Battery Charge Question

[Garett E.]

My E39 has been garaged for a month. I decided to take it out for a spin, turned the key, and ... click click.

Battery is low, not dead (I still have dome lights etc...). So I go out and buy a battery charger. Instructions say to put the positive clamp on the positive terminal of the battery, and clamp the other clamp onto a piece of the chassis. Well, if the battery were in the front of the car, that would be a piece of cake. What do I do given that the battery's in the trunk?

Where do people generally attach the negative clamp, and what's wrong with just attaching it to the negative terminal of the battery.

I apologize in advance if this is so stupid as to be obvious. Thanks.

[NLR]

I think the idea of not attaching the negative clamp directly to the battery has something to do with a possible spark igniting the hydrogen gas that is produced while a battery is charging, therefore its safer to have the negative clamp further away from the battery.

My suggestion to you would be to remove the battery from the vehicle and then charge it. This would be the proper way to do it anyhow. You really shouldn't keep the battery in the vehicle while charging. Just remove it from the car and proceed to hook the charger clamps to the battery and go from there.

[HoJo]

Really no need to take it out of the vehicle. The battery is vented outside the trunk via a hose. Any piece of metal will do, although if it's painted you may have to scratch it a bit with the clamp to get a good connection.

You could also charge from the front. There is a positive and Negative terminal for just this occasion under the hood. The positve terminal will have a plastic case around it with a big red + and the negative terminal will just be a terminal bolted to the body near the other one.

[Kramer]

Disconnect your battery from the car before charging it. You can leave it in the car. Just disconnect it, and use the pos and neg posts for connections.

[Garett E.]

Thanks for the replies. Next time I'll be sure to look under the HOOD!

I wish my owner's manual would have mentioned this. Seems pretty fundamental.

[Quake]

Do 5s also have radio codes like the 3s? I have to get the code from the dealer then if that''s the case. Or is there any other way?