery I asked my BMW/Dealer about the plug and play connector of the CTEK,the answer was why not we are doing the same thing ,and saw it also on the showroom cars .
For the non believers....

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Jexter

What does the manual say? Stop spreading false information. Mine is hooked up under the hood and it takes hours, not days for the light to turn green. Yours was probably not making good contact.

It boils down to common sense. If you want to chance damaging the umteen modules in the trunk by attaching it to your battery go ahead, but don't say that it is better because you and your dealer do it.

F@ck the manual !
Why would one of worlds best battery chargers make a plug and play connector ? To boil your battery or modules ?
When true than my battery and modules were boiled for over 300 times !
BS man !

[bigtracing]

I have a 07 build with the original battery and I let it sit from july of last year to may of this year with the battery tender hooked to the battery and everything still works in my car. Also never use stabil that stuff is junk. Startron is the way to go I have done boats for years and have never had issues with startron even if the boat sat for a few seasons.

[badbeef]

3 consecutive cars have had battery tenders on them. All of them hooked up to the terminals under the hood. And all of them have charged quickly and just fine. Saved me with the mouse nest too. Had the hood not been up I wouldn't have seen the nest until much later, with more damage done (previous car). It also helped me spot a fluid leak which would probably have gone unnoticed. I've thought many times about hard wiring it with the quick connect plugs -- but the visual inspection of having the hood open is worth it to me. If I were to do the quick connect I would do it in the engine bay probably and not the trunk.

Thanks bigtracing for the Startron recommendation. I think I'll ditch Stabil and go that route.

[LarThaL]

Originally Posted by M3thodical

Title says it all. So what do you guys suggest I do to it? I live in Vermont and so it gets pretty cold up here. My garage that it will be stored in on my property is insulated and can be electric space heated when I want to work on the car for mods. Should I put stabilizer in the gas? Take the battery out or just leave it in with a trickle charger attached to the charging posts? (I don't even know exactly where the battery is! HA!) I've never stored a car before especially a car as sweet as this. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!

I have owned several 3-season cars. Here's what I do:

1. Full tank of gas
2. Trickle charger
3. Inflate tires to 42psi and move the car a little so it doesn't sit on the same tire spot.
4. Start it once a month. Let it get to full temp then rev it out a little.

I usually drive the car until the first road salting....whenever that is, then it goes into hibernation until late March.

[M3er]

Originally Posted by M3thodical

Title says it all. So what do you guys suggest I do to it? I live in Vermont and so it gets pretty cold up here. My garage that it will be stored in on my property is insulated and can be electric space heated when I want to work on the car for mods. Should I put stabilizer in the gas? Take the battery out or just leave it in with a trickle charger attached to the charging posts? (I don't even know exactly where the battery is! HA!) I've never stored a car before especially a car as sweet as this. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!

just put snow tires and drive it!
the potential downfalls of storing the car for so long shall offset the idea of salt on the roads etc..

[M3thodical]

Originally Posted by M3er

just put snow tires and drive it!
the potential downfalls of storing the car for so long shall offset the idea of salt on the roads etc..

I'd love to but it would never make it up my driveway. Steep and deep. I can't make it up my drive way in 2wd in my truck so there would be no way to do it with this car.

[M3thodical]

Originally Posted by Jexter

Stabil is junk. Where do people come up with this stuff? Let me guess you read it on the internet.

Stabil, Startron its all the same shit. They both stablize fuel to slow it from oxidizing, they both contain no alcohol (unlike HEET). Stabil uses encapsulating molecules, startron uses enzymes.

Be careful to measure out Startron exactly, with Stabil you can overuse it without consquence, not so with Startron.

Ok. I'm sure you know what you're talking about. Have I been lucky over the years using Stabil in my lawn mowers, and generator gas? Seems to burn pretty good.

[maloo]

Originally Posted by Jexter

Stabil is junk. Where do people come up with this stuff? Let me guess you read it on the internet.

Stabil, Startron its all the same shit. They both stablize fuel to slow it from oxidizing, they both contain no alcohol (unlike HEET). Stabil uses encapsulating molecules, startron uses enzymes.

Be careful to measure out Startron exactly, with Stabil you can overuse it without consquence, not so with Startron.

Overdosing Startron is not harmful.

[mermar]

I would like to be able to quick disconnect and reconnect my battery tender. Seems presiding connections on the battery would be better than opening the hood every time and then leaving the hood partially open.

[mermar]

Also - I live in MN were it gets really cold - but man it seems you are putting yours away early. My S65 just loves cool Sept and Oct temps.

[M3thodical]

Originally Posted by mermar

Also - I live in MN were it gets really cold - but man it seems you are putting yours away early. My S65 just loves cool Sept and Oct temps.

Oh! I'm not putting it away yet. I just wanted to know what I need/should do before that time comes in case I needed to get anything special before that time comes. I'll be driving it until it starts snowing which will probably be toward the end of October.

[bigtracing]

Originally Posted by Jexter

Stabil is junk. Where do people come up with this stuff? Let me guess you read it on the internet.

Stabil, Startron its all the same shit. They both stablize fuel to slow it from oxidizing, they both contain no alcohol (unlike HEET). Stabil uses encapsulating molecules, startron uses enzymes.

Be careful to measure out Startron exactly, with Stabil you can overuse it without consquence, not so with Startron.

1. you can use as much startron as you want. You obviously read you cant on the internet. 2 Startron is designed to stop ethanol separation which is the biggest problem with storing gas nowadays. 3. I have used both and have never had bad luck with startron and have had next to no luck with sta bil which could be just me personally I was just giving the OP my opinion.