Battery Light On

[bsmith_tsu]

Last night after turning on the car my battery light came on in the dashboard. This morning it hasn't come on. I just got the car back from the dealership on Saturday after they did the Inspection II. They suggested I go ahead and bring it up for a new battery. That's all good, but they said it will cost $302. The battery indicator on the battery itself is green indicating that it is charged. It's a 2003 2.5 Z4. Anyone know what the life expectancy of these batteries are?

What should I do?

 

[baugelli]

If they just did an Inspection II they should have checked the charging/alternator system. I would have them check it to make sure it's the battery before I go and hand them $300+. You can probably get a nice Optima battery for less than that.

 

[pvr]

My first Z from 2004 had to have the battery replaced after about 18 months ... lack of use kills the thing, so on my M it is now on a CTEK battery maintainer

 

[WLH]

A proper size Interstate battery can be obtained for about $110.00 if in fact the battery needs to be replaced.

 

[bsmith_tsu]

After taking the car to the dealership they ran the diagnostic check and found the fault code 281D BSD generator signal implausible. They did find the service bulletin 12 23 06 pertaining to the fault code, and that my car was in the production range of the bulletin, so they reprogrammed the car.

It's irritating that I just took it in 5 days ago for the Inspection II. Paying $50 is better than $300.

 

[fire-n-ice]

bsmith, seems the loss of time dealing with stealerships is most peoples' biggest issue. It's like pulling teeth and it should be the exact opposite. Seems they have an answer for everything - except the solution. I had to waste a lot of my time gathering info on the internet and taking it back on two occasions and refused to pick it up until it was fixed. They did it, but not without some digging of their heels.