Another use for the non-functional brake ducts for 05 FGTs - A trickle charger port!

Cooltec has a nice trickle charger solution for 06 cars. But the grill on an 05 makes the placement of the charge port problematic. All you need to do is remove the front splitter and drill a 1 1/16 hole into the duct cover.

I found this marine power port that uses a standard cig lighter plug and mounted in one of the air ducts. Ignore the label being upside down. The final placement will have the correct orientation.

http://www.marinco.com/product/sealink-deluxe-12-volt-receptacle

HHGT said:

I know where BMW drivers would place that plug....

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I haven't worked on that one yet, but I should I keep opening the hood to charge it. Less painful than on a FGT. Besides the open hood reminds me to disconnect the charger before using the car. With the brake duct port, if I forget to unplug, NBD, it will disconnect automatically without any damage. :biggrin

If you get your Z8 I will help you find a place to put the charging port. :rofl

RALPHIE said:

The proper electrical connection is to have the "hot" side in a receptacle (female side) - supplying power to the plug-in (male) connector, in order to protect the power supply. In this case, however, it hardly matters as 12 VDC is not dangerous, and I believe that the output of the battery tender is protected (current limited) if shorted. Just my $0.02.

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I haven't checked the standard output of the battery tenders cig plug, but I would guess that the + is on the center pin and GND is on the outside. Whatever is standard for a cig lighter is what I plan to do. The port can also be used to get power from the car, e.g. using an inverter to power your a/c appliances, etc. But that feature is a two edge sword. If I use heavy enough wire to draw lets say 15 amps, then the port can also be used to quickly drain the battery to disable the alarm for easier theft. If I fuse for 2 amps the thieves would have to wait a long time, but the port would only be useful for trickle charging.

Now for Sam's BMW, the plug is always inserted into backside, rather the the usually frontside.

roketman said:

I made the brake ducts functional.Ask the Gt guys .Very trick

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I looked at it and both sides have issues. One side the a/c plumbing needs to be moved and on the other a radiator bracket is in the way. Do you have any photos on how the ducts are routed to the rotors?