[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by EV NXT

Well, looks like we’ve agreed to agree except for a minor change.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Absolutley!

I agree with EV NXT on this one. The primary reason being benefit vs loss.

We had been oversold this notion by oil manufacturers that the initial 10 mins of cold starts is dangerous for our car's engine.
Yes, it does effect, but the impact is negligible.

How many times do we put oil in door clamps? Rarely. If I return after 15 days, will all my doors start making noise and rubbing against each other?

The fact of the matter is, that there is always a thin layer of oil, and more importantly, additives like ZDDP sticking to the surface of the engine when it is restarted after a while. This prevents the damage to the engine.

Ask an engineer, if he can differentiate an engine that did 5000 cold starts from an engine that did 5100 cold starts?

For a car that does 20 km/day, this means 1 lakh kms or 1,02,000 kms respectively. 100 cold starts difference, not one or two.

Hence, please cold start your vehicle for charging your battery if you keep it for prolonged duration of time. Do not worry much about engine life.

Food for thought: Nowadays, DPF regeneration has become quite an issue for some cars. There is a method of regenerating DPF using Park method.
You start the car in parked condition. Turn on the Park regeneration mode on and let it idle for 20 odd minutes.
It is an eternal sin for some, but recommended by the manufacturer.

https://youtu.be/MssT-2JUzLg

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

...

Don't call it "auto switch off the car battery completely" - that is never done. Whatever possible human oversight loads have been left ON, they are forced OFF, that's all.

Like they say, what's in a name?

The OP ended up with a drained battery coz he was playing with car's features, and something that'll shut off the accessory mode (like what a few other cars do) would have saved him trouble.

@All - My experience with a BMW is from the E90 days, and electronics weren't so complicated back then. Don't modern Beemers have something that'll turn off accessories to save trouble like in this case?

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Food for thought: Nowadays, DPF regeneration has become quite an issue for some cars. There is a method of regenerating DPF using Park method.
You start the car in parked condition. Turn on the Park regeneration mode on and let it idle for 20 odd minutes.
It is an eternal sin for some, but recommended by the manufacturer.

During Manual DPF regeneration, the engine doesn't run at idle. It runs at much higher rpm than idle rpm.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

During Manual DPF regeneration, the engine doesn't run at idle. It runs at much higher rpm than idle rpm.

Yes, exactly. If I have a BS6 vehicle with Park regeneration feature, I will use it while recharging the battery after long storage. It will prevent DPF from clogging. There, even short city run won't help for recharging the battery.
For other older vehicles, I will let it idle or take it for a spin, whatever I can.
The strategy is to kill the bigger monster in the room first.
If I have extremely low fuel when I come back from vacation, it suddenly becomes the bigger monster in the room. I will have to first refuel the car using cans and then attempt starting/idling it.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

So it's nothing other than "only the always powered on Body Control Module computer (the guy in charge of remote lock/unlock , and the 'central server' of the network of computers within the car) will be on.

Sorry if my comment offended you. But as someone said, what's in the name Thanks for detailed explanation by the way Bottom line is that such basic feature should be standard so that chances of such issue as faced by OP are minimal.

[gharika]

Seems like now we need wireless charging technology for the garage, install it in the floor with car parked on top 🤣

[HighRevving]

BMW/Varta batteries are known to be notorious in the initial few hundred kilometres. My sales advisor from Navnit was very apprehensive about the car being detailed before being driven because most electronics including iDrive, digital cockpit, electric seats and a bunch of things will be running in the background. But thankfully, my detailer knew what he was doing.

Apparently, if not driven enough and the batteries die multiple times in the initial stages, they sometimes never recover from it. If you face battery drain frequently and are having issues, you should claim a battery replacement from BMW under warranty. The batteries in F30 used to last 5-7 years; we need to see how long they last with G-series.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by HighRevving

BMW/Varta batteries are known to be notorious in the initial few hundred kilometres.
===
Apparently, if not driven enough and the batteries die multiple times in the initial stages, they sometimes never recover from it.

They are AGM batteries and they need a different method to recharge if the charge goes way low. Basically will need one more good battery to be connected in parallel and then a charger connected to start the recharge. If you just try connecting the charger to a low AGM battery, it will not charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slqd73ZOQvI

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Lets say we have zero ability to install a charging point in our parking. Is there any other way to deal with this for a less driven European car? I’m guessing not but still want to check how to safeguard if there is anything else that’s an option.

.

There is another option for those without a plug point near their parking.

Solar trickle chargers.

Simply plug it into your 12V cigarette lighter socket or clamp it on you battery and place the solar panel on your dashboard or roof or wherever sunlight hits it and it should help top up the battery slowly or in the case of an electronic heavy car extend the discharge period enough between drives.

If you don't have access to a plug point AND no sunlight then the only options are to give the battery to a shop for a maintenance charge once in a while or keep a jump starter pack handy

[lemedico]

A common problem in a garage full of cars that are only occasionally driven.
I faced the same once it twice. Now I have reminders on my phone to at least remote start them and idle for a while if I'm not physically there to drive it around.

[Pixellurgy]

Shouldn't cars with too much tech come with a separate battery? Primary need of a car is to start whenever we want it to unless it's considerably old. So, even if these techy things drain the battery, we'd still be good to go while the secondary battery gets recharged when we start the car after a long gap.