That's really nice of you. Thanks for the nice comments :)

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching and your feedback Ray. 👊🏼

Hi Sophia, thanks for watching my video. :)

+Mafioso Hey, thanks for watching my video. Really appreciate your leaving me a message and happy to see that you enjoy them. Didn't really expect anyone to watch them to be honest. Thank you. Have a good day.

MSS KITS Thank you for watching :)

Hey that's awesome. Glad it helped with the Audi too. Was expecting a flame war about how rubbish BMWs are lol :)

Thanks Lynda. 👍

Nice one mate. I've been using mine for a couple of years now. Its good to have one to keep your car battery in good condition.

Glad it helped. Thanks for leaving a comment :)

***** No a problem - glad it helped someone :) Thanks for watching!

***** Thanks for watching and your nice comment. :)

Thanks for the support. :)

+Ady B hi Ady. Thanks for your message and watching my video. It was fun making this video and glad you enjoyed it. Appreciate the feedback. Have a good day.

Peter Charlesworth No problem. Glad you found it useful. Some people prefer to charge it via the battery directly but its not recommended according to BMW and I don't really want to squash the cable if I slam the boot shut and I'm not going to leave the car unlocked whilst its charging. So I prefer this method instead :)

+Mike Usher Hi Mike, no worries. Glad you found it useful. Mine's plugged in most of the time since I hardly ever drive mine. Have a good day :)

Thank you sir :) Mine's plugged in 11/12 months. Tried leaving it unplugged and car starts to go flat and sends warning after 28 days or so. Mind you the battery is nearly 6 years old. I think I can extend its life a bit more with the CTEK. Still managed to start it after the month of unplugged, struggled a bit but not bad considering what a huge battery drain this car is with all the alarms, sensors and trackers etc.

Thanks for watching . :)

Thank you very much for checking out my video and leaving me a comment. Really made my day. Thanks again. Glad to hear you liked it. 🙏🏼

Thanks Jack :)

Yung Bunna Thanks for watching :)

Glad to have helped. Thank you for watching my video. :)

Thanks for the feedback. Appreciate it! Have a good day!

Thank YOU for watching!

Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for watching and commenting. 😉

+Mikbak69 Hi there - glad this video was helpful. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. Have a good day!

Thanks for watching :)

Hi. I usually inflate the tyres beyond the normal pressure to minimise the risk of flat spots. Also it’s not sitting in a hot place (UK after all) so I haven’t noticed any flat spot issue in my case.

Thanks for the view and becoming a subscriber. Have a great day mate.

Joe Lam would the ctek 3.8 be okay to use?

@@boerashid It's a little slower, but if you're not in a hurry. It'll definitely work. Cheaper too.

Joe Lam not buying it for charging but for storage during winter

Should be enough for your use

+Dan Herrmann Not a problem Dan. Thank you for watching and commenting on my video :)

Same. Mine's been parked up for a long time, always connected with no issues what so ever.

I live in island speed limit is 40mph, 9mile by 5mile size do not much chance charging the battery unless drive it everyday, so the just order a ctek

What island do you live on? :O

Jersey, channel Island, small place, closer to France than U.K,

+Steven Leung 👍🏼😄

+passionata Yes I have used that feature before on my 335i using the underhood terminal. It did sort of work, but the battery was beyond rescue after 5-7 years and never regained its full capacity. So had to be replaced at the end. But another note, some people say that you should only use the regen function when directly connected to the battery, not via hood terminals since it sends like 15.7V or something high voltage through the cars electrical system and the IBS that sits on top of the battery. Some stay that high voltage would wreck the electronics. Not sure if its true, but according to BMW manual you should only charge through those terminals so in my own opinion, I don't think it will cause any issues. But I'm not an expect on this - so please don't take my advice on this.

Hi Jeffrey, depends entirely on many factors. Such as use case, battery age, ambient temperature etc. Ideally the battery should be 60-80%. Not too low or full for it to last the longest. Either extreme the battery doesn't like it. But what will cause these conditions depending entirely on your driving style. I mean, if you do a ton of start stop in a day, you can pretty drain the battery instantly. If you drive a short journey and leave it parked up for weeks, it will drain again. Too many scenarios and variables to consider. As for the charger, you pretty much don't have to worry. If it's not a hassle, you can connect as many times as you want. It monitors the voltage and charges if it needs to, and once its' charged, it will maintain it, if it drops voltage, it will top up. Aka, float charging. Keeps it just right, but not over the top. That's the best way and easiest way to maintain the battery life in my opinion. Plug in and let it monitor and keep the battery at a happy voltage level. Mines been plugged in for months or years for the past 10+. Personally not had any issue.

+AERIALS hi. Yes it will work with your car. No problems at all. Thanks for watching my video.

Thanks bro 🤘🏻

Hey thanks for your support. Definitely recommended for a weekend car only. Mine's been locked up for the past 2 months. You can do the programming yourself via the right software / laptop / cable. Most indies can do them and of course your local BMW dealer. The updated iVini app (also a video available on my channel) for the iOS/Android suppose to be able to program that too but I haven't tried that or looked in to it yet.

Hi Kevin. Connect and forget. At one point, it was connected over a year. I generally do come back and connect and leave it. Since I don't use mine for long periods of time. Both cars are connected most of the times. I have a 5.0 and my new video MXS 25. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qr2bfMidxrevgH0.html

Hey there. I don't want to (k)noc(o) (knock) their product. Bad joke, sorry. Since I never used it before, but if it's working correctly. 2Ah charger is slow in comparison, however I managed to charge my M3 with the CTEK MXS 0.8 before, I have a 70-80aH battery. Video here - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZsyBqKpitq24cZs.html. Albeit very slow. My theory, it's either the charger not good enough - I've had bad experience with other brands before (not Noco - not tried), OR you have a bad battery that can't be recharged. 2 possibility as it stands.

@@JoeLamOfficiallol Well I suppose only way to find out is order this CTEK 5.0. Probably order from fcpeuro for that lifetime warranty instead of Amazon just in case something goes wrong w/it. Fingers crossed it's not a bad battery & this will do the trick. Thanks for the reply dude I greatly appreciate it.

Hopefully it will work. It’s difficult to tell. As I have experienced both. Bad charger and bad battery. Just depends which is which. Buuuut even if you have to replace battery (which all battery will die) having a charger will definitely help prolongs it’s life, now and future.

@@JoeLamOfficial Indeed, never hurts to have a charger on hand down the road if needed.

Absolutely. :) both my cars are plugged in most of the times.

Try with the normal charge mode first before trying the recondition mode.

Hi Steven. You are correct, I think the newer models with the red button has AGM mode (which in essence is the old snow flake mode) but like you mentioned, allows combinations also. However, make sure you stick to normal or AGM only, the recondition mode voltage is too high for the AGM battery. End up frying the battery. Thank you checking out my video by the way. Appreciate the feedback. :)

@@JoeLamOfficial I did a bit more research and found this.... f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1663141 Recond program is developed only for flooded batteries (including EFB), to remix the flooded acid inside. The remixing/balancing is necessary to treat an already stratified battery, or to prevent severe stratification. AGM or GEL batteries are not flooded, and therefore does not suffer from stratification. That means Recond will not help AGM or GEL. Reconding an AGM battery does not harm the battery, but does not help either, so we cannot recommend recond program on AGM batteries either. Guess I'll go with car + agm then!

Exactly on point. Stick with the regular AGM mode. Good to go 🤘🏻

@@MrSwon38 I have an entirely dead battery on. my E9X M3, and your comments were so helpful!! Thanks fo taking the effort to share your conclusive findings! :)

I’ve had this charger since long time even before this video was made. Still using it and most of the time connected. I haven’t had any issue. Still on the original battery and connected most of the times. I do very limit driving.

Peter Charlesworth lol awesome - luckily my garage fits or I have a sheltered drive so I don't have to worry too much about the elements :P

+Gregorey Nazarian Hello - many thanks for your questions and watching my video. Short answer, mines' always plugged in whenever I'm not driving it. It's been plugged in for years and months at a time without issue. Its designed to look after it self just fine. Don't worry about it at all. a) its possible to leave it plugged in b) select the car symbol mode and leave it, if you have AGM battery or if the weather is very cold (parked outside) choose the snow flake symbol. c) nothing to be aware of - plug in and leave it - it looks after itself and your battery d) crocodile for easy plug and play, the circular ones are use if you want to permanently attached the quick release cable to a battery terminal

Hi. Yup. No problem. Just route the cable out somewhere and close the the bonnet shut. Mines pretty much always connected long term and locked in the garage. No issues.

Joe Lam thank you

@@filipstrapinadotcz No problem.

Hi Jasper. If it’s stuck for ages on certain points it usually indicates it’s unable to complete that step. Especially with the blinking light (!). It’s likely the battery is in bad shape. How old is the battery age wise. Plus if it’s heavily discharged at some point. Like the fourth months, it is possible it suffered some permanent damage. Batteries don’t like to be completely dead. It changes the chemical.

Thanks man :) No problem. Leave it connected and it'll take care itself. If the voltage drops, it'll top it up. Its meant to be connected. (Of course not outside though, the unit is sealed but careful with the plugs etc) but if under shelter or in garage then its fine :) That' the whole point of these intelligent chargers.

I think you can recover a bit but once a battery has died, it will never really recover even after recharging.

+maudic127 Hi thanks for watching my video first of all. To answer your question, if you haven't got easy access to a plug for the charger, than yes - by all means take the battery out to recharge it - its absolutely fine (although bit more work) but the battery does not need to be in the car to recharge. Hopefully using the recondition program will help to revive your battery if its gone completely flat - its possible that the battery condition will have deteriorated and not hold its charge very well ever again in the future.

Hi there. Depends on the condition of your battery. Also how discharged it was. I’m still on the original battery since 2010 and drive short distances. That’s why I charge it more often.

Hey Frosty, na never had that problem. It shouldn't do. The lights woudn't come on because its on charge. I can confidently say it never happened to mine and mine's been plugged in most of the times. Just to give you an idea. The car has done less than 1000 miles in 2 years. The rest of the times its plugged in.

That's great, thanks for the swift reply. All the best!

Hi Ken, thank you for your message. I don't see how it's not compatible. Is it a E9x series model?

Happy with it. Still using it daily. No issues at all. Go with the CTEK. Nice and simple.

Yeah they replaced the symbol on the newer unit with the AGM label instead of snowflake. But the voltage is the same. AGM and winter both uses a higher end voltage compared to traditional batteries.

Peter Charlesworth That's unforunate. You going to leave the cable outside in the elements? The charger is protected but the 3-pin mains plug?

Pete - I charge the M3 using the exact charger - but like you I have to on the driveway aswell. However - I hve bought an IP55 box enclosure to house both extension lead and charger to keep it dry from the elements - have a look here: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00274SLK8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&sc=1

Thanks buddy :) looks like you will use it lots on your cars and motor cycles. Kept my car battery in top condition. I only do short journeys :)

***** So what feature do you use to keep your battery alive? I noticed you can charge it and maintain the battery. For example for my motorcycle. I keep it inside for the whole winter en probebly autumm as wel. To cold for my skinny ass :) So to prevent my battery of the motorcycle I should not use the normal charge right? PS. I just purchased the mxs 5.0 test&charge.

Just plug it in and select the car/motorcycle symbol and leave it plugged it. That's it. Nothing else. I would run the reconditioning setting if your battery is completely dead or just once a year for a refresh. But generally - just plug it in and leave it. That's the beauty of this charger. It looks after itself and your car/bike ;) Easy!

Hi there. Definitely normal charge mode. I don't know if you have AGM battery in your model; if so. Definitely no no for the recondition mode. Just use the normal mode and see if this will help get rid of the low battery warning light. Depending on the age of the car (battery) it might be time to replace. Normal battery maybe 3 years, AGM if maintained well much longer. But even if it's a brand new battery, if it's drained a lot (ie. short journeys) it will still kill the overall battery life. And plus all modern cars have so many electronics that wears the battery down quicker also. Give it a full charge and see if it helps. Normally if the battery is healthy it shouldn't give you the low battery warning that frequently even if it's left unattended. But again, if you're only doing short journeys. That's another story. Just speculating. Thank you for watching and commenting by the way :)

Joe Lam thank you very much for your helpful response. I just switched it to normal mode before it went into the reconditioning LED light. It’s on “4” now. I definitely have the AGM battery after checking. So should I keep it on normal charging and only do reconditioning mode if it gives me problems ?

No no, don't use the recondition mode at all with the AGM battery. The voltage is too high in that mode for AGM batteries. It's meant for old style lead acid/WET batteries. If your battery ain't dead, the recon. mode will do more harm than good for AGM batteries. As experts say "14.6 - 14.8V following deep cycle use, or 13.6V - 13.8V for standby use" for AGM batteries. CTEK recond. mode goes to 15.8V. Way beyond what it's suppose to be.

Joe Lam you’re so amazing. Thank you for your time and help. It’s on step 7 now with the green light. Do I wait for it to go on 8? The manual says step 7 “Float” mode can take 10 days and I don’t know what that means lol it surely can’t take 10 days

Step 7 = it's all done. Ready to go. Basically just means that it will keep monitoring at this stage and top up with the pulse of charges (step 8) in between if it needs topping up. And if it drops significantly, say you get in the car have some lights on or something without starting the car, it will restart the charge cycle from the beginning Ignore the whole 10 day charging thing. Doesn't really mean anything.

I'm not too familiar with the charger you mentioned. The CTEK just works for me over the years, that's what I like about them. Plug in and forget.

Which light is it flashing. Step 1?

@@JoeLamOfficial No lights illuminate on the steps actually. Only the methods I select light up such as the car icon & the recondition icon but only for a couple min then they go off... The green light bottom left below mode which is the power light I believe is the 1 flashing. Starting to assume this battery is done for but I cant find anything about the green light flashing so idk

@@JoeLamOfficial Its the power lamp light & it says this if its flashing light ...."The charger has entered the energy save mode. This happens if the charger isn't connected to a battery in 2 minutes".....Maybe this means it can't read the battery?

I see. Manual says it’s entered energy saving mode if the power lamp I is flashing. Happens when it’s not connected to the battery within 2 minutes. Where are you hooked up to with the connectors? Try connecting to the battery or charging point before connecting the charger to the wall and selecting the modes. By the way I don’t recommend the reconditioning mode. Use standard car charging mode.

@@JoeLamOfficial Would it help to jump start the car prior to putting the charger on? So that maybe it will be able to read the battery & connect? I was going to connect directly to my battery in the trunk but no access to the terminals unless I remove the battery which I'm unable to do & I also read that hooking up to the battery in the trunk is a risk to blowing out the junction box.

Of course. I’ve used mine for many years. A lot of the times my M3 is in the garage. Ranging from 7months to over a year. No problem.

+Michael Moss Hi, thanks for mentioning my name. Appreciate the small details. :) Don't worry. Its doesn't ever go into Step 8, it might briefly but you might miss it when it does. The only time it will go to that stage is to top it up and most likely if the voltage does drop, it will automatically restart the full cycle from stage 3 or 4 anyway. I've never witnessed it go to Step 8. Its normal though. Step 7 is the last final done stage.

Shouldn't need to, otherwise you would loose clock and other settings in your car).

Hi Jeremy, If you’re flashing it for that long period of time. Personally, I wouldn’t risk it. It’s quite a long time and this charger won’t be supply the enough voltage and amp “if” it drains a lot. I don’t know how much it’s required. But for me, again that’s just me and my genuine advice. If you mess up the ECU, it can be costly. I wouldn’t feel too comfortable with it.

My car is a Jaguar xj8 3.2litre v8 .2002 (18 yrs old ) is it ok to keep it on permanent charge as I only do 2 to 3 thousand miles per year and it can be parked up for weeks on end.the cars sheer class and has only got 99 thousand on the clock.I’ve had it 4 years and on my 4th battery so hopefully this will be my perfect answer.Paul (Essex G B )

+Firdaus Haji Hi are you sure that it hasn't switched to Stage 7 at some point? When it reaches 7 and voltage drops again, it's slightly that it will revert back to the charging phase. How old is the battery? Try pressing the Mode or unplugging the charger - to restart the charge cycle. Its also likely that the battery can't hold the charge anymore (depending how old the battery is?)

Yes and its normal. It'll cool down when the bulk charge is over.

Many thanks just tried it on 2016 M3 battery..

Edgar Alan Took around 12 hrs to charge my 6 year old, parked up car after 28 days, and couple of short journeys. Low battery warning came up. Plugged in and took a while to charge and did get hot/warm during Step 3-5. Normal.

Not instantly. You need those battery/jumpstart thingy instead. This one you need to wait till stage 4 or 5 before its ready for starting if your battery is very dead. But stage 7-8 is when the battery is fully charge. It'll take a while depending on how big and flat your battery is. On a normal car, I'd say it'll take at least 3-4 hrs if its very very dead before you can try and start. If you need it to work instantly, you need those portable battery booster thing.

Don't think mine's ever been replaced so its' the same since 2010. Mine's still plugged in. 320 days a year pretty much. Don't suffer any major battery issue yet I don't think. Still holding its charge. But the 4-5 year life spam is correct I believe. But I think leaving it plugged will extend its life because the battery won't be going through the drain / recharge cycle as much.

WOW It's so cool, I think I should have it looong time ago. So helpful information, many thanks!

Baruna Satria That's alright buddy :) But it won't last forever anyway. A new battery every 5-6 years isn't too bad. But keeping it plugged in will definitely help especially if you do short journeys.

+Media6D Hi Joe! another questions here..hehe During this 6 years old battery, have you ever tried to set recond mode? If yes, how was the periode? What is your battery type btw?is it AGM or Calcium battery? My new battery just arrived, is it OK to charge the battery? and what is the better mode I should apply? Thanksss

Baruna Satria Hi, yes I used it on Recon once, just for the sake of it. Mine doesn't have Start/Stop so I don't think its AGM, just standard. If its AGM you can use the Snowflake one too, its the same as AGM basically but if in doubt, just use the standard CAR symbol at any point. New or old battery is fine.

Hi there. Yeah it’s normal. Mine gets pretty hot too when charging. I don’t think there’s anything to worry.

Still happy with it?

No difference, works with any cars.

Hi Martin. Use normal battery charge mode. Don’t need to use the recondition. Probably does more damage than it’s worth if you have AGM battery. Recon mode uses too much voltage outside the recommended specs.

@@JoeLamOfficial thanks Joe for the replay i subscribe to channel thanks again....

Welcome welcome. 🤗 Thanks Martin for the sub. Appreciate it. 👊🏼

@@JoeLamOfficial Mr. Joe sorry one last question i dont want to mess up my wife car the CTECK MXS5.0 has four setting Motorcycle,Auto,AGM and Recond you say i sould use auto right...sorry

Auto. 🤘🏻

What car have you got? But any metal surface will do to be honest.

@@JoeLamOfficial 2014 BMW 535XDrive

@@Petlover10000 Does your engine bay look like this? shorturl.at/fqwyW

Just to clarify, I’m looking to store the car for about 6 months

Hi Russel. Thanks for checking out my video. Straight up no power source doesn’t help. Is it in a garage or outside?

Joe Lam it’s a condo parking lot

Underground lot

Not much you can do if there's no power source. A) you can leave it, which will most likely go flat at 6 months. Jump start it with cable or power pack. But that wouldn't be good for the battery. Alternative option, disconnect the battery?

Hi there, put it on snow flake mode. A) because of the cold (40f I assume?) it's cold enough and B) I suspect your vehicle has AGM battery, again the snowflake/AMG uses the same voltage. 14.7V compared to normal temp and normal wet batteries 14.3V. If the car has start/stop, battery in the trunk, all indicates it's a AGM battery. So even if it's not cold, the snowflake mode = AGM mode as mentioned. Which is the correct voltage (setting) to use.

@@JoeLamOfficial Thanks for the prompt reply. Yes it is AGM Battery. Since the car is in the storage, I don't have any access to see my car for 4 full months, so I just select the " Snow Flake " mode and leave it?

Yup. That's fine. I've left mine plugged in for over a year before. No issues. Both of my cars are connected for long periods. MXS 5 and my new MXS 25. It is completely unattended though?

@@JoeLamOfficial I don't really know if my car has AGM Battery, my car is 2014 535 X Drive. I assumed it is. It is so much hassle to open the trunk.

@@JoeLamOfficial I don't see the CEK MXS 5.0 has AGM Mode on the website that I place the order. Yes, my car will be unattended, I rented a space in the storage for the winter, it will stay there for 5 months.

jude linus Thanks :) Hope it helps or interesting.

Hi. You will NEED to have it programmed. There's no way out of it. There are two reasons. One if you're changing it to a bigger battery or a AGM one, you need to tell the car that so it changes its charging program. But lets assume you're replacing it with one that's exactly the same. You will NEED to program / code the car because the car needs again needs to know that its a brand new battery because as the battery ages, the car charging program will compensate the fact that older batteries takes longer to be fully charged by the alternator and that the voltage will drop quicker. Therefore if you don't program/code your brand new battery, you will basically end up killing your brand new expensive battery much quicker that will with higher unnecessary charging voltage. Therefore regardless where you get your new battery, OEM or not. Get it coded by your dealer or independent specialist so that you don't waste your new battery.

Thank You!

See answer on your other post, get your new programmed. There's no way out of it :)

Hi. It should always be connected via the bonnet terminals. Not directly to the battery. I’ve used mine for nearly 10 years now and I do very little mileage. From my own experience, there’s no issue in the long run.

@@JoeLamOfficial thanks! have you ever tried the recond programme?

Don’t use that mode if you have a AGM battery (most modern BWMs do). The recon mode voltage is too high for that. Also. In general, I don’t really think that mode can revive a dead old battery. Once the chemical has aged. It doesn’t really work anymore. I’ve seen other tests before and after and it doesn’t really make much different as they have claimed.

@@JoeLamOfficial thanks Joe, my battery is a varta special flooded stop/start battery, so not a AGM. How often do you think I should use the charger? Except for summer (when I do long trips), I maybe do about 300 miles per month with my Giulia. Do you have recommendation? Battery is 2 years and 2 months old, thanks!

No worries. But yeah in general just use the normal charge modes. How often? Well it depends on many many factors. But I say if you’re not driving for a couple of weeks. Or do a lot of short journeys then it’s good to top it up now and then. But if you drive it frequently and don’t have any issue then it’s not strictly needed. Example, my car in the last 6-7 years has done about 17,000 miles. Have a guess how much it’s in the garage. Still on original battery.

Absolutely. Mine's always plugged in. And I mean always since I haven't driven my car over a year now. It shuts off when it's charged and monitors if there's a voltage drop. It'll auto top up again with charge.

Thanks for replying i will be ordering one for my car thanks again great video by the way...

Thanks Ricky. Appreciate your feedback and thanks for watching as always.

+Charalampos Pournaris Hi thanks for watching my video to start with. I recommend the AGM if your car has start stop function? If not, the normal program will do. The AGM can also be used if you are in a cold place. My battery isn't AGM, but sometimes its cold so I use the snowflake / AGM mode instead. If you are ultra worried, the normal program will do just fine. It will still charge it. Just slower but you're not in a hurry so it might even be better. Its only .3 volt difference. You can easily put the battery charger under the hood and route the cable like I did in the video. The only reason why I placed it outside there is I like to have a look at it every now and then without having open the bonnet. Otherwise, just put it inside anywhere is fine.

+Media6D Thanks so much, very helpful info.

***** No problem. Hopefully it helped :) Thank you again for watching and commenting.

Hi there, thanks for watching my video. Diagnosiic (scanning for error codes) this should be OK, but if you are programming and coding. I wouldn't risk it. This tiny 5amp charger isn't really up to the job. Funny after 4 years (I'm still using this MXS 5) but I just bought a new MXS 25 and uploaded a new video here. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qr2bfMidxrevgH0.html Daily use the MXS5.0 is good enough, a little slow. But it's enough for most case. Where to buy? Well depends where you are from? I'm planning on using my CTEK MXS 25 for light coding using apps on the phone but if you're talking about serious programming on the ECU, I personally wouldn't risk it. Professional power supply goes up to 100amp if needed, so even with my MXS 25, that only goes up to 25amp.

I'm not too sure where to get from Ghana west-Africa. But my comments about not doing heavy programming with small charger still holds. I wouldn't recommend it. You need something from the MXS 25 or above range to keep a steady voltage/amp.

Because there’s a battery sensor between the battery. It’s best to go through the cars computer so it doesn’t overcharge and knows it’s being charged externally.

Yup of course, even if it's in the garage. Tip at 3:30

+X88RED To be brutally honest with you, I can't remember lol but there are plenty of them around on eBay and that's the place I would go to buy another one if I need to. Familiar username / number plate you got there... Hm...

Hi there. Stage 6 for 3 days? That doesn't sound quite right. In theory it should have time limit between 2h-6h in that mode and kick in to Stage 7. Whereas 8 only happens every now and then when there's a need for a top up or the voltage drops say you turn ignition on or leave some lights/stereo on before starting the car. How old is the battery? By the way, for the future, I wouldn't recommend using the recon mode for your E92 M3. Nearly all BMWs, especially in our E92 M3, there's a AGM battery from factory. The AGM recon mode voltage is too high for these batteries. It does more harm than good.

Joe Lam Thanks for the quick reply. I’ve only had the car since the start of October. Got it approved used, it’s a 2012 car with 41k miles so not sure if the dealers will be able to tell me if it’s original or not. When I get home I’ll switch it all off and back on and see what stage it comes on at...

Congrats man. Welcome to the M3 Club 🤣 but yeah. Stick it to the normal car mode or dedicated AGM mode if you have it on your charger. Newer models have that mode. On olders, it’s the snow ❄️ symbol.

Joe Lam Just to update, I got home before and turned it off at the plug, back on and it went quickly to stage 4 and stayed there for a little while. After a couple of hours I looked back in and it was on stage 7 :D It was like it had just got stuck on stage 6 and needed restarted. Thanks mate, came from 2018 M4CS and haven’t looked back 👌

Glad it worked out at the end. Nice one 👏🏼 I had a look on your channel. Nice cars man. Swapped your F series to E9x M3 instead? 😱

Hi there. You are still using a single battery right to power your amps and car? Just charge it in engine bay charging points, it should be fine.

@@JoeLamOfficial technically yes bcus the 2 batteries are wired together

Ah I see, hm, not so sure if you have 2 physical batteries. How's the car handling it with it. What year is your BMW?

@@JoeLamOfficial its a 2008, I put the 2nd battery there; all for my car audio project. It handles fine but someone with a 7 series did that and it went crazy, I just don't know if you can damage the amps with the charger🤔

Not sure if it’s the charger fault but the car has a battery management system. It wouldn’t know how to charge two battery correctly like it normally would.

556 millivolts? Do you mean the battery reading was 0.5 volts or it's draining 0.5v? 20km a day won't charge your battery with that many starts per day.

its drain 0.5 volt !

I don't know. I never tried running a drain test on mine to see if it's normal. But sounds quite high?

Hi there, it lights up (not flashing) per stages as it progresses. All 7 leds stay on when its fully charged. Occasionally the 8th LED will light up if it needs a top up.

Sony k joseph No issue whatsoever according to CTEK. Mines been connected for up the past 6 months. No issues. I've know other garages with really expensive cars that pretty much doesn't ever get driven, that is also constantly connected. Its' fine. That's what its designed to do. Plug in and forget about it and leaving your battery topped up.

+Media6D Thanks for the info - will be storing our 08 535xi and was wondering if it was ok to leave the charger on 24hrs - I guess as long as it is in 'car' mode. Also, diff topic but do you add fuel stabilizer to your stored BMW?

V E Bula this is an excellent product. I connected my e60 , and left it for 2 months, when I travelled abroad. When I came back the car was in perfect condition as it should be. When the battery is fully charged, the computer inside the charger ,stops further charging and it goes in floating mode. Which continuously monitor the battery voltage. So I 100% recommend this as a customer.

+Sony k joseph Thank you very much for the info and recommending it. My storage will be for about 12 months. I bought the BMW battery charger from the dealer which I think is the same product as the CTEK - just diff brandname.

V E Bula yes, CTEK are the one who produce for them .I paid £56 in uk.but the same with BMW badge above £110. They make for all brands include Porsche, MB. ..

Indeed I do :) more M3 content soon hopefully.

It is. Depending on your car there might be a dedicated point but basically it’s connected to the chassis.

@@JoeLamOfficial And how many hours let's say a 70Ah-80Ah battery needs to charge until it reaches 4(Ready to Use). I'm charging mine and I have waited like 6 hours and it hasn't passed 2(soft start) yet. Am confused if something's wrong with the battery and am wasting my time leaving it to charge with the ctek.

Which one did you get again? The CTEK MXS 5.0? It’s normal to take a very long time to charge. Let’s say it’s completely flat, it could take up to 12-16 hours to fully charge if you have the 5amp version. Less or more (time) depending on the charger you have and the battery condition / voltage. It’s not quick and you don’t want it to be quick, fast charge = more heat, more heat = damage the battery.

@@JoeLamOfficial how do you decide when a battery is not worth charging?when is it too deteriorated?how do you measure/quantify that?Thank you btw for answering my comment,it helps a LOT!

Check the voltage. Try charging it. Recheck voltage. Healthy battery should be around 12.6V when fully charged. Leave it for a day or two to monitor if it drops. If it drops rapidly below 11.8v or more. It’s considered flat and if it looses its charge that quickly. It probably means it’s past it’s prime time.

+Firdaus Haji Have you got the same MXS 5.0 charger? normally if it stops at certain number and doesn't go to the green light (last step), indicates there's a fault with the battery.

You mean at 2:30? It’s an extension reel with 2 sockets. It’s routed into the house since car is parked outside under the car port / shelter area. That’s a bummer if you have no outlet. Need somewhere to plug in. 😕

Joe Lam thanks! Just wondering would a jump box work as well or it has to be charged through the charger?

Jump box? Those portable jump start packs? If so, they are only good for like you said. Jump starts. They are not designed for charging.

Joe Lam alright thanks again

No problem. Are you having issue where it goes flat completely? Do you drive it much or just thinking of topping up for maintenance. It’s it driven regularly. I wouldn’t worry too much about plugging it in. Unless you have specific battery issues?

It is the same, just rebranded. The difference between between normal mode and AGM mode is 14.4v compared to 14.7v. So there isn't a lot of difference regardless of battery type it would seem. And in the recondition mode it bumps it up to 15.8v. Therefore I think even if the BMW one that doesn't have the .3v extra juice, I think it won't make a huge difference. You would think BMW would get the product right for their own car surely? PS. Even the Bugatti Veyron uses a rebranded CTEK charger, just the beefier version.

I have the MXS 10, which is basically a 10amp version, but it has an AGM mode, and does not have the motorcycle mode. To maximise battery life, it is important not to discharge it below 80% capacity, thus the difference of 0.3volts means the AGM battery is only charged up to 90-95%. Which is fine if you keep it hooked up often. The recondition mode will break down the electrolyte (You can literally hear the battery bubble), so I wouldn't use it more than once a year. Ctek chargers are awesome, but they have to be matched to the battery type. GEL and Lithium batteries in newer BMWs have different charging characteristics too.

Neo the One It's hard not to discharge any battery below 80% capacity in real life condition surely unless like you say its always plugged in. I usually have mine plugged in but there was period of around 28 days left undriven and unplugged where I got a low battery warning (on my phone), it's 6 years old and going down so low I wonder if I have damaged it. Either way I think the battery is pretty old anyway. And I don't think mine is a AGM.

If the car is working properly, it shouldn't discharge below 80%, as it goes into low power "sleep" mode. That small battery is really there to start the car only, not to power accessories. 6 years is pretty good for a battery, if a recondition charge does not fix it, you may need to topup the electrolyte (impossible with sealed batteries), replace the battery or risk getting stranded. The car's alternator will work much harder trying to recharge a weak battery too, so rather than risk burning an expensive alternator, i'd recommend changing the battery.

Slow flake or the AGM mode if it’s the newer model. But on older ones. The snowflake = AGM mode (14.4v). Don’t use the recondition mode!

Thanks for your info

@@uu-bj8tf No worries. 😃

The cig port is disabled when the ignition isn’t on. I guess that means the Porsche has a direct live connection to the battery at all times

Hi mate. It entirely depends. It is possible to take that long. Depending on level of charge and battery age. Very rough estimate. Eg If it’s flat, divide the amp hour rating on your battery by 5 to give you a rough indicating on charging time.

@@JoeLamOfficial how do i find the amp

It’ll say on the battery if you look or search online for your model and see what battery it comes with. Usually says something like 60Ah or something for middle size cars. But entirely depends on your model.

@@JoeLamOfficial alright thanks and does stage 4 take a long time? Or it just depend on the battery

Also depends. But the later stages takes the longest to be honest as it slowly finishes off the charging. It’s normal for it to take some time.

They changed the label from snowflake to AGM, but I believe the voltage and program is the same at the end.

Hi there. It’s likely the battery is faulty and can’t be charged. That’s the reason why it might get stuck at certain stages. It auto checks if it passes before moving on to next step. How old is the battery? Has it been completely drained (ie. damaged)?