[morphius909]

What's recommended guys? Battery Tender? But which one?

The SA told me the 3 series has alot of drain on the battery and I take mainly short trips (< 25kms one way) so the battery never gets fully recharged and recommend a 450 dollar one from BMW. Errr No thanks.

So what else is good and easy to use?

[B-737]

this was just being discussed on the other forum, i ended up going the CTEK route.
Highly recommend the CTEK 3300, its weather resistant (proof?) not a big deal for those of us with garages but it helps... its OEM for porsche and benz to name just two...

Was about $60 to my door...

Heres how i installed mine... was very easy, 10 minute job...
The terminals at the jumper posts in the engine bay make it really convenient.
I removed the plastic cover from the terminal connection for the + post. Removed the 10mm nut, put the ring terminal on it, then buttoned it back up.
For the negative lead, i used the designated - post on the inside of the fender. I found a metric machine bolt that fit inside the threaded post and used a lock washer, installed the ring terminal onto the bolt and tightened into the - post.

I was hoping for a solution that would put the car side of the connection at the grill where i would not have to open the hood to make the connection. but snaking the lead to the grill looked like a PITA, i might do it later down the road. also the esthetics of having the plug behind the grill might bug me.



i ended up spinning the connection 180 degrees after i took this photo

[Coolieman1220]

i got one on my motorcycle

[DDS2015]

I have the BMW one on mine. Birchwood installs them as part of their freight/PDI program. Mb is also one of the provinces where block heaters are mandatory (not sure if Ab is) so this is what they came up with. Have them in all of our BMWs. Maybe give another dealer a call and ask what they recommend? Also if you're not opposed to it, you could look into buying it from another dealer and installing it yourself.

However, if you're driving it every day, you really shouldn't need a tender IMO. Plus, the car starts to shut off non-essential systems before sending less battery power to the engine. What you should really do (and what my dad has to do) is take off your cold air intake and cover the holes that it passes through during the winter months. That will actually really help the way that the car runs in the wintertime. My dad has to do it on his 335 because otherwise frost can build up on the O2 sensor and it'll cause him to have a bad idle and throw an engine warning light. I don't have any pics unfortunately because I live in a different city, but Birchwood recommends doing that on the N55 cars in the wintertime. Hope this helps.

[chuckee98]

Battery Tenders don't last. I went through 3 of them, one of which was a warranty replacement from Deltran. After the last one started acting up, I bought a CTEK 3300. The Battery Tender ended up kicking the bucket not too long afterwards.

Here's a thread I started about a 20% off coupon at Amazon. Dunno if it's still good or not.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=503573

[B-737]

I've never had a battery tender fail in ten years and 5 cars... Just my experience. If im leaving for a week or more I hook the car, or cars, up that won't be used in the garage. I've never been stranded by a dead battery. My porsche sat for months, I owned it for 6 years, one battery.

Finds wood to go knock on

[chuckee98]

Originally Posted by B-737

I've never had a battery tender fail in ten years and 5 cars... Just my experience. If im leaving for a week or more I hook the car, or cars, up that won't be used in the garage. I've never been stranded by a dead battery. My porsche sat for monts, I owned it for 6 years, one battery.

Finds wood to go knock on

I guess I didn't find any wood to knock on. With my experience of 3 failures in 20 years, I wanted to try something other than a Battery Tender and not add a fourth to the list. Usage on mine were fairly constant, which may have been an underlying cause. I'm hoping for better results with the CTEK. (Now where is that wood? )

[ENINTY]

I had an original Deltran Battery Tender (made in Florida) bought in 1993 or 1994. I used it to keep my motorcycle stored for the winter. It finally died in 2007 when I was trying to bring a relatively new, but dead, car battery back to life. By 2007 I had several other vehicles that needed float charging. For my New Holland tractor, I bought Deltran's waterproof Tender. It lasted about 18 months. I brought another one and used it in my shed with an extension cord for my lawn mower. That one died in less than 12 months. I bought 3 other Deltran Battery Tenders from Amazon in 2009. All are dead now, sitting in a cabinet in my garage. IMO once Deltran switch manufacturing to China, the product quality has fallen off a cliff.

I use a product from Granite Digital, found at saveabattery.com. I have three units (one is solar powered), all of which I use all year round, for over a year now. No failures. They have a novel approach to letting the user know the status of the battery: their units actually have a digial volt meter readout! Great product. Check them out if you are in the market for a battery maintainer.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by B-737

this was just being discussed on the other forum, i ended up going the CTEK route.
Highly recommend the CTEK 3300, its weather resistant (proof?) not a big deal for those of us with garages but it helps... its OEM for porsche and benz to name just two...

Was about $60 to my door...

Heres how i installed mine... was very easy, 10 minute job...
The terminals at the jumper posts in the engine bay make it really convenient.
I removed the plastic cover from the terminal connection for the + post. Removed the 10mm nut, put the ring terminal on it, then buttoned it back up.
For the negative lead, i used the designated - post on the inside of the fender. I found a metric machine bolt that fit inside the threaded post and used a lock washer, installed the ring terminal onto the bolt and tightened into the - post.

I was hoping for a solution that would put the car side of the connection at the grill where i would not have to open the hood to make the connection. but snaking the lead to the grill looked like a PITA, i might do it later down the road. also the esthetics of having the plug behind the grill might bug me.



i ended up spinning the connection 180 degrees after i took this photo

Nice install. I may have to go back on my recommendation to hook up only to the actual battery terminals in the trunk!

[EYE4SPEED]

I used Entity's advice and got the Granite Digital. Ended up hooking to the posts in the hood with alligator clips. The car was sitting for about a month before I bought the float charger - was still at over 12v. Not sure if I really need one, but for piece of mind I have it now.

[John 070]

I use the "Battery Hamster." There are 3 of them that live under the hood, and not only do they run around on a little treadmill to keep the battery fully charged, they monitor the tire pressure and will let me know if brake fluid or coolant are low.

[Traveling1]

I use the cheap smart chargers from Walmart. They cost around $20. I use a .75 amp, full time, on my motorcycle, while it's parked and occasionally use the 1.5 amp on one of my cars ,if it hasn't been on the highway for awhile.
Keeping batteries at a good charge will extend their lives.
Never had a problem using the smart chargers.
Tom

[B-737]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

...All are dead now, sitting in a cabinet in my garage. IMO once Deltran switch manufacturing to China, the product quality has fallen off a cliff.
I use a product from Granite Digital, found at saveabattery.com.

Interesting to say the least!! i will have to check this one out for the possible impending doom of the 3300

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by John 070

I use the "Battery Hamster." There are 3 of them that live under the hood, and not only do they run around on a little treadmill to keep the battery fully charged, they monitor the tire pressure and will let me know if brake fluid or coolant are low.

I bet you got other hamsters rowing a little boat in a tank of water generating electricity that powers your laptop to get on the net and read E90 Post.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by B-737

Interesting to say the least!! i will have to check this one out for the possible impending doom of the 3300

The Granite Digial units are manufactured in China as well. However, the guy who makes them is also makes computer equipment (his primary business), so he may know how to work with Chinese contract manufacturers better than Deltran.

I won't touch another Deltran product.

[morphius909]

thanks for all the input!

Think I'll go the CteK ROUTE!

[morphius909]

Picked up a CTEK 3000 tonight from Canadian tire, 49 bucks on sale.

Will hook up. Looks pretty simple!

[morphius909]

Originally Posted by B-737

this was just being discussed on the other forum, i ended up going the CTEK route.
Highly recommend the CTEK 3300, its weather resistant (proof?) not a big deal for those of us with garages but it helps... its OEM for porsche and benz to name just two...

Was about $60 to my door...

Heres how i installed mine... was very easy, 10 minute job...
The terminals at the jumper posts in the engine bay make it really convenient.
I removed the plastic cover from the terminal connection for the + post. Removed the 10mm nut, put the ring terminal on it, then buttoned it back up.
For the negative lead, i used the designated - post on the inside of the fender. I found a metric machine bolt that fit inside the threaded post and used a lock washer, installed the ring terminal onto the bolt and tightened into the - post.

I was hoping for a solution that would put the car side of the connection at the grill where i would not have to open the hood to make the connection. but snaking the lead to the grill looked like a PITA, i might do it later down the road. also the esthetics of having the plug behind the grill might bug me.



i ended up spinning the connection 180 degrees after i took this photo

rehashing this old thread...but

I went to install my battery charger today and was wondering what sized metric bolt you used for the negative post??

[B-737]

its a metric machine thread, i had it in a bin amongst a bunch of spare metric hardware, it wasnt labeled, but you only need one thats a 1/4" long, it'll screw right into the - post

[Route 16]

I'm new with charging batteries, do I have to disconnect my battery to make this work? Or leave as is, have the charger connected to the wall and just connect the terminals?

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-B.../dp/B0051D3MP6

Originally Posted by morphius909

What's recommended guys? Battery Tender? But which one?

The SA told me the 3 series has alot of drain on the battery and I take mainly short trips (< 25kms one way) so the battery never gets fully recharged and recommend a 450 dollar one from BMW. Errr No thanks.

So what else is good and easy to use?

[morphius909]

Well that was easy.

Posted a few pics to add to B-757s great write up.

Best 49.99 (+ 49 cents for 6mm metric bolt and locknut) I spent.

[B-737]

you prob have it right, but just an FYI for those learning about these tenders.

The mode selector shown in your photo above is the wrong one, for our batteries it should be on the snowflake.

good call on the 6mm