BMW X1 U11
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12-31-2023LAST POST
05-27-2023
is the battery under the X1's bonnet a regular battery or one of those AGM batteries?

was looking for a battery charger/maintainer that trickle charges it... some of them have switches for choosing between regular and AGM batteries... so I'm wondering which type of battery the X1 has? Thanks!
05-27-2023
The official BMW charger (made by CTek) treats all lead and calcium batteries the same. It has mode options for motorcycle, car and Li-Ion(M car) batteries.

It is very similar to the CTek MXS 5.0 charger. The CTek has an AGM mode (14.7v) whereas the BMW charger has a Li-Ion mode.

For trickle charging I doubt that it matters all that much whether an AGM battery is charged at 14.4 or 14.7 volts.
05-27-2023
SpaceSilverX1 wrote
is the battery under the X1's bonnet a regular battery or one of those AGM batteries?

was looking for a battery charger/maintainer that trickle charges it... some of them have switches for choosing between regular and AGM batteries... so I'm wondering which type of battery the X1 has? Thanks!
All newer BMW's are agm
12-29-2023
AGM
12-30-2023
Isn't it in the trunk? Boot for the EUs
12-30-2023
DestinationMoon! wrote
Isn't it in the trunk? Boot for the EUs
No, it’s in the front near the firewall
12-30-2023
FlashMonkey929 wrote
No, it’s in the front near the firewall
Lol! DOH

I just assumed it was in the back like both of the other Beemers we've owned
especially since it has charging and jumping terminals away from the battery
12-30-2023
DestinationMoon! wrote
Lol! DOH

I just assumed it was in the back like both of the other Beemers we've owned
especially since it has charging and jumping terminals away from the battery
I had assumed so too when I first got the car, but I guess because it shares the platform with Mini it’s also got similar battery placement.
12-30-2023
FlashMonkey929 wrote
I had assumed so too when I first got the car, but I guess because it shares the platform with Mini it’s also got similar battery placement.
Now that I know where it's at, it looks like a real PIA to swap out.

There are some fasteners- securing the nearby plastic that I'm unsure how to release
12-30-2023
KosticKen wrote
Hopefully they haven't changed it to make it more difficult (so only they can do it...at a price!) as the charging/regeneration profile (and probably electronics/alternator) is radically different if MHT (or PHEV?) and I presume the MHT Battery has to be registered as well.

I have asked before and got no replies. Does the PHEV still have a standard Lead/Calcium Battery?
I think from what has been mentioned before it has a battery to start the engine separate to the EV batteries on a PHEV yes I believe so. It gets charged / conditions when the EV battery gets charged, all the electronics in there car go active when the car is charged.
12-30-2023
Good luck getting at that battery - I’m assuming that’s it under the big red knob at the rear of the engine compartment! Photo from my30e PHEV.
An image attached to this post, provided by the poster
12-30-2023
KosticKen wrote
I have just been reading about Lead/Calcium batteries.
Having seen a significant number of U11-Battery Failures on this forum I have read that Lead/Calcium batteries are supposed to be more resilient than previous Lead-Acid/Antimony batteries at normal ambient temperature but require charging at a higher voltage (>15v). Under charging (i.e. lower voltage) can significantly reduce their life.

10 minutes after writing the above the following appeared.

https://u11.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=30770799
With all the reports of battery issues I've been monitoring the battery voltage pretty consistently with a cigarette phone charger that has a display.
The voltage always seems lower than what you'd expect. It drops 0.3v overnight which seems like a lot. Going from 12.5v to 12.2.

The car also never has dropped below 14.7v while driving. Usually it's at 14.8 or 14.9.
Higher than any bulk rate I've ever seen before.

It was still at 14.7 , even after an hours drive with the battery having been charged fully the day before.
And was still at 14.7 for the hour drive home a few hours later. I have to look into this new battery chemistry, wasn't aware of it before
12-30-2023
All this looks rather scary, especially promoting the use of 'End Cutters". In reality it is a relatively easy task to remove the trim from the windscreen area of the engine bay, starting by pulling up the rubber seal behind the red positive battery terminal. In reality, if it's all well, with a voltage meter showing around 14.7v after a reasonable drive, there's no reason the fiddle around accessing the battery (which, as indicated earlier, will almost certainly be an AGM type). I've seen mine (2 A/T U06) and it is a Varta, but that was out of curiosity and no more, so I won't bother again. I also have a CTek charger which I used of my previous F48 during lockdown without any issues. A search on YouTube will probably show how to get at the battery but, as I suggest, if all's well, leave it alone! By the way, it is a bit of a fiddle getting the trim reinstalled at the base of the windscreen, which is another thing that would put me off. To attach a trickle charger, follow the instructions in your owners handbook.
Addition: Just checked my battery voltage after moving it out from my unheated garage onto driveway (which is at 6c/42.8f) and voltmeter shows 12.2v. Nothing of concern there.
12-31-2023
My understanding is that the battery should be near 12.7 volts after a full charge (and the surface charnge dissipated). It takes a higher than normal voltage to charge these batteries Around 14.8v, some sites say over 15.5v, which seems too high based on my experience with other AGMs and Oddesy batteries. The lead - calcium plates aren't new tech from what I'm reading. I've not heard of it before but apparently it's been around for 20 years.

Whatever the case, the battery in my car never seems to stay at 12.7 volts and falls to 12.2 or 12.3 rapidly. I guess time will tell if it's ok
12-31-2023
DestinationMoon! wrote
With all the reports of battery issues I've been monitoring the battery voltage pretty consistently with a cigarette phone charger that has a display.
What kind did you get? Amazon? Does it appear to be an accurate reading?
12-31-2023
COOLGREANY wrote
What kind did you get? Amazon? Does it appear to be an accurate reading?
I've been using this Ancel BA101 battery tester for a couple of years. My other two cars are rarely driven and this battery tester is pretty accurate for testing them.(Mercedes 100Ah group 49 battery and Optima YellowTop battery)

It was around $50 from Amazon back then.

like this one in the pics below:
An image attached to this post, provided by the posterAn image attached to this post, provided by the poster
12-31-2023
SpaceSilver.X1 wrote
I've been using this Ancel BA101 battery tester
Thanks but I'm not interested in a battery tester. I'm asking the OP for info on the cigarette phone charger/display they are using.
12-31-2023
COOLGREANY wrote
What kind did you get? Amazon? Does it appear to be an accurate reading?
I got this one from Amazon. Seems to work OK.
An image attached to this post, provided by the poster
12-31-2023
RNorb wrote
I got this one from Amazon. Seems to work OK.
Thanks. Didn't want one too bulky so glad to hear this one works.
12-31-2023
COOLGREANY wrote
Thanks but I'm not interested in a battery tester. I'm asking the OP for info on the cigarette phone charger/display they are using.
There's a slew of them on Amazon. I can't vouch for accuracy but one of the 3, I own is close. I just tested them and 2 read at 11.9 and one read 12.3v. my volt meter that I trust, read 12.26.
If you get one, test it against a real volt meter. Then you can add or subtract the difference and have a good idea what the voltage actually is.

At 12.26 I again connected my Amazon-China, 7 stage, 10 amp charger.
It starts at 13 volts, 10 amps, but quickly ramped to 14.6v. and the amperage quickly dropped from 10 to 8 in about 5 minutes. It's cold in the garage about freezing and the charger was in winter mode automatically. Seeing that it wasn't going to take a lot of current for a long time, I stopped the charge.

Either the battery is defective - there seemed to be many reports of bad batteries early in the X1 production. Or this battery when cold will not hold 12.7v for long.
I have no idea why it should drop so quickly but it is.

Id not recommend charging above 15 volts without some recommendation from BMW or Varta (one BMW battery supplier) to do so. These fully sealed batteries have built in gas reclaiming systems. If charged incorrectly too much gas can be generated, overwhelming the battery and badly damaging it.

It sucks you can't actually see the battery. One sign of damage is a swollen case. Without being able to see it at all, seems like a real potential problem. I don't understand why they did this... Maybe to control heating in the summer?
12-31-2023
DestinationMoon! wrote
It sucks you can't actually see the battery. One sign of damage is a swollen case. Without being able to see it at all, seems like a real potential problem. I don't understand why they did this... Maybe to control heating in the summer?
Thanks and I agree. Being able to see the battery can head off some potential issues such as corrosion on the terminals.