[boomclart]

I've had my 8 sitting in a rented garage space for just over a year now, where I had access to electricity and been able to keep it on trickle charge.

However I need to move to a new garage location about 1km away which will not have access to electricity.

What do you guys suggest? The car is not in use because I brought it with me from the UK to Amsterdam and have not yet registered it here, due to a few things such as buying a house and the dreaded hunt for european standard headlights to pass the beam tests.

It's been stored with handbrake off, had a full service just before being stored and tank is also pretty much full to reduce condensation risks.

I should be reasonably ok driving it the 1km (I know I know not legal) to the new garage but I'm a little concerned about the battery drainage because this new space is shared underneath a complex and has about 40-50 car spots. So not private and as secure as current location.

I really would prefer the alarm to be active meaning I can't really disconnect the battery and even doing so causes the annoying reset and hiccups on start-up next time.

Any ideas guys? Plus anything else I should be concerned about? I know I need to give it another full service before getting it back on the road fully which I do hope to manage before end of this summer.

 

[Evo-Paul]

You can get some Solar Battery Trickle Charges fairly cheap, as long as you can get a pair of wires from outside to inside.

 

[vinyard]

You could fit a larger battery in the boot. I would just disconect the battery if someone wants it there gunna have it either way. Nice to hear myold car still kicking about.

 

[boomclart]

You can get some Solar Battery Trickle Charges fairly cheap, as long as you can get a pair of wires from outside to inside.

Not possible, underground under a building complex.

Do none of the battery jump starters have a mode which allows them to trickle to the battery, then I could just take that jump starter home every fortnight and charge that up and take it back to the car and leave trickling for a couple weeks... rinse repeat?

 

[boomclart]

You could fit a larger battery in the boot. I would just disconect the battery if someone wants it there gunna have it either way. Nice to hear myold car still kicking about.

Yeah she's been sitting quietly for awhile, out of sight out of mind. I don't think I'd have survived if I saw it sitting everyday on a drive or in my own garage :lol:

Determined to get it back on the road this year though now house is done and settled

 

[EVO VI]

It’s a pity you cannot drive your car for 30 mins every week or two to prevent condensation in engine, gearbox and diffs.
You really need to keep the battery topped up regularly, I’ve gone through so many batteries over the years by letting them get discharged periodically.(tracker doesn’t help).
I now use a trickle charger if car is going to be sat up for a few days.

If I were you I would fit a massive capacity battery (too big for the car) just while it’s stored.

 

[boomclart]

It's a pity you cannot drive your car for 30 mins every week or two to prevent condensation in engine, gearbox and diffs.
You really need to keep the battery topped up regularly, I've gone through so many batteries over the years by letting them get discharged periodically.(tracker doesn't help).
I now use a trickle charger if car is going to be sat up for a few days.

If I were you I would fit a massive capacity battery (too big for the car) just while it's stored.

Can you send me an example of one of those and I'll maybe hunt one down over here

 

[super rover]

if your not planning on using the car at any time just take the battery off ,take it home and leave it ,non will come to any harm
its also a good idea as an anti thief thing not many want to take a car they cant drive away

 

[boomclart]

if your not planning on using the car at any time just take the battery off ,take it home and leave it ,non will come to any harm
its also a good idea as an anti thief thing not many want to take a car they cant drive away

There is that, but would still be nice to have the alarm active on it.

 

[plip1953]

I've been storing my old BMW for near on 20 years and two things in particular that I've learned are:-

1. Don't start and run the engine unless you you intend to do so for at least 20 minutes, especially if your exhaust is mild steel. I've left mine unstarted for well over a year on many occasions and it doesn't seem to cause any problems; and

2. Pump the tyres up to at least 45psi to try to prevent them going "square".

 

[Mita]

Have you left the coolant in it?

Mine has been unstated now for 3 years, all I've done is oil the bores and hand cranked it when i did it

I've been storing my old BMW for near on 20 years and two things in particular that I've learned are:-

1. Don't start and run the engine unless you you intend to do so for at least 20 minutes, especially if your exhaust is mild steel. I've left mine unstarted for well over a year on many occasions and it doesn't seem to cause any problems; and

2. Pump the tyres up to at least 45psi to try to prevent them going "square".

 

[plip1953]

Have you left the coolant in it?

Mine has been unstated now for 3 years, all I've done is oil the bores and hand cranked it when i did it

Yes, all fluids including coolant still in. And I'm pretty sure there's a fair bit of
fuel in the tank.

 

[super rover]

There is that, but would still be nice to have the alarm active on it.

thing is no one ever takes any notice of alarm systems anyway ,making it difficult to pinch is enough to stop any one other than the very organised tow truck theives ,so no matter what alarms on they or any one else wont care :smthumbup

 

[boomclart]

thing is no one ever takes any notice of alarm systems anyway ,making it difficult to pinch is enough to stop any one other than the very organised tow truck theives ,so no matter what alarms on they or any one else wont care :smthumbup

Also a bit of a bonus it being a right hand drive car, would be much harder for anyone stealing it to do much with it after the fact.

Having the alarm on was more just to keep people away from it, the chancer window smash n grab type, not those dedicated to take the whole car.

But looks like im iring more towards just leaving the battery out completely.

 

[adamlstr]

I should be reasonably ok driving it the 1km (I know I know not legal) to the new garage but I'm a little concerned about the battery drainage because this new space is shared underneath a complex and has about 40-50 car spots. So not private and as secure as current location.

If it's still wearing its UK reg plates, chuck some GB stickers at it, get some euro cover insurance and fill your boots?

 

[boomclart]

If it's still wearing its UK reg plates, chuck some GB stickers at it, get some euro cover insurance and fill your boots?

Illegal since I'm registered living in Netherlands, soon as I did that I can not drive a foreign plated car on it''s insurance and my insurance in UK became null and void as I did no longer reside there.

It has to be registered in Netherlands now for me to legally drive it.

 

[Nevolution6RSII]

due to a few things such as buying a house and the dreaded hunt for european standard headlights to pass the beam tests.

Give my dear friends @ http://www.heuvel-motorsport.com/ a call for those damn headlights

You will probably need them anyway as long as you are in The Netherlands for anything Evo related