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Battery exploded in my trunk; Please read so this doesn't happen to your E9X.
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12-23-2010, 01:07 PM | #1 |
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Battery exploded in my trunk; Please read so this doesn't happen to your E9X.
So I get in my car yesterday morning and go to start it. It starts up fine, but my hardwired Valentine-1 goes haywire repeatedly turning on and off. The ABS light also pops up. This seemed awfully strange but I figured I would address it later after work when I get home.
I proceed to pull out of the driveway continue on. As I'm driving down the road, all of a sudden I hear this really loud BANG. It literally sounded like an MLB pitcher threw a fast ball at the back of my trunk. 30 seconds later my car powers off completely and dies in the middle of a busy street. No lights, no radio, won't turn over, nothin. Then I smell smoke coming from the trunk. I get out and open the trunk, pull off the battery cover on the right hand side and I see smoldering wires and melted plastic. Of course theres a guard rail to the left of me and a sidewalk to the right and I'm on an incline so I'm basically f***ed. I call triple A and they send a CHP to assist me in getting off the road, followed by a tow truck. While I'm waiting for the officer, this little old man who can barely see over his dashboard locks up his brakes and almost impales me between my car and his. Finally the cop gets there, uses his bumper to push me off the road so that I'm not endangering myself or other drivers. Well he ends up leaving two nice big creases in the back of my bumper in the process. About a half hour goes by and the tow truck shows up and lo and behold its one of those POS tow trucks that just attaches to the back of your car and basically drags it with the back end sticking up. After seeing my neighbors 993 porsche have its bumper torn in half by one of these sh*t trucks 4 years ago, I said no way. Theres no way you're towing my car with this thing, I need a flatbed tow truck. Of course, that entailed waiting another three hours before one could get there. Finally they show up with a proper tow truck capable of towing a sports car with low clearance. I get it towed to my shop, Valley Motorwerks and explain everything to them. (They've got one mechanic who really knows E9X's) After examining the battery he tells me what he thinks happened; It turns out when you change the battery in an E9X, you have to plug in a diagnostic tool and punch in a code telling the car that you are putting in a new battery. (I changed the battery myself a few months ago and put in an interstate) Furthermore, according to him you can only use a BMW OEM battery in an E9X. By failing to do either, this is what will result. I'm sorry but this is so f***ing weak on BMW's part. Sabotaging your f***ing customers so that your dealerships can make more money? I've changed plenty of batteries in my lifetime in my E36's and my old E46. And never has any bulls**t like this happened from using an aftermarket battery. I got the call this morning from the mechanic. He says its gonna be close to a thousand bucks to replace all of the damaged cables and parts in order to get the car running again. Last edited by Suckr4Straight6s; 12-24-2010 at 03:01 PM.. |
12-23-2010, 01:12 PM | #3 |
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12-23-2010, 01:15 PM | #4 |
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Sorry for your misfortune, hopefully others can learn from it. There are a lot of threads here about " i changed my battery and did not register it, and it works fine". Unfortunately you got stung and learned first hand what can happen when a battery is not charged properly. Registering the battery is about telling the charger what kind of battery is installed (wet, AGM,etc), and what stage of life the battery is in so that overcharging does not occur.
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12-23-2010, 01:17 PM | #5 |
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12-23-2010, 01:17 PM | #6 |
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exploding battery and acidic gas ...
glad no problems along those lines. ppp
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12-23-2010, 01:21 PM | #7 | |
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Quote:
Last edited by Suckr4Straight6s; 12-23-2010 at 01:26 PM.. |
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12-23-2010, 01:40 PM | #8 |
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Also mods, please don't lock this thread for profanity. I was just ranting a little, but people should really know about this so it doesn't happen to their cars.
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12-23-2010, 01:41 PM | #9 |
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Damn that sucks. Now we have solid proof as to why we need to register our batteries.
Also you don't have to replace with OEM. You just have to have an AGM type battery with the same specs. Did you get an AGM type Interstate with the same specs as OEM? EDIT: I agree it's BS we have to register our batteries. I have a BT tool though so I can do it myself. |
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12-23-2010, 01:43 PM | #10 |
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I wonder if part of the problem with these cars is that there are so many electricaly powered systems necessary for operation that the battery must be returning maximum output at all times, thus a necessity to maintain a maximum charge, thus the necessity to register the battery. It seems as if most vehicles simply use the battery to start the engine, then allow the alternator to run everything. Based on the numbers of issues reported in the forums that have been caused by a low battery, it would seem that many systems are powered directly from the battery, and the alternator is only powering the battery.
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12-23-2010, 01:45 PM | #11 | |
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Quote:
Replacing a battery with the wrong spec will either over or under charge it. |
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12-23-2010, 01:47 PM | #12 | |
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12-23-2010, 01:50 PM | #13 | |
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12-23-2010, 01:53 PM | #15 | |
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12-23-2010, 01:53 PM | #16 |
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I mean a battery is a battery is it not?
12 volt battery, similar cold cranking amps? I still dont get how this happened? Like physically what happens when you dont get a OEM BMW battery and have it "coded". Excuse my ignorance but I think all of us still have this question. Just trying to figure out what the registering/coding does. |
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12-23-2010, 01:56 PM | #17 |
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Interesting quote from the realoem.com diagram of my car:
"A more powerful battery may be installed during retrofitting operations. Standard batteries can always be replaced by AGM batteries with the same specifications. Following either type of replacement, the vehicle registration process in ISTA/P must be supplemented by a vehicle coding procedure, which is carried out as follows: ---------------------------------------- Read out battery size and registration from onboard electrical system: ISTA->Service functions->Body->Voltage supply->Register_battery replacement-> Test plan" There are also the types of batteries and their specs. http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...99&hg=61&fg=30 EDIT: I just ordered the 21lb version and it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I hope it's correct. http://www.hpashop.com/product.sc?productId=45 Oh man, now I'm bugging about how to register this. Anyone familiar with the registration process with the BT tool? |
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12-23-2010, 01:57 PM | #18 | |
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Quote:
Last edited by Suckr4Straight6s; 12-23-2010 at 02:04 PM.. |
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12-23-2010, 02:02 PM | #19 |
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When the dealer refused to replace my battery and charged me $300 for it, the SA consoled me by noting that it wasn't a simple screw on job and it needed to be registered with the car. Honestly, i didn't believe him then, but good to know.
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12-23-2010, 02:18 PM | #20 |
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It used to be that alternators had the voltage regulator built into them which determined the condition of ANY battery allowing the alternator to charge the battery properly without incident. BMW, however, has taken the control away from the voltage regulator allowing them to set the charging ranges themselves. This margin alone gives them total control of the servicing and parts for your vehicle and takes it away from you and your local parts shop. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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12-23-2010, 02:22 PM | #21 | |
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12-23-2010, 02:25 PM | #22 |
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I'm having the shop save the old battery for me. As soon as I get the car back along with the old battery, I can answer this question for you and anyone else wondering the same thing.
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