Questions about what would lead to dead battery *UPDATE*

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SonnyZ4

Member
 Driver's Seat
I have a 2003 BMW Z4 3.0i. Forewarning, I included some background info at the beginning...

Last THursday night I got a flat tire and had the Zed towed to Discount Tire to get it fixed/replaced the next morning. Of course, it being Discount Tire, the store manager gave me every excuse to not repair/fix it. "BMW suspension is set for performance from the factory (I can believe that) so tires wear quicker (also sounds perfectly reasonable), and we're not going to cover the road hazard damage under the road hazard warranty you bought because of how the suspension is set from the factory" ...um okay? After arguing for a minute he agreed to replace the tire at no cost to me. I would naturally have to wait a few days for the tire to show up since it's not regularly stocked.

Fast forward to today, I get a call from the manager letting me know the tire should be there today or tomorrow. He also tells me that the car won't start. uhhhh....okay? He says it will click when you try to start it and won't start. Sounds like a dead battery/deing battery. He also tells me that they haven't been able to start it since last Friday night and only now decided to call me. He also wanted to know how to jump a BMW battery...

Now, after all that background reading on to my question: I've never had battery issues, weak battery issue, etc. How plausible is it that the battery just flat out died? Would it die if you left something like the domelight on for roughly 8hrs? Or would the dome light turn itself off? Do you think I have any argument in favor of them eating the cost of the battery? Since it was drained while under their possession. I'm 100% sure I didn't leave anything on when I left the car there THursday night.

Should I buy the battery from the dealer? Or is an AC Delco from the local O'Reilly's a fine alternative?

Thanks for the help!
 
The dealer has probably left something on or was fiddling with the vehicle after you left(?) Lights, ignition when it was moved or they are looking for extra business ?
There is a small chance that 'coincidentally' the battery has failed without any previous problems. :? Get them to recharge the battery and if you have further issues with them call them to get a battery available but ask for trade or best price on the unit if it comes to it.
Good luck.
Sounds like there may be some 'BS' and extra business 'touting' going on to me. :(

Ask who the supervising manager 'overseeing' for the branch is as you are discussing the issue and how you can contact him or her as you have not been happy with your service or 'their' business model. See what the response is?
 
They guy tried every trick in the book to get me to buy all new tires that have a lot of tread left, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to get more money for themselves or a local shop.

My guess was they left something on and killed the battery, couldn't figure out how to jump it/recharge it and called me to say the car has problems rather than admit to anything. His response when I said "something about this doesn't seem right..." (about them having to push it in and out of the shop everyday and not calling me until 4 days later to let me know it wasn't starting) was "Well, you better not be implying that we caused it!!"

I finally found the battery on RealOEM and can get it from my local dealer for $98 bucks if worse comes to worse.

Remember those days when you could trust people?
 
Sounds like the tyre guy is playing you for a fool.
Collect the car..pay nothing...never return & complain to the head office about the sh!t service you received.
 
If it's the OEM battery, you're about due for a replacement anyway. If it's been replaced, you may be able to bring it back to life by simply charging it.

What ever you do, stay away from those clowns. How does uneven wear have anything to do with road hazard damage? Sheesh!

AFAIK, you can use any battery that fits and has the terminals properly arranged. Also ensure it has a vent tube connection.
 
bcworkz said:
If it's the OEM battery, you're about due for a replacement anyway. If it's been replaced, you may be able to bring it back to life by simply charging it.

What ever you do, stay away from those clowns. How does uneven wear have anything to do with road hazard damage? Sheesh!

AFAIK, you can use any battery that fits and has the terminals properly arranged. Also ensure it has a vent tube connection.
Click to expand...

Exactly!!!! The terms on it say they won't replace it if the ROAD HAZARD/DAMAGE is causedby misalignment, and a nail in the tire isn't caused by misalignment haha

I also found out that they use O'Reillys Auto for all of their parts and supplies...how convenient! :roll:

If the battery is due for a replacement (assuming its the original) then I have no problem replacing it. I'm just not a big fan of fixing other shops mistakes :D

In the event that any of you move to the States or if Discount Tire is in Europe, I probably would avoid them at all costs
 
SonnyZ4, the perfect battery replacement for your Z4 is the Interstate MTP-48/H6. My original battery lasted 8 1/2 years. Be sure the vent tube is hooked up to the new battery. I learned a while ago to never deal with any type of discount auto/tire services. Maybe the discount service place you have the car at messed the battery up, just wish you good luck on that one.
 
So....got a phone call from the "wonderful" manager at Discount Tire letting me know that while they were putting on the new tire, they noticed that it was cracked and they can sell me new rims :roll:

Am I really supposed to fall for this? haha I've read numerous threads about cracked BMW rims, but it seems very strange to me that the rim/tire never leaked air or had to be refilled constantly. Then I get a flat tire from a nail, and they just happen to notice AFTER they get the old tire off that the rim is cracked? hahaha These guys should be in comedy

I bet when I go tomorrow morning the car will be totaled and they'll just happen to have a new Z4 that I can buy
 
Beware! If they are totally incompetent, entirely plausible in this case, they may have cracked your rim on their machine. Difficult to discern the damage was their doing with the tire on, but without the tire, there would be obvious machine marks. This has happened to at least one member of this forum. Likely many more go unreported.
 
bcworkz said:
If it's the OEM battery, you're about due for a replacement anyway. If it's been replaced, you may be able to bring it back to life by simply charging it.

What ever you do, stay away from those clowns. How does uneven wear have anything to do with road hazard damage? Sheesh!

AFAIK, you can use any battery that fits and has the terminals properly arranged. Also ensure it has a vent tube connection.
Click to expand...

Not necessary if the battery is fully sealed. (battery dependant of course.)
 
After waiting two total hours for two different tow trucks (the first guy said he'd shatter the bumper putting it on his flatbed) and thirty minutes for Discount Tire to finally push the car out of their shop, I finally made it to our mechanic. He's going to give it a thorough looking over to see if he can find any damage from a machine etc. Discount Tire wouldn't tell us if there was a nail or anything in the tire. They put the new tire in the trunk

I'm going to run down to the dealer to pickup a new battery just to save me the headache. http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BT53&mospid=47799&btnr=61_1612&hg=61&fg=30
There's three listed, does anyone know the right one to get?

bcworkz: Now, to be fair, I don't know for certain what a completely flat tire looks like on a rim with the vehicles weight on it. But, it did look like there was that white residue from the grease/lubricant stuff they use and the tire looked like it wasn't completely on the rim. I wouldn't be surprised if you're 100% right and they cracked the rim while trying to get the tire off.

Thanks again guys, hopefully I can get this sorted quick and be back on the road :driving:
 
I ended up buying a new rim ($310) and battery ($125) :thumbsdown: :x . I'm footing the bill now and sending it to their person at corporate that I've been talking to.

I need help though on a part number(again! haha)

Is there a part number for the tire pressure monitoring on the wheels? I didn't find anything on RealOEM. I've found threads calling it "Flat Tire Monitoring" and they say that its done by the ABS sensors. Does that mean there is no part inside the wheel that needs to be installed on the new wheel (excluding the standard black rubber valve stem)??

In case you're wondering why my mechanic doesn't know, there's no indy BMW place near me and the dealer is a long drive across town. So I go to the only honest place in town. I've been taking my cars to these guys for years and they do a great job. He just wanted to be 100% sure that we weren't going to forgot anything on the new rim.

Thanks again! I'm one step closer to it being sorted :thumbsup:
 
SonnyZ4 said:
Does that mean there is no part inside the wheel that needs to be installed on the new wheel (excluding the standard black rubber valve stem)??
Click to expand...
This is correct for all E85/6s up to '07, not too sure about after that. It's a fair question, there is a lot of confusion and conflicting information on this topic.

I'm sure it's a great feeling to have your car sorted, good luck with your claim against that tire chain who's name shall never be uttered again.
 
Sounds like an experience i had at sytners sheffield years back who usually give me good service, they wrote on the service sheet rear wheel buckled wanted to charge me £400 for a new one, i knew you can pick them up for less than 100 on ebay so wasnt bothered told them no. The car needed some new tyres anyway all were getting on a bit so I took it down to local tyre place where i have been going years for some fresh rubber. They took off both rear wheels and found no problems with the tyres or rims and showed me the wheels going round on the machine.

Just shows you should always get a second opinion on anything you haven't already noticed wrong yourself!
 
Picked it up yesterday, glad to finally have it back . I've been driving my Wrangler for the past two weeks, so I had forgotten how low the Z was!
 
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