New Battery at 24 Month Service - 650xi GC

[ezmaass]

I was surprised to see that BMW scheduled to replace my battery at the 24 month service. At only TWO years old, it's really unusual for a battery to need replacing. Considering I recall them doing this on my previous 550xi, and it's being done under warranty, I expect there's a real issue here as (a) it's not cheap to do, and (b) they wouldn't be doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.

Looks like BMW expects these batteries are only good for a max of two years - that's crazy low.

[jjasonSU]

My indy mechanic told me to expect 2 maybe 3 years before replacement. He contributed it to Turbos cooling after shut off and the Brake Energy Regeneration system

[murph914]

yep. every other service they say toss em I have been told. They take a pounding because after you turn off the ignition the massive coolant system stays on for a long time. Pair that in addition to all the crap these have while running. Unless you drive it regularly you should have a battery charger to keep it charged and topped off. The auto stop doesn't kick in unless the battery is healthy.

Not sure if I should blame BMW or the EPA but it gets tiring

[Yoshimura]

I never changed my batterie after 6,5 years. Often used the charger (CTEK MXS 10) to keep it charged (AGM Modus).

[ezmaass]

Originally Posted by Yoshimura

I never changed my batterie after 6,5 years. Often used the charger (CTEK MXS 10) to keep it charged (AGM Modus).

That's more in line with conventional time-frames for a battery. It's not as if my battery was giving me a problem, or I even asked for BMW to do anything with it - they just replaced it as part of the service. As I said, I recall them doing the same on my previous 550xi.

[Yoshimura]

The question is: who must pay for this expensive piece of plumb? If is the customer, than i think this is ridiculous. Is there an insurance, than its a waste of money. If is BMW, than i don't believe.

[ezmaass]

Originally Posted by Yoshimura

The question is: who must pay for this expensive piece of plumb? If is the customer, than i think this is ridiculous. Is there an insurance, than its a waste of money. If is BMW, than i don't believe.

In my case it was free of charge. However, if they look to do this after the warranty, I would expect it would be on the customer. Perhaps some people here with older (out of warranty) cars can comment on whether the dealer has attempted to replace, or suggest replacing, the battery before it's showing signs of needing it.