fast

Hello Folks,

Car in question is CPO '07 530i. Like every one here on the forum, i always try to stay away from the stealerships knowing they will stuff me hard which they finally did ...Day befor yesterday, wife called me around 5 PM stating that she can not start the car.

I showed up at the office and what i see is a completely dead car , i mean no dash lights at all. Called AAA, had them jump start from under neath the hood,nothing happened. Next tried jumping from the battery and still nothing.

Finally, after 2 hours,the jumper cables did the trick and she fired right up. Drove it home and kept it running for 30 minutes.

Next morning she fored up with out any hitch and took it to the indy where every thing came out fine, battery was all charged up and so was the alternator. I was told could be the alternator going bad.

Anyway, since wife drives the car to the college and takes few late eve classes, i brought the car over to the BMW just to have it double checked. They called me stating that this morning they couldn't start the car and had to jump start it. I was tol it was the battery and that the total bill was $480

So my question is, how could the indy checked out the battery fine yet the next morning the battery needed changing. I am OK with the battery price ( $240 ) since it's still under certification and since wife drives the car but $250 for the friggen programming is just ridiculous.

Ok i am done venting now. I think CPO program itself is stupid.

pukka

Taking two hours to jump start a car with the jumper cables tied directly to the battery makes no sense - a car should start right up the first time when you do this.

I'd ask the dealer to check the starter and have them put it in writing if they say it checked ok. This way if the car acts up you can stick it to them. I don't think replacing the battery is going to solve your problem.

mbawazir

I just changed mine for $180 out of the door the good thing is my SA told not to change it at the dealer and go to independent shop

fast

The first two times, it was with the jumper boxes, the portable thingies but it was the cables that did the trick. So would starter makes all the lights go out and make the car completely dead ?

pukka

Sorry - didn't read the part about no lights working. My bad. Battery most likely couldn't hold a charge anymore.

StasGS4

I like your comment.

Sorry to hear about your pain. I changed the battery myself and paid $75 for it from Walmart. I have a 2007 550i.

fast

I would have changed the battery myself too but we weren't sure what the problem was ? The indy checked out the battery and alternator as good and since wife drives the car and since it's still a certified car, i didn't want to deal with any hassle should this problem arise again.

But one thing for sure, had this car been in any sort of extended warranty ( Fidelity/Easy care ) they would have covered this expense with no question ask.

Certification is a way to lure the customers in and then stuff them with you know what an you also know where

I am however upset that the SA didn't even bother calling me about the problem and getting the OK to proceed with the job. I am fine with the battery but $280 for programming that i didn't even need is painful

Btw, what's the advantage of this programming/registring the battery ?

Thanks

Luxurytax

My batter went bod for mine about a year ago. They changed mine under Goodwill. However, I only had the car for less than a week after purchase.

Sorry for your battery woes.

syrousd

I love it battery tread again! If the battery has a dead cell it gets tricky even when you test it. BMW batteries are really strange animals, I guess it is BMW way to protect their turf.

Again like I said before buy battery replace it yourself!!!!!!!!

sahiljain22

Basically, just optimal charging and resetting of the IBS sensor. With your old battery, the car learns how much charge it holds and how slowly or quickly it charges and saves those parameters. When a new one is installed, it will continue to charge the new one like the old one (for example, if your old one needed frequent charge spells due to its inability to hold charge for long, the car will try and charge your new one also with the same frequency, which will ruin the battery in the long run).

It's not a deal breaker, but if you paid top $ for your battery, registering will prolong it's life.

PS: This is what my SA told me.