I recently purchased a new H9 battery from Interstate Batteries for $150(Exact replacement for our cars), and had my indy mechanic register it for $40. I did the removal and installation of the batteries myself, not much to it.

It is ridiculous that the dealer charges so much for this job. And really, BMW should have put a reset (a.k.a. register) function hidden within the KOMBI or iDrive for the owners to reset themselves.

 

OP, I know what you are saying. Cost of ownership is high on these cars. I would recommend finding a good Indy shop in your area. Regarding changing your battery, I replaced mine with an Interstate. Same dimensions and specs as the OEM it replaced. The two batteries side by side were identical with the exception mine did not say BMW on it. I did not know about the registration until well after it was installed. My battery was never "registered" and it has been over 4 years now and knock on wood, I have not had a single issue. Considering the batteres have a 4-5 year life, even if it went now, I would not be upset. Good luck!

 

You might also want to invest in the OBD/USB cable and the software to help diagnose faults, reset battery etc. I got one off eBay for about $40 and so glad I did. Took a little effort to install, but the seller helped me out by remotely logging in.

Something just about anyone with a laptop and willing to get a little techy can do and definitely save $$$ in the long run.

 

Does anyone work on their own cars? My 08' 535xi has been out of warranty for a year now. I replaced the oil filter housing gaskets myself, $50 in parts, Oil change I do myself. I changed the battery at advanced auto parts for $120. You guys are getting raped at the stealership. Saying the dealer is not dishonest is unbelievable to say. These cars are only expensive to repair if you take it to the dealer to fix and/or you can't/don't know how to work on your car yourself. I rather spend 12hrs fixing my car then giving the dealer any money to fix something I know they will probably not do a good job on. $400 for a battery is just nuts to pay.

 

I did the valve cover gasket this past weekend. It took all day and 2 rides to Autozone for extra stuff, but i'm not paying someone $400 to put a $30 gasket on. All good afterwards. Now I don't have to be embarassed by smoke coming from under the hood at redlights!

06 530i, built 07/05, 110,000mi.

 

That bad, huh?
VC gasket was replaced on my car just before I bought it. Have you taken any pictures while the cover off.

 

Yeah, it was dripping on the header about once every 30 seconds or so. Also, it was leaking at the gasket around the coils on 2 of the cylinders and the spark plugs on those 2 were submerged in oil, so it was time.

I did not take any pictures with the cover off. I hate to even start in on what that looked like. Let's just say it wasn't sludge, but more like something that was baked on to the top of the head. I tried not to disturb any of it, wiped the seal area, put the new gaskets on and buttoned her back up. I then changed the oil, and all seems good.

I did notice when pulling the drain plug that there seemed to be some oil in that area, probably time for to pull the pan now and change it's gasket.

 

Since I brought the car back from the dealership, and only since then, I've noticed that my iDrive constantly reboots. It's happened twice in the past three days while driving, though I have yet to get a warning about the battery being low. It's always been while I was driving and listening to music from the iPod and I'll change the song using the steering wheel controls, or try and turn the music off by pressing the power button and the track will not change and will continue to play until it shuts off ten seconds later and reboots.

Damn dealer trying to spook me into getting the battery change with them?

Gonna go to Sears or Sam's Club and get a new battery for two of our cars, including the 5 this weekend. I hear Sam's has great warranties if the battery goes bad within 36 months, or something.

 

Just go to walmart/sams and get an H8 battery and do it yourself. Best $100 you ever spent. I wouldn't trust anyone working at these places to take out my battery and change it if that makes sense. I've heard horror stories that included sparks and lots of $$$. Of course all due to carelessness

 

Any particular battery brands I should look for? Or avoid? Anything special about our batteries I need to notify them about, or will just any old battery work?

I plan do go to Sam's or Costco, so whatever they have is what I'm asking about.