CTEK Charger

[Clarkie52]

I’m looking at buying a CTEK charger to maintain the battery on my 2019 F82.Can anyone recommend which one I should go for?

[Taylorsherk]

if you want to purchase from forum:

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2117055

Or this is the one i bought from amazon:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00EUF6UM8?...fed_asin_title

[Clarkie52]

I’m thinking this is the UK version of the link above.
https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-char.../lithium-xs-uk

[DThr33]

Originally Posted by Clarkie52

I’m thinking this is the UK version of the link above.
https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-char.../lithium-xs-uk

the noco genius10 is at a decent discount on amazon at the moment and as it's 10a you can also use it for doing any coding that requires an external power source (i used one when having the id6 flash done), or you can get the 5a one for cheaper

[Clarkie52]

Originally Posted by DThr33

the noco genius10 is at a decent discount on amazon at the moment and as it's 10a you can also use it for doing any coding that requires an external power source (i used one when having the id6 flash done), or you can get the 5a one for cheaper

Ended up getting the Noco Genius 5 as I wanted to be able to use it on my wife’s fiesta.

[brody8877]

Just order my Ctek Charger on Amazon. Prime deal got it for $109

[roknrol888]

Saw this in Costco. Spec-ed for LiFePO4 batteries. Anyone try this?

UltraPro Elite for $50.

https://www.costco.com/ultrapro-elit...000183901.html

[DRanch]

Long time lurker, first time poster

Wanted to share my experience and hope it helps others avoid having to waste $2000+ potentially

I had my 2017 F80 M3 with original battery parked at a friend's house, and he accidentally left the electronics on overnight after shutting off the engine and parking, unbeknownst to him. Also, it has been cold here in south texas. About 24 hours afterwards, I showed up to drive it back to my place, and it was dead. Would not start nor turn on, no interior lights, nothing. Couldn't open the trunk (as has been well documented on this forum).

I already had a BRPOM 1500a jump pack , so brought it over, hooked it up to the positive terminal under the hood, and the ground to the cylindrical metal thing next to it. But when I connected the pack, the LED kept flashing red/green, and no charge. Then tried hooking up jumper cables to my friend's X7, idled his car for about 5 minutes, but still unable to turn on my car or open the trunk.

After much frantic searching on this forum and others, came across the CTEK charger recs, so thought that would be my saving grace. Got one delivered the next day (thank you Amazon Prime), and headed to his place. I also bought some cheap electrical gloves since this is not my field, and I didn't want to go out this way. Hooked it up, and of course it would not charge, just got the temp #7 green light, and then green flashing light, indicating that it could not charge, possibly couldn't get past the BMW lithium battery's UPV.

Cried a little overnight (haha), came back today and tried hooking up the jumper cables to his car again, this time idled for about 15-20 minutes. Still couldn't open the trunk or turn on the car. Unhooked and tried the BRPOM pack again, same connection points, and the first time I hooked it up it beeped and flashed red. Removed it, prayed, and then hooked it up again, and all of the sudden the car turned on! Drove around a bit, then got home and hooked up the CTEK charger, which is now working (pic).

I'm guessing the battery was so low that it needed a longer charge via the other vehicle, and once it had charged enough then the battery jump pack was able to work. And now that the BRPOM was able to charge the car battery and create a detectable charge, the CTEK charger was finally able to work.




I was able to avoid a tow and potential high costs of service, battery replacement, etc. And also avoided more scrutiny from the already skeptical wife! I hope my experience helps out somebody in the future.

[roknrol888]

Good story with a happy ending. Thanks for sharing. Fully understand dealing with the spousal skepticism bit. 😁

To answer my own question, the UltraPro looks like a good all-rounder, but the CTEK US Lithium is the best man for the job for F80 batteries. So that’s what I ordered. When dealing with the hefty replacement cost, why dink around?

May still pick up the one from Costco for my Miata at some point.

[Tocard]

Originally Posted by DRanch

...I'm guessing the battery was so low that it needed a longer charge via the other vehicle, and once it had charged enough then the battery jump pack was able to work. And now that the BRPOM was able to charge the car battery and create a detectable charge, the CTEK charger was finally able to work.
...

I received the Noco Genius 5 for Christmas this year. Being new to BMW and their Li batteries, I didn't know much about this charger, but was impressed it can do regular lead-acid, as well as the LiFePO4 batteries. Reading the manual and doing some other research online, I found that it has a special mode for charging dead (0V) batteries. I wonder if that would have helped in your situation? Might have saved a few more trips back and forth to your friend's house and wasted gas idling the donor car!


Seriously, though, if anyone has experience using that mode in a situation like this, I'd love to hear if it really works.