Battery replacement, BMW or?

T

TitanTim

Elite
Hi all,

Has anyone recently had their battery replaced by BMW and what the rough cost was please. I'm hazarding a guess around the £300 mark.

I'm getting a message on my M140i s Idrive to say the battery is discharging and its nearly discharged. It pops up when I first get in the car and after turning the engine off. Car is starting fine although it is connected to a CTEK all the time when not used and the CTEK has all the lights on to say battery is fully charged. Went for a long drive early this morning but still had the message at the end of the drive. I'm guessing the battery is on its way out, its coming upto 7 years old.

Halfords online quote is £229 including mobile fitting but unsure if to risk it with them but then again they must fit them all the time so surely what could go wrong :lol:

Thanks,

Tim.
 
BMW don't make batteries (OEM would likely have been Bosch) so it's daft to pay over the odds. Many online battery supply places out there if you've got the know how to fit and register a new battery
 
smorris_12 said:
BMW don't make batteries
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BMW don't make most of the parts fitted to their cars (nor do any manufacturers). Just badge them as such and mark them up astronomically. :)

"It's smarter to fit Varta" springs to mind when it comes to car batteries!
 
smorris_12 said:
BMW don't make batteries (OEM would likely have been Bosch) so it's daft to pay over the odds. Many online battery supply places out there if you've got the know how to fit and register a new battery
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Many thanks, doing a few Google searches picks up that BMW use their own branded batteries but unsure of the make. Seems theres been a few issues of BMW owners who have used the likes of Halfords and other online mobile fitters using an incorrect battery that they claim is compatible but isn't and also not codeing correctly. I can probably fit a new battery but I don't have a codeing dongle. For the moment I've swapped the CTEK charger the car has been hooked up to for a newer charger and see if that improves things. Could be the charger I've been using on the car might be going faulty and not charging properly. Will give a day or so on the newer charger and see if it solves the issue. If not I'll bite the bullet and book into BMW.

Tim.
 
[ref]TitanTim[/ref], you're Stafford based if I remember correctly? Give BM Automotive Solutions (https://bmautomotivesolutions.co.uk/) a call and ask them. I used them for quite a bit of work when I had my E86. They weren't always a lot cheaper than the main dealer, but they'll answer your questions and advise you honestly as well as giving you a price if you want them to do it.
 
M1k3yC said:
[ref]TitanTim[/ref], you're Stafford based if I remember correctly? Give BM Automotive Solutions (https://bmautomotivesolutions.co.uk/) a call and ask them. I used them for quite a bit of work when I had my E86. They weren't always a lot cheaper than the main dealer, but they'll answer your questions and advise you honestly as well as giving you a price if you want them to do it.
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Many thanks :thumbsup: Yes the're not far from me, I was looking to contact them soon as need an MOT and brake fluid change in July, I've been using knights now Lookers for years probably as I have an extended warranty but looking for alternatives now as the car is getting older.

Tim.
 
You need to code it against the 140 though. We did the same with my son’s battery a few weeks back, car is the same age as yours and came up with the same message.

Got the battery from Tayna though, 5 minutes to fit and 1 minute to code
 
FFS. When ICE car manufacturers try to tie in owners to 'their own' fkg batteries!

:headbang:
 
pvr said:
You need to code it against the 140 though. We did the same with my son’s battery a few weeks back, car is the same age as yours and came up with the same message.

Got the battery from Tayna though, 5 minutes to fit and 1 minute to code
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Yes I think the codeing part is what the likes of Halfords/Kwik Fit fall foul of and doing some searches reveals some fitters say it doesn't need codeing :) or more likely they say that as they don't know how to code to the car. As I understand, the new battery will still work but may not be receiving the correct charge as the car doesn't know its new, so potentially shortening battery life.

Tim.
 
Ive just had the Discharging Notice appear on the screen of the 335 this morning. No message after a short drive to the park and ride so it probably isn't critical yet.
The car was bought July 2015 and the battery replace under warranty Sept 2017. The Dealer told me it was Circa £400 in those days, so who knows what they would want to try and charge me now. Im not even going to ask!
 
pvr said:
Tayna
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The Tayna site comes up with alsorts of battery makes :)

The AA do a dedicated mobile service for non members and recomend Bosch when I put my plate in at £287 for an 80ah or £299 for a 95ah fitted and coded, think mine is a 80ah.

The Bosch battery from Tayna is a fair bit cheaper though although doesn't included fitting or coding.

Tim.
 
ronk said:
Ive just had the Discharging Notice appear on the screen of the 335 this morning. No message after a short drive to the park and ride so it probably isn't critical yet.
The car was bought July 2015 and the battery replace under warranty Sept 2017. The Dealer told me it was Circa £400 in those days, so who knows what they would want to try and charge me now. Im not even going to ask!
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Doing a little Googling Ron the warning can mean there is excessive draw on the battery causing the battery to discharge too quickly or if the battery is getting on a bit its most likely not holding its charge so is basically slowly running down too quickly. I've got mine on a CTEK at the moment which is indicating the battery is fully charged but it was saying that on Sunday when I got the car out of storage and I got the battery discharge message as soon as I disconnected the CTEK and before starting the car.

I've tracked down a genuine BMW branded battery at £230 but obviously I would need to get it fitted and coded so a dealer would probably charge a little more for the battery itself and then charge a minimum hours labour rate which will be around £100 so I would expect a bill over 300 quid easily so wouldn't be surprised at 400 as you say :cry:

Might just go with the AA and get them to come to home than faffing at the dealers anyways, booking in, dropping the car off and the technician taking it for an extended test drive to Macdonalds drive thru, kerb and few alloys and charge me 400 quid for the priveledge :)

Tim.
 
As you said earlier, gone are the days when a fella could rattle a 10mm spanner for a few minutes and job done!
 
ronk said:
As you said earlier, gone are the days when a fella could rattle a 10mm spanner for a few minutes and job done!
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My first car I replaced the battery in 2 minutes but then wind up windows was an option back then :)

Tim.
 
Bit of an update.

Made a booking with AA mobile battery service who called today with a view to replacing the battery. They tested the battery and and it's charge state was at 100% and was charging ok from the alternator and said the battery was all good and didn't need replacing :oops:

Odd thing is if I connect a CTEK charger it will charge the battery to 100%, it should also indicate if the battery is going bad which it doesn't. When I disconnect the charger and then start the car I get a warning on the iDrive straight away saying battery is discharging and after a drive and switching off I then get the message "Battery Discharged"

20230609-135559.jpg

I have a P3 dash gauge which is plugged into the OBDC and is indicating the battery is being charged at 14.2 volts with engine running so within healthy range.

The AA chappie suggested it might be a bad intelligent battery monitor that thinks the battery is discharging when it isn't. Could also be potentially a comfort access module gone bad that doesn't turn off and drains the battery but this doesn't explain when the battery charge is at 100% why the battery discharging warning appears straight away when the car is started or why at the end of a journey its saying the battery is discharged when it's being charged at 14.2 volts with the engine running.

It's due a Service and MOT next months so BMW can take a look and then charge me ££££s, I do have extended warranty though :)

Tim
 
My son’s 140 did exactly the same, so we just replaced the battery anyway. The extended warranty doesn’t cover the battery anyway and as due to the age you are on borrowed time I would do it anyway
 
pvr said:
My son’s 140 did exactly the same, so we just replaced the battery anyway. The extended warranty doesn’t cover the battery anyway and as due to the age you are on borrowed time I would do it anyway
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Thanks for the info, I mentioned to the AA chappie about the age of the battery but he said as its testing fine he said he wasn't comfortable charging me £251 to replace a battery which he tested as being good so unsure. End of the day think you're right as the battery must be on borrowed time now, 7 years old. Think I'll hang on a few more weeks until the service/MOT and see what BMW say, just in case it might be something else and what they charge for a battery.

Doing some searching, I've read that once the battery reaches a certain age regardless of it's condition you will start to get the battery discharging warnings, so basically a way of saying you need a battery even though it might be perfectly healthy, might be a bit cynical way of looking at it :lol: I don't know if that is really true.

Tim.
 
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