[aussie_335]

Just had the battery replaced in my 2010 E92 335i.

Instead of going to the dealership who's charges are outrageous I took it to my local indy shop BM Connections.

I drove up (no booking) arounf midday, inquired about a new battery and 30 minutes later had the new battery installed and coded. All done.

The price was $335 (coincidence being a 335i)

Excellent

[Socket]

Originally Posted by aussie_335

Just had the battery replaced in my 2010 E92 335i.

Instead of going to the dealership who's charges are outrageous I took it to my local indy shop BM Connections.

I drove up (no booking) arounf midday, inquired about a new battery and 30 minutes later had the new battery installed and coded. All done.

The price was $335 (coincidence being a 335i)

Excellent

Nice one Aussie..... I love happy endings

[CashedUpBogan]

Anyone know where the cheapest price to get a battery in Sydney would be? I remember Pete from Advan posting price prices somewhere but couldn't find it after a quick search. How much am I looking at?

Car is running fine. But I can't flash my car without battery charger connected. Only need to take 2 minutes to flash. Can't really flash on the go between pump and E85 maps when I'm out and about without having to find somewhere to put my charger on!

[Socket]

Originally Posted by CashedUpBogan

Anyone know where the cheapest price to get a battery in Sydney would be? I remember Pete from Advan posting price prices somewhere but couldn't find it after a quick search. How much am I looking at?

Car is running fine. But I can't flash my car without battery charger connected. Only need to take 2 minutes to flash. Can't really flash on the go between pump and E85 maps when I'm out and about without having to find somewhere to put my charger on!

why does battery need to be on charger

[Scotty89]

I bought a new battery last weekend from Battery World... was $315 with 3 year warranty.

I later found the same battery on eBay for $269 free postage anywhere from QLD.

Varta E44 - 77Ah 780CCA was recommended from the catalogue. Varta is German I believe.

Apparently the Bosch batteries that are favoured overseas are 're-branded' or so I was told.
I was also told that the Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries are required for stop-start cars that are constantly cranking to start and go. They are significantly more expensive and the benefits are not significant for our cars.

You will have to recode your battery if you swap to something bigger or different type, and then register it to the car to reset the charging settings.

[CashedUpBogan]

Originally Posted by Socket

why does battery need to be on charger

MHD Flasher refuses to play nice unless my battery is on charge for some reason. Well actually, reason is voltage is too low I can safely assume. Flashes fine when connected, can't even access the MHD store when it's not cconnected.

[kookie]

My car is very sensitive to voltage.

Anything lower then 12.0 V it has a hissy fit. (I have an 07 K-line)

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by CashedUpBogan

Anyone know where the cheapest price to get a battery in Sydney would be? I remember Pete from Advan posting price prices somewhere but couldn't find it after a quick search. How much am I looking at?

Car is running fine. But I can't flash my car without battery charger connected. Only need to take 2 minutes to flash. Can't really flash on the go between pump and E85 maps when I'm out and about without having to find somewhere to put my charger on!

Maybe give newcastle auto electrics a call (they installed my bosch S5) and code it yourself since you have the software app.

The battery Scotty mentioned (Varta) is one of the oem battery manufacturers and I would go with one of them personally. When I was looking for a battery I couldn't find any Varta dealers locally and shipping one from Europe was going to be crazy $.

I recall reading Pete's post also, and in that post he mentioned most guys upgrade their batteries to larger items which I've done and almost 3 years later mine is still going strong (kept on a c-tek battery tender most of the time)

[XIX]

Originally Posted by Scotty89

I was also told that the Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries are required for stop-start cars that are constantly cranking to start and go. They are significantly more expensive and the benefits are not significant for our cars.

Thats not entirely true. AGM batteries are a much more advanced product. On of the biggest benefits is how quickly they will recharge, which is very important on a car which has a high electrical draw. On of the other benefits is they are a solid state, so for any car that moves around more than normal they are important.

I have an AGM on my rangie as I take it off road and its a diesel, so it has a very high electrical draw combined with low revolutions (though higher rated alternator) and gets a hammering when its off the blacktop.

I would get it for the e93 as well due to the extra drain of the top and also the short trips we do in it.

It would come down to the amount of driving and the distance of each trip. All the e9x's have a substantial electrical draw, so if you do a lot of shorter trips rather than longer commuting it would make sense just to keep the battery at its peak and take pressure off the alternator, Also if you do much track work, and they are not really that much more, maybe an extra $150...

[CashedUpBogan]

Originally Posted by kookie

My car is very sensitive to voltage.

Anything lower then 12.0 V it has a hissy fit. (I have an 07 K-line)

Yeah, my problem exactly. But last night, it flashed at 11.8v when on battery charger, so go figure.

[CashedUpBogan]

Thanks for the input guys, some very good points brought up. I do take very short trips. To work is 15-20 minutes during the day and when I go home late at night with no traffic, it's only about 8-9 minutes.

XIX, good point on the E93 mechanisms draining more juice. So mind made up for an AGM. Now what brand/type and where/how much for a good AGM?

[XIX]

Originally Posted by CashedUpBogan

Thanks for the input guys, some very good points brought up. I do take very short trips. To work is 15-20 minutes during the day and when I go home late at night with no traffic, it's only about 8-9 minutes.

XIX, good point on the E93 mechanisms draining more juice. So mind made up for an AGM. Now what brand/type and where/how much for a good AGM?

If you are keeping your car for a while get one of the better brands with the longer warranty. I put Bosch in the last time I changed, but more because of availability than anything else.

I would get the specs and find out who in your area does the best deals, there doesn't usually end up being much difference in the price that way.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by Scotty89

I bought a new battery last weekend from Battery World... was $315 with 3 year warranty.

I later found the same battery on eBay for $269 free postage anywhere from QLD.

Varta E44 - 77Ah 780CCA was recommended from the catalogue. Varta is German I believe.

Apparently the Bosch batteries that are favoured overseas are 're-branded' or so I was told.
I was also told that the Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries are required for stop-start cars that are constantly cranking to start and go. They are significantly more expensive and the benefits are not significant for our cars.

You will have to recode your battery if you swap to something bigger or different type, and then register it to the car to reset the charging settings.

Did you end up buying the Varta E44 - 77Ah 780CCA Scotty??

[Scotty89]

Originally Posted by Socket

Did you end up buying the Varta E44 - 77Ah 780CCA Scotty??

Yes I did.

Ironically, Dr Jekl says he was looking for a Varta and ended up with a Bosch.
I went looking for the Bosch and ended up with a Varta.

The salesman at Battery world mentioned that the Bosch is a re-branded battery and they don't stock them down here... but when you go to the Bosch Australia website and look for a 335i battery, the Varta E44 comes up.

There were two brands that Battery world recommended for my car, one was French I think (forgot the name) and the Varta was German. There was also a larger 110Ah Varta, which i think would probably fit the 335, and I know there is the option to code for a 110ah battery.

I don't think you can go wrong with whatever you get, as long as it's +70ah, and +700CCa, and they offer some form of warranty.

As XIX stated, the AGM (absorbed glass mat) is a newer technology of battery, however I was told it's unecessary for conventional cars that do not use stop-start engines.

The difference is that our normal driving pattern may be 1 engine start, drive for 20 - 30 mins at full charge, turn the car off.

A stop-start car might drive for 20 minutes in bumper-to-bumper traffic, which might involve 20 engine starts. This puts a lot of strain on the battery that a normal lead-acid battery would not cope well with.

The difference in price was $300 for calcium plate lead acid (maintenance free) battery, or +$500 for an AGM battery.
In the US forum there are plenty of guys swapping out for AGM's, I can only assume the price difference isn't so huge in their market.

If I had the chance I'd ask the guy at the store if I could test fit the 110Ah Varta. That would be a significant upgrade.

Whatever you do, stay away from yucky K-mart brand junk batteries with names like "SUPER POWER" for $150 etc. They will let you down.

[Socket]

Scotty = Yes I did.

Thanks mate appreciate info

[DR-JEKL]

I was looking for the varta as apparently they manufacture the white bmw battery.

All those bmw batteries seem to last 6+ years, I know of a guy who still has his original battery in an 07 E92! I got my Bosch for a great price ($180 ish by memory as I spoke to the bosch nsw rep and he hooked me up with a new distributor in my area) and Pete coded it with his autologic for something like $25.

[totti84]

Any of you non-daily drivers installed/considered a light weight battery?

You can save up to 15kgs although they are quite expensive.

I'm secretly hoping my battery dies so I can get a Braille/Deka battery.

[donR]

I think the light weight batteries help more for cars that have the battery right at the front of the car, rather than in the back.

I've also heard Varta is OEM in some Euro cars.

I've read the Varta Silver Dynamic and the Bosch S5 are the same battery just rebranded.

I notice the specs on the Varta E44 are identical to the Bosch S5-096.

By the way in Sydney, I've always got pretty good deals on Varta from Matt at Online Batteries. He doesn't list Varta anymore but I'm sure he can still get them.

For the Audi which has a monster battery picked up a VARTA F18 DIN77 delivered for $295. It is 800CCA and 85AH.

For our old Saab 9-3 paid $235 delivered for a Varta E38 which is 750CCA and 74AH

I haven't priced the E44 for the Bimmer yet but might try the S5 next time depending on price. I think Jekl's price of $180 for the S5 would have to be the winner!

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by totti84

Any of you non-daily drivers installed/considered a light weight battery?

You can save up to 15kgs although they are quite expensive.

I'm secretly hoping my battery dies so I can get a Braille/Deka battery.

I had a shorai lightweight battery in my bike that was expensive and it didnt last... For a 'street car' I would prefer reliability over saving 5-10kg