battery tender
 

My '06 OEM 12v battery died on me last weekend. I had it checked out and the battery is bad. It has only been about 4.5 years with 17,000 miles on the odo. The X5 doesn't see much action and sits in the garage most of the time so it wasn't surprising it died so early.

I'm thinking about purchasing a battery tender. Is it safe to connect the charging wires to the front jump start terminals 24/7? How much electricity does it use? I'm not sure how cost effective it would be since the new battery has a 36/96mo. warranty.

Hey, Same here my X was in the garage all winter but I bought a battery tender plus+ connected it in the rear battery terminals and just simply had it on all winter. It kicks in on its own so you dont have to worry. Knock on wood all is good and no problem, best thing to get imo

No problems using the front jump start terminals, perfectly fine. I hook mine up while my 550i hibernates each winter and she's now 4.5 years, 35K miles and starting strong. Just remember to disconnect before backing out of the garage - I only did that once! :bustingup

I'm installing a BT this weekend. Using the underhood terminals.