Quote:
Originally Posted by stressdoc
No one said BMWs are so special that you can't put your own battery in. Please don't twist others' words to fit your ignorance.
Electrolysis in lead acid batteries produces H and O. Provide a spark and things go 
Many of us change our own batteries, including putting in lightweight Braille batteries. There are right ways and wrong ways to install batteries. It is no longer the easy job that it once was. Reading service manuals and checking SIBs is a good idea. While you're at it, check out the forum rules as well; please remember that there are innocent types reading posts, and Big Brother doesn't want them exposed to foul words.
Cars have changed. One size fits all simplicity is a thing of the past. This is not some nefarious plot to foil the DIY'er and extract more $ out of hapless owners. BMW, Porsche et al don't hire engineers to figure out ways to prevent owners from doing their own service. [Of course the flipside also holds true: BMW et al don't hire engineers to make things easier for us to DIY either. Let's not get started on the e-dipstick...] This is a tired old argument. I remember back when fuel injection replaced carburetors and the weekend wrenches bitched that it was all a plan to make things so complicated that you had to take your car to the dealer for service.
By your logic you should feel cheated that you can't go to radio shack and buy some circuit boards to replace the ECU.
Look, we all feel for the OP. We appreciate his thread warning us of the potential dangers of battery replacement. I remember an old guy a few farms down from where I grew up that had acid burns from a battery exploding when he was jump starting his tractor. As best as I can remember, he never blamed John Deere. |
This is why I'm still confused; unless the OP installed the battery backwards there is really no way to install it incorrectly. The TIS procedure says to be careful because the negative cable IBS can be easily damaged if excessive force is used to remove the negative cable, and maybe that is the problem that caused the issue.
I agree with you on the BS conspiracy theory.
And I like fuel injection, much easier to deal with than carburetors.