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      02-28-2012, 10:35 PM   #1
W Cole
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BMW Battery Warranty Coverage

I've seen several posts about BMW denying warranty coverage due to driving habits claiming that the car is not driven enough to keep a charge in the battery. Has anyone heard of BMW denying coverage because the doors were opened and closed too often causing the modules to "wake up" and drain the battery? It doesn't seem like a legitimate reason to deny coverage to me..

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      02-29-2012, 03:07 PM   #2
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never heard of that one.
i was just denied cause my car is not being used on a daily basis.
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      02-29-2012, 03:17 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tony093 View Post
never heard of that one.
i was just denied cause my car is not being used on a daily basis.
What stealer did you go to?
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      02-29-2012, 03:18 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W Cole View Post
I've seen several posts about BMW denying warranty coverage due to driving habits claiming that the car is not driven enough to keep a charge in the battery. Has anyone heard of BMW denying coverage because the doors were opened and closed too often causing the modules to "wake up" and drain the battery? It doesn't seem like a legitimate reason to deny coverage to me..

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Lmao they'll say anything!
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      02-29-2012, 03:23 PM   #5
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This is true. I just purchased a 2011 E92 M3 that had 1700 miles on it. It was sold to the original owner on December of 2010. He NEVER drove it, obviously.

Anyways, while I was test driving it, I scrolled to the vehicle messages and it was giving a caution that the battery was not keeping a charge or some shit like that. I told them to fix it before I bought it and the service manager said that the dealership was going to have to pay for it, that it was not covered under warranty.

I didn't have to pay, the STEALERSHIP paid for it. They were NOT able to chalk it up as a warranty item because the car was never driven. Cost them $450, at least that's what they told me.
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      02-29-2012, 04:24 PM   #6
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I drive 5-6K a year. My car is a 2009. Dealer just fully covered a new AGM Battery.

I am the original owner and this is the selling dealership.

They have always taken care of me!
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      02-29-2012, 09:12 PM   #7
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Red face Get the Battery warranty

The Battery for this car is not cheap $300.00+ and thats just the battery not to include the labor and having to reset the computer to let the car know it has a new battery. I found out the hard way when I returned from a deployment and the car was not driven enough to keep the battery charged plus the car was out of warranty. It was something like $578.00 total after Stealership charges for everything. Lucky for me I had a service rep hook me up with a 20% discount off the total . I highly recommend you get it or get raped by the stealership
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      02-29-2012, 09:14 PM   #8
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Okay the dealer changed their tune today. Now they are telling me coverage is denied because when the battery warning light came on this past weekend the vehicle did not have its engine running.

The battery warning light came on about 10 seconds after I got into the car. I was plugging in my thumb drive and checking that it was working propertly while in accessory mode (hit start button once). I literally hadn't had enough time to turn on the car. Conveniently, the dealer says they do not have the capability to see how long the car was on before the warning light was triggered - does anyone know if this is true?

They are calling this, "user error." I'm fairly certain that sitting in the car for 10 seconds without the engine running is not an error.

The battery has been failing for months and I have been to this particular dealer twice with complaints of the clock losing time. A month ago when I brought it in I explained my clock was losing time to the secretary who took my appointment and even she was able to diagnose over the phone that it was a failing battery. However, when I took the car in they said the battery was in perfect condition even though the clock was losing several minutes per day. Now, a month later, they say the battery is so damaged its not safe to drive with but this is somehow my fault because I ran the stereo this past weekend for 10 seconds without the engine running.

I called BMWUSA but they are no help. The representative I have been dealing with says she has absolutely no technical expertise with which to make an informed decision and she is relying solely on the service managers opinion at the dealer that this failure is due to "user error." She also said that they can't cover the battery because I could have left the lights on the day after I purchased the car thereby killing the battery. Which leads me to question why BMW says they warranty batteries at all?

Last edited by W Cole; 02-29-2012 at 09:21 PM..
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      02-29-2012, 09:23 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W Cole View Post
Okay the dealer changed their tune today. Now they are telling me coverage is denied because when the battery warning light came on this past weekend the vehicle did not have its engine running.

The battery warning light came on about 10 seconds after I got into the car. I was plugging in my thumb drive and checking that it was working propertly while in accessory mode (hit start button once). I literally hadn't had enough time to turn on the car. Conveniently, the dealer says they do not have the capability to see how long the car was on before the warning light was triggered - does anyone know if this is true?

They are calling this, "user error." I'm fairly certain that sitting in the car for 10 seconds without the engine running is not an error.

The battery has been failing for months and I have been to this particular dealer twice with complaints of the clock losing time. A month ago when I brought it in I explained my clock was losing time to the secretary who took my appointment and even she was able to diagnose over the phone that it was a failing battery. However, when I took the car in they said the battery was in perfect condition even though the clock was losing several minutes per day. Now, a month later, they say the battery is so damaged its not safe to drive with but this is somehow my fault because I ran the stereo on saturday for 10 seconds without the engine running.

I called BMWUSA but they are no help. The representative I have been dealing with says she has absolutely no technical expertise and since the dealer says this is due to "user error" BMW will not cover it.
If your car is still under warranty take it to a different stealership and hurry because your battery is running on borrowed time fast. I was in SoCal when my battery took a dump and I live in Texas. I took mine to Long Beach BMW had my car been still been under factory warranty they would have fixed covered it. I think its all up to the stealership
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      02-29-2012, 09:27 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SHADY1 View Post
If your car is still under warranty take it to a different stealership and hurry because your battery is running on borrowed time fast. I was in SoCal when my battery took a dump and I live in Texas. I took mine to Long Beach BMW had my car been still been under factory warranty they would have fixed covered it. I think its all up to the stealership
Yeah, my car has two years of warranty left. It was an 09 that sat on the lot for over a year (I wonder if the battery could have been damaged during the year it sat on the lot not being driven a single mile?).

I will make an appointment at Crevier and see what they say. If all else fails there are several dealerships in SoCal..
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      02-29-2012, 10:55 PM   #11
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Seriously!!! some of these dealers are bunch of liars.... I had my battery changed 2 weeks ago in both the 335 and the M3 which hardly driven (20k miles in 4 years) and the dealer told me it is COVERED...I paid nothing for both ..
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      03-01-2012, 11:53 AM   #12
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UPDATE: Dealer replaced the battery without my permission and without giving me a quote for the work. I was quite surprised to see a $430 repair bill for a battery replacement when I went to pick up my car.
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      03-01-2012, 12:02 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 328xi0wner View Post
What stealer did you go to?
Open road in Edison
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      03-01-2012, 03:48 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W Cole View Post
UPDATE: Dealer replaced the battery without my permission and without giving me a quote for the work. I was quite surprised to see a $430 repair bill for a battery replacement when I went to pick up my car.
Which dealer was this?
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      03-01-2012, 07:42 PM   #15
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It was sold to the original owner on December of 2010
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      03-01-2012, 09:03 PM   #16
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Which dealer was this?
Sterling.
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      03-01-2012, 09:29 PM   #17
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BMW has an electrical power requirement problem and telling the Customer they don't drive enough borders on ridiculous since it is damaging their Customer relationships.

As others have mentioned, if you have a good rapport with your Dealer they replace the battery at no charge. I was just able to replace my Mom's battery at no charge for her 2010 528xi with 9K miles when it failed for lack of driving.

Sadly, this will probably be Mom's first and last BMW since it has left her stranded 3 times in the last 6 months.
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      03-01-2012, 09:46 PM   #18
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I don't get this whole battery dying thing....

My March 2010 built M has 4K miles and battery is just fine and my wife's 2002 Mini Cooper S with 40K miles is on its original battery..... Both cars are clearly garage queens - nice day cars and they both fire up right away....

What do you guys do, go turn on the headlights and listen to the radio when the car is hibernating???
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      03-01-2012, 09:52 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CBS View Post
BMW has an electrical power requirement problem and telling the Customer they don't drive enough borders on ridiculous since it is damaging their Customer relationships.
I agree. I can't believe they were able to tell me with a straight face that opening and closing my doors too often is what caused my battery to fail.
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      03-02-2012, 07:31 PM   #20
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^ That's Nuts!
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      03-02-2012, 08:27 PM   #21
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if my car's electics are on for more than 3 mins without the car being on, then I get a discharged battery warning


it's died on my over 6 times in the past year I've owned the car

They won't replace it

So I always keep a jump starter in my trunk, and hook it up to a tender if I'm not going to be driving it for a couple days
if it sits for more than 5 or so days, the battery is dead dead, won't even unlock.

car has about 15k miles in 14 months... and lives life in the high RPMs with plenty of highway driving
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      03-02-2012, 09:30 PM   #22
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^ WOW now that's Nuts!

UPDATE: Mom's 2010 528xi is fine with her NEW Battery but SA told me it's just a matter of time (estimates a year) before we will have problems again due to her driving habits. As a precaution, I am putting it on a tender every two weeks.
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