[RokX]

Hey all, well long story short. I have been in the hospital for over 2 months and hopefully will be getting out here shortly. I told my sister while I'm gone to take my 335 out of my garage for a short spin every once in a while to keep the battery charged and whatnot. Well, apparently she hasn't been doing it as often as it needs since she calls me today and says that the battery was dead. She couldn't unlock the car or anything so I had to talk her through how to use the manual key to get in the car. I told her to try starting it, but nothing.

First problem, I am unable to deal with the car directly since I am in the hospital, so I have to have friends/family deal with it. Secondly, the car has a Procede so I really don't want to have it taken to the dealer without removing it.

Pardon my ignorance (and not to mention I'm on a couple vicadin right now....hahaha ), because I haven't ever had an issue with the battery on this car or my e90 330 I had before. Can't I just have them go and buy a new battery?

What kind do you recommend if that matters?

Thanks all, hopefully this will get resolved because I would REALLY like to be able to drive my car home when I can finally get the hell out of here..........

[majin ssj eric]

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to just replace the battery. Being mounted in the trunk might give them a bit of a surprise, but I think its still just a straight forward swap....

[e46e92love]

Originally Posted by RokX

Hey all, well long story short. I have been in the hospital for over 2 months and hopefully will be getting out here shortly. I told my sister while I'm gone to take my 335 out of my garage for a short spin every once in a while to keep the battery charged and whatnot. Well, apparently she hasn't been doing it as often as it needs since she calls me today and says that the battery was dead. She couldn't unlock the car or anything so I had to talk her through how to use the manual key to get in the car. I told her to try starting it, but nothing.

First problem, I am unable to deal with the car directly since I am in the hospital, so I have to have friends/family deal with it. Secondly, the car has a Procede so I really don't want to have it taken to the dealer without removing it.

Pardon my ignorance (and not to mention I'm on a couple vicadin right now....hahaha ), because I haven't ever had an issue with the battery on this car or my e90 330 I had before. Can't I just have them go and buy a new battery?

What kind do you recommend if that matters?

Thanks all, hopefully this will get resolved because I would REALLY like to be able to drive my car home when I can finally get the hell out of here..........

There is a terminal in the engine pay so that you can hook up jumper cables to the car, then just hook the other end of the cable to something metal in the engine bay as the ground. If the car is able to be jumped tell someone to let it run for about 20 minutes or so after being jumped and then take it for a drive for a while (battery charges better while driving).

If it is so dead they can't jump her get a tow truck to come because many have chargers that can jump a completely dead battery as long as the battery is still good, which your should be. Draining a battery thats new shouldn't kill it.

[khoda355]

no dont just get a charger and charge it! i di the same thing, i got the car when i was 15 and we whent on a trip and than when i came back couldnt start it, just tell her to pop the hood and charge the battery, rather than going out and buying a new one charger is best, i got it from a friend, works grate! + u can just leave it on charge untill u get back? keep it nice and charged! hope this helped!

khoda

[JoeClothing]

yup, needs a good jump, let it run for a bit and have someone drive it around.

[pacman]

call bmw road side assistance.... they will send someone like AAA to ur place (no charge) and have them charge it for u... nothing to worry abt

[LEDZEP]

Since the battery is already dead, and you think that you'll be getting out soon - why bother. Seriously... just wait and call roadside assistance to give you a jump, and then take it for a long drive to fully charge.

Hope you are better and out soon.

[Neurorad]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

Since the battery is already dead, and you think that you'll be getting out soon - why bother. Seriously... just wait and call roadside assistance to give you a jump, and then take it for a long drive to fully charge.

Hope you are better and out soon.

+1, no need to worry about it. Just do it when you get home. What's the point in getting it started before you're home? Others will just drive it. The only reason you want to get it started is so that the battery won't drain, and now it's already dead.

[rzm3]

get a local mechanic...

[T-MC-G]

Good luck man! What were you in the hospital with for 2 months???

[Grumpa72]

Glad to hear you are getting out the hospital soon. I wouldn't jump a completely dead battery with a set of cables because it then puts a severe strain on the alternator. Your best bet is to put a charger on it, hopefully one with logic built into it, and then charge your battery for 5-6 hours. Fwiw, alternators are not designed to bring a dead battery back to life and fully charge it. Chargers are.

Btw, I laughed out loud when I read that you had to walk your sister through using the key. Reminds me of a story my neighbor told me. He was standing outside of a national chain for auto parts and the young lady was explaining that her car was locked and the remote was dead. She couldn't get into her car. The young man behind the counter took the remote and pressed this button and that button to no avail. He then suggested that she call the dealer or a locksmith. Just then my friend reached over, borrowed the KEYS and unlocked the car. He walked away, shaking his head!

[Sparky66]

Word of advice, don't let the car sit in one spot for way too long. You'll turn your tires square and they will flat bottom. I know because it happen to a friend of mine. Had to replace two of the tires as they created a shimmer thru the steering wheel.

[bronco]

Have them jump your battery and drive the car for about 30 min. with the RPM above 2500-3000 that should be enought for the alternator to put back some charge.

[fizzle]

or get a battery tender. but yea like everyone said, just let it be and worry about it later. its not completely dead, so you can recharge it. sucks tho you might have to reprogram everything, like radio blah blah.

[TambourineMan]

How can a battery go dead in just two months? It can't be that old - he has a 335. Do BMWs have a lot of electronics that run even when the car is turned off?

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by TambourineMan

How can a battery go dead in just two months? It can't be that old - he has a 335. Do BMWs have a lot of electronics that run even when the car is turned off?

That is weird...since we assume your sister ran it at least once or more...so it has not been 2 months...
I have been on business trips for 4 weeks before leaving the car in the garage with no one touching it and had no issues.
Before, I left my Honda in the garage for 1.5 months while in Europe and came back and it started no problems...
Why would it drain so much and so fast?

[trick50]

Originally Posted by RokX

Hey all, well long story short. I have been in the hospital for over 2 months and hopefully will be getting out here shortly. I told my sister while I'm gone to take my 335 out of my garage for a short spin every once in a while to keep the battery charged and whatnot. Well, apparently she hasn't been doing it as often as it needs since she calls me today and says that the battery was dead. She couldn't unlock the car or anything so I had to talk her through how to use the manual key to get in the car. I told her to try starting it, but nothing.

First problem, I am unable to deal with the car directly since I am in the hospital, so I have to have friends/family deal with it. Secondly, the car has a Procede so I really don't want to have it taken to the dealer without removing it.

Pardon my ignorance (and not to mention I'm on a couple vicadin right now....hahaha ), because I haven't ever had an issue with the battery on this car or my e90 330 I had before. Can't I just have them go and buy a new battery?

What kind do you recommend if that matters?

Thanks all, hopefully this will get resolved because I would REALLY like to be able to drive my car home when I can finally get the hell out of here..........

why would you have to replace the battery just jump it or have them put a charger on it. Should be fine.

On a side note: 2 months in the hospital? Must be serious I hope you are okay. Don't worry about the car when you get out of the hospital charge the battery or just jump it and take it for a nice ride to let the alternator recharge it.
You should be ok...but I don't think there is anything urgent about it especially since you are going to be getting out of the hospital soon.

Good Luck
Lou

[txusa03]

I think your sista is taking advantage of you while you are still high on vicadin and not tell you the truth on why the bat dies

get well soon!

[f30Seth]

Maybe The Battery Isn't Dead....

[catie]

My 328i sat for some time, and the battery went dead - so dead it couldn't be revived. Charging it worked for a very limited time - like maybe a day. So yes, I can see where you might have a weak battery that may work after charging - or not. If it's really toast, I would think BMW would replace it if you take it to the dealer. If you don't want to take it to the dealer, try a salvage yard. FWIW, an X3 battery will work, and it has more CCA. Good luck and get well!

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

Call BMW assist. They'll send a tow truck out and he'll start it right up.

[RokX]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah its not a HUGE deal right now, but just one of those little PITA things. A friend of mine has a battery tender so I'll have him hook that up and see how things go.

As for the hospital thing, thank God its almost over. I came in for surgery Nov 7th for a bone infection and to fix a pressure sore (I am a paraplegic). The bad thing is with that you can't apply ANY pressure to the surgery area until it is healed. So I had to lay in a sand/air bed for 8+ weeks. The VA sucks ass, worst hospital food ever (thank God for takeout and delivery ) no internet, barely a phone for local calls, and 10 channels on the tv with two of those being security cameras overlooking the parking garage. I don't know how I haven't gone insane. /end rant:. Luckily I have my laptop and have an air card for internet. Then I brought one of my LCD tvs from home with my Xbox 360. I knew I was going to be here for a while and came prepared.

And also I've been spending too much time buying mods for my car haha. Damn mod bug.........

Painted Reflectors
Black Kidney Grilles (I'm going to paint the lower mesh myself)
Aero Lip
iForged Daytonas in matte black, 19x8 19x10
Euro headlight switch for rear fogs
Rear License Plate LEDs
Procede V2 upgrade
UR HFC downpipes
UR Exhaust

Did I mention I can't wait to get the hell out of this place and go home?