Need help quick, need new battery

Flycaster · Post by **Flycaster** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:24 pm

Had Walmart's top battery tester test my battery. He said battery was functioning normally with no dead cells. Furthermore, the battery was fully charged and he didn't think there was any reason to get a battery tender. So, I'll try to run the car a little more and I always have AAA to call upon if the battery does really go south.

Post by **sp3ctre** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:31 pm

Flycaster wrote:Had Walmart's top battery tester test my battery

Sorry but that made me laugh!! Is that like getting served at McDonalds by a member of staff with 4 stars?

Flycaster · Post by **Flycaster** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:04 pm

sp3ctre wrote:
Flycaster wrote:Had Walmart's top battery tester test my battery

Sorry but that made me laugh!! Is that like getting served at McDonalds by a member of staff with 4 stars?

Yeah, it was meant for laughs. But, the guy did seem to know what he was doing. And, as far as I could tell, the tests he ran did show that everything was running/charging normally (tested battery statically and when engine/lights/a-c were on).

Flycaster · Post by **Flycaster** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:09 pm

Another question about the battery. It has an indicator that has three possibilities:
1. Battery needs to be replace will show a yellow glow
2. Battery fully charged shows a green light
3. Battery incompletely charged shows a black.

My battery shows black. Should a I get a trickle charger (Battery Tender), or take the car on a 50+ mile jaunt to see if it will fully recharge?

20ducks · Post by **20ducks** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:16 pm

Buy a new battery... for all the time and effort this is taking I wouldn't waste another minute contemplating what to do. Yeah, I know it is easier to spend your money than mine but there is a law of diminished return that needs to be applied here. Spend the money on a long life/sealed battery. Good luck.

Flycaster · Post by **Flycaster** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:40 pm

20ducks wrote:Buy a new battery... for all the time and effort this is taking I wouldn't waste another minute contemplating what to do. Yeah, I know it is easier to spend your money than mine but there is a law of diminished return that needs to be applied here. Spend the money on a long life/sealed battery. Good luck.

The BMW battery costs about $166. I'll install it myself. Any recommendations, other than the BMW one? My SA told me that if I don't install a BMW battery and something goes wrong with the electrical system or there are problems with the alternator, BMW might not honor my warranty.

flyboyaj · Post by **flyboyaj** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:56 pm

What is an SA? No, Wait... I think I got it.. Service Advisor?

Cool Z4 · Post by **Cool Z4** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 7:30 pm

Following this thread, I got a question for you. If they won't cover your battery cause you don't drive enough...then would they cover any electrical parts???
Anyway, don't laugh,

but my battery did die and I scurried off to wal-mart and bought their $60 battery. I have had it for a few months now and no problems. They also installed free of charge. Oh, I average almost 3000 miles per month on my car.

Flycaster · Post by **Flycaster** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 7:49 pm

Cool Z4 wrote:Following this thread, I got a question for you. If they won't cover your battery cause you don't drive enough...then would they cover any electrical parts???
Anyway, don't laugh, but my battery did die and I scurried off to wal-mart and bought their $60 battery. I have had it for a few months now and no problems. They also installed free of charge. Oh, I average almost 3000 miles per month on my car.

As for covering electrical parts, let me throw this into the mix. I'm under warranty until 2009. My SA said that if I don't use a BMW battery and something goes wrong with the electical system, there is a possibility that BMW would not honor the warranty because they might claim that the battery was somehow at fault. What BS scare tactics...somewhat similar to how our present administration pulls the terrorist card out to scare the public into lock step.

Cool Z4 · Post by **Cool Z4** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:55 pm

Oh, I should have added that I am WAAAYY out of warranty, so none of that would matter to me cause I would have to pay for it, anyway.

Flycaster · Post by **Flycaster** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:51 pm

From various response from various forums, it seems that my battery is salvageable. So, I'm going to get the Battery Tender Plus to trickle charge my battery. And, if the battery doesn't last, the charger will be still put to good use on the new battery as I'll still be doing low miles.

WLH · Post by **WLH** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:00 pm

Flycaster wrote:From various response from various forums

There are other forums...

Flycaster · Post by **Flycaster** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:52 am

WLH wrote:
Flycaster wrote:From various response from various forums
There are other forums...

Sorry...

Z4-forum.com

Z4-forum.com

Need help quick, need new battery

What should I do about charging battery?