more tools advice

[Smeeagain]

In addition to a torque wrench , I am also looking for a heavy duty battery charger /jump starter for E53 X5 3.0d Sport

Any ideas/brands/prices?

Smee

[pvr]

Not a jump starter (as I have not found one that could turn the X over or any big engined car), but I use the CTEC XS3600 for the charger as those are the best around (or any model from that make whatever the current version is).

[AW8]

Found discussion re packs elsewhere the other day when looking for jump lead recommendations. If sourcing one of these & on back of forum chat on that link I would be tempted to go for a Clarke 4000 A lots of good reviews online & ideal for cars up to 6.0 litre or diesel to 4 litre. Last link I have posted seems to offer by far the best online deal currently available.

99% of time you will be able to find a donor car if you have a flat battery. My current leads were hand me downs & I have had to share 1 set for 2 cars, thus I recently ordered a decent set of leads for a bargain price of just over a tenner link here. Thin leads can melt or fail to do the job & most heavy duty leads come in at over twice the price of these which seem good v.f.m. You will struggle to find a better or equivalent set any cheaper............Still waiting delivery as only recently ordered but you can check reviews on the link.

[X5Sport]

I could not find a 'starter pack' that could deliver enough grunt for the engines in the X5. I have just bought a CTEK 4003 charger and have a set of Halfrauds Heavy Duty 25mm jump leads which surprisingly are very good. Well made, properly flexible and in a case, suitable for up to 5-litre petrol and 3.5-litre diesel engines.

If you're thinking of buying tools to be able to do your own maintenance etc then this list may help.

3-tonne trolley jack (2.5T will do)
Axle stands
Wheel wedges
Decent socket set. My wife bought me the top of the line Halfords pro sets 15 years ago. Covers 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" ranges. If you time it right it can be got at 50% off too.
Additional flexible metric ring spanners/ratchet spanners to get in those awkward places BMW love!
Decent set of screwdrivers.
A brake bleed screw spanner and Easy-Bleed (Do not use on the BMW ABS systems which must e done by an Indy or Dealer as the ABS Valves nust be cycled.
Multimeter (and a circuit testing lamp)
Work light - which reminds me, I need a new one.
Oil drain can
Vinyl disposable gloves - dirty engine oil is nasty stuff as are most car fluids.
Boiler suit/coveralls - you've gotta have summat to wipe mucky paws on after all.
Elephant bog roll - aka Kimwipes, blue absorbent paper etc. Saves you nicking the last roll of kitchen paper
Kitty litter for spills
Stool - for sitting on when you're having a cuppa.
I also have a set of steel toecap ankle height workboots.

[AW8]

Just to add re trolley jack........it's important to check access and height ranges.

The one I has too shorter max height range for the X5 & is too tall for access under the Z3, (albeit it is best to use on jack points rather than on say diff's).

[Smeeagain]

Thanks for the tool list - yep pretty much got all of that (except the wheel chocks perhaps and only two axle stands in stead of four and the oil drain tray)

I also have the 2.5t high lift trolley jack that Halfords are doing for £35.

Re jacking points - other than the defined side jacking points are there any other safe places to jack (along with the use of chocks and stands of course) - or best just to stick with the side ones only - Ideally I'd like a central point to get the car up and onto stands rather than doping each side if thats possible

Smee

[X5Sport]

I've wondered about other lifting points and have noticed that my local dealer has a twin post system buried into the workshop floor that has two arms to form a V on either side of the vehicle being serviced. They only use the four lifting points underneath. In the good old days (20years ago) I used to lift on the rear diff and put an axle stand under each jacking point at the back. For the front I used a crossmember under the gearbox. Full lift was drive it onto ramps, chock the wheels and then lift the rear as before. No idea how to do the same on the X5 or X6, and with the X6 having this super clever (read expensive) rear diff, I'm very loath to try lifting using that!!

[Smeeagain]

yes my thoughts entirely - in he good old days i had an MGB roadster and did exactly as you say but no so sure about the X5 .....!

Smee

[AW8]

Anyway , real ale & chrome aside ...........Was the jump start pack info I provided of any use ?

[X5Sport]

Real Ale aside? Heathen!

That Clarke pack looks good. Heavy though at 16kgs. Shame it hasn't got slightly longer leads as I'd want to be sure it didn't fall and would want to put it on the ground rather than in the engine bay if I was on my own. SWMBO is too short and may struggle with that weight trying to get it close to the jumper points.

[AW8]

After my ramblings elsewhere earlier this evening I think I need to pour myself a night cap.............Speak again soon

[Smeeagain]

thanks AW8

The jump pack info is good and I have ordered the leads you mentioned. But I have a question about the jump pack which is probably a really stupid question with an obvious answer.

Aside of the fact that the jump pack is a bit of a beast at 16kg as someone else has already stated, as far as I can see these packs are a seriously heavy duty battery in themselves? If so hwo do they remian charged ? Are they plugged in directly to main for a period prior to connecting to the car?

Lastly, if I have leads and a donor car - does the donor car have to a heavy duty battery itself - eg would my wifes Puegeuot 406 when running start an X5 with a completely flat battery ?

Smee

[X5Sport]

The jump pack is as you say a bl@@dy great battey pack. It plugs into the mains to recharge itself and then just sits somewhere until needed. The user manual shows the unit as coming with a wall brick type PSU which takes 'several days' to charge the unit but is not left permanently connected. It does recommend keeping the unit at full charge (obvious really ) so I suppose a periodic charge state check is a good idea. EDIT - a piccie on the machine mart site shows the front label which says 'Charge every 3 months' on it.

Ideally when jumping a car from another, you should try to retain parity (equal sizes etc) but this is almost always impossible in the real world when dealing with vehicles the size of the X. I'm lucky in that all three of our BMWs are the same 3.0d engine size (albeit with very different performance) and therefore have approx the same batteries. In most cases I would expect that you are really just providing the extra kick to the low battery which has not quite got enough to kick the engine over. If it was really dead then I would either charge it for a while or use a booster pack if that was impossible.

What size is the battery in the 406? I would imagine it would cope but would not start the X5 unaided (dead battery situation). I think the petrol X's may have smaller batteries than the diesels as they have less compression to overcome.

Does that help?

[AW8]

Well the new jump leads came today "Silverline 456956 Heavy Duty Jump Leads 600A" 3.6m Cable length 5.65mm2 and supposedly guaranteed for life if registered online. Packaging claim is they are suitable for larhge agricultural & commercial vehicles. My existing leads whilst o.k. are nowhere near the same quality. Having looked at cost of other sturdy leads online I am happy these are goof v.f.m.

Cant advise further re jump packs as I dont have one only to say that the supplier I linked to also sells spare batteries.......... not cheap though.

[Smeeagain]

So can the jump packs be used as a charger as well just hooking them up to the battery and leaving them for a while?