[Beagler]

Not using the car much has given me a low battery message prior to starting. It started ok but must be low. Am I ok to connect my Optimate to the jump terminals under the bonnet.

[Beagler]

Put it on charge now seems ok. Youtube has a vid on what to do using a Ctek which is similar. Says Bmw s are heavy on battery use. Where is the battery is it in the boot.

[CliveL]

The handbook certainly says to use the jump-start connections for charging:

"Recharge the battery only with the engine
stopped, via the jump-starting connections,
see page 230, in the engine compartment."

[Beagler]

Originally Posted by CliveL

The handbook certainly says to use the jump-start connections for charging:

"Recharge the battery only with the engine
stopped, via the jump-starting connections,
see page 230, in the engine compartment."

Yes I saw that. My previous Tiguan was the same. My BMW Bike has a special Canbus charger you can use the external power sockets to charge otherwise my old Optimate needs to go directly on the battery or jump terminals.

[kavatski]

Ours has only been driven once in the past 3.5 weeks and I’ve been charging it using my regular battery charger on the jump connections. All good. I believe the battery is in the engine bay, just hidden under some of the plastic covering.

[oakey46]

Originally Posted by Beagler

Not using the car much has given me a low battery message prior to starting. It started ok but must be low. Am I ok to connect my Optimate to the jump terminals under the bonnet.

I have a new CTEK MXS 5.0 battery charger that I had delivered on Friday from Halfords. Easy to set up and use and gives peace of mind that I can keep the battery up to scratch whilst mileage has virtually evaporated. I see it also seems to be more or less identical to what is badged BMW on their ebay store (more costly too).

[Beagler]

Batteries still on charge. Forward and rear cameras are flashing now which are the first to shutdown when battery is low.

[oakey46]

Originally Posted by Beagler

Put it on charge now seems ok. Youtube has a vid on what to do using a Ctek which is similar. Says Bmw s are heavy on battery use. Where is the battery is it in the boot.

The battery is under the front scuttle (think that’s what it’s called) and very close to the jump start terminals. With the red terminal lifted to connect the charger I could see the top of the battery. I couldn’t see much except that it said, on top of the battery, ‘made in Korea’. It will, as I understand it, be an AGM battery, because they’re more suited to stop/start applications. The battery is also lifetime sealed. The only aspect I couldn’t ascertain is the battery capacity, although I would think it would be in the region of 70-90 amp hr. Follow the instructions carefully as to which terminal to attach a charger to first.

[Beagler]

Have this one for my BMW motorbike for Canbus but not suitable for connection to cars power socket so would need to go to jump terminals and change to Standard.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Optimate-4-.../dp/B073V39C6W

[oakey46]

Originally Posted by Beagler

Have this one for my BMW motorbike for Canbus but not suitable for connection to cars power socket so would need to go to jump terminals and change to Standard.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Optimate-4-.../dp/B073V39C6W

The CTEK MXS 5.0 that I now have also has a motorcycle battery option in the charging mode selection: https://www.ctek.com/storage/ma/4e12...-low-UK-EN.pdf
I see your Optimate motorcycle charger receives what appear to be very good reviews on Amazon. Similar price to what I paid for the CTEK.

[Beagler]

Originally Posted by oakey46

The CTEK MXS 5.0 that I now have also has a motorcycle battery option in the charging mode selection: https://www.ctek.com/storage/ma/4e12...-low-UK-EN.pdf
I see your Optimate motorcycle charger receives what appear to be very good reviews on Amazon. Similar price to what I paid for the CTEK.

It was the BMW Canbus and power socket connection that swung the Optimate for me.

[Giuseppean]

watch out my friends. Not every battery on your cars is an AGM battery. Mostly they are not, for my experience. Me and many others X1 owners in Italy have this battery on their X1. In the pic you can see the battery I have. I got X1 18d steptronic built in January 2020. Always check your battery charger manual, before charge. My NOCO has 2 different charging programs for EFB (use normal 12V) and AGM. If you use AGM mode on efb battery with my charger, you can overcharge and damage the battery.

[oakey46]

Originally Posted by Giuseppean

watch out my friends. Not every battery on your cars is an AGM battery. Mostly they are not, for my experience. Me and many others X1 owners in Italy have this battery on their X1. In the pic you can see the battery I have. I got X1 18d steptronic built in January 2020. Always check your battery charger manual, before charge. My NOCO has 2 different charging programs for EFB (use normal 12V) and AGM. If you use AGM mode on efb battery with my charger, you can overcharge and damage the battery.

This might be of help in understanding the differences between EFB/AGM batteries and is from the Yuasa website:
Q. What are the differences between EFB and AGM batteries?
A. EFB batteries have been introduced as a lower tier option to AGM batteries in terms of performance and durability. EFB technology relies on improvements to existing flooded technology through the addition of Carbon additives in the plate manufacturing process. AGM batteries benefit from the inclusion of unique design features not found in wet-flooded batteries. These include glass mat separators, recombinant lid technology and higher pack pressures to facilitate improved cyclic lifespan. AGM batteries are better suited to meeting the demands of higher specification vehicles that include one or more of the following technologies: Start Stop, Regenerative Braking and Passive Boost.

[Beagler]

The Ctek and Optimate chargers are supposed to check the charge and change to a float charge when the battery is full and so do not overcharge.
Using an ordinary charger without this intelligence, I can see risks overcharging.

[RobinLegin]

Originally Posted by CliveL

The handbook certainly says to use the jump-start connections for charging:

"Recharge the battery only with the engine
stopped, via the jump-starting connections,
see page 230, in the engine compartment."

Do hope this is right. The negative stub is actually the other side of the secondary scuttle and not engine side as shown in picture. If that’s wrong then I can’t see where else the negative connection is.

I have not used my car for a week now - thanks to lockdown. I have put the car in the garage and connected my Lidl Intelligent charger which includes a float once the battery is charged. And the battery needs a really good charge as I have only done short journeys of 3 or 4 miles before lockdown.

My mpg will go the wrong way now as I will only be moving car in and out of the garage to stop my winter tyres flat spotting.

[Beagler]

Seems mine is AGM

BMW X1 E84 - petrol engines:
sDrive 20 i - with Start-Stop system
xDrive 25 i
xDrive 28 i - with Start-Stop system


BRAND AND SERIES MODEL CAPACITY COLD CRANKING AMPS DIMENSIONS BASE HOLD-DOWN PRICE
Bosch S5 AGM S5A 11 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
Exide AGM EK800 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
Varta Silver Dynamic AGM F21 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
For these engines, no matter if we have a Start-Stop system installed in the car, we should use batteries made in AGM technology. We choose batteries of dimensions: 315x175x190 mm. The parameters of these batteries are at least 80 Ah of a capacity and 800 A CCA (Cold Cranking Amps). All the batteries in the above list have the same capacity 80Ah and Cold Cranking Amps: 800 A. All of the above motors have a base hold-down B13.

Thought this interesting,

What are the differences between EFB and AGM batteries?
A. EFB batteries have been introduced as a lower tier option to AGM batteries in terms of performance and durability. EFB technology relies on improvements to existing flooded technology through the addition of Carbon additives in the plate manufacturing process. AGM batteries benefit from the inclusion of unique design features not found in wet-flooded batteries. These include glass mat separators, recombinant lid technology and higher pack pressures to facilitate improved cyclic lifespan. AGM batteries are better suited to meeting the demands of higher specification vehicles that include one or more of the following technologies: Start Stop, Regenerative Braking and Passive Boost.

[oakey46]

Originally Posted by Beagler

Seems mine is AGM

BMW X1 E84 - petrol engines:
sDrive 20 i - with Start-Stop system
xDrive 25 i
xDrive 28 i - with Start-Stop system


BRAND AND SERIES MODEL CAPACITY COLD CRANKING AMPS DIMENSIONS BASE HOLD-DOWN PRICE
Bosch S5 AGM S5A 11 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
Exide AGM EK800 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
Varta Silver Dynamic AGM F21 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
For these engines, no matter if we have a Start-Stop system installed in the car, we should use batteries made in AGM technology. We choose batteries of dimensions: 315x175x190 mm. The parameters of these batteries are at least 80 Ah of a capacity and 800 A CCA (Cold Cranking Amps). All the batteries in the above list have the same capacity 80Ah and Cold Cranking Amps: 800 A. All of the above motors have a base hold-down B13.

Thought this interesting,

What are the differences between EFB and AGM batteries?
A. EFB batteries have been introduced as a lower tier option to AGM batteries in terms of performance and durability. EFB technology relies on improvements to existing flooded technology through the addition of Carbon additives in the plate manufacturing process. AGM batteries benefit from the inclusion of unique design features not found in wet-flooded batteries. These include glass mat separators, recombinant lid technology and higher pack pressures to facilitate improved cyclic lifespan. AGM batteries are better suited to meeting the demands of higher specification vehicles that include one or more of the following technologies: Start Stop, Regenerative Braking and Passive Boost.

Yes, I read the EFB/AGM text from the Varta batteries website earlier and it's certainly very interesting.
Just in case you weren't aware, the E84 petrol engines refer to the previous model X1 prior to the introduction of the current transverse mounted F48 series X1 in 2016. Those engines are quite different.

[Giuseppean]

Originally Posted by Beagler

Seems mine is AGM

BMW X1 E84 - petrol engines:
sDrive 20 i - with Start-Stop system
xDrive 25 i
xDrive 28 i - with Start-Stop system


BRAND AND SERIES MODEL CAPACITY COLD CRANKING AMPS DIMENSIONS BASE HOLD-DOWN PRICE
Bosch S5 AGM S5A 11 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
Exide AGM EK800 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
Varta Silver Dynamic AGM F21 80 Ah 800 A 315x175x190 mm B13 More
For these engines, no matter if we have a Start-Stop system installed in the car, we should use batteries made in AGM technology. We choose batteries of dimensions: 315x175x190 mm. The parameters of these batteries are at least 80 Ah of a capacity and 800 A CCA (Cold Cranking Amps). All the batteries in the above list have the same capacity 80Ah and Cold Cranking Amps: 800 A. All of the above motors have a base hold-down B13.

Thought this interesting,

What are the differences between EFB and AGM batteries?
A. EFB batteries have been introduced as a lower tier option to AGM batteries in terms of performance and durability. EFB technology relies on improvements to existing flooded technology through the addition of Carbon additives in the plate manufacturing process. AGM batteries benefit from the inclusion of unique design features not found in wet-flooded batteries. These include glass mat separators, recombinant lid technology and higher pack pressures to facilitate improved cyclic lifespan. AGM batteries are better suited to meeting the demands of higher specification vehicles that include one or more of the following technologies: Start Stop, Regenerative Braking and Passive Boost.

Not so shure that your car has an agm. you should check it out by yourself reading the tag of your own battery, because every f48 that i saw, either LCI or pre LCI has an efb. Somewhere i read that is because of the location of the battery, being in the engine bay in UKL bmws. Seems that is not possible to put agm batteryies in the engine bay, because of the highest temperatures versus the trunk. Don't know if that's true or not.

[oakey46]

Originally Posted by Giuseppean

Not so shure that your car has an agm. you should check it out by yourself reading the tag of your own battery, because every f48 that i saw, either LCI or pre LCI has an efb. Somewhere i read that is because of the location of the battery, being in the engine bay in UKL bmws. Seems that is not possible to put agm batteryies in the engine bay, because of the highest temperatures versus the trunk. Don't know if that's true or not.

I just had a look for the recommended battery for my 18i F48 2018 X1 and the recommendation is this one (AGM): https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-...gm/580-901-080

[Giuseppean]

Another point in the question is the AMPs of the battery. BMW seems to have AGM batteries of 80 or more ah. Smaller batteries are EFB only between the bmw branded batteries.

[Giuseppean]

Originally Posted by oakey46

I just had a look for the recommended battery for my 18i F48 2018 X1 and the recommendation is this one (AGM): https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-...gm/580-901-080

In any case, if you have an efb and you change it with an agm, you need to code (not simply register) the new battery. I know what battery manufactuers says, but if you have F48 (or 2 AT/X2) look under that plastic cover and read the battery tag. Then you're 100%shure

[Beagler]

Is it a big job to access the battery top to read which type is fitted?