Battery Going Dead.

[artifice]

I think it is the battery also, but if you have comfort access maybe your car is not fully going to sleep? as in your key might be to close to your car and draining your battery. I know my key fob is always low on juice because I left my keys to close to the car ie, inside the door or upstairs over the garage.

[badbimmer]

Originally Posted by Gamoto

Picked my car up today they put a new battery in no charge. I asked how it could check good 2 weeks ago and now it's toast. SA said the batteries in these cars are funny. " You can put one on the machine one day and it checks fine, a couple days later it gives out a negative reading " Bottom line is it has to show a negative reading when they test it or BMW will not pay them for a new one.

I asked him if they question how many miles the car has, and if there is a ratio of miles driven vs the age of the car that would effect a free replacment. With a puzzled look he said No

b/c they bullshitted you. They didn't check anything. They simply charged it and sent you on your way. Their method of operation was to see if it happened again. If it did, then they knew you would return. What a waste of your time. Find a new dealer.

[Mike Benvo]

Originally Posted by badbimmer

b/c they bullshitted you. They didn't check anything. They simply charged it and sent you on your way. Their method of operation was to see if it happened again. If it did, then they knew you would return. What a waste of your time. Find a new dealer.

That's not likely what happened.

They are required to perform an energy diagnosis on the car. It takes a couple of hours, and generates a pretty large report with data.

Mainly what they will look at is number of trips within a certain range, i.e

How many trips were 1-10km, 10-30km, 30km and up - in distance travelled.

It may be a bad battery. In my case it was the IBS cable (intelligent battery sensing) ground cable. They wound up replacing the battery and then the IBS cable on a second visit.

All has been prefect for almost a year now

[badbimmer]

Originally Posted by Mike@Powerchip

That's not likely what happened.

They are required to perform an energy diagnosis on the car. It takes a couple of hours, and generates a pretty large report with data.

Mainly what they will look at is number of trips within a certain range, i.e

How many trips were 1-10km, 10-30km, 30km and up - in distance travelled.

It may be a bad battery. In my case it was the IBS cable (intelligent battery sensing) ground cable. They wound up replacing the battery and then the IBS cable on a second visit.

All has been prefect for almost a year now

"required" and what they actually do are 2 different things. That's why some dealerships are better than others.

[Gamoto]

Originally Posted by TrueM

How can you drive 16,000 miles in 3 years? Maybe thats why battery is dead?

I explained that in post #5. You obviously didn't read any of the previous threads before you made your comment.

[Gamoto]

Originally Posted by TrueM

How can you drive 16,000 miles in 3 years? Maybe thats why battery is dead?

Originally Posted by badbimmer

b/c they bullshitted you. They didn't check anything. They simply charged it and sent you on your way. Their method of operation was to see if it happened again. If it did, then they knew you would return. What a waste of your time. Find a new dealer.

Yeah I thought the same thing which I mentioned back on thread #12

"It's the same as the BMW charger. Now my dealer says my battery is bad...I think they just charged my battery 2 weeks ago and didn't check it."

[Mike Benvo]

Originally Posted by badbimmer

"required" and what they actually do are 2 different things. That's why some dealerships are better than others.

It would clearly indicate on the service order if they performed that diagnostic or not.

Some dealerships are horrible, some are good.

The only one I trust happens to break something every time they touch my car but at least they replace whatever it is..

Trust your car with no one is my motto.

[KGB7]

Speaking of batteries.

I had to replace a battery on my car as well, It would hold a charge for about an hour, but then i had to jump start it or use car battery charger.

[Hawk Lax]

Originally Posted by Gamoto

Besides how can you call a 56 mile round trip to work a short trip.....and that doen't count any other driving. That alone x 48 weeks is 13,500 a year just back and forth to work. That statement also deserves a

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=492254

Just saying...

[ploo]

Had this same issue happen to me over the last week -
1. noticed longer cranking times over last 6 months - 6 months ago went to a good dealership and told battery checked out fine.
2. moved to a different city with only one small dealership
3. started noticing the car would forget the center display setting (e.g. v= speedo)
4. car nearly wouldn't start one morning, drove to dealership and it read 519 amps (500 required to start). however, since they didn't have any loaners, i couldn't leave the car.
5. charged the battery using a battery tender for 18 hours
6. dropped the car off following week, got it back the next day:
- I wanted battery replaced: "We fully charged the battery and now it's reading good."
- I said the car was idling roughly: "Use different gas, you can go below 91 octane because it's now the winter formulation." Needless to say, I was unimpressed with these solutions, but I remained a good sport.
7. drop car over the next week, started getting "Battery charge level low!" warnings again
8. dropped car off at dealership an hour ago where the SA told me "well, i can run an energy diagnostics test, but since you don't drive it at least 20 miles a day, they won't cover a battery under warranty."
9. i kept my patience as i didn't want to burn bridges at the only dealership local to me, but is this legit? can BMW really refuse to warranty my battery because I don't drive it enough? this car is my daily driver and i usually go for a long drive in the evenings (~25 minutes) to run a full heat cycle, hit 8000 rpms a couple times, charge the battery, etc.

Do I have any way to push for a battery replacement? If they call me back tomorrow saying the battery checked out fine and I can replace the battery myself for $350, I might lose it. I have a real job and can't get stranded somewhere just because my dealership doesn't have the clout to argue with BMW for a goodwill battery replacement?

btw my car was 10/08 production, 1/09 sold, i bought it used in 12/09 and have put about 10,000 miles on since, the car is driven daily and for at least 20-25 minutes for at least one drive 6x/week, i've always been around similar mileage levels on my cars (BMWs) and never had so much trouble with a simple battery issue?

the part that really pissed me off was "if you don't drive at least 20 miles a day, BMW won't replace your battery." For my M, my previous (awesome) dealership even changed my oil once a year specifically due to "low mileage."

am I completely out of line here? I would just like a replacement battery that I can depend on. It seems reasonable to me that a battery produced just over 3 years ago might have lost enough capacity with my usage to simply need a replacement (under warranty).

[elp_jc]

Originally Posted by ploo

The part that really pissed me off was "if you don't drive at least 20 miles a day, BMW won't replace your battery."

I was told exactly that when I took my year-old-but-new M3 (bought out of town) to the 1,200-mile service at the only local dealership. I'll just replace it myself with an aftermarket alternative with equal specs (AGM, Ah, etc) before it craps out, just like I perform my services out of pocket . But yes, these cars (especially with CA, like mine) eat batteries if you don't drive them for at least 15 miles every ignition cycle. Short trips are brutal, since all kinds of crap keeps running for 10/15 minutes every ignition cycle. I charge mine every week, due to little use (9K in 3 years). Good luck.

[Buckman]

Just had mine replaced. I have low miles on this '09 (21,000 miles). My car has to sit my very hot Texas garage for many months of the year which cannot be good for battery life. Battery maybe made it 3 years since her birth, about 2.75 years since she has been mine.
I think the trick for everyone is to 'try' to get a new battery before your M goes off warranty, as a BMW battery replacement is wickedly expensive.

[Prince_of_Persia]

Originally Posted by Hawk Lax

Its the battery. Do not be surprised if its not covered by the warranty due to poor driving profile ie short trips

^^^ this! Drive the car!

[ploo]

Thanks guys. I think my local dealership is very frustrated at telling multiple owners this same thing regarding battery coverage - my SA says it's particularly commonplace on the new 5ers, as well.

Have any of you found a suitable (AGM, etc) replacement battery somewhere? My dealership wants $400 total including labor, but I wouldn't mind putting in my own replacement if it is to the proper spec. Seems like a 5 minute job.

Thanks. And I'd love to drive the car more, I just work all the time. As it is, I generally go on a superfluous 20-minute drive every evening when leaving work just to enjoy the car, and it's still not enough for BMW!

P.S. my SA told me their "energy usage diagnostics" readout keeps track of roughly a 3-month history of driving patterns, which is how they justify denying the battery claim due to insufficient mileage. Meaning, I can't go on a 20-mile drive every day for a week to get the battery covered. Can anybody verify the behavior of this energy diagnostics program? Thanks all for your helpful comments. I will be contacting BMW NA tomorrow to politely plead my case.

[yunungchou]

I have same problem and get a warming "Battery Discharged Increase".....dealer refund cover it because low mile driven. If I really had to replace a new one, which brand better? any recommended? is light weight battery good??

[markjord]

The UK dealer said they needed to observe mine over 3 days when I got the low charge warning and clock kept forgetting the time. Mine's a late 07. They replaced it and we agreed on a 50% contribution from the dealer. Still cost me £180. I'll use a trickle charger if u leave it any time this winter (when it snows). Didn't like leaving it with them for 3 days but no choice really.

[socalm3lover]

The dealer just replaced my '08 battery ($400ish). The car is a July '08 build with 65k on it. Still, a little early for battery, but not a great surprise. The first dealer said it was good, actually better than new, but I had it checked with another dealer after continuing problems and they said it was bad.

[08E92M3]

Just had my battery replace under warranty in my 08 during the last service in Oct., they tested the old battery & was only charging 20+%, so they replaced it. Yes, I did bring up the issue with my comfort access not working all the time & the clock kept resetting itself. BTW, just hit 10,000 miles on Friday, and I do drive mine 5 days a week.

[elp_jc]

Originally Posted by 08E92M3

BTW, just hit 10,000 miles on Friday, and I do drive mine 5 days a week.

You got lucky . By the way, it's not how many days a week you drive your car, but how many miles every ignition cycle. A high compression V8 engine drains the battery a lot, plus all the crap that runs before and after starting/shuttting-off the engine. Anything less than 15 miles is progressively discharging the battery. Charge your new battery once a week and it should last you a long, long time .

[CalgaryX3]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Charge your new battery once a week and it should last you a long, long time .

So to clarify, I have a brand new '11 E90 which gets driven very infrequently (have a company vehicle). Should I leave the battery tender attached all the time when the car is in the garage, even when it shows a green (fully charged) indicator lamp?

Just curious....

Asif

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by 08E92M3

Just had my battery replace under warranty in my 08 during the last service in Oct., they tested the old battery & was only charging 20+%, so they replaced it. Yes, I did bring up the issue with my comfort access not working all the time & the clock kept resetting itself. BTW, just hit 10,000 miles on Friday, and I do drive mine 5 days a week.

The problem UK owners have is with the Efficient Dynamics system we use which basically tries to disconnect the alternator whenever possible and preferably only reconnect it during overrun unless the charge level fall below a preset level when the charge cycle becomes more aggressive.
The downside is having to use a special battery to take a very high charge rate during overrun - a system I'm betting makes it more susceptible to failure.