F10/11 - correct charging?
 

Some conflicting advice re charging - some say to charge only at the jump start points under the hood so as not to mess up the intellligent charging system, others say you can charge by connecting directly to the battery. What's correct? My BMW garage answered by telling me that either way worked fine, but I'm still not sure that's the right answer. (anyway, the battery seems to be pretty well tucked away below the trunk and hard to access).

Use the under hood charging points. My dealer uses them exclusively in their showrooms when the vehicle electronics die from customers opening and closing doors over an extended period.
Its also so much easier.
Manual refers to them on page 300 ?? of the 2012 manual as well.

Battery tender and charging/jump start point
 

Under the hood + a good ground = correct:wub:

Especially since winter is upon us!

The simplest (and cleanest) install is to have BMW install the accessory charger under the hood, connect it to the dedicated port provided in the wiring harness and route it to the charging port under the front bumper. Then all you need to do is flip open the spring loaded door under the bumper, plug the.female ended cord into the port, male plug into the wall and walk away. Cost is about $400.00. Dealer in my area charges a few hundred for this, adding it to the PDI costs for each new car.