Are batteries hard to come by?

[fim63]

My car has been in the shop since before Christmas, needing a new battery. It's now almost a month later, and the battery still isn't available. Is this normal? Are M3 batteries that hard to come by?

Fortunately, this looks to be covered under warranty and I do have a loaner. But I'm a bit surprised that it is taking this long to get a battery. I knew that this is an M3/M4-specific part, but I would have thought it would be more available.

For what it's worth, the original problem would come up when the car wasn't driven for a day or two. In that case, the comfort access wouldn't work so I would need to use the remote to unlock the car. The car would then report that the battery was discharging while stopped.

[18BMWX5M]

Originally Posted by fim63

My car has been in the shop since before Christmas, needing a new battery. It's now almost a month later, and the battery still isn't available. Is this normal? Are M3 batteries that hard to come by?

Fortunately, this looks to be covered under warranty and I do have a loaner. But I'm a bit surprised that it is taking this long to get a battery. I knew that this is an M3/M4-specific part, but I would have thought it would be more available.

For what it's worth, the original problem would come up when the car wasn't driven for a day or two. In that case, the comfort access wouldn't work so I would need to use the remote to unlock the car. The car would then report that the battery was discharging while stopped.

I had the issue two or three times. One time I got in and was driving the car and noticed I had no heat. I had no errors or nothing either. Took it to the dealership and they said it was discharged to 75% and they recharged it and cleared a fault code and I've been good to go since. That was about a month or so ago.

[BzsBimmer]

Wow. Ridiculous.
See if they’re willing to swap a battery from a car on the lot. They can use the new battery that’s coming from one of the far corners of the earth, on their time.

[fim63]

For my car, the dealership recharged the battery, let the car sit for a couple of days, and reproduced the same issue. So I guess it really needs a new battery.

It does seem ridiculous for a new battery to take this long. What's the expected lifetime for these batteries? Every car is eventually going to need a replacement. Although a special part, I was expecting that BMW would keep them readily available and in stock.

Originally Posted by 18BMWX5M

I had the issue two or three times. One time I got in and was driving the car and noticed I had no heat. I had no errors or nothing either. Took it to the dealership and they said it was discharged to 75% and they recharged it and cleared a fault code and I've been good to go since. That was about a month or so ago.

[fim63]

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I'll see if the new battery comes in the next week or so, as I think I would rather have a brand new battery from BMW. Doesn't hurt to ask, but I am not sure the dealer would be willing to temporarily disable one of their current M4s for this.

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

Wow. Ridiculous.
See if they’re willing to swap a battery from a car on the lot. They can use the new battery that’s coming from one of the far corners of the earth, on their time.

[18BMWX5M]

Originally Posted by fim63

For my car, the dealership recharged the battery, let the car sit for a couple of days, and reproduced the same issue. So I guess it really needs a new battery.

It does seem ridiculous for a new battery to take this long. What's the expected lifetime for these batteries? Every car is eventually going to need a replacement. Although a special part, I was expecting that BMW would keep them readily available and in stock.

I think 4-6 years or so for these batteries. I caused the issue because my radar detector was plugged in and I guess I had it set to never sleep but the car would turn it off because of the battery draw. I now have a better tender because of it not being driven much due to winter.

[VChenz]

Originally Posted by 18BMWX5M

I think 4-6 years or so for these batteries. I caused the issue because my radar detector was plugged in and I guess I had it set to never sleep but the car would turn it off because of the battery draw. I now have a better tender because of it not being driven much due to winter.

Supposed to be 10 years.


It's a shame nobody offers a rebuild service. I bet you these batteries could be fixed for a few hundred dollars...if that.

[18BMWX5M]

Originally Posted by VChenz

Supposed to be 10 years.


It's a shame nobody offers a rebuild service. I bet you these batteries could be fixed for a few hundred dollars...if that.

Ohhh gotcha 10 years isn't that bad

[fim63]

Posting an update, in case anyone else encounters this issue.

Finally got my car back, after about six weeks in the shop. BMW did replace the starter battery, but that wasn't the problem. After the battery was replaced, the car was still experiencing battery discharging while stopped.

So they had to pull fuses in turn until they found which fuse was linked to the faulty component causing the battery drain. It turns out that the Telematics Communications Unit had a fault that was causing current draw. After the Telematics Communications Unit was replaced, the problem went away.

And the Lithium Ion battery did take a while to arrive. The dealer doesn't stock these batteries, and it apparently takes a couple of weeks or more to be delivered.

Well, at least I now have a new battery that will hopefully be good for a while.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by fim63

Posting an update, in case anyone else encounters this issue.

Finally got my car back, after about six weeks in the shop. BMW did replace the starter battery, but that wasn't the problem. After the battery was replaced, the car was still experiencing battery discharging while stopped.

So they had to pull fuses in turn until they found which fuse was linked to the faulty component causing the battery drain. It turns out that the Telematics Communications Unit had a fault that was causing current draw. After the Telematics Communications Unit was replaced, the problem went away.

Glad that everything is back to normal and that your dealer had the correct diagnostic skill to find and remedy the problem.

I'd do a test call to make sure that your BMW Assist still works, that your car is identified correctly, and the location is correct. Press the button in the overhead console and when the call is answered just tell them that you're doing a test call because your telematics unit was replaced.

[JoeFromPA]

Our batteries, under normal use, are supposed to last 2x the duration of a "normal" battery - meaning ~10 years / ~120-150k miles would be a normal lifetime expectation.

Mine is 5.5 years old, 70k miles, and recently started the car in ~14 degree ambient temps without a hiccup. I drive frequent highway trips which should be keeping it fresh as well. I loathe the day I have to replace it - that SOB is expensive.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Our batteries, under normal use, are supposed to last 2x the duration of a "normal" battery - meaning ~10 years / ~120-150k miles would be a normal lifetime expectation.

Mine is 5.5 years old, 70k miles, and recently started the car in ~14 degree ambient temps without a hiccup. I drive frequent highway trips which should be keeping it fresh as well. I loathe the day I have to replace it - that SOB is expensive.

Hopefully by the time we need to replace there will be cheaper alternatives.

[LVI]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Our batteries, under normal use, are supposed to last 2x the duration of a "normal" battery - meaning ~10 years / ~120-150k miles would be a normal lifetime expectation.

Mine is 5.5 years old, 70k miles, and recently started the car in ~14 degree ambient temps without a hiccup. I drive frequent highway trips which should be keeping it fresh as well. I loathe the day I have to replace it - that SOB is expensive.

no kidding on the expensive part. i think they raised the price on them again because they're now around ~$1600ish or so (i think). I remember looking into this when i found out they were lithium iron batteries 3-4 years ago and they were only about $1000 then.

[mjposner]

My indie shop says 7 years....

[18BMWX5M]

Originally Posted by fim63

Posting an update, in case anyone else encounters this issue.

Finally got my car back, after about six weeks in the shop. BMW did replace the starter battery, but that wasn't the problem. After the battery was replaced, the car was still experiencing battery discharging while stopped.

So they had to pull fuses in turn until they found which fuse was linked to the faulty component causing the battery drain. It turns out that the Telematics Communications Unit had a fault that was causing current draw. After the Telematics Communications Unit was replaced, the problem went away.

And the Lithium Ion battery did take a while to arrive. The dealer doesn't stock these batteries, and it apparently takes a couple of weeks or more to be delivered.

Well, at least I now have a new battery that will hopefully be good for a while.

So my car has gone back to the dealership because I started getting the increased battery drain message. I had to leave it there because they wanted to update the car and I guess the head unit won't take the update I guess. So I'm hoping the telematics unit isn't bad in my car as well.

[aBMWfan]

Originally Posted by 18BMWX5M

So my car has gone back to the dealership because I started getting the increased battery drain message. I had to leave it there because they wanted to update the car and I guess the head unit won't take the update I guess. So I'm hoping the telematics unit isn't bad in my car as well.

Hey guys is the telemetric unit issue also causing the yellow emergency call error?

[18BMWX5M]

Originally Posted by aBMWfan

Hey guys is the telemetric unit issue also causing the yellow emergency call error?

I'm not sure what you mean. I know my cars telematics works as I just tested it the other day.

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by lawrence1

no kidding on the expensive part. i think they raised the price on them again because they're now around ~$1600ish or so (i think). I remember looking into this when i found out they were lithium iron batteries 3-4 years ago and they were only about $1000 then.

Ugh, that's dissapointing to hear. My car is 5.5 years old now.....I'm getting within the realm of what would be considered to be normal lifespan.