The best way to charge a healthy battery is with your car's alternator. The alternator is designed to recharge the battery any time your car engine is running. What happens if the alternator that you were counting on is faulty and fails to recharge the battery? Or what if the alternator is doing its job, and the battery is refusing to take the charge?

Times like this, you need to put a charger on the battery and see what happens. First, find your car battery, which is probably under the hood. Find the positive terminal that is marked with a "+" and the negative terminal marked with a "-". Make sure the battery charger is not plugged into an electrical outlet. Attach the red clamp of the charger to the positive terminal and the black to the negative. Keep the charger as far away from the battery as you can. Now, plug in the charger and turn it on. Every charger comes with an operating manual, so read the specific instructions for the charger settings.

We here at Century BMW want you to understand how to charge your car’s battery. Let us know if you have any questions.