Paid my 135is a visit

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 01/14/2015 at 23:21 • Filed to: None

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I swung by my storage unit today to drop off the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I took off my Grand Cherokee and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This is purely to avoid my gf nagging me about a stack of tires taking up space in the garage.

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I needed to move the BMW farther back into the storage unit to make room for the tires. It cranked up, but didn't seem too happy about it. So I popped the hood and hooked up my battery jump box while I unloaded the tires from the Jeep, to maybe give it a little extra juice. Who knows if it did anything in the 10 minutes I had it hooked up.

(The battery's actually in the trunk. There are jump terminals under the hood—positive near the firewall and negative on the side. I hooked up the box and let it hang out on the air box.)

There's plenty of tread left on the Forteras, and I'm planning to sell them on craigslist. I'll pop back over there this weekend to take some good pics of them when it's light out.

I also think that I'm going to check in on the BMW more frequently. I'm debating whether to do something like when I go to the gym, hit the storage unit first, hook up the jump box, close up the unit, and return after the gym to unhook the jump box.

Then again...I don't know if leaving it hooked up like that while unattended is the best idea.

EDIT: I can't really take the battery out, for a few reasons.

1. It's in the trunk, the trunk is opened only by an electronic switch, and there's no backup key cylinder for the trunk.

2. BMW has some silly battery registration process where the car gets finicky when you hook up a new battery, or one that's been unhooked for a while. The registration process needs to be done by the dealer, and is an hour of labor.

Also, no power outlets in the storage unit to hook up a battery tender. That was the case with all of the storage places in town.

bob and john > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:24

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just take the battery out?

Bandit > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:26

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Unhook the battery, that's the best thing to do. I did that to my Trans Am when I put it in storage and it never failed to start whenever I hooked the battery up

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:31

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Don't take the battery out! Newer BMWs really don't like that.

I leave the tender on my 1M connected to a fused outlet, and the tender itself is fused. This is the new procedure after I had a hard start issue - possibly similar to what you had.

Textured Soy Protein > Bandit 01/14/2015 at 23:31

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I've been hesitant to disconnect the battery because BMW has some overly complicated battery registration procedure for when you install a new battery. Something about syncing it up to the car because the car does some weird metering of battery charge or some such nonsense. Which of course has to be done by a dealer and is expensive.

That said, I'll probably post on a BMW forum to see if it needs to be registered if you just unhook the battery.

Edit: also, the battery's in the trunk and there's no keyhole on the trunk. Just an electric release. So I'd have to either leave the trunk open, or flip the seats down, crawl into the trunk and pop the kidnapper release to then open the trunk and put the battery back in.

Bandit > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:34

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Now that's silly!

Battery Tender Unnecessary > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:34

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Gotta love putting the battery behind an electrically actuated lock.

XJDano > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:36

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Is there a way to put a battery tender on the battery or terminals? Storage unit have power?

Textured Soy Protein > rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S 01/14/2015 at 23:36

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That was my suspicion.

I'd leave a tender on it if I could, but there's no electrical outlets in the storage unit.

Textured Soy Protein > XJDano 01/14/2015 at 23:37

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No power in the storage unit, unfortunately.

Textured Soy Protein > bob and john 01/14/2015 at 23:37

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I haven't, because reasons .

XJDano > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:38

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Can you hack into a light, or are they motion sensor triggered?

Textured Soy Protein > XJDano 01/14/2015 at 23:41

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There aren't any lights in the unit.

bob and john > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:43

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ahhhhhh. got it.


dont leave it hooked up. do you have a battery tender?

 V8 Rustler > Textured Soy Protein 01/14/2015 at 23:46

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2.

BMW has some silly battery registration process where the car gets finicky when you hook up a new battery, or one that's been unhooked for a while. The registration process needs to be done by the dealer, and is an hour of labor.

I just called the dealer when my battery died and have them replace it and code it. I just don't want to have to deal with german electronic gremlins. My sister had a BMW that they changed the battery without coding it and it has just been an electrical mess.

Textured Soy Protein > bob and john 01/14/2015 at 23:47

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Haven't bought a battery tender, because there's no power outlets in the storage unit.

Svend > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:02

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I'd happily babysit her while you were at the gym if I could please clean the engine bay. I'm getting the shakes looking at it.

Textured Soy Protein > Svend 01/15/2015 at 00:06

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Eh, it's just some dust on the black plastic bits. The lighting makes it look worse than it is. 5 minutes with some Simple Green and a wet rag and it'll look good as new.

The engine bay in my Jeep however, is spotless .

(This pic is about a month ago and a small amount of winter crud has accumulated under there since then, but it still looks close to this.)

Svend > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:07

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Cool. I get twitchy when I see any dirt on a car. Sad I know but I love detailing.

Textured Soy Protein > Svend 01/15/2015 at 00:10

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I'm a patient guy in general but detailing cars on a regular basis requires attainment of a higher plane of patience than I currently exist on.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:14

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Dear lord this makes me glad I don't have to deal with winter storage. I'll happily walk out to my 135 in the morning and give it the beans on the way to work!

Svend > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:16

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Oh man. Give me eight or ten hours and a car and I'll be like a child on christmas day.

Textured Soy Protein > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 01/15/2015 at 00:30

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It's all because I have a 1-car garage in my townhouse, and 3 total cars (my 135is & Grand Cherokee + gf's Civic).

If we had a 2-car garage, I'd just leave the BMW inside all winter, she'd have her space, and my Jeep would stay outside.

Before I moved in with my gf, I had an apartment with 1 indoor parking space and plenty of outdoor parking. I left my Jeep outside. It was fine. I don't care too much about my winter car staying outside in the winter.

Now I live with her and we have a 1-car garage and plenty of outdoor parking. We alternate each week in the garage. So I didn't think it was fair to monopolize the garage all winter with a car that wasn't being driven, such that both her Civic and my Jeep had to be parked outside full-time.

I couldn't find a self-storage place with power outlets in the units. If I could, I'd just hook up a battery tender. Or if the car I were storing didn't have so much nonsense associated with such a simple thing like a battery, it also would be no issue.

But even with paying for a storage unit for a few months a year, the townhouse is super cheap and otherwise totally fine and nice. Well, we could do with a bit bigger kitchen, but we're happy here.

AM3R shamefully returns > Svend 01/15/2015 at 00:32

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I feel your pain. Seeing my car dirty drives me crazy, specifically my interior.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:37

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I'm currently at 3 cars + my fiance's car and one garage space. Attempting to shed cars, but only two of the four are really competing for garage space. Would drive me nuts to live like this long-term, though, your plight is understood.

XJDano > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:37

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Last suggestion, then I give up.

Solar trickle charger, can you fix it to exterior of door that it'll get sunlight and work? Do you trust any of the other jackasses that have their crap in storage not to steal it?

Svend > AM3R shamefully returns 01/15/2015 at 00:37

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With the weather the way it is I'm trying to get by with buying stuff.

Had two buckets, grit guards and some shampoo delivered today and just ordered some glass cloths and shampoo sealer.

Textured Soy Protein > XJDano 01/15/2015 at 00:45

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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Interesting idea.

The 12v outlets in the car are switched with the ignition, so I'd need to get one that has battery clamps.

It would need to be an outdoor one, if such a thing exists, because of all the snow.

I'm not sure how exactly I'd mount the solar panel outside the storage unit, and run a wire inside. I can't just leave the panel on the ground because the snow removal service comes through the alleys between the storage units, and snow gets plowed up against the bottoms of the doors.

Wacko > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:47

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I have general grabbers AT2 on my SX4, but mine don't have the snowflake.

XJDano > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:52

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Wire hanger a big ass S hook to go over door, remove when you get there, slide flush the mounts, open door.

The panel may come with disconnects if not buy some at radio shack, or battery tender has extension & alligator clips for battery.

I wouldn't hook through 12v socket, hook directly to better or posts acces under hood.

I know about it because one of my GTIs came with it because it has some draw that drains battery.

Textured Soy Protein > Wacko 01/15/2015 at 00:55

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Certain sizes of the AT2 don't have the mountain-snowflake. The sizes on this list that say Not Rated For Severe Snow lack the snowflake. I've got 245/75-17 which do have the mountain-snowflake.

Textured Soy Protein > XJDano 01/15/2015 at 00:58

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I'm not quite sure I follow you. Do you mean somehow stick a big hook on the top of the garage door, where the hook sticks out toward the outside, and then hang the solar panel on the hook?

XJDano > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:58

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Sunforce 50013 1-Watt Motorcycle and Powersports Solar Battery Charger https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D6GYLO/…

Something, that looks like it could stay outside?

XJDano > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 00:59

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precisely. Unless it's steel and can put magnets on it

XJDano > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 01:00

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You may have to bend up some sheet metal. Like ductwork thickness

BKRM3 > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 07:28

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I also have the grabber AT2s on my truck. Haven't tried them in deep snow yet but they seem great in a couple inches with slush. I think they're a capable tire.

I'm terrified of firing up my M3 this weekend. It's been sitting for a month with no battery tender. If I sense anything amiss I'm going to buy a tender immediately.

Tohru > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 10:19

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If I didn't know you already had storage insurance on it and such, I'd say to dig it out to come to Road America for autocross on Saturday.

Textured Soy Protein > Tohru 01/15/2015 at 10:23

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If it's one of those snowy autocross deals, I doubt I'd make it very far on the course with my summer tires. In the couple times I've attempted driving it in very small amounts of snow, it's been pretty worthless. It's got so little traction you can barely get it moving, let alone do a donut.

The Jeep might be fun though. It's got 3 LSDs—just like a Subaru STI.

Tohru > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 10:27

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There may or may not be snow, depending on the weather.

LBC is going to be there in the Cobalt. I'll be spectating since the truck would be rather underwhelming and the roommate's G is still on all-seasons.

Textured Soy Protein > Tohru 01/15/2015 at 10:29

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I probably couldn't make it up anyway. Since her dad died a couple weeks ago, my gf has been splitting time between home and her mom's in Burlington, to help out her mom. She's coming back on Saturday so I'd be a pretty bad bf if I left the same day. ;)

Tohru > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2015 at 10:40

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Fair enough. Gotta keep your significant other happy.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Textured Soy Protein 01/16/2015 at 17:59

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Battery registration depends on the model. My E85 Z4 doesn't have battery registration. Mine has something more insidious.

Transport mode.

If the V+Batt voltage drops below 11V, the computer goes into transport mode. That means no A/C, low fan speed only, various other calamaties.

I had my Z4 towed in to BMW of Sarasota, and I bought a new BMW battery from them. Installed it in their parking lot. And then asked them to have the shop foreman bring the ICOM unit out to clear transport mode.

Cost? Just the cost of the battery. As I didn't take up a service bay, and just needed 5 minutes to clear the computer with the ICOM unit, they did that for free.

Kevin Barrett > Svend 03/16/2015 at 04:14

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Want to come hang out with my 220,000 mile Mazda Protege5? I keep it in good mechanical repair, but my wife commutes with it, and I don't know if you've ever seen inside a nurse's car...

Svend > Kevin Barrett 03/16/2015 at 04:48

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Don't tempt me. I'm a sucker for a filthy car. I would happily clean three cars a week, unfortunately the stuff I use means the cars don't get dirty all that fast and don't take long to clean when they do. :(

I was a medic (ambulance tech) for nine years but we all always kept our vehicles spotless but I've known quite a few student nurses (lived with one) and have an idea how the cars get (three sets of shoes, two to four coats, various bags, etc... not to mention bottles and McDonalds wrappers everywhere). Lol.

Kevin Barrett > Svend 03/16/2015 at 10:40

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Well, we have to street park in Seattle, so there's a few less bags and coats, and a few more granola bar wrappers (those things are surprisingly sticky). By contrast, the only things loose in my 110,000 mile Miata are the plug end of a cassette adapter, and a road map to the Olympic Peninsula.

Svend > Kevin Barrett 03/16/2015 at 16:43

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Ye', we street park where I am. The shoe were usually under the drivers seat (two pairs) and a coat shoved into the footwell behind the passenger seat, the rest strewn across the boot like it was put in while escaping from someone. Lol. Still, I miss her. She wasn't so much a flat mate as a fully grown daughter. Lol.