Well, I had to break down and finally buy my baby a new battery after almost 7 years and 103,000 miles. Lot's of crazy electrical errors leading up to it, so it was probably waaaay overdue.

It got me to thinking though... Who else can say that their battery has lasted that long? I'd be curious to know if anyone else has had extremely good luck with their battery.

 

7 years is 2x the life of my original.

 

July 2004 to March 2012 on 545i factory battery (7 years, 8 months, 82K miles - Lasted almost as long as the alternator, which lasted until August 2012.).

Original FLA replaced with AGM.

 

Me too...

 

Just like BimmerFan52, mine lasted 9 years, March 04 - March 12. I changed it just to be on safe side, no errors or problems starting in cold mornings. Replaced with OEM.

 

Wow, that's awesome, guys!

I am currently on my third battery (after market, this time). I have own the car for about 8 years and 5 months. It currently has about 82,000 miles.

Here are my questions:

1. Do you guys even listen to the radio while the engine is off?

2. After the door(s) is opened, do you keep it open for a long time or do you quickly close it or manually press the light button off to avoid any ridiculous battery drainage?

3. Are E60 owners allowed to use anything that involves electricity when the engine is not running?

Honestly, ridiculous battery drainage on my 2006 530i is my biggest fear. Having too many jump starts from AAA and strangers in the past have scarred me for life. This is coming from a guy who had 10" subwoofers, 6x9 speakers, tweeters and Denon 6-channel amps back in high school.

FYI: I bought the car with 4 miles in 2005. I am the original owner. The last battery replacement with new IBS was done about two years ago.

 

In my case, I don't generally sit in the car for any length of time after I shut it off (in the garage) and I don't worry too much about when the car goes into sleep mode.

It's funny, though. The problems I experienced started happening after I was in the driveway one day programming the HomeLink to my garage door opener with the car off. Of course, I had the radio on too, and started to get the high battery discharge message. Prior to that, when I went to renew my Siruis subscription after I let it lapse, they weren't able to send me a signal. I ended up having to bring it into the dealer. So lots of strange electrical things happen when your battery is not up to snuff.

 

Sounds like you might want to start tracking your power system voltage before and after starting.

After 30 minutes sitting idle your battery should read 12.6V for a battery in top condition, ranging down to 12V where the battery is generally about 25% charged. However, a load test is required to determine if you might have a bad cell (all auto stores will load test your battery for free). A bad cell can register a healthy voltage while idle, but the voltage will collapse under load, leaving the total battery voltage low as the battery is missing 1/6 of its voltage.

Alternator output could be low and leave your battery undercharged. Alternator output will vary depending upon battery temperature, and current charge condition info passed from IBS to ECM which can signal the alternator to increase or decrease output. Alternator output should generally be 14.0-14.2V during running, and can be as high as 14.6V for a AGM battery and up to 15.5V for a FLA battery.

A failing alternator voltage regulator can be very intermittent, operating fine one day and swinging wildly the next. Using a cigarette lighter voltmeter will allow you to monitor the voltage of the system before starting and continuously during the drive to help diagnose power system issues.

 

Mine is also 2007 and still with original battery..However I constantly use battery tender.

jayarras, Did you go with OEM batter? if so from where did you get it?

 

Aftermarket from Advance Auto. Since I had a FLA battery (white) originally, I stuck with a FLA battery. Check Google for coupon codes. I got $50 off the Internet price.