[sennajensen]

Car battery died outside of my own state (MA) in Vermont. The car was sitting there for three weeks without being driven while family member was visiting. I would like to call AAA or my insurance roadside assist for a jump start but then I found the article down below which is leading me to rethink:

BMW With a Dead Battery | Stop and Tow Vehicle to Save Money

My hope is that you’ve found this posting before AAA, or other form of assistance, has come to rescue your BMW with a dead battery. I know you only have one hour to leave work, grab the kids from practice, and pick-up dinner, but stop and just have your BMW towed. DO NOT jump-start […]

independentmotorcars.com

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I have already had one baaaaaaad experience with BMW roadside assistance where my battery died in Vegas, they sent out a flat bed but the driver did not know how to put the X1 in neutral so he simply forced the issue and broke my shift which ended up causing 2500.00 in damages, and 3 weeks wait. I was lucky that BMW owned up to the mistake, quickly, and gave me a loaner and covered their 2500.00 damage.

The chances of that happening was small but it happened.

Is a car jump start by AAA or any other insurance roadside assist, pretty professional? Is there much more than a little risk of getting someone who has no clue how to handle a BMW jump start? I do know to tow the vehicle straight to the mechanics if the battery can't be jump started.

Any advice is appreciated

UPDATE:
I want to thank everyone who replied to this post, everyone was helpful...I decided to take jaye944's advice and purchase the NORCO GB70 to jump start the car without involving roadside assistance. NORCO got it up and running in 1 second. I learned a lot from this discussion.

 

[tex2670]

why on earth would you not have AAA jumpstart the car? it's a pretty straightforward thing - heck, you could have a good Samaritan do it. There's no such thing as a "BMW jump start" - it's like any other car.

I'd probably pass on them installing a new battery then and there, but I'd have them jumpstart the car in a heartbeat.

 

[digby]

Funny this came up

i have friend who jump started his X1 - 25d version from 2013 I think

doing so destroyed some electronic module which cost €€€€ to have fixed by BMW

 

[sennajensen]

Funny this came up i have friend who jump started his X1 - 25d version from 2013 I think doing so destroyed some electronic module which cost €€€€ to have fixed by BMW

why on earth would you not have AAA jumpstart the car? it's a pretty straightforward thing - heck, you could have a good Samaritan do it. There's no such thing as a "BMW jump start" - it's like any other car. I'd probably pass on them installing a new battery then and there, but I'd have them jumpstart the car in a heartbeat.

Thanks...I'm just nervous because the last driver was an official BMW roadside assister and that went all kinds of sideways...hopefully AAA will be much more professional.

 

[sennajensen]

why on earth would you not have AAA jumpstart the car? it's a pretty straightforward thing - heck, you could have a good Samaritan do it. There's no such thing as a "BMW jump start" - it's like any other car.

I'd probably pass on them installing a new battery then and there, but I'd have them jumpstart the car in a heartbeat.

Thanks...I'm just nervous because the last driver was an official BMW roadside assister and that went all kinds of sideways...hopefully AAA will be much more professional.

 

[sennajensen]

Funny this came up

i have friend who jump started his X1 - 25d version from 2013 I think

doing so destroyed some electronic module which cost €€€€ to have fixed by BMW

Thanks! That means it is not as easy as it looks ...I pray I don't land the newbie tech like I obviously did in Vegas.

 

[jaye944]

ok, there are a few things to consider, AAA / CAA have been known to make mistakes, DO YOU JUMP AT THE BATTERY OR JUMP TERMINALS
CAA tried at the jump terminal and then wanted to do the battery, I said get stuffed, you'll blow the modules, he didnt have a clue, so he said, ok we'll tow it, so I said fine,
had to wait for a tow truck, but did put a battery charger on, must have given it enough oomph, when the truck came I said, can you give it a try with JUMP LEADS not a battery pack, my baby started.

so in short, it's NOT a stupid question to ask OP, because there are some very retarded techs who thing a car is just a car and as we know a BMW is a BMW and not any old car

 

[jaye944]

BTW, depending on how DEAD your battery is AUTOMATIC jump packs may NOT be able to jump start, you need JUMP leads and a battey

 

[jaye944]

except NOCO's which have an override

 

[sennajensen]

ok, there are a few things to consider, AAA / CAA have been known to make mistakes, DO YOU JUMP AT THE BATTERY OR JUMP TERMINALS
CAA tried at the jump terminal and then wanted to do the battery, I said get stuffed, you'll blow the modules, he didnt have a clue, so he said, ok we'll tow it, so I said fine,
had to wait for a tow truck, but did put a battery charger on, must have given it enough oomph, when the truck came I said, can you give it a try with JUMP LEADS not a battery pack, my baby started.

so in short, it's NOT a stupid question to ask OP, because there are some very retarded techs who thing a car is just a car and as we know a BMW is a BMW and not any old car

Thank you for this answer!!! You're so lucky you have enough knowledge to catch a newbie tech who doesn't know what they are doing...So if I got what you are saying correct,
1. Tell them to jump at the battery and not the terminal? Is the terminal in the back of the trunk and the battery is at the front? I don't know the difference.
2. If they go for the terminal first, does that mean they do not know what they are doing and I should request they tow it?
3. Would they have a battery charger for me to put on while we wait or do I need to buy one and have it there?
4. Then after awhile we can try with JUMP LEADS?
5. Are you saying not to ever jump start with a battery pack?

 

[jaye944]

HI Senna, thanks for your awesome reply, (10 years exp with BMW, 5 with Porsches)

Basically BMW do things differently, most BMW's have a JUMP POINT in the engine bay, you jump from there always/
(not sure about non-IBS models) if you jump from the battery you break things.

In my case the tech tried a jump from the jump terminals and it didnt work, so said he wanted to go right from the battery, I told him NO, he still had a look, luckily there is a big red terminal on the battery so he couldnt.

So some battery packs are good for example the NOCO one I have, the problem with modern packs is they detect the battery voltage and will not even try and jump it, if it's under a certain voltage, so it fails, jumping from another BATTERY, doesnt have that effect and usually works.

My battery had damaged cells so I found out afterwards, putting it on an ordinary charger worked, BTW NEW battery chargers have the same digital circuitry so WONT charge a very dead battery.

Buy a NOCO, they totally rock, they have a defeat switch as well so will jump even the deadest battery.

BUT if you totally discharge a AGM battery it's now a $400 paperweight

Thank you for this answer!!! You're so lucky you have enough knowledge to catch a newbie tech who doesn't know what they are doing...So if I got what you are saying correct,
1. Tell them to jump at the battery and not the terminal? Is the terminal in the back of the trunk and the battery is at the front? I don't know the difference.
2. If they go for the terminal first, does that mean they do not know what they are doing and I should request they tow it?
3. Would they have a battery charger for me to put on while we wait or do I need to buy one and have it there?
4. Then after awhile we can try with JUMP LEADS?
5. Are you saying not to ever jump start with a battery pack?

 

[Glen E]

It’s true that if the AGM battery is flat dead it’s virtually impossible to jump, however you can bring it back from the dead, and then jump it. What you need to do is connect it -positive to positive negative negative -to a fully charged battery and let it equalize overnight. That will bring it up to 10 V or so, then you can jump it from there. I’ve done it on several batteries that are AGM’s.

 

[jaye944]

^ yes true, there are some tricks, but no you cant jump unless you bring it back

 

[jaye944]

I wish I knew that when I replaced my AGM... 400 bucks thank you very much

 

[sennajensen]

It’s true that if the AGM battery is flat dead it’s virtually impossible to jump, however you can bring it back from the dead, and then jump it. What you need to do is connect it -positive to positive negative negative -to a fully charged battery and let it equalize overnight. That will bring it up to 10 V or so, then you can jump it from there. I’ve done it on several batteries that are AGM’s.

Newbie question but if the battery is "flat dead", do you mean that it has dropped below 2V?
Would it be dangerous for me to use the override on a norco genius if it doesn't jump start, given that I am a complete newbie and would just be trying to follow directions from the genius manual on how to override?
Much appreciated...

 

[sennajensen]

HI Senna, thanks for your awesome reply, (10 years exp with BMW, 5 with Porsches)

Basically BMW do things differently, most BMW's have a JUMP POINT in the engine bay, you jump from there always/
(not sure about non-IBS models) if you jump from the battery you break things.

In my case the tech tried a jump from the jump terminals and it didnt work, so said he wanted to go right from the battery, I told him NO, he still had a look, luckily there is a big red terminal on the battery so he couldnt.

So some battery packs are good for example the NOCO one I have, the problem with modern packs is they detect the battery voltage and will not even try and jump it, if it's under a certain voltage, so it fails, jumping from another BATTERY, doesnt have that effect and usually works.

My battery had damaged cells so I found out afterwards, putting it on an ordinary charger worked, BTW NEW battery chargers have the same digital circuitry so WONT charge a very dead battery.

Buy a NOCO, they totally rock, they have a defeat switch as well so will jump even the deadest battery.

BUT if you totally discharge a AGM battery it's now a $400 paperweight

I thank you so much for your help, your post helped me to buy a Norco Genius booster 70, which I will pick up tomorrow, I am going to try learning to help myself instead of relying on roadside assistance.
If the car does not jump start with the genius, is it real risky to override?

 

[sennajensen]

I wish I knew that when I replaced my AGM... 400 bucks thank you very much

Great info, i'll pick up a charger and give it a try if the jump start doesn't work and I'm too nervous to try the override--looked at the override directions on the Norco.

 

[jaye944]

So a battery is made up of 6 cells, each cell is about 2.14volts (2.14*6= 12.84) for a battery to be considered fully discharged, actually at about 12 volts your battery is considered discharged and 10 it's dead, anything under 10, an electronic charger will not charge or boost.

on the NOCO, they do advise caution on using the override, there is some small print, try once with the safety one, wait then try again, then try without the safety if it doesnt start of 4 goes, it toast. or in case of an AGM need to be revived.

and congratulations you have the self same one I bought, that will boost your car over 10 times on one charge, I was testing mine when my battery died, various testing and I bossted it 10 times on one charge, the NOCO is fail safe,

from memory, when you put it one wait for the bleep, then hold the override down, the light turns white, theres no other buttons to press, just jump. that has a 2000amp capacity
you can't short it or reverse it, it the best investment, but get a case for it (about 30 bucks on amazon)

Newbie question but if the battery is "flat dead", do you mean that it has dropped below 2V?
Would it be dangerous for me to use the override on a norco genius if it doesn't jump start, given that I am a complete newbie and would just be trying to follow directions from the genius manual on how to override?
Much appreciated...

 

[jaye944]

as I said try once without the over ride, maybe twice, on 3rd use the override.
oh wait, on the override, you need to be carefull, as I think it say's the safeties are off and you could short circuit.

it will start

I thank you so much for your help, your post helped me to buy a Norco Genius booster 70, which I will pick up tomorrow, I am going to try learning to help myself instead of relying on roadside assistance.
If the car does not jump start with the genius, is it real risky to override?

 

[jaye944]

you wont have any probs g'teed, batteries can be scary LOL, I hate them
the noco is fool proof

Great info, i'll pick up a charger and give it a try if the jump start doesn't work and I'm too nervous to try the override--looked at the override directions on the Norco.