rayray1558

Well today i got a error message when i started my car this morning, i did not drive it yesterday but the previous day i did an it was ok' the message was HIGH BATTERY DRAIN so took it to the dealership its a C.P.O they called me back and said the battery has two bad cells and it's going to be 500 for replacement and registering also 270 for a AMP DRAW test that's 2hours long they said they have to pull every fuse and try to find what caused the problem. The battery has never been replaced the car is a 08 e60 if another problem is found beside the battery being old...causing the error it will be covered under C.P.O if not i will have to pay for the test..or just don't do the test but if the error shows up again i will have to pay for them to do the test when i bring it back in plus a 50 dollar C.P.O deductable for a leaking windshield washer motor they have to replace which makes a grand total of $850 with out tax they asked if i had any aftermarket stuff in the car..i do have a HID Fog light kit i said its about 6 monts old i told them.... Just wanted to know what you guys taught about this any suggestions etc...

twh

Is it the original battery? If so, I'd guess normal battery death. I have an 06 530 and mine was replaced under warranty after 2.5 years. This one that in there now is sounding weak on cold mornings.

BimmerFan52

Why do you think dealers are commonly referred to on BMW forums as $tealers?

I encourage all owners that begin to have battery problems and don't have the skill to trouble shoot their electrical system with a multimeter to go to a national auto store chain for a free test of your battery, alternator and starter.

The dealer's hourly rate is far to high to let them do diagnostics - you can either do it yourself or someone else like an auto store do it for you for free.

A replacement battery is $110-$160 dollars depending upon which manufacturer you choose. Registration to inform the computer that works with the alternator to deliver the charging current to the battery that the battery is new is generally $50-$60 at an independent BMW specialist repair shop.

Because of the heavy dependence on computers, BMWs require both a healthy battery and alternator. An excellent investment to keep in the glove box is a cigarette socket voltmeter, which can give you an easy to read picture of your BMW's system voltage, before starting, during alternator ramp up and during driving.

tonyb635

That is crazy. You need to find another dealer because these guys are taking you for a very long ride...! My battery estimate was 654.00, I looked at them and laughed. I located an exact replacement with the help of the forum at Autozone, they installed it. Seven year warranty. Free replacement through five years. Coding not required but registration is recommended by someone/indy who has the software. If you decide not to register, then maybe the battery prematurely fails then have it replaced under the warranty. It's just too simple.

Giowizzy

Yeah, that's way too much $$$$. You'll be better finding an independent. I refuse to go to the $tealers unless I have to buy some sort of maintenance related kit (quarts of oil, filters, ...).

pcy

You go BMW dealer to buy oil and oil filters?
You can find better prices on-line (for oil filters and other maintenance related parts), and look for sale at your local auto parts stores for Mobil1 0W-40 or whatever oil you like to use.

rayray1558

well i'm in maryland Annapolis area anyone knows of any good shops i can go to

Art Vandalay

Funny, I had the same issue on my 2009 550 and just today I picked it up from the dealer. They said the battery was at 40% and suggested replacing. The cost for the battery was $450. Personally, I didn't mind paying for it but the problem is that they took so long to inform me of the issue that I couldn't wait (I purchased the car and get it serviced at an out of town dealer) and told them to prepare the car for my arrival so I could go home.

I have a healthy respect for my lack of technical know how. So I happily pay a professional to diagnos and repair whatever may be wrong. In this case, I'm friendly with my local indy BMW technician so I'll buy the battery from them and have them replace it for me.

But yes, that's a lot of money for a battery but what you gonna do?

Art Vandalay

BTW - in another thread where I discussed the high batter discharge issue, I also mentioned that my I thought my navigation drive was failing. Long story short, and $200 later - it turns out to simply be a shitty navi disk I bought off of ebay that worked in my 2007 550 just fine.

I bought the 2013 OEM disk from the dealership and now no navi problems.

dbond

Not going into technical details a combination of week battery and low temperatures may trigger HIGH BATTERY DRAIN. This is an informational message. It does not indicate any problem unless you see it on a regular bases. I'd wait till you see it again then replace the battery with any recommended on this forum. The only thing to keep in mind - you want to replace AGM battery with AGM battery (black), flooded with flooded (white) unless you find somebody to code your car for battery type change.