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      09-27-2011, 12:21 PM   #1
eogintz
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Drives: 2008 328xi coupe
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: new jersey

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Battery Problem?

Hi all,

Several months ago I bought a CPO 2008 128i with 44,000 miles.

Everything has been running well but recently I have had some "strange" occurrences.

In the past two weeks when starting the car in the morning everything started fine but the memory of my clock was gone. No error codes or anything. Each time I reset the clock and clock retains it's memory for two more weeks.

I am retired and use this car daily but not for very long trips. Just around the neighborhood kind of stuff. On weekends I tend to use it a bit more. It now has somewhat over 45,000 miles.

I just called my dealer who said that clock malfunction is the first sign that battery may be only at 70% charge level and that I am not driving car enough to keep battery fully charged. He said that BMW intentionally builds car like this to give owner kind of a warning that there is something wrong with battery.

He quoted me $335 for new battery but did not recommend changing it. He said that same thing will happen with new battery if I don't use car more.He also mentioned using a battery tender which seems ridiculous to plug in and disconnect every day.

Is anyone familiar with this situation or have any recommendations? I never had this problem with any other car and can't see taking regular lengthy drives just to keep battery charged. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ed
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