BMWRINO

There has been quite a few threads recently regarding issues with low/dead batteries, so I thought I?d add my own. Back in May, I was out of town and didn?t drive my car for 5 days and returned to a car that wouldn?t start. My wife?s Honda Pilot wasn?t able to give enough power to jump start, so I called the free BMW Roadside Assistance I have. They send a guy with a 12volt portable jumper and it starts right away and I?m good to go.

In June, I was washing my car and I guess I had my doors/trunk opened too long because it failed to start when I was done. Again, I get it jumped, but now I?m a little more concerned and start reading the forums about battery issues.

Now this past Friday, I go to a place to get my car washed/detailed for Hot Import Nights (shameless plug for my HIN thread here: https://5series.net/forums/index.php...opic=82239&hl=).. While they detail the car of course the doors/trunk were open for awhile, so when they finish they realize my car won?t start. Luckily they had a portable jumper, so I get a jump and I?m on my way home all excited for HIN on Saturday.

Saturday morning comes.. I go out to my car to get things ready for HIN.. AND MY CAR WON?T START!! I go the route of calling BMW Assist, and the funny thing is they send the same local shop and same guy with the portable jumper. He gives me a jump and I let it run idle in my garage. I?m kinda in a rush, so I let the guy go while I keep getting ready. When I finally decide to back my car out, I notice the iDrive is not on, and some dash messages I?ve never seen. I try backing out and barely have any control in the steering. I decide to turn the car off to see what happens.. try to restart.. and nothing! At this point, I?m FREAKING out thinking I?m not gonna make it to my first HIN show..

After some cursing, I calm down and decide to call AAA Roadside Assistance this time. AAA comes over and the first thing he does is run a battery test. The reading is showing out of 850 battery capacity mine is only at 128 or whatever. He?s in one of those big AAA trucks where they jump your car attached directly to a stand alone battery within their truck. I?m praying to God at this point that this works, and sure enough.. car starts, iDrive is on, no weird error messages, and car seems drive-able. The nice AAA guy mentions without trying to hard-sell me that AAA mobile trucks sells replacement batteries. I never knew this.. Now in the back of my mind, I need to leave asap to get to the show, but I?m also thinking I don?t want to get to the show and need to ask somebody to jump my car (in front of bunch of hottie models nonetheless..haha ). So I take him up on his offer, and buy the battery.. $140 for the battery, $4 labor, $10 old battery disposal fee, plus tax.. $167.32 total and he?s done in 20 minutes.. I race off to meet my friends for HIN and car is running GREAT!

I guess all this talk from BMW dealerships saying they need to change your battery is not true in my case. I have a CPO 2004, so it was probably due for a new battery anyway. I?m guessing you can get batteries cheaper from Kragen or wherever, but I definitely didn?t pay the expensive dealership prices I?ve read about.. plus in my situation it was the ease of mind of having a new battery while at the car show and it made for a good story to tell my friends of how I almost missed out on my first HIN!

turboawd

from what i have noticed, car batteries should be replaced every five years or sooner if the car isnt driven much.

kobefans

Yea, its the same thing for me, error message, left door open when washing cars and cant start the car afterwards

just so you know, at first the dealer wanted to charge me 400 bucks to replace the battery ( including labour parts ) then I fighted to get the battery replaced under warranty.

porsche911targa

This is all good and dandy, but I thought that the battery needs to be registered to the car's computer so that the alternator knows that the battery has been replaced and act accordingly. Etc.

BMWRINO

yeah.. I remember reading somebody say something like that, and I thought others said registering the battery wasn't necessary..kinda like a dealership ploy to get you in and spend $400 on their battery..

I actually had a scheduled service yesterday for a brake fluid flush at my dealership, and I didn't mention the new AAA battery thinking maybe something would come up on their computer, but nothing.. car has been running great so far..