# Car won't start after months of not using **URL:** \ **Category:** Power/Fuel\ **Tags:** bmw, 325\ **Created:** [October 12, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124 "2020-10-12T06:14:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wlrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@wlrd](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wlrd)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/1 "2020-10-12T06:14:06Z")
Hi CarTalk community, I have a 2003 BMW 325i which I got a new battery installed into my car. Then I was out of town for 5 months without driving the car and when I go to start the car it won’t start. Even somethings like clicking the unlock button on my car key won’t work, so I manually have to put the car key in the door to unlock it. This leads me to think the battery is dead after not being used. Today I tried to jump my car and and it seems like it was charging because the inside lights and the doors would lock/unlock from the key fob. So when I turned the key in the ignition it started to make some clicks (before jumping there were no clicks at all). I gave it 5 more minutes and tried to start it again and this time it made less clicks(maybe 1) and the lights in the car inside the car stopped working. I am guessing the battery didn’t have enough charge after trying to jump it a second time. During this process, I definitely let my car connected to the donor car for around ~20 minutes. Any ideas what could be going wrong? Does this sound like a battery issue or could it be something else? What would be the best next steps to take? Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/2 "2020-10-12T07:21:26Z")
> [@wlrd](#): > > Does this sound like a battery issue Yes, it will take 8 to 12 hours to recharge the battery. Your car battery is many times larger than your telephone battery, you don’t expect your phone battery to charge in 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Darron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/darron/32/21829_2.png) [@Darron](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Darron)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 7:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/3 "2020-10-12T07:58:32Z")
Are you jumping it off a car that’s running? ---
**Author:** ![oldnotdeadyet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a6a055/32.png) [@oldnotdeadyet](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldnotdeadyet)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/4 "2020-10-12T12:50:22Z")
Definitely recharge the battery which should take overnight. Did the battery ever freeze? I wouldn’t be surprised if the battery cannot be recovered. ---
**Author:** ![ledhed75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@ledhed75](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ledhed75)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/5 "2020-10-12T13:02:09Z")
Somehow I suspect the best, quickest way of getting this problem resolved it to buy a new battery. Yes, I know you just bought one 5 months ago. But leaving a battery, even a new one, to discharge over 5 months wasn’t a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![vipergg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/50afbb/32.png) [@vipergg](https://community.cartalk.com/u/vipergg)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/6 "2020-10-12T13:27:08Z")
5 months ??? Yeah the battery is completely dead . ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/7 "2020-10-12T13:36:44Z")
I would hook up a battery charger on slow charge for overnight or longer. The battery may be good enough then, but it possibly has lost some capacity and longevity. ---
**Author:** ![JoeMario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JoeMario](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JoeMario)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/8 "2020-10-12T13:58:59Z")
I would try: Clean your battery terminals Charge your battery, more than for just a few minutes. Then try starting it. ---
**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/9 "2020-10-12T17:47:05Z")
Charging a completely dead battery is tough on your alternator (or the alternator of the donor car). As others have said, it would be best to charge the battery with a battery charger in this case. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/10 "2020-10-12T17:57:58Z")
I agree but you need a battery charger, not jumping it from another car. Hopefully the battery is still ok after sitting dead for a while but needs to be fully charges. Given that it is a BMW, you can’t just put a new battery in without going through the install procedure or so it seems. ---
**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-wont-start-after-months-of-not-using/171124/11 "2020-10-13T02:58:04Z")
My pickup has sat around unstarted longer than this without discharging the battery (it **was** disconnected.) Buy a jump starter outboard battery.