Driving a 335i short distances harmful?

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

Just wanted to follow up here.

Had my SA look at the part number and it wasn't an AGM that they put in. He said he's only ever seen the part number suffix that indicates an AGM type battery on cars like the 650i maybe? So it's a regular type battery they put in our E9x's. Cold out so still using snowflake/AGM mode but will switch to regular mode when it warms up.

I can tell the difference between a fully charged and a weaker battery by the servo motor to pop the trunk. It's noticeably faster and higher pitched after fully charging the battery! It's slower and lower pitched when the battery is lower. I should dig out my old multimeter and put it across the jumpstart hookups in the engine bay so I have something a little bit more scientific.

I've been researching too and everyone is saying white/clear batteries are lead acid, black are AGM

The CTEK 7002 failed to make any significant difference after reconditioning my three year old battery. Dealer failed several times to fix the issue so I bought and fitted a new battery (bought from a local AutoZone). The rough running when cold has not reappeared and it drives great (only two days since the new battery so far but it seems cured)

Going forward with the car I'll use the CTEK when storing the car for extended periods (it's a 3rd car)

With hindsight I should have just put a new battery in weeks ago and bought any old trickle charger for use going forward. I hope to use the original battery for a solar power project and hopefully Epsom Salts + few more CTEK recondition runs will bring it back to significant life

Just mapped out my wife's commute and it's still only 4.7 miles. Not sure if the E70 has the same issue or not (didn't see any warning about frequent trips less than 10 miles), but decided to hook up the CTEK to hers too just in case.

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

I just had to get my battery replaced. Was no longer holding a charge, only 12,000 miles. Biggest problem is that my commute is a whopping one (1) mile, and try as I might to mix in some longer distance driving when possible it's just not enough to keep the battery charged. Not much I can do about my commute, and I'd rather have an hour to work out than having to drive my car around extra.

Steve,

Have you tried WALKING to work? Count it as part of your workout. Personally I wouldn't even think of turning over my engine to drive just a mile unless I was picking up something that is too heavy to carry home.

I've already got the car out in the morning anyways to make the kids daycare run. In the morning I usually go for a nice 9 mile loop around town just to have some fun and put some miles on the car, especially if the weather is nice and I can have the top down. I only go straight home in the evening. A 15 minute walk isn't good enough of a workout. A few times per week I'll drive home at lunch and go for a couple miles run, and sometimes take the long way back to the office again.

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

I've already got the car out in the morning anyways to make the kids daycare run. In the morning I usually go for a nice 9 mile loop around town just to have some fun and put some miles on the car, especially if the weather is nice and I can have the top down. I only go straight home in the evening. A 15 minute walk isn't good enough of a workout. A few times per week I'll drive home at lunch and go for a couple miles run, and sometimes take the long way back to the office again.

Prepare for a knock on your door from the "Unfavorable Driver Behavior" BMW Polizei. Shame on you!

Your battery is being "abused" according to BMW NA...THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES for your behavior. Check Nordic_Kats threads (she's free on bail).

I'm the original owner of my 335i (had it almost 6 years now). Since new I've had a <2mi commute to work. I know what you're gonna say, why don't I just ride a bike... I'm in outside sales so often times I leave the office and drive it out and about for longer distances but a lot of the time I don't. In all this time I've not noticed any strange behavior as a result of all these short trips to work on cold starts. The original battery lasted about 4 years until I started getting low battery warnings on the dashboard. As far as maintenance goes I've always done oil changes twice as often as BMW service requires.

I say don't worry about it.

Originally Posted by pointandgo

Prepare for a knock on your door from the "Unfavorable Driver Behavior" BMW Polizei. Shame on you!

Your battery is being "abused" according to BMW NA...THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES for your behavior. Check Nordic_Kats threads (she's free on bail).

My computer already "told on me" to my SA.

Anyways this CTEK is working out quite nicely.

I realized that the temperature never drops below the 41F threshold in my garage for the cold mode. Stays in the high-40's or about 50F and it's not an AGM type battery, so I just run it in the Normal mode in my garage now.

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

Anyways this CTEK is working out quite nicely.

I realized that the temperature never drops below the 41F threshold in my garage for the cold mode. Stays in the high-40's or about 50F and it's not an AGM type battery, so I just run it in the Normal mode in my garage now.

Nice colour E93!

I still have not registered my new battery but the wife's been driving the car this week. Her commute is ~10 miles virtually all highway. Putting the CTEK on yesterday took between 10 mins and an hour to re-charge so it really might be a short commute issue. Will try again after this full five day week coming up; it took a while to re-charge if I'd use the car a week on my 3.7 mile commute (100% surface roads with lots of lights).

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

I just had to get my battery replaced. Was no longer holding a charge, only 12,000 miles. Biggest problem is that my commute is a whopping one (1) mile, and try as I might to mix in some longer distance driving when possible it's just not enough to keep the battery charged. So a timely thread, was wondering if there were any recommended battery tenders/chargers. Will check those out and pick one up. Not much I can do about my commute, and I'd rather have an hour to work out than having to drive my car around extra.

[Asked and answered in posts 28 and 29. Next time I'll read the whole thread before responding.]

Originally Posted by mhw58

I have about a 4 mile commute to work. I sometimes ride my bike but in winter I drive my 335. I live in a moderate climate so the car is not that cold in the morning. My question is will this do any long term damage to the engine. I usually run some errands on the way home and drive longer to warm it up and it gets a good long drive on most weekends. Any precautions to take in the morning like not revving it high? Thanks for the info.

I would never rev high any engine when it's cold, and I don't mean freezing temperatures outside, but the engine being stopped over night. Short commutes will only prolong the life of your car and maintain it's value by not adding miles. But once in a while you should take it on a longer trip, preferably at highway speeds, otherwise I can't see how it would cause any damage.

I have a ~3 mile round trip to work. On the way to work its about 1 mile, way home 2 miles (theres a long loop around my work). I did this drive for 2+ years in my 07 335i, no issues. The battery went bad right before my 4yr/50k ran up (at around 38k miles) but 4 years in FL is not out of the norm to kill the battery. I always made sure to take a nice trip on weekends and let it see some highway though.