[GTO]

Short version of the story:

After weeks of non / low usage of the car:






On the other hand, the minute the car got a freshly charged battery . I was so relieved as I'd thought it's going to be a 1-lakh rupee bill!


Long version of the story:

Extremely low usage of the BMW 530d due to:

• Mumbai goes into lockdown in May 2021.

• Lockdown lifted, but a family member was admitted to the hospital. I was accompanying her for about 2 weeks (zero car usage).

• I got back from the hospital and the reviews started - Octavia, Alcazar, Kushaq etc. Meaning, I was driving a lot, but only the media cars & not my own! Even otherwise, every week or two, I have a freshly launched car to test-drive (last two weeks were filled with the S-Class & Kushaq DSG) which I have to put a good number of km on for our review. To get a real feel of their behaviour, I use the media cars within the city as well as the highway. My own cars aren't touched during these test-drive days.

• Social outings (eating out, shopping, movies, malls etc.) have drastically reduced due to Covid. House parties are the new thing. I host a lot on my own terrace lounge, so not much driving to friends houses.

• A contributor to my problem: I have the Varna rat repellent installed in my Bimmer & Superb, which takes up a mild amount of power, but is still a drain on the battery. Even without this device though, search online and you'll see several owners of German cars saying they faced issues due to non-usage for 10 - 15 days (flat batteries, warning lights, error codes etc.).

Problem due to the above?

The car's complex electronics go absolutely berserk due to the lack of driving, and resultant low voltage situations. Hooking up BMW's scanner showed many errors, including the rear-left wheel speed sensor. Replaced the sensor, still the error code remained. All of these miraculously disappeared once the car got healthy voltage levels back.

I read somewhere about an expert mechanic claiming that 40 - 50% of the error codes on German cars today are due to low voltage, especially in this Covid work-from-home era. Today's cars with complex electronics absolutely hate weak battery levels & low voltage for sustained periods. Forget just the high-end luxury cars, even mainstream models with many electronics like the Creta / XUV700 might face these issues.

In most cases, charging your battery (or a new battery) makes the errors go away. In severe cases, it can lead to permanent part failure. Right after the long lockdown of 2020, my ABS unit went kaput. I now firmly believe it was due to the car standing still in the lockdown months.

For the electronics, gizmos, circuits & sensors of high-end cars, good voltage is the healthy food they absolutely need! Putting these systems on a weak battery is like making a marathoner run 40 km on half an apple.

Solution:

• Drive them more. But it's not always possible due to Covid, WFH, my test-driving of new cars for our reviews and the fact that I have 4 cars (so each individual car's running is low).

• Or get a battery charger hooked up to your parked car (Ownership Review: Bosch C7 Battery Charger)! I strongly recommend the Bosch C7, although there are cheaper models available too (BHPian abhi182 recently got another model for 2.5k).

• Many enthusiasts with multiple cars in their garage have kept these car chargers / battery tenders for their rides. Several regular car + supercar + vintage car garages in India have entire fleets of 10 - 50 cars on battery tenders. I got lucky because I'm doing up my driveways this year and installed about 6 power sockets all around my compound for future EVs (my own & the test-drive cars). Little did I know that I'll put 2 of them to use right away! I even put my toy ('97 Jeep) on a Bosch C7.

• Other benefits = you save time (no driving around the block just to charge the battery) and your alternator will be happier too.

• Would also recommend this to superbike owners who only go out for joyrides once in a while. Bosch has a cheaper C3 model for bikes etc.

Fits nicely in the engine bay. This is important as my 8 parking spots are all open:


The car is now always on healthy voltage, even if I don't start it for two weeks:

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line!

[akshay4587]

I just Picked up last of E90 320D's Msport registered in Jan 2013 in February this year at 37K kms, which is fairly low usage, and it runs original battery, with no signs of giving up, even after car is left idle for 7-10 days.

A friends F30 320D purchased in Sep 2013 with 89500 kms on its odo, is still going strong.

I am really impressed with these batteries, never ever I have had a battery last me so long in any automobile!!!!

I am just wondering, if both our cars are going to just leave us stranded, one odd day.

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by GTO

In most cases, charging your battery (or a new battery) makes the errors go away. In severe cases, it can lead to permanent part failure. Right after the long lockdown of 2020, my ABS unit went kaput. I now firmly believe it was due to the car standing still in the lockdown months.

Agree.

Look at the thread I had started. I was going crazy trying to troubleshoot the issue. The car is almost perfect after I replaced the battery

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...s-vw-polo.html (Help in diagnosis - Weird electrical issues with a VW Polo)

German cars are complicated creatures, unlike Maruti cars, where the diagnosis is as simple as 1 + 1 = 2.

For German cars, Diagnosis is Sin X / Cos Y ^ ((Tan Z)^ Sq Rt of Cosin X).

[Kosfactor]

As per one of the technicians - With BS6 the number of sensors in the car related to emissions has gone up and to make sure the OEM does not fail any random tests, the engine will not fire until the initial scan is completed by the ECU - all sensors have to give the correct values expected by the ECU. (Oh yeah pressure washing the engine bay is not recommended for BS6 either).

Now with awesome inventions like automatic parking brake (really?), I cannot imagine what all complications that is going to bring when the battery runs out.

[NiInJa]

Not just the Germans, even our Linea would go crazy with low battery levels. The first sign is ABS failure for no reason. I bought a cheap trickle charger from Amazon and have been using it to when the cars are sitting idle for a long period of time. Only issue is that I have to remove the battery and place it again.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by NiInJa

Only issue is that I have to remove the battery and place it again.

That sounds like an awful lot of work! Why not get something like the Bosch C7 that can charge your battery *while* it remains in the car?

[Chhanda Das]

Originally Posted by GTO

Forget just the high-end luxury cars, even mainstream models with many electronics like the Creta / XUV700 might face these issues.

Since I am into car-camping, I have to be careful to prevent battery issues. I can personally vouch for the fact that my 2017 1st generation Creta faced low battery issues quite a few times but always due to my own fault. Once or twice, I had kept a fan plugged in and fallen asleep in the car with the result that the 12v lead-acid battery had drained below 7 volts. A couple of other times, I had forgotten to recharge the battery during the multiple phases of lockdowns here in Kolkata. However, I never faced any issues or error codes with the electronics in my Creta and touchwood, the original/stock 45 Ah Exide Matrix battery is still going strong after all these years. I too have the Bosch C7 along with a portable lithium-based generic jump-starter battery pack and have to use them from time to time. Personally, I find the lithium jump-starter pack the easiest and fastest to use amongst all of my car battery charging options. Here are the four battery charging options for my car (excluding the alternator of course) in no particular order :-

The Bosch C7 battery charger

The lithium based jump starter battery pack

Jumper cables with clamps

Solar based battery charger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcHwNpWlbSQ

[maddy42]

These trickle chargers are a must have if you plan on keeping your vehicle for months without usage. Happened to my bike during the new england winters. The charger let me start the bike on first crank at the beginning of summer. Surprising if its a italian bike.

Maddy

[Turbanator]

Can this be limited only to Diesel German cars?

I have 2018 invoiced but built-in 2016, 740-LI CBU. It has done less than 20,000 Kms and regularly sees unattended parking (basement). Only once, did the battery died as the car went for coating and for some reason (music or lights) it will not turn on.

What’s worst is that it’s not so simple to Jumpstart some of these cars. Not only the donor battery has to have some minimum Amperage but should be above a particular level. And then too, when we tried to jump starting, instead of ignition, the wipers will turn on for unexplained reasons (it’s some sort of safety feature inbuilt but I am yet to completely understand) and it was after a good couple of minutes later that the ignition will turn on. We have to pour water over the windscreen to ensure the wipers don’t scratch the glass.

When the car was sent to the dealership, they did some tests and sent the car back with the same battery after charging. Hope it stays good until the warranty is valid.

[arjab]

I wonder why, the luxury OEM's are not using Lithium-ion batteries in their expensive vehicles as energy storage solutions.
Lithium-ion batteries perform particularly well where constant current draw is required to keep systems and sub systems ticking. With prices of lithium-ion batteries falling, in today's scenario a Lithium-ion battery with Type A cells, would not cost more than 1.8 to 1.9 times the price, when compared to an equivalent good quality lead acid battery.

Of course, this will out price the Lithium-ion battery for the mass market, but in the Rs 4 million car market segment, I'm sure there'll be many takers considering the benefits outweigh the cost by a fair degree.

[PaddleShifter]

Very informative thread.

I have bought a 4 gauge 20 feet amazonbasics jumper cable for the two beater cars parked at our home. One of them frequently discharges the battery after 7-8 days (even new battery). We will try to figure out the source of current leak in the next few weeks when I am home.

I will see if I can get a C7 or a trickle charger during the BBD sale.

Originally Posted by arjab

I wonder why, the luxury OEM's are not using Lithium-ion batteries in their expensive vehicles as energy storage solutions.
Lithium-ion batteries perform particularly well where constant current draw is required to keep systems and sub systems ticking.

The Li Ion battery in Maruti Suzuki mild hybrid 1.5 petrol cars come with a warning that if drained completely, these batteries can not be charged by running the car alone and they will need to be charged at a service centre. This is as per a discussion in one of the S-Cross owners WhatsApp group that I saw. Maruti recommends that such cars be driven atleast once a week or every fortnight/ 15 days.

Ofcourse these are the secondary batteries and the main battery is still a lead battery so even if drained completely, there is no issue of using the car. Only the mild hybrid won’t function till it isn’t serviced to work again.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I am just wondering, if both our cars are going to just leave us stranded, one odd day.

Don't push your luck with an 8 year old battery. As much as it is satisfying (or feel satisfied) to say it has lasted so long, the day it gives up on you will be on a road trip or when you are supposed to make a quick airport run. The cost of the battery is nothing versus the inconvenience you are going to face.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I have 2018 invoiced but built-in 2016, 740-LI CBU. It has done less than 20,000 Kms and regularly sees unattended parking (basement). Only once, did the battery died as the car went for coating and for some reason (music or lights) it will not turn on.

You have such a good collection of luxury cars in your garage, I would strongly recommend keeping your less-used cars on trickle charging. Benefits:

- Lesser part failures due to low voltage (e.g. my ABS unit last year)

- BMW systems won't go into battery saving mode & switch off components

- Longer battery life

- Longer alternator life

- No jumpstarting headaches

- Time saved (no driving car in the area just to charge the battery)

- The Bosch C7 has an "AGM" battery mode too

[androdev]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I am really impressed with these batteries, never ever I have had a battery last me so long in any automobile!!!!

I am just wondering, if both our cars are going to just leave us stranded, one odd day.

It is very common to see AGM batteries lasting for 8 years. Like old tires, it is a good idea to replace it especially if you are driving outstation with family or during odd-hours etc. Otherwise just keep a set of jumper cables in the boot and wait till the battery gives up. I think even the luckiest ones will require a battery replacements within 10 years. I remember someone mentioning the original AGM battery lasting for 13 years!

Originally Posted by arjab

I wonder why, the luxury OEM's are not using Lithium-ion batteries in their expensive vehicles as energy storage solutions..

They are already used in high performance cars where people are crazy about weight saving. A small Li-Ion battery can supply sufficient starting current. Regular cars do not care so much about weight and cost of the battery plays a big role. Li-Ion batteries are not as robust as regular batteries (not good at freezing temperatures, works with fine tolerances, improper charging can fry it, etc.) and will surely result in a lot of warranty claims.