[sjb993]

I have a CTEK battery monitor that is hardwired to the 12V battery in my car which, after charging, shows the state of charge to be 100%. When I check the SoC with Bimmerlink it shows 74%.

I am keen to find out which of these figures is the most reliable, and so I would be grateful for any Bimmerlink SoC readings you could provide, and also which model 3 Series you have. In the few mentions of Bimmerlink SoC that I have managed to find, I haven't seen anything higher than 80%.

TIA

[hamera]

G20 320i 2019

According to the charger the battery is 100%
BimmerLink indicate 58%

I'm guessing the 58% is the correct state of charge because my OTA update is stuck again.

[sjb993]

Thanks for your response.

Are you planning to leave it charging until the OTA update jumps into life?

[hamera]

Originally Posted by sjb993

Thanks for your response.

Are you planning to leave it charging until the OTA update jumps into life?

I don't think it was doing anything when connected under the bonnet. I just plugged it in again but this time directly to the battery. Yes I know you are not supposed to. The result is that its actually charging now.


---------------- Edit - - - - - - - - - -

Ignore that. After about 20 minutes it shows that's full now. I'll leave it plugged in.

[sjb993]

I'll be interested to hear what reading you get from Bimmercode when the charging has completed.

[paulockenden]

I think the value that Bimmerlink reports (so what the car thinks) is based on whether the car thinks it has charged the battery (i.e. when you’ve been for a decent run). It won’t immediately notice if you’ve charged the battery with a charger.

At least, that’s my theory based on what’s been reported in many many threads on the subject. Basically, when your battery charger says that the battery is full then it is - the voltage has risen to the value expected for a fully charged lead acid battery. But the car won’t know about this extra charge so Bimmerlink won’t report it. (And the car won’t apply updates).

[willougs]

Just out of interest, what's the actual problem trying to be solved here? I mean, does anyone really care their battery is not at 100% as long as the car starts and functions as expected, with no errors? I've managed to run my car for over 2 years now without checking the battery once.

Or is the goal to reach 100% so that the OTA update may apply? If that's the case, then I suspect you may be disappointed with the eventual return on your efforts.

[hamera]

Originally Posted by paulockenden

At least, that’s my theory based on what’s been reported in many many threads on the subject. Basically, when your battery charger says that the battery is full then it is - the voltage has risen to the value expected for a fully charged lead acid battery. But the car won’t know about this extra charge so Bimmerlink won’t report it. (And the car won’t apply updates).

I think we can safely say that this isn't correct.

Around 2.5h later:

[hamera]

Originally Posted by willougs

Just out of interest, what's the actual problem trying to be solved here? I mean, does anyone really care their battery is not at 100% as long as the car starts and functions as expected, with no errors? I've managed to run my car for over 2 years now without checking the battery once.

Or is the goal to reach 100% so that the OTA update may apply? If that's the case, then I suspect you may be disappointed with the eventual return on your efforts.

I'm only charging it to get this silly OTA to kick in. It worked for me in the past so I'm expecting it to do the trick this time as well. And yes I know, there isn't to much to look forward to in terms of new features etc. I have it downloaded to the car two weeks ago so might as well install it I guess.

[paulockenden]

Originally Posted by hamera

I think we can safely say that this isn't correct.

Around 2.5h later:

That proves nothing at all. Do the maths. That’s suggesting at a 5A charger in trickle mode is delivering 10A! If anything this backs up the theory that the SOC that Bimmerlink picks up from the car isn’t the real-time actual state of the battery.

[sjb993]

Originally Posted by willougs

Just out of interest, what's the actual problem trying to be solved here? I mean, does anyone really care their battery is not at 100% as long as the car starts and functions as expected, with no errors? I've managed to run my car for over 2 years now without checking the battery once.

Or is the goal to reach 100% so that the OTA update may apply? If that's the case, then I suspect you may be disappointed with the eventual return on your efforts.

In my particular case, I don't use my car that frequently and so I want to keep the batteries (MHT car) at a reasonable state of charge by maintenance charging them. Having established that I need a charger with an output >20A to do the charging, I acquired one. I have a CTEK battery checker hardwired to the 12V battery, and when the charger shows a full charge, the CTEK battery checker also shows 100% state of charge.

Bimmerlink on the other hand has never shown >80% SoC. So, which figure do I believe?

My original question was aimed at trying to find out what other user's experiences with the Bimmerlink SoC have been.

[sjb993]

I decided to leave my car on maintenance charge for several days to see if Bimmerlink's SoC reading does increase. After 25 hours it has increased. Now waiting to see what affect another 24 hours has. So, Bimmerlink does venture into the 80s after all!

[StevenDS85]

I’m doing the same excessive. CTEK fully charged shows 71% SoC in Bimmerlink and OTA update is not starting. I’ll leave the CTEK charger plugged in for another 24 or 48 hours connected.

Where in Bimmerlink can I check the actual voltage? I see way to many sensor values related to battery …

[Beemer5to3]

Originally Posted by sjb993

I decided to leave my car on maintenance charge for several days to see if Bimmerlink's SoC reading does increase. After 25 hours it has increased. Now waiting to see what affect another 24 hours has. So, Bimmerlink does venture into the 80s after all!

Left mine on for 3 days (Noco Genius 5) after the car sat for a couple of weeks. Went from 67% to 82% on BimmerLink

[MisterG]

Both the charger and car will be making a guesstimate on the soc of the battery based on its voltage and also likely temperature (supposidly no-load voltage which isn’t possible while it’s still in the car)

Given online sources give a range for 100% soc eg “12.7-13v”
I wouldn’t be surprised if the battery charger is picking a reading at the lower end of that range for safety, whilst the car will be specified higher as the battery characteristics will be programmed in.


I’m also in the same boat with the latest update - my 12v battery SOC is currently 55% so the update won’t apply - being a MHT car I don’t have a big boy charger for it. And the last 90min of driving I did yesterday only raised SOC by 3% - although weather was terrible so would have been a high current drain.. so it’s unlikely I’ll be getting the update applied any time soon.

[Stokeybry]

Mine is similar around 60% soc, unsure how long it was unused for but I’ve only had it a few days and the battery is 12-12.1v
I’m going to get it topped up in the next couple of days

[paulockenden]

With Bimmerlink does the SOC actually update when the car is being charged? Only what it reads is the value stored in the car, and I wouldn’t be surprised if those values were only update when the car is driven. Or at least on the ready to drive state. Without that you might be querying old data.

[Ruebarb]

I have the same issue on my G42, my Genius 5 reports full battery, not sure on bimmerlink accuracy showing 55% after 40 miles of driving. I also can't install my OTA either.

[MisterG]

Originally Posted by Ruebarb

I have the same issue on my G42, my Genius 5 reports full battery, not sure on bimmerlink accuracy showing 55% after 40 miles of driving. I also can't install my OTA either.

I’m still no better off.. (and I’ve just had a warning from the app saying my update will expire soon)
I’m wondering if one of the “cheaper” high power chargers eg https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clar...ttery-charger/
Would do the job for me as an MHT driver.
The car does get used a couple times a week, but not on long journeys - and I already have a 5a ctek.

[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by MisterG

I’m still no better off.. (and I’ve just had a warning from the app saying my update will expire soon)
I’m wondering if one of the “cheaper” high power chargers eg https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clar...ttery-charger/
Would do the job for me as an MHT driver.
The car does get used a couple times a week, but not on long journeys - and I already have a 5a ctek.

Unfortunately, you need a charger that can output at least 25A to get the MHT battery to charge at all.

With a charger less than 25A, the car will only charge the 12v battery.

Additionally, the car will not charge the MHT battery with the bonnet closed.

I got my car to install the update after charging with my CTEK 25A charger with the bonnet unlatched after 7 hours of charging. Note the charger reported the battery to be fully charged after the first hour of charging, but you need to just leave it charging and then the MHT battery will be charged.

Once the SoC is high enough the car should carry out the update, but you'll also need to start the car for a few mins to let the car detect the SoC has increased, and then when you turn the car off and back on again, it'll then report the update is ready to install.

That's my experience anyway!

Please see the attached PDF

[Ruebarb]

I have made some progress, bimmerlink did respond to my last drive moving the charge to 64%, it increases very very slowly.

[Ruebarb]

So it does appear bimmerlink is correct. Left it on the trickle charger overnight and it went up to 74%. I also changed the charger to my high quality ProMariner and it shows the battery as not full, unlike the Noco. The OTS update went fine at 74%.