[joemulder]

Hi all,

I got a message on my 2014 F10, saying Battery low.
so I got a 1.25A battery charger, (batterytender plus).
my battery is an 12v 105AH .

I have been charing it for about 10 hours now.but it is still charging. I just want to confirm to see if this is normal.

for the bmw battery, what percentage the idrive system start to give the"charge battery" warning? 60% or 80%?

could you please tell me how long does it take usually from first sign of battery low warning to fully charged?
thanks!!

[Sight1]

Sounds like you have a bad battery or alternator is not charging it. The battery should charge up quickly if the car is running and everything is working correctly.

[Stück]

A 1.25A "charger" us a maintainer, not a charger. It'll likely take days for it to sufficiently charge.

You're going to want a 30/60/90A charger to actually charge the battery in a reasonable time frame.

If you're getting battery discharging messages your battery may be on its way out. Check the production date on the battery, it should be stamped into the negative battery post. 4-5 years is typical max life span.

[belarus27]

Originally Posted by Stück

A 1.25A "charger" us a maintainer, not a charger. It'll likely take days for it to sufficiently charge.

You're going to want a 30/60/90A charger to actually charge the battery in a reasonable time frame.

If you're getting battery discharging messages your battery may be on its way out. Check the production date on the battery, it should be stamped into the negative battery post. 4-5 years is typical max life span.

on point

[joemulder]

Originally Posted by Stück

A 1.25A "charger" us a maintainer, not a charger. It'll likely take days for it to sufficiently charge.

You're going to want a 30/60/90A charger to actually charge the battery in a reasonable time frame.

If you're getting battery discharging messages your battery may be on its way out. Check the production date on the battery, it should be stamped into the negative battery post. 4-5 years is typical max life span.

Thank you. I bought the charger based on bmw recommendation. I was told they sell the same charger with the same 1.25A output. Thanks again.

[Bmw doubles]

Mine took 24hours on the same charger

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Bmw doubles

Mine took 24hours on the same charger

Same here...

[hawkjr1]

I am curious on where do you hook the battery tender. I have a 2013 F10 and a 2013 E92 and I have been getting the battery discharging messages in the E92 for the last couple of weeks. Today it wouldn’t start. Jumped it off and drove it for about 50 miles. Later it wouldn’t start. I drive the cars about once or twice a week. Don’t want the battery discharging on the F10 so I am going to get a battery tender for it. On my vette I hard wired the connector to the battery under the hood and just plugged it up when it’s parked for more than a few days. Looking to do the same for the F10 and E92. Have an appointment Monday for the E92. From my understanding the battery is not covered under the warranty.

[joemulder]

Originally Posted by Bmw doubles

Mine took 24hours on the same charger

It's been 24 hours. Charger is still in red and solid red only. That means it has not reached 80%yet. Hidden menu shows from 11.9v to 12.1v now (car cold).

Hopeful I will see green light tomorrow.
Thanks.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by hawkjr1

I am curious on where do you hook the battery tender. I have a 2013 F10 and a 2013 E92 and I have been getting the battery discharging messages in the E92 for the last couple of weeks. Today it wouldn’t start. Jumped it off and drove it for about 50 miles. Later it wouldn’t start. I drive the cars about once or twice a week. Don’t want the battery discharging on the F10 so I am going to get a battery tender for it. On my vette I hard wired the connector to the battery under the hood and just plugged it up when it’s parked for more than a few days. Looking to do the same for the F10 and E92. Have an appointment Monday for the E92. From my understanding the battery is not covered under the warranty.

I purchased the "permanent" pigtail and mounted it to the connections under the hood.

[joemulder]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Same here...

When did you start the charging ?right after the warning came up?

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by joemulder

When did you start the charging ?right after the warning came up?

With or without. A 1.25amp is more of a maintainer than a charger. I bought a 3amp charger when I discovered that the AGM battery needs a better charger. The 3amp takes bout 12 hours after the message appears.

[Bmw doubles]

Originally Posted by joemulder

It's been 24 hours. Charger is still in red and solid red only. That means it has not reached 80%yet. Hidden menu shows from 11.9v to 12.1v now (car cold).

Hopeful I will see green light tomorrow.
Thanks.

Patience

[Bmw doubles]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

With or without. A 1.25amp is more of a maintainer than a charger. I bought a 3amp charger when I discovered that the AGM battery needs a better charger. The 3amp takes bout 12 hours after the message appears.

I brought mine back to life with the BMW 1.25 trickle charger

The old one

https://www.google.com/search?q=bmw....bUnDpgQgjYI-gM

[joemulder]

Originally Posted by Bmw doubles

I brought mine back to life with the BMW 1.25 trickle charger

The old one

https://www.google.com/search?q=bmw....bUnDpgQgjYI-gM

My battery is finally charged.(30hours)But it only has 12.1v-12.2v, not like other people saying 12.6v-12.8v.
Does that mean my battery is dying? Is this also consider okay?
Also, the battery charger is in red again after only 3 mins of use of hidden menu system.
Thank you again.

[EL Jeffe 5]

for me with my charger over night

[Stück]

Originally Posted by joemulder

My battery is finally charged.(30hours)But it only has 12.1v-12.2v, not like other people saying 12.6v-12.8v.
Does that mean my battery is dying? Is this also consider okay?
Also, the battery charger is in red again after only 3 mins of use of hidden menu system.
Thank you again.

Nominal voltage vs. state of charge is not necessarily relevant without the batteries temperature and composition taken into account. Our batteries are AGM type.

12.2v at 70F for example is going to be about 35-40% nominal state of charge.

Again, how old is your battery? If it is more than 4-5 years old it is likely dying. You can continue to waste time on something that will leave you stranded, or you can replace it with a new battery. Batteries are consumable maintenance items on these cars.

Make sure the replacement is of like kind and rating and register it with the vehicle.

[joemulder]

Originally Posted by Stück

Nominal voltage vs. state of charge is not necessarily relevant without the batteries temperature and composition taken into account. Our batteries are AGM type.

12.2v at 70F for example is going to be about 35-40% nominal state of charge.

Again, how old is your battery? If it is more than 4-5 years old it is likely dying. You can continue to waste time on something that will leave you stranded, or you can replace it with a new battery. Batteries are consumable maintenance items on these cars.

Make sure the replacement is of like kind and rating and register it with the vehicle.

thank you, I will check the production date. it's a 2014 F10. car's production date was July 2013. the car started the services in Jan 2014. unless someone swapped my battery with an old one, I think it should still be in the okay status.
my car temp is 20F (-6C) . the production date is on the negative post ,right?
I will check when I get home..

Thank again!!

[HighlandPete]

I'll add my observations on battery voltage in the F10/F11.

I use a CTEK smart charger and often the charger indicates I'm running just under the 80% SOC, (short rime in Step 3 bulk charge). Under hood terminal voltage will be something like 11.9 Volts at 10C, ahead of the charge. Even after the charger goes to Step 7, Float mode, and is switched off, the voltage will still only be 12.2 -12.3 Volts.

I've not disconnected the battery to read voltage without anything connected. But with the car unlocked and services awake, I've always found the voltage is never what you'd expect to read for a fully charged battery. This is not a recent thing as the battery is aging, but been the same for over 3-years. Plus my previous two BMWs were the same, when winter charging. Not uncommon to read just over 12 Volts at the hood terminals with the car unlocked.

I think next time I trickle charge the battery, I'll leave the leads connected after charging. Disconnect the charger, lock the car, let it go into sleep mode and then read the under hood voltage, from the extension lead socket. See what the difference is to the car being awake.

[joemulder]

My battery production date is 30th week in 2013.

[joemulder]

my battery is now at 12.2v (form 12.1v this morning) . battery is still attached to the charger.
it's showing solid green light now, according to the charger, it's fully charged..
have you guys seen this before as well? if I leave my charger on, will this keep going up ? I guess I will find out and report back. please share if you have similar experiences in the past.

thank you so much for all your information.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by joemulder

my battery is now at 12.2v (form 12.1v this morning) . battery is still attached to the charger.
it's showing solid green light now, according to the charger, it's fully charged..
have you guys seen this before as well? if I leave my charger on, will this keep going up ? I guess I will find out and report back. please share if you have similar experiences in the past.

thank you so much for all your information.

If it' a good charger it should just maintain the 12.2v. IIRC, 12.2 is normal for a "resting state" battery. You want to see 14.4ish with the engine running and alternator engaged. With the F10's alternator strategy I'm unsure what the reading should be at idle.