Where to measure battery voltage on X5?

Seems like an odd question but where should I use my multimeter when measuring the voltage of my battery? I tried the jumper locations under the hood and was about to fry my multimeter. I got a spark and the multimeter cables were hot. Should I go through the hassle of removing the spare tire in the trunk and directly use the battery outlets there? Thanks for any advice.

Originally Posted by bimmerworld

Seems like an odd question but where should I use my multimeter when measuring the voltage of my battery? I tried the jumper locations under the hood and was about to fry my multimeter. I got a spark and the multimeter cables were hot. Should I go through the hassle of removing the spare tire in the trunk and directly use the battery outlets there? Thanks for any advice.

NO!

I never had spark (rush current) testing voltage at charging terminal in engine bay.
You have either bad voltmeter or not in volt-measuring setting (my guess would be in current measurement setting), got it checked.

PS: volt-meter has high impedance so virtually no current flowing between measurement leads. amp-meter on the other hand, has low impedance in between leads.

My bad, you are right. My multimeter was on the amp side, rather than the volt side. Measured battery without sparks now :-) Thanks for the input!