My car seems to have a weak BMW-brand battery. Messing around with a DICE install couple days ago, I listened to the stereo without cranking the engine, and with doors open and cabin lights on for 20-25 minutes....maybe twice the same day. That night I left the DICE plugged into the CD-changer connections in the trunk. Don't know if that mattered....
Yesterday car would not turn over, even once.... just a click. The battery charge indicator is normally green but this time it was black ("insufficiently charged") and would only run the instrument/cabin lights etc. The diagnostic test (#9 ) on my high cluster showed a voltage of 11.6V (with engine off). Normally (when I haven't been mucking around in the cabin with accessories on for half an hour....), the test #9 voltage is 12.6V off, 13.8V with engine running.
I jumpstarted the car, drove it around for about an hour last night and confirmed it had that test#9 12.6V reading (13.8V with engine running) when I got home. This morning, opened the trunk, battery indicator is still in the black (forgot to check last night), and test #9 shows 12.1V. However, the car cranked right up, so I let it idle again for about 10 minutes, shut it down, test #9 reading was 12.5V. Indicator still in black.
I decided to pull the battery from the car and do some basic maintenance (top up with distilled water). I couldn't find any obvious dates on the labels and after peeling back the top stickers, discovered the cell "caps" are not removable, just hard plastic flush-fit inserts that will probably crack if I try to pry them out.
Not sure how to date the BMW battery. It has a long code in the top middle, along the edge, reads "DB0402172006." Manufacturer bar code label says Mfg. by DBMC Winston-Salem, N.C."
Aftermarket choices I have locally for replacement...
Local 49-DL from Autozone is $95 + core fee of $12.
Everstart battery from local Walmart is $77.
Yesterday car would not turn over, even once.... just a click. The battery charge indicator is normally green but this time it was black ("insufficiently charged") and would only run the instrument/cabin lights etc. The diagnostic test (#9 ) on my high cluster showed a voltage of 11.6V (with engine off). Normally (when I haven't been mucking around in the cabin with accessories on for half an hour....), the test #9 voltage is 12.6V off, 13.8V with engine running.
I jumpstarted the car, drove it around for about an hour last night and confirmed it had that test#9 12.6V reading (13.8V with engine running) when I got home. This morning, opened the trunk, battery indicator is still in the black (forgot to check last night), and test #9 shows 12.1V. However, the car cranked right up, so I let it idle again for about 10 minutes, shut it down, test #9 reading was 12.5V. Indicator still in black.
I decided to pull the battery from the car and do some basic maintenance (top up with distilled water). I couldn't find any obvious dates on the labels and after peeling back the top stickers, discovered the cell "caps" are not removable, just hard plastic flush-fit inserts that will probably crack if I try to pry them out.
Not sure how to date the BMW battery. It has a long code in the top middle, along the edge, reads "DB0402172006." Manufacturer bar code label says Mfg. by DBMC Winston-Salem, N.C."
Aftermarket choices I have locally for replacement...
Local 49-DL from Autozone is $95 + core fee of $12.
Everstart battery from local Walmart is $77.