XSeries-forum

[quote="Horizon"]
[quote="violet"]
Just out of curiosity  the black dome that covers the battery has several cables running into it  anyone know what they are.  Sorry if a silly question  really should have read handbook.

Hurray to halfords poor lad can only have been 17 but ultra helpful a bit of learning curve meeting my X5 on his 2nd day.
[/quote]

That's the air suspension compressor in the boot
[/quote]

Part of the dreaded "self levelling suspension inactive" saga!  Hope that one gives you a miss, violet, you have had enough hassles with your 4.8!

I second Richard's and others advice about the CTEK charger conditioners, I use one all the time on the cars which languish unused on our driveway for lengthy periods - they are superb and save a lot of time and money on premature failures of batteries.  Lidl and Aldi do a version of the charger which is allegedly "the same" as the CTEK but I was not convinced - the outer casing appeared very similar but the weight difference between the two (CTEK and the Lidl version) made me think they were not the same - my CTEK is several years old now but works tirelessly.

You won't regret getting one.

[quote="violet"]
Sounds like a good investment.  Just hope this is a battery problem.
[/quote]Violet just click on Richards link to Amazon and read the review by K.Burton whooooooo I think he broke the rules on the 20 word limit

Look at lidl supermarket for ultimate speed ulgd 3.8 a1

Info if you click here

Bought this to replace my dead ctek unit.

Was just £13.99 this January gone - I am pretty sure  it seems to be a ctek item or equivalent. The old lidl ones were rebranded ctek. It works fine and I have recently conditioned the battery on my V8 X5 with it.

Video (not by me) if you click here

No idea of stock current stock availability or pricing -sorry.

Sounds like a very good deal......

Whichever manufacturer you go for, ideally you need 5A (or higher) for the X5 in order to maintain the correct voltage & current rates for these batteries.  I know my older 3.6A CTEK is OK for a 'float' charge, but hasn't got the oomph to deal with the larger X5 or E46 diesel batteries - might be on the limit for the V8s if they are no more than around 85Ah.  The Mini was a 75Ah and it was fine although it took longer for a dead battery >12 hours.

Some manufacturers state their charger/conditioners are OK up to much higher capacity batteries but this is to float (maintain) rather than charge or recover a dead battery.  It's due to needing more current and higher voltages to 'break' any sulphation that might occur.

Just something to bear in mind if expecting it to bring a very dead battery back to life.

Richard

[quote="kkx5"]
Just buy a good AGM battery... Bosh, Varta. E53 its old car, does not have so many electical gadgets like e70 etc.  Invest in good battery,  not expensive charger.
[/quote]

So whatever happened to preventive maintenance? But leaving that aside, if the battery gets flattened whether it be due to lack of use ( even the bosch silver s5 or s6 suffers in this way if it's not being charged effectively), as a result of a battery drain, or due to human error like leaving the lights on, then you still need something to put charge back in - either via a charger/conditioner or even a set of jump leads. If the OP can afford then it makes sense to have some kit to hand particularly with winter approaching.

[quote="Smeeagain"]
[quote="kkx5"]
Just buy a good AGM battery... Bosh, Varta. E53 its old car, does not have so many electical gadgets like e70 etc.  Invest in good battery,  not expensive charger.
[/quote]

So whatever happened to preventive maintenance? But leaving that aside, if the battery gets flattened whether it be due to lack of use ( even the bosch silver s5 or s6 suffers in this way if it's not being charged effectively), as a result of a battery drain, or due to human error like leaving the lights on, then you still need something to put charge back in - either via a charger/conditioner or even a set of jump leads. If the OP can afford then it makes sense to have some kit to hand particularly with winter approaching.
[/quote]Just hopefully Newbies to Beamers beware sitting in traffic/snow etc with Blowers/Radio/Htd Seats/Headlights/Htd screens car likely to 'Die' in fact applies to all cars,years back I got home from work after 4hrs heavy snow just before all works traffic was leaving I was the first thru the estate no snow tracks etc to top of a hill,about hour later phone call from Director at work!

[quote="Smeeagain"]
So whatever happened to preventive maintenance?
[/quote]

Don't be silly.......that costs garages money.  Can't have customers looking after their own cars now can we.....  O:-)

[quote="X5Sport"]
[quote="Smeeagain"]
So whatever happened to preventive maintenance?
[/quote]

Don't be silly.......that costs garages money.  Can't have customers looking after their own cars now can we.....  O:-)
[/quote]

I was referring to the earlier comment that said just buy a battery and not a charger to go with it ......
Smee

The charger I have claims it's good for mainenance of batteries up to 120mah.

Granted it's not the quickest to recondition but it performed a cycle on my V8 in an afternoon recently.

If I could justify it I would buy a meatier ctek to a higher spec. Then again in an ideal world I would change my car for new every 3 years.

me too, mine is CTEK MULTI XS 3600 - seems to do the job just fine

[quote="AW8"]
The charger I have claims it's good for mainenance of batteries up to 120mah.
[/quote]

So a watch battery then???
:blink: