[Wavey 335i]

I recently purchased a 2007 BMW E92.

Whenever I start the car I get an alert saying the battery charge is very low...

So I went and bought a CTEK MSX 5.0 battery charger. Is it safe to use this charger on the battery as there is a video online which shows a guy uses this to charge his E9X M3 with no problems for a few years.

Reviews on these chargers are really good thats why I went for it.

Also how do I know the difference between the batteries, AGM etc. Never heard of them before. Not a techy guy so take it easy on me please

I am unsure if the battery is still the original one but is there a way to find out?

I am a UK Member if that helps.

Thanks

P.S Been reading posts around registering the battery and kind of scared me so thought its better to ask then to be sorry.

[Russbmw]

It will say on the battery what it is, but if it's the original BMW one, I believe the AGM batteries are black.

If you're getting the messages all the time, regardless of if you use the car daily and for reasonable distances, then sounds like your battery is on it's way - so buying a charger will be a waste of money......particularly when you're likely to need £200 ish for a new AGM battery, and then £££ to have the battery monitoring system reset.

[AWSAWS]

I believe the 5.0 has a battery reconditioning function so it may not be as silly to get this charger as it sounds. It may bring the battery back to a usable state.

I have a CTEK 3.8. I've used it twice on my car now overnight (including last night) to top up the battery and all has been well so far.

[Wavey 335i]

It seems to be a greyish colour. Also seems to be a original BMW Battery "Banner" is the brand.

Is it safe to charge it? Car works fine and all just that alert has been coming on since I've got the car I only use to commute so car is on for like 30 mins intervals. I went and got the charger as it has the recondition feature and wasnt sure if it will need coding or programming by BMW as I would be charging from under the bonnet and not the back.

I've attached a picture of the battery the colour code thing says yellow is to replace the battery the top right of the picture has a yellow dot on it now. Does that mean I shouldn't try to charge it?

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.

[Wavey 335i]

Also how do I find out if I need to add distilled water in the battery.. I didnt want to remove the wires incase it would need coding or programming. So staying cautious and seeking advice before I do anything at the moment.

[Russbmw]

Disconnecting the battery won't mean you need to code anything.

My understanding of it is: the car has a system to monitor the battery condition which in turn determines the charging. So, if you have a new battery fitted, you need to tell the car it's got a new battery, so the charging system is reset and can start monitoring based on a new battery again.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by parves

It seems to be a greyish colour. Also seems to be a original BMW Battery "Banner" is the brand.

Is it safe to charge it? Car works fine and all just that alert has been coming on since I've got the car I only use to commute so car is on for like 30 mins intervals. I went and got the charger as it has the recondition feature and wasnt sure if it will need coding or programming by BMW as I would be charging from under the bonnet and not the back.

I've attached a picture of the battery the colour code thing says yellow is to replace the battery the top right of the picture has a yellow dot on it now. Does that mean I shouldn't try to charge it?

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.

That's a non AGM spec batery for sure you've got fitted at present you can replace with an AGM battery(black) but remember the battery will need fitting and coding to the car as it will need to be "informed" that a new battery is now in place and will therefore need registering, which you've read about so that everything can work as BMW designed it, that's control units, power distribution from the alternator etc. then essentually from scratch the car can be woken up to enable as Russ's stated the right conditions for charging to commence.

Its not that daunting, parves, once you know Halfords and ShitFit still fit battery's with out carrying out this operations(and sometimes fit the wrong battery's too)overtime and it'll be a short time issues take place eventually people visit BMW dealership's on indy's like where I work for assistance as they can't understand what has gone on, we check the battery find loads of power related issues, over charging/under/over voltage issues which are solved simply by fitting coding the correct battery to get things back on the straight and narrow again.

[Wavey 335i]

Thanks for the much informative responses guys

Rather then replacing the battery I wanted to give the CTEK a go first since I've bought it already. (It has the recondition mode also)

Which brings me to my next question. When charging a battery does that still require coding / programming once its done since the voltages will be different once it has charged, I'm assuming no since I won't be removing the battery, it will always stay hooked onto the car and be charged from the front. Again just being cautious since I've more or less spent all my expendable income and don't want to run into an even bigger bill at least not this month

Still have the E46 on my drive too hard to let go lol

[AWSAWS]

Charging the battery doesn't result in any need for coding.

Make sure you charge from the terminals under the bonnet as I'm sure you've seen in the videos.

[Hulla the Hulla]

I have the CTek 5 test and charge and have used it on mine with no issues, you'll be fine too I would have thought. Run the re-condition programme and let it charge until it gets to the float stage (if you can and have time). As mentioned, you won't need any coding, that is only needed when replacing the old battery with a new one.

Once charged, give it a few weeks and see if you start getting the low battery warnings again.

[Wavey 335i]

Will give it a go this weekend hopefully battery doesn't flatline on me by then lol

Thanks for all your help guys

[Digitalize]

Will be fine, I use an MXS 7.0 on mine. Recondition can take a while so make sure you aren't going to need the car for a good 16 hours or so.

Recondition might work, but you may still need a new battery. Still having the charger is no bad thing. Mine is due a replacement really but I've never got a battery low message, until the car won't physically start ha.

I know people with E92/3's have issues with water getting in to the battery area, corroding things etc, adding resistance. Might be worth looking in to that too.

[Soul_Glo]

+1 for CTEK had my 5.0 four years now. Fantastic charger! Safe for both agm and non agm

[un1eash]

I used my ctek overnight but the error would come back again in a week or two. Replaced the battery in the end and it's been fine for over a month now.