Quote:
Originally Posted by Dackelone
Modern day BMW's have A LOT of electronics in them. When you park the car, there is a constant drain even after the DME goes to "sleep". Over time this can weaken the battery. Driving 700 miles per month works out to about 23 miles per day (and that is round trip) so only driving your car 12 miles to work or where ever... that really is not enough to charge the battery. I won't even start to think about how often you should be changing your oil!
IF you have a volt/ohm meter... a good battery should have at least 12.8 volts standing (after the car has been parked over night say). And the battery should have at least 13.5 volts with the engine running - measured across the battery terminals in the trunk.
Bottom line... get a battery tender(for your new battery) if you are using your car so seldom (miles wise). Maybe once per week take the car out for a nice long drive. Not only will you charge the battery... but your burn off all that fuel that's saturated your oil and all the water/condensation in your exhaust system.
Dack
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I'm curious as to a statement you made. You're stating that driving 12 miles a day twice a day is not enough to keep the battery charged? Do you have technical data supporting that? Otherwise a lot of people that live close to work would be having a lot of issues.
If that trip was all highway miles, at a minimum you're talking 5 minutes of driving (not including stop light/signs) twice a day. I would hope that the electrical system would be able to line out the battery by charging it for 5 minutes constantly.
Just a thought...