Good idea to replace battery at 4 yrs.?

[PA135i]

I am coming up on the 4 year mark for my 135i and in the past replaced batteries at 4 yrs. as preventive maintenance. I asked my SA and he said I would get symtoms before it goes dead. ie. the heated seats stop working... etc.

I know this battery is around $350 installed, but would rather be safe than sorry. Was wondering what you guys plan to do as you approach the 4 yr. mark.

thanks

[Riley1524]

I was wondering the same thing the other day when I replaced my wifes battery in her lexus....I don't want to rely on symptoms myself....Who's to say that the battery won't just fail one day???

[JimD]

The battery in my Suzuki SUV is nearly six years old - actually it is probably over 6 years but I haven't owned it quite that long. I carry jumper cables but I do not plan a proactive battery replacement. I could do it for less than $100 so maybe I should.

I plan to go at least this long on the bimmer.

Both my vechicles are garaged and it doesn't get very cold in SC. Because I have two they sit for several days at a time, however.

I don't know if anybody else has one but we used to use testers for the specific gravity of the fluid. I still have one, I think. I've pried the caps off "maintenance free" batteries before and maybe I'll do it for the old zuki battery. Testing the fluid in each cell can give you a better idea of the battery condition. The testers are simple little devices with plastic balls in a glass body and a bulb to pull in the battery acid.

Jim

[BrokenVert]

I just replaced the factory battery in my 12 year old Mountaineer last year.

They can last a really long time if you treat them right

[Tom K.]

Other symptoms of a dying battery may include the need to periodically reset the clock and losing the trip odometer setting.

I think carrying jumper cables is probably a good idea if you are worried, and you'll probably save money ($400 at my dealer) by holding off on the battery replacement.

Tom

[dtwyim]

I will replace mine when I cannot start my car!

[Vigilante375]

Some batteries last a long time, others do not. Why spend $350 on a OEM battery that you can swap out yourself? You can get a good Optima for under $200 (red top). A battery is a battery, you could even get one cheaper than the Optima like a Durlast or something like that.

I say just keep going until the car won't start or shows signs of a slow start.

[PA135i]

You can't "just swap out yourself". Since the 2005 model year all BMW batteries need to be registered to the car by the dealer. It's an electronic registration. If this is not done there are problems. An indy shop may be able to do this. But, you can't just go down to the local Pep boys and buy a battery for it like we all used to do 20 years ago. A battery is not just a battery anymore when it comes to BMW.

[spitfire999]

Originally Posted by kja325ci

You can't "just swap out yourself". Since the 2005 model year all BMW batteries need to be registered to the car by the dealer. It's an electronic registration. If this is not done there are problems. An indy shop may be able to do this. But, you can't just go down to the local Pep boys and buy a battery for it like we all used to do 20 years ago. A battery is not just a battery anymore when it comes to BMW.

Whats the reasoning behind the electronic registration? Cant think of any immediate benefits...

[Vigilante375]

So......how does the car know there is a different battery? I really don't see how to need to "register" a battery to the car. Geez, way to go BMW....makes me want to get rid of this car even faster.

The few times I've looked at the battery it seems you just take off the mounting bracket, disconnect the neg/pos then remove the battery and install the new battery then hook everything back up. Why should I pay someone to install a battery when I can do it myself faster than the techs at a dealership?

EDIT: I just read about this and what a waste. I guess I'll keep this battery until it craps out on me, such a shame you can't do the little things on cars anymore.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by spitfire999

Whats the reasoning behind the electronic registration? Cant think of any immediate benefits...

The reason is that the alternator charging rate is not set by the voltage regulator. It is determined by the IBS (Intelligent Battery Sensor) which resides in the negative cable. The registration procedure informs the IBS (maybe it's not so intelligent after all!) about the new battery and allows it to play nice with the alternator so that the new battery is properly charged.

If the battery is not registered, the charge rate may be too low, resulting in a discharged battery, or too high - possibly resulting in various other electrical problems.

My E91 had an intermittent IBS problem which caused stalling, erroneous "Battery Low Voltage" warnings and a charge rate of 17.5 volts.

Tom

[JimD]

Besides telling the car the battery is new you also say whether it is a AGM (mat type) or conventional battery. It is supposed to charge each differently. This system should cause the battery to last longer than normal. That suggests 4 years would be overly conservative.

An alternative to paying the dealer (my son insists on calling them the stealer) to program the car you can do it yourself. This is one option: http://www.bavariantechnic.com/buy.aspx It's $287 for the enthusiast kit which is limited to a few bimmers. You wouldn't save money the first time but could about pay for the tool and it would be handy for other things. There is also some software you can find on-line that others report success with but I think the lack of documentation in english would bug me. Still I might try it before I spend almost $300. With the BT tool, it should be easy. With the tool, you go back to normal car prices (or at least close) for batteries. OBDII tools let you read all the engine codes and reset them and high end tools let you do some of the reprogramming tasks the dealer can do. A high end tool is software for a laptop and a cable to hook the car to the laptop.

A friend of mine recently replaced the battery in her 2006. I didn't realize she drove a bimmer until she was done but she said she ended up spending $500. She bought a battery that fit at Advance autoparts and thought they would install it for her. It went downhill from there. I wish I had known.....

Jim

[PA135i]

In my original post I said I spoke to my SA about the symptoms. I also asked him about how long does he think the battery would last. He told me they have replaced a few at 3 yrs. And others are still testing fine. He told me to keep it another year. If it tests fine keep it.


My guess is this battery will last around 5 -6 years. I would not feel comfortable going longer than that.

[HIPSI]

My 09 128 vert just had a bad cell battery replaced under warranty @31k miles...
My 08 135 has 59k miles, running on the orginal battery just fine...
Ya never know...

[b00st]

Preventative battery replacing is kind of a waste of money honestly. Buy a set of jumper cables and throw them in your trunk if you are truly worried. My Evo that I sold last summer was over 5 years on the original battery and never had an issue at all. I've had several other cars with many years on their original battery. Unless you are having issues with dimming lights or anything like that, you are just throwing money away replacing the battery early.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Vigilante375

So......how does the car know there is a different battery? I really don't see how to need to "register" a battery to the car. Geez, way to go BMW....makes me want to get rid of this car even faster.

The few times I've looked at the battery it seems you just take off the mounting bracket, disconnect the neg/pos then remove the battery and install the new battery then hook everything back up. Why should I pay someone to install a battery when I can do it myself faster than the techs at a dealership?

EDIT: I just read about this and what a waste. I guess I'll keep this battery until it craps out on me, such a shame you can't do the little things on cars anymore.

You might want read this thread... this is what happens IF you just replace your battery with a regular "cheap" battery and do not register it!

Battery exploded in my trunk; Please read so this doesn't happen to your E9X.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ttery+exploded


FYI... BMW's have always been cutting edge cars. You need special training and special tools to work on them.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

You might want read this thread... this is what happens IF you just replace your battery with a regular "cheap" battery and do not register it!

Battery exploded in my trunk; Please read so this doesn't happen to your E9X.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ttery+exploded


FYI... BMW's have always been cutting edge cars. You need special training and special tools to work on them.

Damn....

[PA135i]

Originally Posted by *****

Preventative battery replacing is kind of a waste of money honestly. Buy a set of jumper cables and throw them in your trunk if you are truly worried. My Evo that I sold last summer was over 5 years on the original battery and never had an issue at all. I've had several other cars with many years on their original battery. Unless you are having issues with dimming lights or anything like that, you are just throwing money away replacing the battery early.

Is getting an oil change at 7,000 instead of BMW's recommended 15,000 a waste of money?
Guess it all depends on your perspective.

[phrenetiK]

Mommy I've played my gameboy for 10 hours but the light is still green, should I replace the batteries anyways and waste your money? Nope.

VS.

Mommy the doggy drank her days worth of water in half a day because its hot outside and we really rough housed together, should I still wait till tomorrow to fill up her water? Of course add more water.

2 completely different things when considering battery replacement and oil. 1 is retarded and 1 is common sense.

[NorthernDancer]

I've had many batteries go well over 10 years. I don't do a lot of short distance driving and in winter, I put an automatic battery charger on the battery for overnight about twice a month.

[Vigilante375]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

You might want read this thread... this is what happens IF you just replace your battery with a regular "cheap" battery and do not register it!

Battery exploded in my trunk; Please read so this doesn't happen to your E9X.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ttery+exploded


FYI... BMW's have always been cutting edge cars. You need special training and special tools to work on them.

That sucks, but I've put Optima batteries in my GTO and WS6. It just sucks that if you battery dies and it won't hold a charge that you have to spend all that money for a BMW battery. I'd like to replace that heavy battery with a lighter, more reliable one. But like I said, I understand the concept of this....it's still stupid to me but whatever.

[PA135i]

Originally Posted by phrenetiK

Mommy I've played my gameboy for 10 hours but the light is still green, should I replace the batteries anyways and waste your money? Nope.

VS.

Mommy the doggy drank her days worth of water in half a day because its hot outside and we really rough housed together, should I still wait till tomorrow to fill up her water? Of course add more water.

2 completely different things when considering battery replacement and oil. 1 is retarded and 1 is common sense.

wow.. are you angry? Did you call me a name? lol