F80 - Keep or Leave AGM battery

[gxg]

Hi y'all,

Just purchased a 2018 BMW M3 CS and saw it had an Acdelco 49 AGM battery in it. So far no electrical issues. From bimmertech app, looks like it was registered and coded correctly. Should I leave the battery or replace it with a Lithium-ion battery? Is this a case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it? Or am I risking electrical issues?

I was potentially looking at picking up one of the antigravity lithium-ion batteries, but from the coding tutorial, they are coded under AGM batteries as well. Not sure if there would be a difference at this point.

The current battery is about 7 months old.

[Suds]

Antigravity are a great bargain as a replacement on a F80/82 or to save 35+lbs on an F87.
I have had mine in the F87 for 3 years.

[NickyC]

Congrats on the CS!

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by gxg

Hi y'all,

Just purchased a 2018 BMW M3 CS and saw it had an Acdelco 49 AGM battery in it. So far no electrical issues. From bimmertech app, looks like it was registered and coded correctly. Should I leave the battery or replace it with a Lithium-ion battery? Is this a case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it? Or am I risking electrical issues?

I was potentially looking at picking up one of the antigravity lithium-ion batteries, but from the coding tutorial, they are coded under AGM batteries as well. Not sure if there would be a difference at this point.

The current battery is about 7 months old.

There should be an additional IBS cable for it to work correctly. If that cable is there, I would just leave it alone.

[Schemxr]

Originally Posted by Suds

Antigravity are a great bargain as a replacement on a F80/82 or to save 35+lbs on an F87.
I have had mine in the F87 for 3 years.

i’m interested in switching to one, how is the coding?

[Suds]

I just removed the stock battery and connected the Antigravity, also added the blue tooth module for battery to phone health monitoring.
My understanding on coding is letting the BMW electric charge system know the battery is new. But mine was on an F87 that came with a heavy lead acid battery.

I would contact Antigravity about their suggestions.
My 2015 and 2019 F82s never had battery issues while I owned them.

[gerri]

If it hasn't given you any problems in 7 months, I don't see why it should give you problems in the future. Have you checked to see if they put the cable in with the IBS? There will definitely be otherwise it would have given errors. There has been discussion for some time about the possibility of replacing the lithium battery with a cheaper AGM and the opinions were conflicting but you are the testimony that it can be done.

[AlmondJayRoM3]

There is virtually no difference in performance between lithium and lead acid AGM starter batteries. Lithium batteries are lighter and charges at a slightly lower voltage, but that makes no difference to the components in the car. The AC Delco is a good battery so if you don’t care about the extra 25 pounds, I would just leave it.

[gxg]

Originally Posted by N1rve

There should be an additional IBS cable for it to work correctly. If that cable is there, I would just leave it alone.

Yep. It's there, gonna leave it.

Thanks.

[NealfromNZ]

Lifepo4 can put out more current and charges faster. The higher current spec was to help with the Mdiff on track days.

But that battery is sized for starting turbo diesel’s and is about 40% larger in storage capacity. It’s got a good CCA rating and if it’s all coded correctly I’d leave
It.

[e46IX]

If you don't care about the weight savings then just leave it. There's no other benefits to going with the factory Li-On. I've already replace a dead Li-On on another F80 with a standard F30 AGM, you just have to swap the battery ground cable from the F30 same time. 1 year later and no issues.

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

WTF we can swap to cheaper batteries???? why isn't this a sticky.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by G35POPPEDMYCHERRY

WTF we can swap to cheaper batteries???? why isn't this a sticky.

It’s not recommended. 😁

[NealfromNZ]

FYI, here’s some general info on the Lifepo4 used in m3 /4.

https://bmwtechinfo.bmwgroup.com/sib...Attachment.pdf

[gerri]

Originally Posted by N1rve

It’s not recommended. 😁

Is this your opinion or are there real reasons? It's not polemical, I'm interested in knowing things and if you have sources that demonstrate that it causes damage or anything else I think it would be right for everyone to know.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by gerri

Is this your opinion or are there real reasons? It's not polemical, I'm interested in knowing things and if you have sources that demonstrate that it causes damage or anything else I think it would be right for everyone to know.

There are integrated electronics inside the battery called the “BUE” but the full term is “Battery Supervision Circuits”. There is communication between the car and it checks for like state of charge, battery health, battery condition, etc. All functions of the IBS cable is inside the battery.

There’s also differences in the voltages as a AGM/Lead Acid is 12.6 where a Li-Ion is 13.2V.

A lot of detail of the difference between the AGM and Li-Ion can be found on page 86.

https://www.bimmerfest.com/attachmen...fo-pdf.886919/

So it’s not just my opinion per se. People have gotten away with just using an AGM/Lead Acid but the proper way is with a Li-Ion. The voltage difference alone should be a concern. 12.6 vs 13.2.

I have no problem with people asking me for a reason, I explain things and advise people for a living based off logic and evidence.

[gerri]

Originally Posted by N1rve

I have no problem with people asking me for a reason, I explain things and advise people for a living based off logic and evidence.

I'm glad to hear it.

Good arguments but the fact remains that the F30 340i and F32 440i or M5/6 are equipped with an AGM/lead acid battery and I don't think they have developed a 13.2V electronic system just for the F80/82 that can be damaged by a 12.6V. They would have put warnings in big letters on all the manuals if this change was dangerous and instead they talk about weight, CO2, life cycles etc.

[hellokitty]

Anti gravity usually has a pretty good black friday sale. I recall the cost being somewhere around $7XX plus a free battery pack in past years.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by gerri

I'm glad to hear it.

Good arguments but the fact remains that the F30 340i and F32 440i or M5/6 are equipped with an AGM/lead acid battery and I don't think they have developed a 13.2V electronic system just for the F80/82 that can be damaged by a 12.6V. They would have put warnings in big letters on all the manuals if this change was dangerous and instead they talk about weight, CO2, life cycles etc.

I don’t think it would get damaged. But I have a feeling it has something to do with the start stop system in this particular car. But I have also never heard an F80 cranking with an AGM/Lead acid. Not sure if the crank time is slightly longer because it’s 12.6 vs 13.2.

[hess6]

Hey everyone, I wanted to share something with you. I have had good results using antigravity batteries for my M3. However, if you prefer something other than lithium-ion batteries, there are batteries available specifically for M3 M4 that are not lithium-ion. Personally, I went for a lithium battery, but everyone has their own preference.

I came across this battery that is not a lithium battery, but it is priced under $500 and is compatible with M3 or M4:

Endurance Advanced AGM Battery - B10049 - 58lbs Braille
Mfg #B10049 ECS #ES#36

I hope this helps!