BMW and M Power Owners

Man of Honour
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How long could I reasonably expect to leave my M3 in the garage before the battery starts having issues? They have some super expensive battery fitted and I was curious if they last longer than normal ones without having to be put on a trickle charger.
 
Soldato
Soldato
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How long could I reasonably expect to leave my M3 in the garage before the battery starts having issues? They have some super expensive battery fitted and I was curious if they last longer than normal ones without having to be put on a trickle charger.
A reasonable trickle charger is literally £20, unless you have no power to the garage?
 
Soldato
Soldato
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I have power and a trickle charger, I was just curious.
Oh right no idea then to be honest. How old is the car?

Completely different car but I had a mk7 golf diesel on my drive for about 5 months, it didn't start but had plenty of juice in the battery for ancillaries lights central locking etc
 
Man of Honour
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Oh right no idea then to be honest. How old is the car?
It's a late 2018. I'll most likely SORN it at the end of November. I sometimes put it in thinking I'll drive it within a few days and never do due to the weather being crap or what not. It's times like that where I know I should hook it up to power but always forget.
 
Soldato
Soldato
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It's a late 2018. I'll most likely SORN it at the end of November. I sometimes put it in thinking I'll drive it within a few days and never do due to the weather being crap or what not. It's times like that where I know I should hook it up to power but always forget.
Would not be surprised if it was fine for 3-4 months and start back up again particularly if you are able to turn stuff like interior monitoring off on the alarm
 
Soldato
Soldato
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What about optional extras, is there anything that is a must?:)
When I looked at getting one

Folding mirrors if that's your thing
Heated seats
HK Sound
Adaptive suspension (very high on the list for me)
Pro nav (also very high)
The auto box is also very good as you would expect

There's also stuff like luggage seperating net which gives you anchor points in the roof, but that's really rarely specced
 
Man of Honour
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What about optional extras, is there anything that is a must?:)

Cruise control (I can't believe this is not standard!!) and professional navigation. There are various other nice to haves, but make those two the baseline and anything else is a bonus really. The better stereo is good but is quite common too.

Contrary to others I am not a fan of BMW Adaptive Suspension unless its the full Adaptive Drive system which you can't get on the 1 Series. I never find it really does offer the best of all worlds, the passive M Sport suspension always seems the best bet. Plus if its a car you'll keep a while, much less expensive to replace bits on.
 
Caporegime
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How long could I reasonably expect to leave my M3 in the garage before the battery starts having issues? They have some super expensive battery fitted and I was curious if they last longer than normal ones without having to be put on a trickle charger.
They are lithium ion so yes. But ctek do a special charger.
 
Soldato
Soldato
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Cruise control (I can't believe this is not standard!!) and professional navigation. There are various other nice to haves, but make those two the baseline and anything else is a bonus really. The better stereo is good but is quite common too.
Problem is on M140i I think "shadow edition" adds cruise control, HK sound (and rear park sensors?) which are all nice to have as well as sun protection glass and other exterior darkening chrome delete smoked lights tat
 
Man of Honour
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I had an M140 Shadow Edition, if I had one again I think I would want the adaptive suspension. The standard stuff is alright, but I found it fussy and jittery on rough roads. Electric memory seats are a must if you have more than one driver, heated seats great, also I would recommend the MP LSD or similar.

They are lithium ion so yes. But ctek do a special charger.
I have a charger suitable for the battery already. It was curiosity more than anything.
 
Caporegime
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Oh right. Well mine started first turn after 6 months which doesn’t mean much other than the bmw ibs seems to shut everything off when it’s sat for long periods.

You could always just not plug in the trickle charger and find out yourself
 
Soldato
Joined
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5,683
Great, essentially if it's sat for a few weeks maybe up to a month without being hooked up to the mains I shouldn't really worry about it.
Definitely no problem once off, but if you leave it then barely drive it before you leave it again then eventually it is going to get low and a trickle charge would help.
 
Commissario
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18 Oct 2002
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Down under mate!
Cruise control (I can't believe this is not standard!!) and professional navigation. There are various other nice to haves, but make those two the baseline and anything else is a bonus really. The better stereo is good but is quite common too.

Contrary to others I am not a fan of BMW Adaptive Suspension unless its the full Adaptive Drive system which you can't get on the 1 Series. I never find it really does offer the best of all worlds, the passive M Sport suspension always seems the best bet. Plus if its a car you'll keep a while, much less expensive to replace bits on.

Quite nicely specced.
 
Soldato
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North Beds
Cruise control (I can't believe this is not standard!!) and professional navigation. There are various other nice to haves, but make those two the baseline and anything else is a bonus really. The better stereo is good but is quite common too.

Contrary to others I am not a fan of BMW Adaptive Suspension unless its the full Adaptive Drive system which you can't get on the 1 Series. I never find it really does offer the best of all worlds, the passive M Sport suspension always seems the best bet. Plus if its a car you'll keep a while, much less expensive to replace bits on.

for the road the adaptive is absolutely great, really does offer the best of both worlds and feels far more settled on bumpy surfaces even in sport. On track, it could be firmer...at least on the f36.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
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159,596
Quite nicely specced.

It is, it also doesn't have the awful Shadow Edition wheels either it has the nicer standard ones.

Just need to get rid of those stupid side skirt stickers and it's a nice example.

However it does appear to be £26,000 for a 2011-2019 shape 1 series and consequently I'd rather get the bus than hand over 26 grand and get one of those. Seriously, if that's what they cost then run away. They are great cars but 26k for a 3 year old one?! You have a choice as to whether you participate in the current silly used car market.
 
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