E90 car battery at RM1k??

[Traveler]

Friend of mine was just charged RM1k today to change her car battery that died. It sure sounds like she got ripped off. Can anyone shed light on how much we can expect to pay for our batteries?

 

[azam318]

Wah...! what kind of battery is that, so expensive aar?

 

[Traveler]

She said she got it from AB for RM992 + RM100 workmanship (delivery to where her car was).

 

[funfer_fahrer]

What is so special about the battery?

 

[Traveler]

What is so special about the battery?

It's supposed to be the OEM battery to replace the original which died. It seems way way more than I would expect it to cost.

 

[elixir]

itu scania punya battery ka????

 

[jc@]

yup. a new one at ab will cost that. but it has longer lifespan though. claim to be 5 years

 

[Spaceman]

yes 70ah coat RM992.09.

there's the batt indicator, dealer call it the 'magic eye', you can see the color using a torch light shine into the hole. Green - SUfficiently charged, Black - Insufficiently charged, Yellow - Dead.

 

[Mouse]

yes 70ah coat RM992.09.

there's the batt indicator, dealer call it the 'magic eye', you can see the color using a torch light shine into the hole. Green - SUfficiently charged, Black - Insufficiently charged, Yellow - Dead.

actually, alot of brand already have this indicator, since 4-5 years ago already have it coz i use in my proton last time

 

[pswchan]

But there are no E90s which are 5 years old yet ! How can AB say they last 5 years? AB should foot some of the bill in this case. You can get similar battery outside for less than half of that price fitted. Fitting is less than 30 minutes. Big thumbs down for AB

 

[Traveler]

Last 5 years? Well my friend's car is about 2 1/2 years old and the battery died. So I don't think it last 5 years. I think I need to learn more about my car's battery so when the time comes I can get the same battery elsewhere for less than the ridiculous RM1k price.

 

[astroboy]

Yes Traveler, go do some research on the topic and share with us la.. :wink: perhaps present it at the AGM this weekend, provided that the "suspension" questionnaire session does not drag on for too long..

Yes, we have a humongous battery because many ancillary devices in the newer BMWs which are traditionally belt or sprocket driven have been converted to electrical driven, such as water pump, climate control etc.

While engine off, imagine the aircond or cooling fan or whatever keep running to keep the cabin cool. Same goes with the water pump, to keep the engine coolant circulating like a turbo timer when engine is hot after stopping the engine. Such operation will drain the battery and for those who have worked with lead acid battery before, you should know that the life of the battery is greatly dependent on the discharge cycle.

All "maintenance free" battery has a window to peep into a color float which indicates the acid level for only one of the cell, ours has 6 cells. The advantage of maintenance free battery is instead of using lead electrodes, they use some other metal which slows down the vaporisation of the acid, thus not need to refill.

Disadvantage of MF battery is the one complete drain cycle is enough to kill the battery for good. Cannot restore or charge back like traditional non MF battery... but with proper "care", 5 years life sap sap water! :wink:

 

[Schwepps]

Yeah Traveler, pls find out the options for us. 2 1/2 years is actually quite good for a battery, and RM1k is normal if you get it from a lux car dealer. Changing my Merc's 2 batteries would have cost RM1.3k but my SC did it for me just before warranty expiry.

He advised me to get things like batteries and spark plugs from outside, as they're all OEM spares and available outside under their own brand names. He said just call him and he'll give me the equivalent part no of the original brand - very nice guy! Maintenance free, high-AH batteries are plentiful outside and almost all have the 'condition' window.

 

[saat]

Yup. AB did quote around RM900 for a similar sized MF battery for an E46 which dies exactly at 5.5yrs. Went to the workshop down the road and changed it for RM350.

 

[Schwepps]

Disadvantage of MF battery is the one complete drain cycle is enough to kill the battery for good. Cannot restore or charge back like traditional non MF battery.

True and good point astro! We have to avoid a complete drain, or even deep drain.

 

[E46Fanatic]

Seeing that our cars come with a Battery Safety Terminal which is essentially an explosive charge which disconnects the battery in an accident, it might not be a bad idea to get BMW OEM batteries for our cars. Other batteries may not have been fully tested and approved to work well with this safety feature. I can't imagine if the combo of Explosion + electrical charge in car boot going terribly wrong :wink:

For the E46 it lasted me ~5 years. The E90 seems to depend more on electrical power for lots of stuff, from water pumps, oil pumps etc. It does seem that it doesn't last as long anymore with the E90.

 

[Schwepps]

Agreed, we must use the correct OEM battery. But that's why we have to find out the original manufacturer's part no for it. Not easy to get that unless you're close to your SC or someone. Otherwise the mark-up we are paying for these generic parts is about 100% just to have the BMW or Merc name on it. Eg, the 'Merc' battery for the key fob is RM50. The same battery outside is RM7, minus Merc packaging.

 

[E46Fanatic]

Agreed, we must use the correct OEM battery. But that's why we have to find out the original manufacturer's part no for it. Not easy to get that unless you're close to your SC or someone. Otherwise the mark-up we are paying for these generic parts is about 100% just to have the BMW or Merc name on it. Eg, the 'Merc' battery for the key fob is RM50. The same battery outside is RM7, minus Merc packaging.

I believe the OEM manufacturer of the BMW battery is Varta. Last I checked its not much cheaper than original BMW battery for our size and spec. But still cheaper. A few shops here in PJ do carry them but in smaller sizes and the larger ones weren't stocked. If anyone finds the right Varta for our car, do share share...

Check them out http://www.varta-automotive.com/

 

[astroboy]

aiks.. not Watta .. http://watta.com.my/

 

[glock_8]

The older C200 merc that i know, has a maintenance free batt that lasted more than 6 years. I think 3 years ago i checked, the batt price is around 1K++...so 1k for BMW sounds like within the region...

ofcourse the old merc consume less power as oppose to our e90 which is more electrical dependent.