Even though it's only been 40 days since my last update, this E82 road warrior has racked up nearly 4,500 miles in that time, bringing the odometer up to 133,000 and counting. In North Carolina, that has meant some pretty cold weather recently. That used to mean rough starts on higher concentrations of E85, but after BMS revised their cold start tables on their back end flashes, things are now OEM smooth.
Eventually the 30's gave way to even colder temperatures, and on one particularly frigid morning in the mountains, a single digit cold start was the last bit of energy my battery had left to give. Seeing as how this was still the original, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would have to find a replacement. Daily driving this car plus the intelligent battery sensor really seemed to have stretched the life of the OEM battery which lasted over 10 years.
Before swapping out the dead battery, I performed another routine oil change with Motul and a Mann.
Without too much trouble, I managed to get the old OEM battery out and sat it beside the Interstate replacement to compare. I was relieved to find out they were identical sizes.
I wasn't interested in coding the battery -- only registering, so I went with something with a similar aH rating and non-AGM. The Interstate Mega-Tron Plus MTP-49/H8-1 is 100aH versus 90aH of the OEM, and packs more cold cranking amps and reserve minutes.
15 minutes later and I had everything secured, terminals tightened down, and was ready to register the battery -- which was as simple as opening up the MHD app, going to reset adaptations, and registering the battery.
Before finishing up, I also swapped out the third brake light and added a matte black 135i emblem. This is my 4th brake light, and although the vinyl tint made the third one last longer than the previous two, it still managed to crack on the tops and bottom enough to bother me.
I ordered this purposely through FCP Euro, so I'll be interested to see if they warranty the part the next time it breaks, which it almost certainly will.
I have a very busy next month or so, but getting some dyno time will be a priority in March.