Dropped the car off at the dealer yesterday and just picked the car back up. They put in a new battery... ran some tests overnight and said the most probable cause was a bad cell in the battery. They didnt notice any excess amperage draw overnight.

Thats cool. new battery... should last me another 3 years.

Oh got a new Nissan Altima to drive... man... for $17K it has a LOT of crap! Comfort Access... MP3 capability... AUX input sheesh my 545 doesnt have any of these standard features... nor does my 2007 Porsche!

 

I've been having some charge retention issues myself but in cold weather with very few starts it's not surprising, considering the number of subsystems which are supported by the electrics.

Also winter driving with heated seats, xenons etc powered on may reduce the charge rate.

I bought a microprocessor controlled charger (not BMW) and now have no problems.

Unfortunately over here "normal wear and tear" items like batteries aren't covered by warranty though I expect you can work on the dealer's goodwill.

ABC

 

13K miles ... 18 months old ... we've had a bout of cold weather here in NJ and after not driving car for a couple of days it seemed to crank slowly (but it started). No other symptoms like dimming lights, slow turn signals. Investigated "eye" of battery and it was dark and not the green glow of a fully charged battery.

Dealer replaced it yesterday under warranty.

No other electrical problems noted. My previous BMW Original Equipment Batteries held up for 3-5 years except one winter when my Roadster sat unused for 4 months in the garage w/o a trickle charger. No more of that ... bought a 1 - 2 amp trickle charger and keep it connected whenever THAT car sits for more than a week. There are lots of electrics in these cars that stay powered even when the ignition is turned off. And I just don't take the Z3 out in the rain or snow ... And in my experience, once a battery has gone completely flat (dead) it will not recover fully by being recharged.

 

Hmm... there is a shortage of led that has made the price of batteries reach sky high. Maybe some manufacturers are fiddling with their quality in order to keep the price in some kind of control and still in an orbit around the globe...?

 

you asked me last week http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=49930 that sound like you disagree e60 has few problems.

 

My battery died at just about 3 years. Dealer replaced without incident.

I'm not impressed with many of the batteries supplied by dealerships. I'll probably switch to Diehard after the current warranty runs out. Diehard historically last me a solid 5 years, verus the dealership ones which have lasted about three years on my last three cars (BMW, Acura, Volvo).

 

ive had problems with my battery within the past week, I had autozone check it today, they said that the battery was a little low on charge and the alternator was good, they recommended a charger trickler, but Can someone chime in on if a Diehard is recommended? what about a Optima red(1000 cold cranking amps)? I kind of not want to deal with a charge trickle every month or so. I need something dependable!

and Holy crap this thread is old!!! LMAO... sorry did a search and this is what came up!!!