Ok - this is crazy! I need a new battery for my 06' 530i and check out these quoted prices.

Dealer 1 quoted me $795 for parts and "labor"
Dealer 2 quoted me $498 for parts and "labor"

A difference of almost $300!

I called one of the parts departments and they told me the battery was $330 for the car just for the part...

So, 3 Questions:

1. What is a fair price (from your experience)?
2. If I go with a non-OEM battery will that void my CPO warranty?
3. What "labor" is necessary besides the removal of 2 bolts?

Thanks!

 

Perfect timing.....read my recent thread called "alarm goes off for no reason". I have an 06 530i as well. 53,000 miles on it and the alarm would randomly go off for no reason. Asked the question on this site and immediately got feedback it is the battery. Took it to an independent dealer that I like and trust and they told me the battery was basically dead...hardly any volatge read. I live in Charlotte, NC and they went to the only BMW dealer here and got it for $313 and then they charged me $90 for the install.....it took about an hour and you can't just by a battery and drop it and and hook it up...it is more complicated than that and you have to "sync" the battery to the car which I don't know how to do.

Hope this helps....btw, they strongly encouraged me to go with the BMW brand battery and that others were not compatible long term and I would end up regretting it if I tried to go the cheap route. So after labor and taxes it cost me at the end of the day $441.00.

Hope this helps,

Will

 

I just had my battery replaced. Was the first step in the "High Battery Drain" issue. My car is a 2006 550i, 56k miles that had the battery completely drain 2-3 times. I felt it was a good time to change it. I was charge $425'ish. Came to roughly $450 by the time I walked out the door. In addition to getting the battery replaced I also got my front window trim replaced and they fixed the passenger thigh extension. Previously they were going to charge me $100 plus for those. I'm still under CPO, but the SA said they would need to charge me just to check and see if the car seat would be covered. Again, I don't feel too bad paying $450 since I was not charge for those two repairs. I also wasn't charged the $50 CPO fee. I guess the SA felt guilty charging me since I already told him the battery wasn't the problem to my "High Battery Drain."

 

Yeah, my SA said they have to register the battery with the iDrive. Plus, I was getting a two year warranty with the BMW battery and didn't have to worry about any warranty void issues.

 

Sorry, didn't read the entire thread before posting, but just wanted to let you know that I had my battery replaced with the OEM unit for 200 bucks. The place did the programming free of charge, but I was having some other major work done there, so that may be why. Either way, the prices you mentioned are nuts.

 

I have an appointment with my Dealer this Saturday, for a similar battery problem. Since I charged the battery 10 days ago everything is fine I checked the Battery with a Voltmeter and it registered about 10V. So I guess the battery is about to go. I called my Dealer parts Dept. and Asked how much for the Bsttery and I got the price of $192.95 with BMW CCA discount which is 15% from retail price. I spoke to my Service Advisor and he said to register the battery will be about 1 hour labor. In my estimate it will cost me about low $300 when everything is set and done. I hope this help.

 

My father's 07 530i just had the battery replaced by the dealer, costing him $425 parts and labor and tax(for the battery). The battery itself costs $308 plus tax. The salesperson recommended us to have the OEM battery because troubles might appear later on if other battery was installed.

 

I would push hard to get the battery covered under warranty. According to a certified BMW Factory Trained Technician the Intelligent Battery Sensor circuit is supposed to keep a battery well maintained for as much as 5 years and mine only lasted less than 4. I pushed hard and the dealer covered it under the warranty. If you have CPO does it not cover a battery? If your car is less than 4 yrs old it should be covered regardless I think.

 

i paid just about $400 at the dealership, installed.

 

Posts like this make me so glad I'm still covered under my factory warranty, $400+ for a car battery