Is it time for a new battery? BMW 116i Series1 F20 7 years old.

Ibrahim5

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

Belenus said:

shiraz99 said:

TBH, during covid even I had battery warnings on my F20 as it was rarely being used, but since using more often and occasionally charging it fully I've not had any issues. What type of charger are you using, does it have an AGM battery setting and are you charging the battery correctly, ie using the charging posts under the bonnet rather than connecting directly to the battery in the boot?

It is a very old and simple charger, possibly 40 years old or more. It long predates AGM technology.

It has no variable settings just a dial indicating the amps being drawn.

Yes, I did use the charging posts under the bonnet.

I probably won't buy a new one as it does the job of charging a battery and I have only had to use it twice in decades.

I will just buy a new high quality battery and trust that I will get another 7 years use out of it.

It'll cheaper to buy a decent charger as it's unlikely that the battery really is on it's way out.

However if really want a new battery want to save some money installing it yourself, then get a replacement battery online, buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veepeak-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Supports-Vehicles/dp/B076XVQMVS/ref=sr_1_5 and download both Bimmerlink and Bimmercode apps for around £25 each. Depending on what you can source the battery for may work out cheaper than getting one fitted at a garage.

I'd disagree with all of that frankly.

The battery is almost certainly on its way out, given the prolonged symptoms the O/P has told us about and posted about.

Other than to have a charger for potentially future use, i wouldnt bother buying a charger to try to "save" that battery.

I'm really not sure on the point of spending £40 + £25 + £25 then figure out how to do it to "save money" by installing a battery yourself, given any indy / fitter would do it for a fraction of that, irrespective of where its sourced.

When I looked around for a replacement AGM battery myself last year the cheapest I could get one fitted with the necessary coding etc was Halfords and that was still about £50 more expensive than buying the battery myself and all the kit I mentioned.

As per what someone else posted, buy the battery yourself at the cheapest price, fit it and then have it coded in by someone.  Or have them fit it too.  Either way it would work our far cheaper than supply and fit.

I've a local indy who does that sort of stuff for me as well as look after my cars.  

All well and good if you can find an indy who doesn't mind you supplying the battery yourself and will code it correctly for under £100.

Its not a difficult or time consuming job, as you know, so lets not pretend any indy is going to charge anywhere near £100 for it.

They may also be able to source a battery at the right price also through motor factors etc.

It really doesnt need someone buying £100 of equipment for a one off job.

I never said it was but they may well charge a premium for using their software to code the battery, that usually comes with a bit of a markup.

Then ask around first before rushing out and spending £100 on kit that might never be used again.  They may well have a better / as good a source for sensibly priced batteries too.

Geez.  This isnt difficult.

Yes you might buy a vintage car without an OBD connector and you wouldn't be able to use it on that.

motorguy

Ibrahim5 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

Belenus said:

shiraz99 said:

TBH, during covid even I had battery warnings on my F20 as it was rarely being used, but since using more often and occasionally charging it fully I've not had any issues. What type of charger are you using, does it have an AGM battery setting and are you charging the battery correctly, ie using the charging posts under the bonnet rather than connecting directly to the battery in the boot?

It is a very old and simple charger, possibly 40 years old or more. It long predates AGM technology.

It has no variable settings just a dial indicating the amps being drawn.

Yes, I did use the charging posts under the bonnet.

I probably won't buy a new one as it does the job of charging a battery and I have only had to use it twice in decades.

I will just buy a new high quality battery and trust that I will get another 7 years use out of it.

It'll cheaper to buy a decent charger as it's unlikely that the battery really is on it's way out.

However if really want a new battery want to save some money installing it yourself, then get a replacement battery online, buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veepeak-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Supports-Vehicles/dp/B076XVQMVS/ref=sr_1_5 and download both Bimmerlink and Bimmercode apps for around £25 each. Depending on what you can source the battery for may work out cheaper than getting one fitted at a garage.

I'd disagree with all of that frankly.

The battery is almost certainly on its way out, given the prolonged symptoms the O/P has told us about and posted about.

Other than to have a charger for potentially future use, i wouldnt bother buying a charger to try to "save" that battery.

I'm really not sure on the point of spending £40 + £25 + £25 then figure out how to do it to "save money" by installing a battery yourself, given any indy / fitter would do it for a fraction of that, irrespective of where its sourced.

When I looked around for a replacement AGM battery myself last year the cheapest I could get one fitted with the necessary coding etc was Halfords and that was still about £50 more expensive than buying the battery myself and all the kit I mentioned.

As per what someone else posted, buy the battery yourself at the cheapest price, fit it and then have it coded in by someone.  Or have them fit it too.  Either way it would work our far cheaper than supply and fit.

I've a local indy who does that sort of stuff for me as well as look after my cars.  

All well and good if you can find an indy who doesn't mind you supplying the battery yourself and will code it correctly for under £100.

Its not a difficult or time consuming job, as you know, so lets not pretend any indy is going to charge anywhere near £100 for it.

They may also be able to source a battery at the right price also through motor factors etc.

It really doesnt need someone buying £100 of equipment for a one off job.

I never said it was but they may well charge a premium for using their software to code the battery, that usually comes with a bit of a markup.

Then ask around first before rushing out and spending £100 on kit that might never be used again.  They may well have a better / as good a source for sensibly priced batteries too.

Geez.  This isnt difficult.

Yes you might buy a vintage car without an OBD connector and you wouldn't be able to use it on that.

Use it to do what?

The O/P has expressed no interest in doing any repairs themselves, reading codes themselves, coding in batteries themselves neither now nor at any point in the future.

So why would they spend £100 on kit to do so?

On top of that, noone has yet proven that they can get a battery for the O/P and have them code it in with this £100s worth of equipment for less than the O/P could get it done locally for anyway.

But, honestly, crack on.  Because its now about derailing yet another thread, isnt it?

shiraz99

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

motorguy said:

shiraz99 said:

Belenus said:

shiraz99 said:

TBH, during covid even I had battery warnings on my F20 as it was rarely being used, but since using more often and occasionally charging it fully I've not had any issues. What type of charger are you using, does it have an AGM battery setting and are you charging the battery correctly, ie using the charging posts under the bonnet rather than connecting directly to the battery in the boot?

It is a very old and simple charger, possibly 40 years old or more. It long predates AGM technology.

It has no variable settings just a dial indicating the amps being drawn.

Yes, I did use the charging posts under the bonnet.

I probably won't buy a new one as it does the job of charging a battery and I have only had to use it twice in decades.

I will just buy a new high quality battery and trust that I will get another 7 years use out of it.

It'll cheaper to buy a decent charger as it's unlikely that the battery really is on it's way out.

However if really want a new battery want to save some money installing it yourself, then get a replacement battery online, buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veepeak-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Supports-Vehicles/dp/B076XVQMVS/ref=sr_1_5 and download both Bimmerlink and Bimmercode apps for around £25 each. Depending on what you can source the battery for may work out cheaper than getting one fitted at a garage.

I'd disagree with all of that frankly.

The battery is almost certainly on its way out, given the prolonged symptoms the O/P has told us about and posted about.

Other than to have a charger for potentially future use, i wouldnt bother buying a charger to try to "save" that battery.

I'm really not sure on the point of spending £40 + £25 + £25 then figure out how to do it to "save money" by installing a battery yourself, given any indy / fitter would do it for a fraction of that, irrespective of where its sourced.

When I looked around for a replacement AGM battery myself last year the cheapest I could get one fitted with the necessary coding etc was Halfords and that was still about £50 more expensive than buying the battery myself and all the kit I mentioned.

As per what someone else posted, buy the battery yourself at the cheapest price, fit it and then have it coded in by someone.  Or have them fit it too.  Either way it would work our far cheaper than supply and fit.

I've a local indy who does that sort of stuff for me as well as look after my cars.  

All well and good if you can find an indy who doesn't mind you supplying the battery yourself and will code it correctly for under £100.

Its not a difficult or time consuming job, as you know, so lets not pretend any indy is going to charge anywhere near £100 for it.

They may also be able to source a battery at the right price also through motor factors etc.

It really doesnt need someone buying £100 of equipment for a one off job.

I never said it was but they may well charge a premium for using their software to code the battery, that usually comes with a bit of a markup.

Then ask around first before rushing out and spending £100 on kit that might never be used again.  They may well have a better / as good a source for sensibly priced batteries too.

Geez.  This isnt difficult.

And as I said at the very beginning, I already did when I started getting low battery warnings on my 6 year old BMW. In the end, partly because there was a shortage of batteries at the time and I couldn't get one cheap enough I didn't bother and simply charged the battery with a cheap CTEK MX5.0 I acquired and it's been running perfectly ever since.

At the end of the day I was simply adding to a list of options, including shopping around, or getting a decent charger, or if he really wanted to go down the DIY route. No need to get so irate about it. We're all here to help.