[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by Um3r

Haha just called 3 dealers for parts only:

- 1st one: $199 + $18 Core
- 2nd one $202.98 + $18 Core (He said it takes 1.2hours to get it ready so - $376 out of the door cost)
- 3rd one: $200 + $18 Core charge (also told me that it needs to be registered for $139)

The walmart ended up being $140 after taxes and charges. The OEM would be around $235 with everything. This has me rethinking now.

Walmart

[Um3r]

Walmart had 1 in stock. Came to pick it up and the mfg date on it is 5/17.
Why would they keep such an old battery :s

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Um3r

Thats a crazy good price. Do you happen to have the specs and PN?

That's a DIY price. I was't clear about that part, but my point is if you can order on line and pick up at the dealer like I can, that's not a bad price for an OE battery. IMO a dealer should charge about $300 - $350. $200 for the battery (that was the MSRP for mine) and 1 hour shop time to install and register.

I'll have to dig up the P/N (i.e go look at the battery ). The part numbers on RealOEM.com are not current usually. BMW constantly changes the P/Ns for batteries. The specs were 90AH/720CCA.

[apexit4]

Originally Posted by GoRomeo

Yeah that sounds about right. That's how much I paid back in 2013 about 5 yrs ago, and installed it myself. Lead acid made by Exide. AGM batteries may cost more though...

AGM batteries are indeed more expensive at the moment. They are supposedly better than lead acids batteries though.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by apexit4

AGM batteries are indeed more expensive at the moment. They are supposedly better than lead acids batteries though.

This is more dependent upon the purpose of the application rather than the battery design architecture. Flooded-cell batteries are perfectly fine for most automotive applications.

[Um3r]

So went to another walmart for the Everstart max. This one had an auto center so had a buddy jump start the car. I took the car for the install but midway they were like we cant fit this in. After 20 minutes of discussion and argument, Walmart is like it wont fit in the e92 compartment. They took me inisde the shop and showed me physically that the everstart H8 wont fit. They were like there isn’t enough space to work with. So im going with their H6 one. Just want to get it over with now.

See online image vs actual.

[Um3r]

Dont know wht the AH rating for the H6 is now. Here is the size comparison

[mike sevel]

MY BMW battery lasted 6+ years. Dealer wanted $211 + $75 to register.
I bought a better spec AGM battery at Auto Zone for $189 and a local INDY registered it for $30.
AZ's warranty is full replacement for 3 years, BMW only 2 years.
Details: #319459 H8, AGM. 95AH, 900 CCA, 160 reserve.
Remember to buy a vent tube if it is not included with your battery.
Good luck,
Mikey

[Efthreeoh]

Looking at your original pics, I just noticed the negative cable on your old battery installation is not a BMW cable clamp, so only God knows where that cable came from. I hope your car did not have an IBS cable. Of what I can see of the battery that was in the car, it was an H7/Group 94R battery at 720 CCA/ 90 AH.

If the white battery in the car was an H7, then it fit the larger position of the hold-down clamp, which should have had a gray Styrofoam crash pan insert and a long-stem hold-down. The H6 battery uses the shorter hold-down position with a short-stem hold-down bolt.

Make sure the dumbasses at Walmart clamped down the battery correctly and reattached the vent tube. And next time take your BMW to a place that specializes in BMWs so they don't fuck it up like Walmart can.

[e90yyc]

Few thoughts:

Like Efthreeoh, I paid a very good price from my local dealer... equivalent to about $135 USD (paid $175 CAD).

I realize my price was extremely low, but I am a bit surprised by some people’s quotes.

That said, I asked them what it would cost to register the battery, knowing it’s a 5-minute job. They wanted $149 (one hour). I told them to suck, and bought the BG cable and have never looked back.

Total cost for job was 30 minutes of my time and $175 CAD.

[Um3r]

Here is the finished result:

[Um3r]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Looking at your original pics, I just noticed the negative cable on your old battery installation is not a BMW cable clamp, so only God knows where that cable came from. I hope your car did not have an IBS cable. Of what I can see of the battery that was in the car, it was an H7/Group 94R battery at 720 CCA/ 90 AH.

If the white battery in the car was an H7, then it fit the larger position of the hold-down clamp, which should have had a gray Styrofoam crash pan insert and a long-stem hold-down. The H6 battery uses the shorter hold-down position with a short-stem hold-down bolt.

Make sure the dumbasses at Walmart clamped down the battery correctly and reattached the vent tube. And next time take your BMW to a place that specializes in BMWs so they don't fuck it up like Walmart can.

Yeah this H6 battery looks smaller than the original one that was installed. The old one did have a gray styrofoam like you said. Also I think they clamped it down okay and also installed the vent tube properly. Should be good to go after registration?
In hindsight, I should have taken it to the dealer. This Walmart job took $120 vs the $500 the dealer wanted.
What I am wondering is that, would the Walmart H8 have fit in the space had they tried properly? I think I just went with their free install to save the hassle of doing it myself.

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by Um3r

Dont know wht the AH rating for the H6 is now. Here is the size comparison

Your H6 battery probably has an AH of 70. Quite low, thought your stock was 90AH.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Um3r

Yeah this H6 battery looks smaller than the original one that was installed. The old one did have a gray styrofoam like you said. Also I think they clamped it down okay and also installed the vent tube properly. Should be good to go after registration?
In hindsight, I should have taken it to the dealer. This Walmart job took $120 vs the $500 the dealer wanted.
What I am wondering is that, would the Walmart H8 have fit in the space had they tried properly? I think I just went with their free install to save the hassle of doing it myself.

Thanks for the pic. It install looks good. However, I find the negative cable interesting. It looks like it is an IBS since it has a plug attached to it. Maybe BMW changed the design, sometime after my car was produced, but I've never ever seen a ground cable in a BMW other than brown, which is DIN coloring for grounding wires; the cable in your car is black and the clamp is one I've never seen used for a BMW battery terminal clamp (and that goes back to the 1980's). Do you have any history on the car, meaning have you owned it since new?

I hope they gave the other clamp parts back to you.

[Um3r]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Thanks for the pic. It install looks good. However, I find the negative cable interesting. It looks like it is an IBS since it has a plug attached to it. Maybe BMW changed the design, sometime after my car was produced, but I've never ever seen a ground cable in a BMW other than brown, which is DIN coloring for grounding wires; the cable in your car is black and the clamp is one I've never seen used for a BMW battery terminal clamp (and that goes back to the 1980's). Do you have any history on the car, meaning have you owned it since new?

I hope they gave the other clamp parts back to you.

Didn't give me back anything! I thought everything fits right back in! I bought the car CPO'ed and this is the first time its needed a battery change, so I assumed that the old battery was OEM. Also if you see closely, that battery was made by Varta. That's an European company, so my car must have shipped that way from the factory when it was new.