[KevinGS]

Hec, just drive the damn car to the store every once in a while. Snow and salt won't be on the road every single day during the winter where you live.

It's not a museum piece, it's simpy transportation.

[Forzanerazzurri]

Originally Posted by Rh6363

It does not. I plan to take the car out this weekend.
Just recently since I picked it up, it’s been on and off rain or a little snow. With all the salt crap they put on the roads, I was waiting for heavy rain to clean that up.

Whoa, does this guy know how to party or what.

[GolfCoyote]

Gotta keep it nice for the next owner I guess lol

[TopJimmy]

Your drive home topped up the battery. If you’ll go out within two weeks then no need to worry at all.

[SwankPeRFection]

Originally Posted by pred8er

What's a safe amount of time to leave it parked? I'm hoping the snow is done around March. After that it will always be my daily.
I'd still get the trickle charger but curious

That’s too long. Let me know where to send the transport to take it off your hands. It’s become bothersome for you to deal with it.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by pred8er

What's a safe amount of time to leave it parked? I'm hoping the snow is done around March. After that it will always be my daily.
I'd still get the trickle charger but curious

Not only do people not read the manual but they don't even read through the posts in a thread. I posted this information on the first page of this thread. Duh!

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by KevinGS

Hec, just drive the damn car to the store every once in a while. Snow and salt won't be on the road every single day during the winter where you live.

It's not a museum piece, it's simpy transportation.

Where I live they put so much salt on the road during a snow storm that the pavement looks like it was painted white when it dries. As we drive down roads that are dry there is a white cloud in the air over the roads from cars stirring up the salt. It comes into the car through the vents and gets into your throat and makes you cough. That's not the worst part though. They also mix fine gravel in with the salt so all that gravel gets thrown up in the front of the car and windshield. The gravel chips chips the paint off the car and the salt rusts the metal away. Not even PPf can withstand the abrasion. After the last snow fall it takes weeks of heavy rain to get rid of the salt off the roads. Guess where all of that salt goes. Then it takes the street cleaners to clean up all of the gravel. Most of it ends up on between lanes and the sides of the road, But we also have so many drivers that cannot drive in the lane so they throw the gravel back all over the roads.

There are those who need to compromise and have a fast car while having an everyday driver. For those people the damage done to the vehicle during the winter is just part of owning and driving the vehicle every day and every season. Then there are those of us who don't need to drive the car every day and our enjoyment comes from the appreciation of driving a vehicle that always looks new. Since we don't drive it every day, when we do, it is all that more exciting. Kind of like the different between eating a fine meal every day and it becoming mundane and in eating one on special occasions and savoring every bite. It comes down to different strokes for different folks.

[ChrisM4]

Originally Posted by turbojg

Where I live they put so much salt on the road during a snow storm that the pavement looks like it was painted white when it dries. As we drive down roads that are dry there is a white cloud in the air over the roads from cars stirring up the salt. It comes into the car through the vents and gets into your throat and makes you cough. That's not the worst part though. They also mix fine gravel in with the salt so all that gravel gets thrown up in the front of the car and windshield. The gravel chips chips the paint off the car and the salt rusts the metal away. Not even PPf can withstand the abrasion. After the last snow fall it takes weeks of heavy rain to get rid of the salt off the roads. Guess where all of that salt goes. Then it takes the street cleaners to clean up all of the gravel. Most of it ends up on between lanes and the sides of the road, But we also have so many drivers that cannot drive in the lane so they throw the gravel back all over the roads.

There are those who need to compromise and have a fast car while having an everyday driver. For those people the damage done to the vehicle during the winter is just part of owning and driving the vehicle every day and every season. Then there are those of us who don't need to drive the car every day and our enjoyment comes from the appreciation of driving a vehicle that always looks new. Since we don't drive it every day, when we do, it is all that more exciting. Kind of like the different between eating a fine meal every day and it becoming mundane and in eating one on special occasions and savoring [...]

I don’t need to drive my car every day but still do…(We have three cars in our household)

With a touchless car wash pass the car is spotless underneath at the end of the winter. Just keep a bit of extra driving distance between you and the car in front. (I get the Petro-Can 90 car washes in 90 days pass…)

I live in Canada and everything is covered in salt up here…You can get so much enjoyment from the car with winter mats, wheels and tires.

At minimum though read through the posts and get the right charger asap or you’ll be out a couple of grand plus a tow in the spring.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by ChrisM4

I don’t need to drive my car every day but still do…(We have three cars in our household)

With a touchless car wash pass the car is spotless underneath at the end of the winter. Just keep a bit of extra driving distance between you and the car in front. (I get the Petro-Can 90 car washes in 90 days pass…)

I live in Canada and everything is covered in salt up here…You can get so much enjoyment from the car with winter mats, wheels and tires.

At minimum though read through the posts and get the right charger asap or you’ll be out a couple of grand plus a tow in the spring.

Everyone has different standards, needs and values. We have other vehicles in the house to drive everyday and in bad weather so my M4 is more of a toy for me. I have no need to drive it every day... and if I did the excitement would wear off.

[turbojg]

Another thing to be aware of is that even though the manual says to charge every 6 weeks that is only if the car is not touched. When I got my car I was constantly in and out of it looking at things and learning how they worked, detailing the interior and showing it it to people. Every time I opened the door the car would power up with display and all and stay powered up until it went to sleep several minutes after the door was shut. It is only a 70 Amp Hour battery so it doesn't take long to draw it down. Found that out the hard way one day when I couldn't get in the car as all the doors are electrically operated. Had to use the manual key to get the driver's door opened and then crawl into the trunk from the back seat to get it opened. Unlike a lead acid battery a lithium battery gives no warning before going dead. Like a cordless drill battery it just turns off at a certain voltage.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by GolfCoyote

Gotta keep it nice for the next owner I guess lol

For some of us keeping the car nice and driving it that way is our enjoyment. I even get enjoyment when it is parked in my garage or driveway and see it. There is absolutely no way I could drive the car every day and through all kinds of weather and keep it that way. It's quality of miles and not quantity. In no way is it a concern for the next owner.

[Autoaddict]

My Dad let his 2022
X3 sit in his garage and the battery died. Getting it jumped was an ordeal also because you needed a higher amperage battery jumper for the X3. That was the only way it was going to turnover. So, yeah, definately get a trickle charger if it’s going to just sit for weeks.

[COBMW144]

Mine is also parked most of the winter but I try to get our for short drives when the roads clear up. I used this to keep the battery healthy: https://www.shopbmwusa.com/PRODUCT/4...ATTERY-CHARGER

You can also slightly over inflate the tires to help with not getting flat spots.

[kjx]

Originally Posted by turbojg

Another thing to be aware of is that even though the manual says to charge every 6 weeks that is only if the car is not touched. When I got my car I was constantly in and out of it looking at things and learning how they worked, detailing the interior and showing it it to people. Every time I opened the door the car would power up with display and all and stay powered up until it went to sleep several minutes after the door was shut. It is only a 70 Amp Hour battery so it doesn't take long to draw it down. Found that out the hard way one day when I couldn't get in the car as all the doors are electrically operated. Had to use the manual key to get the driver's door opened and then crawl into the trunk from the back seat to get it opened. Unlike a lead acid battery a lithium battery gives no warning before going dead. Like a cordless drill battery it just turns off at a certain voltage.

Why did you have to crawl into the trunk? Open driver’s door with physical key, open hood with latch, hook up Lithium battery tender to the points under the hood. If there were personal items in the trunk, they would have been reachable not much long after…

[M4ROLLIN20]

Originally Posted by Rh6363

Picked my car up end of the year, drove back home from dealer about 50 miles.
Since then, it’s been sitting in the garage. Untouched.

Should I worry about battery, tires, anything?

Just waiting for weather to change from the rain and snow before taking her out around town.

Coming from a tech, you might need to jump the car and the tires will be slightly under inflated. That’s pretty much it. If the car is going to be garaged, I would also keep one of the windows open about half a finger length.

[Mike02z]

Originally Posted by turbojg

For some of us keeping the car nice and driving it that way is our enjoyment. I even get enjoyment when it is parked in my garage or driveway and see it. There is absolutely no way I could drive the car every day and through all kinds of weather and keep it that way. It's quality of miles and not quantity. In no way is it a concern for the next owner.

I get it. I’ve had fun cars that were more museum pieces than cars. My brother has been giving me the “The next owner is going to love that mod!” crap for 20 years. I work from home and don’t get a lot of time to get out much so I only put 3-4k miles per year on my M4 but I love everyone one of those miles. I’ve worked hard for 30 years and our son is grown and out on his own so why not have something you enjoy tinkering, driving and mod’ing? It’s not always about putting miles on. Just having my M4 is a hobby for me.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by kjx

Why did you have to crawl into the trunk? Open driver’s door with physical key, open hood with latch, hook up Lithium battery tender to the points under the hood. If there were personal items in the trunk, they would have been reachable not much long after…

I did exactly that. After unlocking the driver door with the manual key and unlatching the hood I found the jump start terminals and tried to jump start the car but nothing happened. Of course there were two things I didn't know at the time. The first that the car has a Lithium battery and the second is that my Lithium jump starter won't turn on unless it senses a voltage, The electronics in the Lithium vehicle battery cuts off all voltage once the voltage gets below a certain level so there was no voltage to activate the jump starter.

I didn't learn that the vehicle had a lithium battery until I got into the trunk. ( I had previously been reading through the owner's manual so it was in the house) Instead I thought that maybe a fuse blew or a circuit breaker tripped in the trunk. I later learned that there is a different procedure to follow to get the jump starter to activate without external voltage. The fact that the handle to unlock the trunk is at the very rear of the car didn't help in my trying to reach it while trying to squeeze into the rear seat pass through. I eventually unlatched one of the seats so I could crawl further into the trunk. The last thing I expected was that the car would have a lithium battery.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by Mike02z

I get it. I’ve had fun cars that were more museum pieces than cars. My brother has been giving me the “The next owner is going to love that mod!” crap for 20 years. I work from home and don’t get a lot of time to get out much so I only put 3-4k miles per year on my M4 but I love everyone one of those miles. I’ve worked hard for 30 years and our son is grown and out on his own so why not have something you enjoy tinkering, driving and mod’ing? It’s not always about putting miles on. Just having my M4 is a hobby for me.

That expresses my situation and feelings exactly. Besides without driving it every day it leaves time to tinker. I don't have to worry about getting the car back together because I have to get to work the next day when I am doing some mods.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by Autoaddict

My Dad let his 2022
X3 sit in his garage and the battery died. Getting it jumped was an ordeal also because you needed a higher amperage battery jumper for the X3. That was the only way it was going to turnover. So, yeah, definately get a trickle charger if it’s going to just sit for weeks.

Don't know what you were using for a jump started but I was always afraid of buying a small lithium jumper battery. I felt there was no way it could start a car and even if it was able to turn over the engine it probably wouldn't last for more than a couple revolutions of the starter. Boy was I wrong. I decided to take the plunge one day and the first time I used it I was blown away. The car had a lead acid battery and was dead to the point that the radio wouldn't even power up. I hooked it up and immediately hit the key without giving it time to put a charge into the vehicle battery. I never heard the engine turn over so fast. The only quirk with them is that they have a safety feature to keep the alligator clips from shorting together in that they need to sense voltage and that they are connected to a battery. That is usually fine with a vehicle battery that is lead acid or ATM but requires a slightly different procedure to override the safety circuit if the car has a lithium battery. (usually a long press of the power button)

I would not skimp on cost and get a good one but I highly recommend them. They are small and light, easy to keep in the vehicle, tolerate cold well and have a low rate of self discharge.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by COBMW144

Mine is also parked most of the winter but I try to get our for short drives when the roads clear up. I used this to keep the battery healthy: https://www.shopbmwusa.com/PRODUCT/4...ATTERY-CHARGER

You can also slightly over inflate the tires to help with not getting flat spots.

+1 on that model battery charger!

[geko29]

Ordered the CTEK Lithium charger yesterday.

I back in, so I'm planning on permanently attaching the ring terminal pigtail to the battery, and then running the CTEK extension cable out of the trunk.

[geko29]

Originally Posted by geko29

Ordered the CTEK Lithium charger yesterday.

I back in, so I'm planning on permanently attaching the ring terminal pigtail to the battery, and then running the CTEK extension cable out of the trunk.

Done, and appears to be working well. The black plastic cover on the positive terminal doesn't quite sit down fully flush because the wire's in the way, but overall it went in nicely.

Edit: And it took 9 hours to get to step 7, which is fully charged. Going by the manual, which specifies it takes 5 hours to fully charge an empty 20Ah battery, and 15 hours for an empty 60Ah, that implies that my battery was less than half full!