How old is your battery?

[artguy]

So I've seen battery questions lately which prompted me to check mine and see what type I have and how old it is...

...Original BMW, 8 years and still kick'n!

Of course now that I've posted this it will probably die :(

http://www.captive1.com/mrk/batt_new_1299_w.jpg

http://www.captive1.com/mrk/batt_label_w.jpg

[Black 535i]

...and it was 13 years old at the time. No sense chancing it with another winter coming then. Have a 850 CCA Exide in there now and never a problem.

[Macv]

same one since a week after it was born.

[Tiger]

Alot has to do with the health of your starter... Old starter will strain and kill your battery faster... I just came to this conclusion this weekend... wondering why this E34 battery doesn't last long regardless of brand.

When you crank, it should be instant and fast cranking... If your BMW feels like no power when you first try and second time it cranks over just okay, then it is most likely your starter is on the way out... like mine. After this first crank on hot engine, starter kicks over like a champ. I am probably gonna wait for a sale before I pick one up.

Good starter use less amperage to turn over engine and bad one suck em all.

[repenttokyo]

2 years old. Cold Cold winters are hard on every part of a car, sadly.

[uscharalph]

From the records I have, I'm on the 3rd battery repleced 08/2006

[bmwrp8]

longest battery that we ever had was 2 years:( maye it has something to do with being sooo hot here

[timandbim]

2 days old, do i win something? now that i've experienced the starter like it's supposed to crank, i realize the ac delco was near-death since before i bought the car this summer. i paid can$120 for a moll battery, a bit steep maybe but i'm already using the heated seats!

[artguy]

http://www.captive1.com/mrk/youngest_star_w.jpg :D

[cary]

longest battery that we ever had was 2 years:( maye it has something to do with being sooo hot here

You are correct. Heat kills batteries. Cold climates cause the cells to lose power, but it comes back as temps warm up. Heat actually cause the plates to be destroyed.

[repenttokyo]

You are correct. Heat kills batteries. Cold climates cause the cells to lose power, but it comes back as temps warm up. Heat actually cause the plates to be destroyed.

not all batteries come back in the cold, not even when the summer comes around again. Draining the charge completely from the battery in the cold will often kill it forever.

[gale]

My previous Autozone Duralast group 49-D, 7 year battery lasted almost 6 years to the day from the date I bought it. It died completely over a period of about 3 days, prolly a dead cell. For $59, that's not a bad deal, they even come with the vent tube business for under the seat. They also gave me 1 year prorated credit for the 7th year. I replaced it with the same one.

Here's Bill Darden's link (Denmark?) with lots of good lead-acid battery info:

http://www.batteryfaq.org/

[cary]

My previous Autozone Duralast group 49-D, 7 year battery lasted almost 6 years to the day from the date I bought it. It died completely over a period of about 3 days, prolly a dead cell. For $59, that's not a bad deal, they even come with the vent tube business for under the seat. They also gave me 1 year prorated credit for the 7th year. I replaced it with the same one.


The price has gone up on these to $84.99. Personally, I don't like Autozone and went to Pep Boys where they sell the same battery with a slightly better warranty for $94.99, and they matched the price when I asked.

[Ross]

Lots of lead in those BM batteries, that's why they last.

[KenB]

My original BMW battery was 14 years old when I replaced it last fall. Got the Duralast.

I had a starter that was going and probably contributed to the battery's demise. Although at 14 years I replaced it at the first sign of weakness before last winter. (Threw a couple of fault codes for weird stuff related to insufficient voltage) Other than that I had never seen a CEL

[ryan roopnarine]

in flor-ada, it seems that everyone, regardless of make/model, has to replace their battery every 2-4 years. our 99 taurus ate the original battery in 2002 (4 years) in 2005 (i think this was a sulfate from not being driven though). my e34 had one put in by the PO in 2001, which i had to replace in 2003 (from not being driven, most likely). the 49d appeared to die this summer, but a few cycles on deep cycle seemed to bring it back to life (not being driven often).

[artguy]

I went out yesterday afternoon and did the #9 test (Battery Voltage) on the OBC and mine read 12.09. Zero charge is 11.89 and a good battery is supposed to be at 12.65+. So I'm going to start looking to get a new battery.

[Macv]

haha, mine is below 12. Life is good. :(

[Jehu]

Alot has to do with the health of your starter... Old starter will strain and kill your battery faster... I just came to this conclusion this weekend... wondering why this E34 battery doesn't last long regardless of brand.

When you crank, it should be instant and fast cranking... If your BMW feels like no power when you first try and second time it cranks over just okay, then it is most likely your starter is on the way out... like mine. After this first crank on hot engine, starter kicks over like a champ. I am probably gonna wait for a sale before I pick one up.

Good starter use less amperage to turn over engine and bad one suck em all.

What is going on if your lights dim slightly when idling then brighten when you accelerate?

[RallyD]

What is going on if your lights dim slightly when idling then brighten when you accelerate?
clean the contacts on the alternator cable and the major grounds.

[Ferret]

What is going on if your lights dim slightly when idling then brighten when you accelerate?

The V8's are easily susceptible to bad contacts - they idle at a lower RPM and the alternator's very sensitive to changes in idle speed. To get decent tickover charge rates, the alternator has to be fitted with a smaller pulley - meaning a slight idle wobble causes the output to vary significantly :D

[timandbim]

my #9 test doesn't agree with my voltmeter across the terminals... the obc reads more than half a volt lower. my brand new battery has loads of juice and only reads 11.92 2 minutes after i shut the engine off, so even though that may indicate i have other electrical problems, i'm not sure i would count on test #9 to be gospel as far as the charge on your battery goes. i don't know if i was right to do so, but to be (somewhat) sure about my dying battery i just turned the heater on for 5 minutes after a decent drive and sure enough it didn't have enough left in it to turn the starter.

[artguy]

my #9 test doesn't agree with my voltmeter across the terminals...
This is a chart someone sent me on another forum.
It's from a BMW manual but I don't know which one specifically.

http://www.captive1.com/mrk/battery_13_w.jpg

[timandbim]

i'm just saying that the reading given by my obc is always way lower than if i measure the battery with a voltmeter, so you might want to try the voltmeter first before you run out and buy a new battery. if i used only the #9 test and that chart, i would replace my perfectly good brand new battery. the obc takes a reading from 'terminal r' which could be anywhere from what i can tell (not sure why that would affect open circuit voltage but i'm no electrician), and maybe isn't a true representation of your battery's voltage - not in my case, anyway.

[Mitch90535im]

Mine is at least 6 years old because I bought the car in Sept 2001 and I haven't touched the battery.

[Ross]

Just curious why a different brand after 14 yrs. of service from the BM?

[KenB]

Just curious why a different brand after 14 yrs. of service from the BM?

Convenience.

Had to get it done on a weekend which counts the dealer out, heard good things about the Duralast, it fit right, had the vent tube and cost a good bit less than a battery from the dealer.

[philbyil]

Mine is a genuine BMW battery that was a replacement for the original in my 95 525i in April of 2001.
Tests out like new...but I do keep all the vehicles (and the motorcycle) on Battery Tenders.