Programming a new car battery??

You call it "sophisticated" I call it *complicated* - and modern cars are

*far* too complicated IMO. It'll be interesting to see if the forthcoming economic depression results in a return to fewer frills and less to go wrong.

Unless someone like BBA-reman, apt electronics, actronics etc can fix it, it will just get crushed.

30 something years ago I saw a then very recent BMW 635 being sold for a pittance £1500. The drivers seat was fully electrical adjustment, it didn't work so they were looking for a buyer that fitted in the position it was stuck in.

When was the last time you couldn't start a car? [1]

A starting handle is impossible to fit on transverse engine, it would have to go in though the front wheel.

There will be someone along in a bit to tell us you can start a car by jacking one front wheel, putting it in gear and turning the wheel.

[1] Modern alarm systems drain batteries. The Mazda 323F I parked up the road hasn't been run for 3 weeks. I better go charge the battery. When the battery is low the security system drains it fully though the door lock circuit! Too flat for a starting handle to work.

Or simply have a second reserve battery installed by default. For instance one of those LiPo jumpstart packs integrated at the factory. If you leave the lights on and flatten the lead acid battery you can still start the car and drive it somewhere to get the main battery replaced, with no messing about with jump leads or starting handles.

Boats often do this, so you can always start the engine even if the cabin loads drain the main battery.

Theo

As second *genuinely* valuable feature would be if it was mandatory for it to be possible (nay, EASY!) to change any of the light bulbs without first having to dismantle half the car.

I seem to recall that you could get a starting handle kit for the original Mini. I think you had to put it on full lock to get access to the socket but it was possible.

Tim

Light bulbs?

How very last decade.

LEDs in all units on my new car.

My general dislike of the stop / stop systems I've met was one reason I went for a fairly old-school Lexus hybrid for my latest car. It completely bypasses all this and, in many ways, is a far simpler drivetrain then a conventional clutch and gearbox.

Seen the price of them as replacements? Ask an Astra K (mk7) driver how reliable they are and how much they cost out of warranty. I can see 5 year old cars been written off because the headlights are smashed or not repairable. What's needed is a standard LED lamp unit (just the light bit) that can be replaced by any garage or competent owner without using the facilities of a full electronics workshop.

Says much about the seller if they couldn't source the used parts needed to fix it. And by recent you mean 20 years old?

And most engines these days are large and high compression, so the likes of Doom wouldn't have the strength to start it.

You certainly can with the original 850 Mini. ;-)

In that case my second suggestion for improvement would be to re- introduce the magneto. Magnetos don't care how flat the battery is.

In that case my third improvement suggestion for a modern car would be to re-introduce the over-square engine.

So which large engine that was oversquare came with a starting handle to base that on?

No I mean a late E28 being sold around 1990, so only 2-3 years old. AFAIK power seats were an option from 1987 on.

The LED current regulator aka "ballast" is usually mounted in harms way so doesn't survive impact either. Not cheap. Well it is cheap maybe £10 of parts when bought by the 1000 but like so much vehicle electronics they have 1000% markup on the assembly and no standards so each maker's "ballast" is unique.

Magnetos are pretty crap at hand cranking speed. Coil and points has a much better spark for starting by hand crank. Mag is a bit better at small motorbike (650cc twin) kick start speed, which is part of reason they lasted post WWII on bikes but had been removed from nearly all cars in the late 30's.

Mags are not reliable, the capacitor in the rotor windings fail, almost like they have a timer built in. Then you need a rewound rotor.

Honda have fitted a self generating CDI unit to many bikes since the mid

1980's.

Car engines back in the days when hand cranks were fitted were long stoke and under-square.

Oh yes --- some years ago a pheasant said "Hi" to one of the HID headlights on a 2yr old Vectra CDX estate I had. Cost mega cash to fix/replace the smashed left hand headlight and ballast. Unfortunately the right hand one was also damaged in the same incident bit didn't show up straight away. At the time ballasts cost much more than they do today. The right hand one turned out to be cracked and needed duct tape to keep the water out. Was like that when I sold it 8 years later.