5 series touring - second battery?

[alastairwatt]

is it possible to hook up a second battery in the rear of a e34 touring?, im sure the owners manual mentioned it was an optional extra and i was located behind the clip off storage panel in the rear, but i cant find my copy of manual now, i use the car alot camping and id like to hook up a second leisure battery to run odds and ends from so im not draining the car battery, if im right about the above possibly the conections will be there and it will save me a bit of wiring?
any readers help out there?, maybe someones hooked up one if im incorect about the above, any comments would be apreciated, its an M reg 520 i have.

regards

ally

[bubba966]

Got a build date for your touring? Don't know what year an M Reg car would be. And it might not matter, but LHD or RHD, and Manual or Auto? I'd guess RHD auto, but that'd only be a guess.

[alastairwatt]

hi its a 1991 rhd, manual.

regards ally



Got a build date for your touring? Don't know what year an M Reg car would be. And it might not matter, but LHD or RHD, and Manual or Auto? I'd guess RHD auto, but that'd only be a guess.

[alastairwatt]

sorry 1995 not 91, was thinking of my e30

ally

[bad_manners_god]

There is no second battery in the touring, it's just a bigger alternator..

[leicesterboy15]

On my car the battery is under the rear seat, I assume by your description that yours is in the engine bay. I know people have done the rear seat conversion before but I'm not sure if you can connect both at the same time. You could install one here but it might not be the most convenient.

[Paul in NZ]

i wouldnt be at all surprised if there was an option for an auxillary battery,my car had one when i first got it.Its all removed now.If its good for the sedan why not the touring?Search real oem.I will see what it says about mine

[Paul in NZ]

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HD12&mospid=47382&btnr=84_0309&hg=84&fg=95



http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HG51&mospid=47392&btnr=84_0310&hg=84&fg=95

[attack eagle]

there was a second battery option in the e32, ne'er seen one in the Touring... it IS different from the sedan from the b pillar back.

Problem Is that you might as well just rig your own with MODERN technology isolators instead of 20 year old expensive OEM stuff.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Its easy enough to do in any E34,go to a caravan supplies shop and buy a split-charge relay.I put mine(A Red-Top Varley,small) in the rear left corner to run extra HF Radio, cooler etc,seems to work fine.

[alastairwatt]

thanks for the help and link to the realoem pages, so bmw did give it as option, a split charge relay and leisure battery would work out far cheaper to purchase than the bm wiring kit and small battery thats located behind the boot panel.

thanks, its good to know the germans think of everything!, would this second battery just be to run the odd 12v item or has it a purpose?

[Paul in NZ]

dont know why it was installed on mine.It is a 25 AH battery,about the size of a large motorcycle battery.