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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Specific discussion about the E89 2009 Z4 (sDrive35is, sDrive35i, sDrive30i, sDrive23i)
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BERNEV
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by BERNEV » Mon Aug 28, 2017 2:10 pm

Advice please forum peeps. I will have to leave my Z4 for 3.5 months without use and want it to be alive when I return. There is no electricity supply in the communal garage where the car will be kept so trickle chargers are out. Either I can lock it down and hope for the best or disconnect and remove the battery, shut the boot manually and leave it locked but not alive. On return I would charge the battery for a day, install it and then fire it up. Of course, i will need to open the door with the key and then use a power pack on the engine bay terminals to open the boot. i will probably also have to sort the clock and other manually adjustable things. Will this work? Any better ideas from any who might have had to suffer this? Thanks!

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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by mcbutler » Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:11 pm

BERNEV wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2017 2:10 pm Advice please forum peeps. I will have to leave my Z4 for 3.5 months without use and want it to be alive when I return. There is no electricity supply in the communal garage where the car will be kept so trickle chargers are out. Either I can lock it down and hope for the best or disconnect and remove the battery, shut the boot manually and leave it locked but not alive. On return I would charge the battery for a day, install it and then fire it up. Of course, i will need to open the door with the key and then use a power pack on the engine bay terminals to open the boot. i will probably also have to sort the clock and other manually adjustable things. Will this work? Any better ideas from any who might have had to suffer this? Thanks!
3.5 months does not qualify as a long time, I have left mine for over 8 months parked up and it was fine. You will have a little corrosion on the discs which will scrub off, also leave it in gear, handbrake off this way the rear pads will not rust to the disc.
Don't worry about it, you do not have a problem at all.
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BERNEV
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by BERNEV » Mon Aug 28, 2017 8:42 pm

Thank you but my query is about the battery not the state of the car overall. Its an E89. Many thanks.

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buzyg
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by buzyg » Mon Aug 28, 2017 9:13 pm

Do you have a tracker fitted? If so it will flatten your battery in less than a month. :(
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by MJJamieson » Tue Aug 29, 2017 10:58 am

How about a solar charger like the ones for caravans etc.?
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by brillomaster » Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:45 am

3.5 months shouldn't be a problem for a battery in good condition, assuming there aren't any unnecessary drains on the battery.

a couple of years ago I stored an MX5 for abut 6 months over winter, on my return it fired up straight away, no problems.

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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by ph001 » Tue Aug 29, 2017 12:35 pm

Tricky one if a solar charger is not an option. As others have said, a battery in top condition might last 3.5 months anyway - depends if you have any extras draining it.

I think your only options are to disconnect the battery (but then you also lose alarm etc) or maybe add a second one in parallel with a set of short jump leads. This would give you double capacity and should easily see through 3.5 months. Just make sure both batteries are at a similar state of charge when you connect.
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mcbutler
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by mcbutler » Thu Sep 14, 2017 10:18 pm

brillomaster wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:45 am 3.5 months shouldn't be a problem for a battery in good condition, assuming there aren't any unnecessary drains on the battery.

a couple of years ago I stored an MX5 for abut 6 months over winter, on my return it fired up straight away, no problems.
Exactly, as i stated earlier mine was good for 8 months, no problems at all.
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by Busterboo » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:20 am

I wouldn't leave a car off charge for 3+ months that's so dependent on its battery.

So, I'd change the question: where can I leave my car on charge for 3+ months?

And, when I find it, I'd use a CTEK.
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by ph001 » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:11 pm

CTEK MXS 5.0 all the way. Has a really neat de-sulfation mode built in which is a bonus.
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by Paulr » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:47 pm

Just put a caravan leisure battery solar charger on the car and go and enjoy yourself for 3.5 months.

I would put a dust cover on it though, and pump tyres up a bit to keep the roundness.
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by Busterboo » Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:11 pm

Paulr wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:47 pm Just put a caravan leisure battery solar charger on the car ...
In a garage?
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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by flybobbie » Fri Sep 15, 2017 10:44 pm

Why not drop some jumper leads on the engine bay terminals and leave them dangling under car, then just leave car and if a problem arises, just connect the leads to a jumper battery.

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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by Paulr » Fri Sep 15, 2017 10:51 pm

Busterboo wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:11 pm
Paulr wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:47 pm Just put a caravan leisure battery solar charger on the car ...
In a garage?
Roof, garden, window? Or it it all enclosed?
If you try and take a cat apart the first thing you have is a non working cat.

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Leaving a car for a long time.....and what to do

Post by WilliamB » Fri Sep 15, 2017 11:14 pm

It might be alright just doing nothing, assuming the battery is in good condition.
After 3.5 months it might slightly struggle on first start due to low battery but charge up quick when you drive.

I would never disconnect the battery, you could end up with all kinds of problems later.

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