E30 Zone

Im contemplating either a bosch battery for my 1990 325i or a bmw one, bosch is around £65 how much are the bmw ones?

I can't help you with the prices, but I can suggest that you not bother with a 'genuine' BMW battery. At the end of the day, BMW don't manufacture their own batteries, they just rebrand them with their casing/sticker. For all we know the 'genuine' item could be identical to the Bosch one, just at a lot higher price!

they used to be aroudn £40 around 3-4 year ago, iirc there nearer £100 now

You will have to ring Sytner's on this one Pete,


http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ht=battery

According to that Cotswold will not post them, probably because of the acid.

Well my monster 540A BMW one was around £70 so there's probably not much in it! Remeber BMW UK will buy thousands of these and get a decent discount compared to a little Motor Factor

Correct. my OEM battery from Barry was about £68 plus the vat. Theres not much in the prices between a good quality from ECP and the dealer.

Not too bad, a lot less than i thought, i must admit if i bought one it would have to be white

BMW batterys are good quality as well.

Well it sits under cover in the rear alex but i like to put quality parts on my bmw's a sense of satisfaction,and i want to treat her to one as its been stood 8 months and it started like a good un today with the battery pack..oh and all it needed was the glovebox torch charging and a headlight bulb..its definatly going to santa pod this year..now im iunsure weaher to sell my pre facelift 325...and the saga goes on

bss325i wrote:BMW batterys are good quality as well.

Give it a rest They'd sack you tomorrow if they needed to. Don't need to big them up at every oppourtunity! They aren't posting on another website somewhere saying "That BSS325i, what a diamond geezer"

On a related note Battery bought from BMW Guildford (Recommended btw) wouldn't be covered by BMW 9 Elms under warranty about a year later. that was with a receipt and even offering to bring the car to them to make sure it wasn't my car that killed it!
(They aren't recommended btw )

Rich_W wrote:

bss325i wrote:BMW batterys are good quality as well.

Give it a rest They'd sack you tomorrow if they needed to. Don't need to big them up at every oppourtunity! They aren't posting on another website somewhere saying "That BSS325i, what a diamond geezer"

On a related note Battery bought from BMW Guildford (Recommended btw) wouldn't be covered by BMW 9 Elms under warranty about a year later. that was with a receipt and even offering to bring the car to them to make sure it wasn't my car that killed it!
(They aren't recommended btw )

They actually are

My mums compact one lasted 10 years

Rich_W wrote:

bss325i wrote:BMW batterys are good quality as well.

Give it a rest They'd sack you tomorrow if they needed to. Don't need to big them up at every oppourtunity! They aren't posting on another website somewhere saying "That BSS325i, what a diamond geezer"

On a related note Battery bought from BMW Guildford (Recommended btw) wouldn't be covered by BMW 9 Elms under warranty about a year later. that was with a receipt and even offering to bring the car to them to make sure it wasn't my car that killed it!
(They aren't recommended btw )

WTF?!!

They are a good battery you 'tard and generally last longer than some cheap shit!

There was probably a reason why they wouldn't honour the 2 year parts waranty, maybe you attitiude!

So what am i looking at trade for a bmw battery?

I get mine from the scrappy. £10 and you can choose any battery. You can even find Bosch ones.

None of them have let me down

Rich_W wrote:

bss325i wrote:BMW batterys are good quality as well.

Give it a rest They'd sack you tomorrow if they needed to. Don't need to big them up at every oppourtunity! They aren't posting on another website somewhere saying "That BSS325i, what a diamond geezer"

On a related note Battery bought from BMW Guildford (Recommended btw) wouldn't be covered by BMW 9 Elms under warranty about a year later. that was with a receipt and even offering to bring the car to them to make sure it wasn't my car that killed it!
(They aren't recommended btw )

shut up all you do is winge, every f**kin post i read from you is negative

Best bats i've found. I got given an e46 battery of the recycling pile at a bmw dealer once. It was 5 years old i used it in my 325i for another 3 years. I don't know of many batterys that can last that long do you?

I paid £80 inc vat from snows BMW in portsmouth 5 months ago. But that was for my E36 M3 which was mahoosive.

Does look pretty in white though (zone geek alert)

Yours will be cheaper than that bet your house on it

Batteries really are pot luck. I really don't get where this love of genuine batteries come from, they are nearly identical bar branding!

Today I had to change the battery today on a Year old GT because it had a dead cell. One year that particular battery had been in the car, whilst there are 04 GTs still running around with an identically designed battery for nearly six years without any issues, so these "My BMW one lasted 10 years, but my halfords one lasted 6 months" doesn't hold much weight. Another interesting point, 'Genuine' Bentley batteries have "VARTA" stickers plastered onto them .

your full of sh!t and all must be a croydon thing

bss325i wrote: WTF?!!

They are a good battery you 'tard and generally last longer than some cheap shit!

There was probably a reason why they wouldn't honour the 2 year parts waranty, maybe you attitiude!

Oh, calm down dear! Didn't you see the I was taking the piss that a lot of your posts seem to support BMW unilaterally. Old BSS who worked in Croydon would have laughed, or returned the piss take. New BMW employee one....

You are becoming a right grumpy bum recently!

BTW
I was told they couldn't honour it as they didn't know if my car drained it. (Fair enough) So I offered to bring it in. Then they changed their mind to "batteries aren't covered" then finally "maybe you'd be better going back down to Guildford" (not sure a 25 mile trip is in order when I have the receipt!) I've returned a few parts over the years to various dealers. Croydon being one and never had a problem. I do think they are good batteries. generally. I must have been unlucky. Other thing is its such a high ampage. (9 elms guy assumed it was for a E46 convertible) It's difficult to find one at factors so I don't bothe trying.

I paid £102 + VAT for a 65AH battery for my cabby. from the dealer, just before Christmas.

Maybe.

Simon13 wrote:your full of sh!t and all must be a croydon thing

Brilliant unjustified personal attack. Give yourself a Gold Star.

I am interested in knowing what point exactly "I'm full of shit on" though?

quite a bit really most posts involve drivel about changing cars, pug 205's, molesting e30s, selling them, rusty roofs etc. None of which you seem to do, but talk about on here.

Lets not forget your our "friend" who posted such a glowing advert of this very forum and a rather personal attack on its forum members on Trampdrift. I've not forgotton that

Bosch or bmw either way..depends if i have a good week when i go to buy one...
Strange really as i will only use bosch wipers (with spoiler on drivers of course) because i like the quality and there german like the car,like starters/alternators i would only fit bosch no recon shite..

Funnily enough, i have a bosch silver top in my sport, i was lucky enough to get that for £40 all in! If i had an E30 with the battery in the bay it would be a BMW one.

I think they are blue tops now barry?what are the 067's?

What is the score with parts warranty? Is it 12 months or is it 2 years, or does it depend on what parts you buy?

I really dont see the point in buying a battery from BMW when you can buy a higher amp rating battery from a motor factors for half the price with a 4 year warranty

DanThe wrote:What is the score with parts warranty? Is it 12 months or is it 2 years, or does it depend on what parts you buy?

I really dont see the point in buying a battery from BMW when you can buy a higher amp rating battery from a motor factors for half the price with a 4 year warranty

As I understand it 2 years. And have returned a couple parts one was a horn push, which had an annoying habit of wedging on! Receipt, new one ordered old one returned. job jobbed.

Batteries seem a bit more "discretionary" or maybe the parts guy and the warranty guy there decided it was too much like hard work. Why ARE 90% of warranty guys total fuckwits!

DanThe wrote:What is the score with parts warranty? Is it 12 months or is it 2 years, or does it depend on what parts you buy?

I really dont see the point in buying a battery from BMW when you can buy a higher amp rating battery from a motor factors for half the price with a 4 year warranty

2 years Dan.

BMW batteries generally last longer than 4 years!

The one in my mrs '98 E36 323 is the original!

So is the clutch and its done 174k!

If i go for bosch i want something with the cranking power of a 2.5 tranny di or simlar.
as thats whats on at the moment.

My dad's e34 battery lasted something like 14 years, that was the battery from the factory.

I forked out for a halfords one for my car, its hidden in the boot so i dont have to look at that bright orange sticker everytime!

So when I told them the shadowline aerial mast had worn the colour off I should have had a replacement at 14 months old as it was not 'just outside' the warranty

The battery in my E34 is an original fit that came on a 96 car

DanThe wrote:The battery in my E34 is an original fit that came on a 96 car

You've answered you own question about the battery then.

bss325i wrote:

DanThe wrote:The battery in my E34 is an original fit that came on a 96 car

You've answered you own question about the battery then.

I didnt ask a question, I just said I wouldnt buy a BMW battery

The one on my chromie is flat as fook after being left untouched for the last 2 months in the cold, has about 2 months left on the 4 year warranty so will be exchanged for a new one with a fresh warranty

Simon13 wrote:quite a bit really most posts involve drivel about changing cars, pug 205's, molesting e30s, selling them, rusty roofs etc. None of which you seem to do, but talk about on here.

Lets not forget your our "friend" who posted such a glowing advert of this very forum and a rather personal attack on its forum members on Trampdrift. I've not forgotton that

Yes, because my previous posts on this board (and trampdrift) are really relavant to a discussion on batteries. Oh, wait.

You said that I'm full of shit. In what context is me being full of shit relevant to my post? That battery life expectancy cannot accurately be determined by branding alone? That I didn't change a battery on a Continental GT today? That the genuine Bentley provided AGM main systems batteries for Continental GT, Flying Spur and GTC cars do not have Varta stickers? Pick a relevant point and argue with me on it. Don't try and rag up unrelated shit from the past because a post I made a year and a half ago on an obscure website touched a raw nerve.

And as much as I feel like I don't have to justify my recent posts regarding E30s to you, I will do anyway - I've been considering getting back into e30s for maybe 2 weeks now. I was only offered a lock-up on Saturday, and I only discovered the roof rot on Sunday whilst writing up a To-Do list, and none of this is taking to account the fact that my Touring was driven into last week. But I am truly sorry that I have not completed the 'restoration' by now. I was under the impression that stuff like this took time, especially when your shell is 'written' off on two counts (Terminal rust and accident damage) in the space of a week. Regardless, My decision what I do with cars will be my decision, and my decision alone. If you don't want to hear about it, you are more than welcome to ignore my threads.