[MadBeamer]

Hi Everyone,

I could really use some advice on what's going on with my car. It is a 2008 328i coupe.

I got the yellow car on lifts (i don't know other way to explain that symbol) and my clocks reset a week back. It kept happening on a random basis when i start the car, even before I start , as soon as I put the key in.

Based on information on this forum, I figured it must be the battery as it's still the original in the car. I replaced it last night with a similar spec battery from Orielly's Auto. No issues when i drove it around, and restarted a couple of times. But the issue came up again this morning.

Also, to add to this, when I changed the battery, my BMW battery was "leaking", there was white power on the negative terminal side, settled on the bottom of the battery compartment as well. I had to vacumn it since it's was dificult to wash it there with all the wires. I figured this must be due to it being an old battery.

But this issue persisting, makes me think it might be an overcharge and something else is up.

Also, when I put the new battery in, none of the setting (other than the clock) had to be reset, everything had it's memory. How is the possible if I took the battery out?

When I read the manual this service sign in yellow means
- Control of the brake lamps failed
- Fuel supply malfunctioning
- Trailer lamps malfunctioning

I did replace one of the brake lights recently. Just putting that out there as well.

Any help is much appreciated before I take it to the dealership later today or tomorrow.

Thank you!

[MadBeamer]

Alrighty, since I didn't get any feedback, I thought I will put my experience in here to help others.

Putting in a similar spec battery from a regular Auto Store still kept the clock resetting going.

I took the car to the dealership, and generally I've had good experience with the service department here (same can't be said of the sales dept). They tried to register the battery, but since it's not the identical spec to the old one, and their computer didn't support the values of my new battery, they said they couldn't. Charged me $65 bucks for trying, but said they will take that amount off if I replace the battery with them. As they cant diagnose the car further without being able to eliminate the issue is due to a non-registered battery or not. Said it's my choice if I want to run it this way or not, they don't have a preference, but they can't help much without being able to at least register it and wipe off errors from the previous battery.

They couldn't really explain the leak, but said they can clean up the mess it caused.

I took the after market battery , which was $189 to the auto store, and returned, and put my old leaking BMW back on the car. Error is still there, clock keeps re-setting.

Took the car back to the dealership. They charged $271 for the new BMW battery, and $130 to replace it and register it. (They reduced $65 for the first day i bought the car in).

Total about $440 with tax

Now it's running, not more issues or warning.

I know i probably wasted a bunch of money, and most people here have had success without registering their battery. Unfortunately for me, that didn't work. The extra $200 was worth it for me to not deal with issues or annoyances. But considering the amount of time i wasted installing/removing/re-installing batteries myself, i might as well have saved the time and just taken it the hit. But at least I tried.

I hope these details will help someone else in a similar situation.

[Three_thirty_I]

Crazy!

What was the aftermarket battery's spec versus the OE battery's spec? Lead acid or AGM?

It does seem like they ripped you off quite a bit! To fit and register takes literally a few minutes and honestly, what does it cost them? But anyway, better to have the car running without battery hassles! And I have had my fair share! My car's original battery eventually needed replacement when it was 8 years old, so did some reading up, and then got some quotes for a new battery and fitting - the OE battery of the same spec from the dealer was actually the cheapest option, so went for that. Had it fitted and registered by a good auto electrical workshop to save on labour costs and all was fine, for a while. I started to notice that this new battery just didn't seem to have the "eagerness" that one would expect from a new battery, especially considering the old battery and its age by comparison. And then it started to slow crank if the car stood for anything approaching a week or even a few days. This got worse, and I was eventually having to charge the battery in between driving. Not great! The final straw was when it had stood for a week after a very good run the previous weekend, and it wouldn't start. Now, the old battery was showing signs of slower cranking after a few days or a week of standing, but it never didn't start the engine when I did try. This new battery was just not lasting, certainly not within reason!

This was getting worse and worse over the 2 year period, so I had the car back to the auto electrical workshop (this was literally 2 weeks beyond the 2 year warranty period) to see what they could make of it. No parasitic draw, charging was fine, basically nothing wrong with the car or anything draining the battery. The basic battery test also seemed to not show any problems, but they suspected the battery still and opened it up to test each cell. From what I remember, it was the 2nd cell that was dead and was effectively causing internal resistance - it was causing the battery to drain over time.

Luckily, I was able to get the dealer to replace this battery with a new one, fit and register etc, at no cost to me. Haven't had any problems since!!

[Noquills]

Any build-up on your terminals increases resitance. Unless the terminals where cleaned down to bare metal prior to reinstalling battery could have led to your issues.

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by Noquills

Any build-up on your terminals increases resitance. Unless the terminals where cleaned down to bare metal prior to reinstalling battery could have led to your issues.

Mine, or OP? In my case, all was clean, no build-up on the terminals at all. Old battery was still actually fine, had not failed like batteries tend to do. The first replacement was a defective battery, happens.

[MadBeamer]

Originally Posted by Noquills

Any build-up on your terminals increases resitance. Unless the terminals where cleaned down to bare metal prior to reinstalling battery could have led to your issues.

My terminals didn't have any build up either. The leak was from the top side of the battery. Mostly probably due to cold/heat expansion according to BMW service.

The replacement was also lead acid just like the original BMW battery in the car.

[robthewrench]

Originally Posted by Noquills

Any build-up on your terminals increases resitance. Unless the terminals where cleaned down to bare metal prior to reinstalling battery could have led to your issues.

+1. This is most likely the real issue. Intermittent loss of battery power due to a dirty or loose connection.

[MadBeamer]

Originally Posted by robthewrench

+1. This is most likely the real issue. Intermittent loss of battery power due to a dirty or loose connection.

lol...I am not sure how you guys missed it, neither me or the other poster in this thread had build up of any kind or loose connections.

It was a broken seal on the side of my battery, mostly due to temperature changes based on the dealership, and a bad cell in the other posters situation.

I was just letting people know, sometimes registration is needed to remove old error codes , and that's why I had to replace the battery at the dealership and get it registered.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by MadBeamer

I was just letting people know, sometimes registration is needed to remove old error codes , and that's why I had to replace the battery at the dealership and get it registered.

After a number of electrical problems (which involved two alternator replacements under warranty) were finally traced to an intermittently bad IBS, the 6 year old OEM battery finally went south. I opted for a dealer replacement which came to under $400 out the door including towing and have had absolutely no electrical issues for over 3 years. The peace of mind has been easily worth the price premium.

Tom