Think It's Time For A New Battery

[BCS_ZHP]

So filled my car up on Jan 18th, washed her, and she's been parked outside until this morning, Jan 29th. During that period we've had the coldest weather of the winter for the DC area, lots of under 20 degrees nights.

First startup this morning, the starter took a little bit longer to crank her and then once running she stuttered, spit and coughed, definitely not running on all 6 cylinders. I shut her off, waited and then restarted her. The second attempt sounded like the starter got hung up, like the bendix didn't disengage completely after the engine fired. Had a rough and low idle but was firing on all 6 cylinders, I revved it up to 1500-2000 rpms for about 30 seconds to clear her out. 3rd start, i shut off all electrical draws, started her and sounded perfectly normal, dropped into the proper idle speed.

So I drove her to work today, 22 miles with about half highway and half secondary roads, no issues at all. I suspect that week and a half of sitting drew down the battery and hopefully my drive this morning, as well as the one tonight, is enough to bring it back for now. But will be planning a battery replacement as the build date for this car is Feb 2006, I believe it's still the original so I know I'm on borrowed time with a 7 year old battery.

[danewilson77]

Right on par with 5-7 year expected battery life.

[wsmeyer]

I'd say it's most likely the battery too, plus even if it turns out to be something else it didn't have that much life left anyway.

You could measure the voltage of the battery. Mine was down to 11.7 volts and the only symptom was noticeably slower cranking in the morning.

[llll1l1ll]

Mine just died about two weeks ago and was a similar age.

I would go ahead and get a new one.

[WOLFN8TR]

Just replaced my 7 yr old BMW battery yesterday. FYI it tested 12.5 volts with a meter but failed the load test.

"AutoZone"
The 49DL:
850CCA
155min RC
2 year warranty
43.04lbs
$84.99 + core

The 94R-DLG:
790CCA
140min RC
8 year warranty, 3 year free replacement
47.41lbs
$165.99 + core

The 49DL is a longer battery so you have to adjust the spacer in the tray.

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=834

[JKO_ZHP]

Just replaced my 7 yr old BMW battery yesterday. FYI it tested 12.5 volts with a meter but failed the load test.

"AutoZone"
The 49DL:
850CCA
155min RC
2 year warranty
43.04lbs
$84.99 + core

The 94R-DLG:
790CCA
140min RC
8 year warranty, 3 year free replacement
47.41lbs
$165.99 + core

The 49DL is a longer battery so you have to adjust the spacer in the tray.

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=834

The 325Ci I had before didn't need any adjust with the 49DL that I threw in....unless the 325 and 330 have different sizes.

My battery's almost 8 years old now :headbang
Probably should replace it soon. Probably.....:shifty

[BCS_ZHP]

Well, priced around from net over $100 to $180 (dealer & Interstate). My mechanic friend of 30 years said he likes the OEM. My local dealer parts guy gave me 20% off of the list price, so $144. Waiting for my son to finish soccer practice at 8, then home to install more CCAs.

[wsmeyer]

Just replaced my 7 yr old BMW battery yesterday. FYI it tested 12.5 volts with a meter but failed the load test.


That's interesting. I wonder how it got to the point of low internal resistance but also low maximum current.

[BCS_ZHP]

So new battery installed, the starter twists up so fast now.

And a Noob observation that has probably been posted elsewhere on our forum but doing it again here for convenience.

If you still have the factory BMW battery, look at the top of your negative post. Two sets of 2 digit numbers are stamped in the top of that post. So in my instance, I removed an "03" "06" battery (produced 3rd week of 2006) and replaced it with a "48" "12" battery (48th week of 2012). This should allow some of you to make a no tools required determination of how old your battery is.

[kayger12]

So new battery installed, the starter twists up so fast now.

And a Noob observation that has probably been posted elsewhere on our forum but doing it again here for convenience.

If you still have the factory BMW battery, look at the top of your negative post. Two sets of 2 digit numbers are stamped in the top of that post. So in my instance, I removed an "03" "06" battery (produced 3rd week of 2006) and replaced it with a "48" "12" battery (48th week of 2012). This should allow some of you to make a no tools required determination of how old your battery is.

Great info.

[JKO_ZHP]

In the case of batteries, I will never understand why people still opt for the much more expensive OEM battery....
The 49DL is a direct replacement, is easy enough for a hand-on noob like me to install in 10 minutes flat, costs only $100 with the core (or at least, cheaper than OEM), has a much higher CCA than OEM (meaning better reliability or the like), and has countless 5/5 star reviews from all E46 owners, some here as well.

If it was for the sake of going OEM, like the visual/performance parts, then I'd understand but nobody will ever see the battery....unless you pop that plastic tray off and open up your trunk. :scratchinghead

[BCS_ZHP]

In my case it was mainly convenience. Found the right size battery at a couple of places today but they all closed at 5 or the discount places didn't have it in stock. First, I tested fate today on it starting, wasn't going to do that again. Second, I normally don't leave the office before 8, departed early at 6:30 tonight and made it to the dealer before they closed at 7.

On why pay more, you stated that a bargain battery can be had for about $100, to me it's just relative. So I bought the same exact battery that the factory installed, one that lasted a measly 7 years, I paid at least $40 bucks more for it, but that difference is less than I pay for a tank of gas. Or extrapolate it across the 7 year life of this particular battery, less than 50 cents additional per month for peace of mind of having the exact same battery that the design engineers originally selected for this car.

[WOLFN8TR]

So new battery installed, the starter twists up so fast now.

And a Noob observation that has probably been posted elsewhere on our forum but doing it again here for convenience.

If you still have the factory BMW battery, look at the top of your negative post. Two sets of 2 digit numbers are stamped in the top of that post. So in my instance, I removed an "03" "06" battery (produced 3rd week of 2006) and replaced it with a "48" "12" battery (48th week of 2012). This should allow some of you to make a no tools required determination of how old your battery is.

Cool info...

I just checked my old BMW battery "42" "04"! That battery lasted 8 years! When I went to Autozone to get my new battery they couldn't believe it was the original battery. I got the 94R-DLG with the 3 year warranty. I'm OCD when it comes to batteries, I always get the best one available.

[RedTRex]

The Maxx H-7 from Walmart $118 fits exceptionally well - even better than the Autozone 94r

[toddness]

Bump - 14 months or so later - which battery would you buy today and why? How much?