You want how much for a battery???

[shah269]

Originally Posted by Hops128i

Is the charge state available in the menu? Is there an early warning light about battery failure?

You want to know state of the charge? I'm sorry.....look much like a dimmer swtich this is just there to be a PITA...it's not like it actually makes your life better in any way or relly saves you any money!

Think of it like Malware for your car.
Some dickhead engineer thought it was a good way to take money from old ladies and it works. So it is our jobs to find said engineer...fly him up to 14k feet and throw his ass out film the fall sell it on youtube and use that money to pay back all the old ladies who lost their money becuse they paid $600 for a new battery that should only cost....$200

[Stvee]

Originally Posted by shah269

You want to know state of the charge? I'm sorry.....look much like a dimmer swtich this is just there to be a PITA...it's not like it actually makes your life better in any way or relly saves you any money!

Think of it like Malware for your car.
Some dickhead engineer thought it was a good way to take money from old ladies and it works. So it is our jobs to find said engineer...fly him up to 14k feet and throw his ass out film the fall sell it on youtube and use that money to pay back all the old ladies who lost their money becuse they paid $600 for a new battery that should only cost....$200

Has an engineer kicked your ass or something recently? You seem to have a lot of needless hate for them.

If you don't like the feature, that's fine. It's useful and other people do like it.

[Overpar56]

Gee, I thought the battery was under the hood next to the dipstick. Boy, am I clueless.

[Silenus]

Originally Posted by shah269

You want to know state of the charge? I'm sorry.....look much like a dimmer swtich this is just there to be a PITA...it's not like it actually makes your life better in any way or relly saves you any money!

Think of it like Malware for your car.
Some dickhead engineer thought it was a good way to take money from old ladies and it works. So it is our jobs to find said engineer...fly him up to 14k feet and throw his ass out film the fall sell it on youtube and use that money to pay back all the old ladies who lost their money becuse they paid $600 for a new battery that should only cost....$200

You're stubborn, have poor reading comprehension, and probably not even worth another post. My original post is a sufficient rebuttal to everything you keep going on about. I am not an engineer, I am a Technician. No one dislikes the engineers more than the Technicians, however I'm smart enough to see when they get it right. I work with BMWs all day, every day. I drive one. I went to school for years to become a Technician. BMW still flies me around the country for training. I know these cars to an extent that I cannot even put into words, and that's why I have credibility. You do not.

[Silenus]

Originally Posted by Hops128i

Is the charge state available in the menu? Is there an early warning light about battery failure?

State of charge is not available through the menu. I pulled it from the BMW Diagnostic System.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Silenus

State of charge is not available through the menu. I pulled it from the BMW Diagnostic System.

Man, that's a let down. I'm on a battery from around the same time as yours. Its lasted pretty long, but I am starting to worry about making it through winter. Would be nice to have an actual number not he charge state of the battery.

Also Shah clearly doesn't understand how engineers do their job.

[darkrom]

Originally Posted by shah269

You want to know state of the charge? I'm sorry.....look much like a dimmer swtich this is just there to be a PITA...it's not like it actually makes your life better in any way or relly saves you any money!

Think of it like Malware for your car.
Some dickhead engineer thought it was a good way to take money from old ladies and it works. So it is our jobs to find said engineer...fly him up to 14k feet and throw his ass out film the fall sell it on youtube and use that money to pay back all the old ladies who lost their money becuse they paid $600 for a new battery that should only cost....$200

What made you buy such an "over-engineered" car? It sounds like you'd be happier with a B18 civic with a rock solid turbo setup. Most of us appreciate the "little things" with these cars. If I didn't I'd stick with Japanese performance cars which are more simple, and sound like they are a better fit for you based on your responses in this thread. I'm sorry the battery you replace maybe once every 4ish years needs software. Everything needs software coding...its a BMW. Same thing with Mercedes and Audi. Get a less engineered car. Go for a Kia next time if you get THIS upset over a battery replacement.

[135ivert]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Man, that's a let down. I'm on a battery from around the same time as yours. Its lasted pretty long, but I am starting to worry about making it through winter. Would be nice to have an actual number not he charge state of the battery.

So really, the question is: how do you know when your battery is about to go? What is making you worry?

While my wife was doing some quick shopping, I was out in the car listening to the stereo. The battery indicator light came on (within a minute or two). Is my battery on the brink? That's the only thing that's ever happened that might make me think it's on it's way out. That and age.

[BrokenVert]

I live in a cold place. Batteries don't like cold. If the battery is to die it will most likely happen on a very cold night. So yeah, I'm a little bit worried about that

[DSSG]

Go to Autozone and pick up a battery. They have one specifically for the car. Then go to an independent and have them code or register it.

Any service or repair from BMW will be expensive. Also you should be reminded that BMW has the reputation, not undeservedly, to sell when the warranty ends. Of all cars, an extended warranty is probably a good idea.

[JimD]

There are really two issues in the big prices for battery replacement. The first is using the dealership for something they are not especially good at. Some may give you a good price. If they quote you over $250 then you should go elsewhere. That issue is present on any service at the dealership. They tend to be expensive. Not a battery system issue.

The other issue is the coding. If you can code yourself, which I can, then the cost is zero. I bought the cable to be able to put the top down on my e88 with the key fob as I walk up to the car. I also knew it would be handy later when it needs a battery. If you don't want to code, then you need to find somebody to do it at a reasonable cost. An independent BMW shop is probably the easiest to find. A local who does this as a hobby is probably the cheapest. A bit of a hassle but nothing getting all worked up over.

The battery itself can come from anybody. I was taking an old battery back to Walmart yesterday for the core charge and looked in their book while waiting and they say they have a battery that fits. I got waited on before I looked at it but their price is good and I will look when the time comes ($110 for a 3 year free replacement battery).

If you want to know the condition of the battery, you can, again, invest in a tool and do it yourself or you can have somebody test it. I hear Advance autoparts will test it for free. I bought a tester at Harbor Freight for about $20 several years ago. It is just a voltmeter with a big resistor and a special scale on the voltmeter. You took it to the battery, push a button, and read what it says. It tells you the cold cranking amps. The resistor draws about 100A so you can't hold the button long but it is giving you the battery condition under load.

By the way, I am an engineer. The person who decided we need this technology might have been an engineer but it wasn't the one that designed the device. It was much further up the management chain. I too would like to know my tires actual pressure instead of getting a silly light on my dash interrupting more useful information. Even worse to me is a speedometer that deliberately reads faster than you are going (I coded the digital speedometer and turned off it's "correction" so it reads actual speed). I don't love everything about BMWs but they are great drivers cars - even if we question some of the decisions made in their design.

[Converted1]

JimD,

Thanks for taking the time to put together an insighful and informative post. They are getting rare in these parts. Not a jab to the forum just an observation.

Do you think and iPad running BMWhat and a wifi obd2 dongle would be good to d battery and some of the coding you've done on your E88?

Thanks,

Chris

Originally Posted by JimD

There are really two issues in the big prices for battery replacement. The first is using the dealership for something they are not especially good at. Some may give you a good price. If they quote you over $250 then you should go elsewhere. That issue is present on any service at the dealership. They tend to be expensive. Not a battery system issue.

The other issue is the coding. If you can code yourself, which I can, then the cost is zero. I bought the cable to be able to put the top down on my e88 with the key fob as I walk up to the car. I also knew it would be handy later when it needs a battery. If you don't want to code, then you need to find somebody to do it at a reasonable cost. An independent BMW shop is probably the easiest to find. A local who does this as a hobby is probably the cheapest. A bit of a hassle but nothing getting all worked up over.

The battery itself can come from anybody. I was taking an old battery back to Walmart yesterday for the core charge and looked in their book while waiting and they say they have a battery that fits. I got waited on before I looked at it but their price is good and I will look when the time comes ($110 for a 3 year free replacement battery).

If you want to know the condition of the battery, you can, again, invest in a tool and do it yourself or you can have somebody test it. I hear Advance autoparts will test it for free. I bought a tester at Harbor Freight for about $20 several years ago. It is just a voltmeter with a big resistor and a special scale on the voltmeter. You took it to the battery, push a button, and read what it says. It tells you the cold cranking amps. The resistor draws about 100A so you can't hold the button long but it is giving you the battery condition under load.

By the way, I am an engineer. The person who decided we need this technology might have been an engineer but it wasn't the one that designed the device. It was much further up the management chain. I too would like to know my tires actual pressure instead of getting a silly light on my dash interrupting more useful information. Even worse to me is a speedometer that deliberately reads faster than you are going (I coded the digital speedometer and turned off it's "correction" so it reads actual speed). I don't love everything about BMWs but they are great drivers cars - even if we question some of the decisions made in their design.

[Southjersey128]

I recently installed a new Interstate battery in my '08. We've had some cold winters the past few years so I was skeptical of the batteries life. It did pass on the tester, just barely, but I didn't want to have any issues in the coming months. I am a tech at an independent shop, so I used our battery tester which is made to test glass mat batteries. They are different from lead acid. Any local shop with an updated Snap on scanner can code it for you. As for the "cheap" batteries from AutoZone, I can't believe that they are glass mat for $110. I would't trust it. Why not just spend the $250 and get a brand name battery that will last 6-7 years like they are supposed to.

[Pig Farmer]

Originally Posted by Overpar56

Gee, I thought the battery was under the hood next to the dipstick. Boy, am I clueless.

I can't believe this went unnoticed. Great humor!

[Silenus]

Originally Posted by JimD

I too would like to know my tires actual pressure instead of getting a silly light on my dash interrupting more useful information.

The new TPMS offered in the newer cars tells you the exact pressure and temperature of each tire (I can't recall if all the new cars have temperature, the M6 Gran Coupe I had out on Friday did. Might just be for high performance models). We started with indirect tire pressure monitoring that measured tire circumference, then we went to a direct system that used comparative data (basically read a percentage drop and threw the light after 20-25% drop), and now have a system that tells you the exact pressure. It just took time for the technology to become reliable and affordable.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Silenus

The new TPMS offered in the newer cars tells you the exact pressure and temperature of each tire (I can't recall if all the new cars have temperature, the M6 Gran Coupe I had out on Friday did. Might just be for high performance models). We started with indirect tire pressure monitoring that measured tire circumference, then we went to a direct system that used comparative data (basically read a percentage drop and threw the light after 20-25% drop), and now have a system that tells you the exact pressure. It just took time for the technology to become reliable and affordable.

My i3 reads individual pressures. No temperatures though.

[JimD]

Chris,

This concerns BMWhat. I have never used it but I looked at their website and the listing in the App store. If I was starting over, I would probably get it. I use Torque to read codes (thankfully not on the bimmer so far) so I am comfortable with the OSB to Bluetooth part. I think that NCSExpert is more versatile but it is also harder to use and they keep improving BMWhat. To use NCSExpert to do things, you either need to find a posting by somebody else that has figured it out or you need to experiment. And even with directions, it is a multi step process that is not intuitive. BMWhat looks like "normal" software where you just click and the software makes the change.

Jim

[Vigilante375]

Its fine and dandy that BMW wants to do this but why can't this "intelligent" battery system, or whatever it was called, pick up that there is a new battery was installed? Or why can't there be a button to press to let the system know that a brand new battery was installed huh? Oh wait, because that makes too much sense.

Its becoming less and less common for people who want to work on their cars because manufacturers want to make it easier and easier for the lazy to keep being lazy.

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by Vigilante375

Its fine and dandy that BMW wants to do this but why can't this "intelligent" battery system, or whatever it was called, pick up that there is a new battery was installed? Or why can't there be a button to press to let the system know that a brand new battery was installed huh? Oh wait, because that makes too much sense.

Spot on.

Though cars have become more reliable, car manufacturers have made their cars so complex that it's just about taken the wrench out of the do-it-yourselfer's hands.

Its becoming less and less common for people who want to work on their cars because manufacturers want to make it easier and easier for the lazy to keep being lazy.

And to add to the manufacturer's profits with ridiculous maintenance costs.

[Iron Man]

Originally Posted by Silenus

The new TPMS offered in the newer cars tells you the exact pressure and temperature of each tire (I can't recall if all the new cars have temperature, the M6 Gran Coupe I had out on Friday did. Might just be for high performance models). We started with indirect tire pressure monitoring that measured tire circumference, then we went to a direct system that used comparative data (basically read a percentage drop and threw the light after 20-25% drop), and now have a system that tells you the exact pressure. It just took time for the technology to become reliable and affordable.

My 2010 Acura TSX had sensors that told me exact pressures in each tire and they were very reliable and accurate. I think BMW just went cheap with their sensors/system and is just finally catching up to others.

[JimD]

I don't think it's the sensors. Our BMWs have the sensors to measure tire pressure. It is just that BMW did not decide we needed to know the pressure. In Europe they apparently use the tire rotation signal to infer tire pressure but it is measured on U. S. cars. So a tire pressure display would cost nothing.

[Overpar56]

Originally Posted by Pig Farmer

I can't believe this went unnoticed. Great humor!

I'm past due on my muffler bearing lube too. It'll void my warranty.

Yeah, it's a bitch that something as simple as a battery has to be coded. If mine needs replacing once the warranty ends, I'll have the indie shop down the road register it for probably half the dealership price.

The trend to computerize every aspect of the car has been going on for decades and to eek out every 1/100 MPG now is more critical since CAFE is more stringent. Don't blame the engineers. Blame the politicians. They're the ones that made the emission and mileage laws.

To be honest, having a dipstick is more critical to me than the battery being coded. I'm still old school analog in that regard but I'll live with it.