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Post by Tim on Apr 30, 2018 13:44:54 GMT
The 320 is in at BMW for a service today and apparently they have decided that the battery is due for replacement. That's no problem, I'll just source one myself as BMW prices are going to be scary, aren't they. The 320 has start/stop and thus needs an AGM battery (apparently). £190 from Halfords, £250 from Euricarparts, etc.
Fuck me.
The irritating thing is that the car starts fine first time, every time and to be honest we usually switch the start/stop function off anyway.
Does anyone have experience of this? |
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Post by Roadrunner on Apr 30, 2018 13:54:32 GMT
I would keep going with the existing battery if it is starting then car OK. The battery for the Benz cost about £120 three years ago, but that doesn't have stop start.
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Post by Stuntman on Apr 30, 2018 18:40:46 GMT
I agree with James. Only replace if it's not holding sufficient charge.
Do you have breakdown cover (i.e. could you call out the AA or similar, and ask them to charge up the battery in the event of the car stranding you?) If so, I'd say definitely don't replace unless you have to.
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Post by Alex on Apr 30, 2018 19:42:40 GMT
As above, if you’re car is still starting without any problems I’d be interested to know why the dealer thinks it needs replacing.
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Post by ChrisM on Apr 30, 2018 19:59:58 GMT
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Post by Boxer6 on Apr 30, 2018 20:08:10 GMT
As above, if you’re car is still starting without any problems I’d be interested to know why the dealer thinks it needs replacing. Because they're dealers? If new car sales are falling the way we're told, every penny counts these days I'd guess. |
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Post by Big Blue on Apr 30, 2018 21:24:20 GMT
Check you can just swap your battery out with no issues. The A8 I had needed the new battery to be coded to the car and so did the Gorilla last summer.
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Post by Roadrunner on May 1, 2018 7:28:26 GMT
As above, if you’re car is still starting without any problems I’d be interested to know why the dealer thinks it needs replacing. Because they're dealers? If new car sales are falling the way we're told, every penny counts these days I'd guess. Exactly. This reminds me of the Rybrook oil top up saga I had a few months ago. |
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Post by Tim on May 1, 2018 9:18:04 GMT
Because they're dealers? If new car sales are falling the way we're told, every penny counts these days I'd guess. Exactly. This reminds me of the Rybrook oil top up saga I had a few months ago.
It was John Clark BMW in Dundee, not an organisation known for their stunning prowess in, well, all things (it must be the surname, shared with another massive dealer group known for their mediocre activities). They want nearly £350 to change the battery including a labour charge of £71. I haven't had a look yet but if its just a straight swap then I'd be angry a that price.
I do like the modern video walkaround they give you though.
For instance who knew that BMW had oil filled bushes for the brake control arms? Who knew that they were leaking, until the helpful videographer pointed it out  I bet they're only there because BMW went down the runflat route and need all the help they can get to reduce harshness.
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Post by alf on May 1, 2018 13:26:44 GMT
This is the problem with modern car bills. In my mind (from my teens!) a battery is £30 from Halfords and fit it yourself!
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Post by LandieMark on May 1, 2018 14:20:51 GMT
Batteries are expensive these days for normal ones. I think it must be due to the cost of the heavy metals in them. I paid nearly £150 for one for the Land Rover, although that is a commercial battery.
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Post by Tim on May 1, 2018 14:28:21 GMT
I think I paid £90 last year for a new heavy duty one for the Fiat but the M5 needs one and I think that's looking like £150 (but it is massive!).
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Post by Roadsterstu on May 3, 2018 11:21:33 GMT
You might actually find BMW are cheaper. I found that with Volvo. And I'd keep the existing battery until it fails to hold charge or, as in the case of my V50, the fluctuating voltage the battery was only able to provide, despite consistently being able to start the car, started to cause all kinds of odd electrical issues with various systems. The replacement was about 87 quid and solved all those issues.
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Post by Tim on May 3, 2018 12:30:22 GMT
I'm definitely not going to change the battery yet although I have been switching the stop/start function off every trip!
BMW want about £280 plus fitting for the battery. I'm going to see if there are any special needs for a new battery - coding to the car, etc, but if not I can change it myself.
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Post by PG on May 3, 2018 16:54:21 GMT
I'm definitely not going to change the battery yet although I have been switching the stop/start function off every trip! BMW want about £280 plus fitting for the battery. I'm going to see if there are any special needs for a new battery - coding to the car, etc, but if not I can change it myself. I can't see why a battery needs coding to a car. I can see that all the codes that might be lost when you take the old one out (and the electronics get confused) need to be put back in, which is very different. It used to be that you got round that when changing a battery by using a pair of jump leads to piggy back the batteries so that at no point was there no battery connected to the car. Maybe even that doesn't work any more? |
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Post by johnc on May 3, 2018 17:25:11 GMT
Talking of batteries, I took my wife's Rado watch in to get a new battery and they wanted £50. They reduced that to £40 when I had a bit of a strop but said it would have to be done in their workshop and would be available in a couple of days. A couple of days later, we got a phone call to say the watch didn't work after the new battery was fitted so it would need a service at £250 but that included a new battery.
I told them to forget it and picked it up. A chance discussion the next day with a client led me to his best friend who is a small independent jeweller. He replaced the battery in 10 minutes with a new Sony battery (the best apparently). He said he would only charge me for the battery at cost - 19p! And guess what, it worked. This is apparently a well known ploy to boost profit in quiet periods in the watch trade. It could have been a non existent service for £250 when the cost was only 19p.
If car dealers ever work to the same margin as jewellers, we are all in trouble. |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on May 3, 2018 20:04:28 GMT
Talking of batteries, I took my wife's Rado watch in to get a new battery and they wanted £50. They reduced that to £40 when I had a bit of a strop but said it would have to be done in their workshop and would be available in a couple of days. A couple of days later, we got a phone call to say the watch didn't work after the new battery was fitted so it would need a service at £250 but that included a new battery.
I told them to forget it and picked it up. A chance discussion the next day with a client led me to his best friend who is a small independent jeweller. He replaced the battery in 10 minutes with a new Sony battery (the best apparently). He said he would only charge me for the battery at cost - 19p! And guess what, it worked. This is apparently a well known ploy to boost profit in quiet periods in the watch trade. It could have been a non existent service for £250 when the cost was only 19p.
If car dealers ever work to the same margin as jewellers, we are all in trouble. I'd love to know what a £250 service on a simple quartz mechanism involves. |
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Post by Alex on May 3, 2018 20:28:47 GMT
Talking of batteries, I took my wife's Rado watch in to get a new battery and they wanted £50. They reduced that to £40 when I had a bit of a strop but said it would have to be done in their workshop and would be available in a couple of days. A couple of days later, we got a phone call to say the watch didn't work after the new battery was fitted so it would need a service at £250 but that included a new battery.
I told them to forget it and picked it up. A chance discussion the next day with a client led me to his best friend who is a small independent jeweller. He replaced the battery in 10 minutes with a new Sony battery (the best apparently). He said he would only charge me for the battery at cost - 19p! And guess what, it worked. This is apparently a well known ploy to boost profit in quiet periods in the watch trade. It could have been a non existent service for £250 when the cost was only 19p.
If car dealers ever work to the same margin as jewellers, we are all in trouble. I'd love to know what a £250 service on a simple quartz mechanism involves. Probably just a good hard blow to get the dust out and a nice sticker put on the back. |
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2018 16:00:09 GMT
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Post by johnc on May 8, 2018 16:10:49 GMT
I'd love to know what a £250 service on a simple quartz mechanism involves. The fitting of a 19p battery? Exactly my thoughts too. |
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Post by grampa on May 8, 2018 17:14:51 GMT
The 320 is in at BMW for a service today and apparently they have decided that the battery is due for replacement. That's no problem, I'll just source one myself as BMW prices are going to be scary, aren't they. The 320 has start/stop and thus needs an AGM battery (apparently). £190 from Halfords, £250 from Euricarparts, etc.
Fuck me.
The irritating thing is that the car starts fine first time, every time and to be honest we usually switch the start/stop function off anyway.
Does anyone have experience of this? Shit - that sounds a lot - I only pay £90 ish for a large boat battery. Can you find the battery you need here? advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk |
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Post by Tim on May 9, 2018 10:23:31 GMT
The 320 is in at BMW for a service today and apparently they have decided that the battery is due for replacement. That's no problem, I'll just source one myself as BMW prices are going to be scary, aren't they. The 320 has start/stop and thus needs an AGM battery (apparently). £190 from Halfords, £250 from Euricarparts, etc.
Fuck me.
The irritating thing is that the car starts fine first time, every time and to be honest we usually switch the start/stop function off anyway.
Does anyone have experience of this? Shit - that sounds a lot - I only pay £90 ish for a large boat battery. Can you find the battery you need here? advancedbatterysupplies.co.ukThanks for the link, I'll need to find out more about the battery. Stop/start ones are referred to as AGM batteries for some reason.
I had to get a new battery fro the M5 at the weekend and that was £132 from Halfords for the 5 year guarantee one. Still, it's massive and it really feels like you're getting your moneys worth (unlike a watch battery  ).
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Post by ChrisM on May 9, 2018 12:21:27 GMT
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).