Glove Box Flashlight battery replacement

[dshealey]

I recently re-discovered the flashlight in the glove box of my 2001 E38, had forgotten it existed. 8>) Of course the batteries were dead, so I looked into replacing them. Saw a couple threads on different sites about using the Varta V250H batteries, but they were pretty expensive, so looked for something suitable that was not so expensive. Discovered that with just little modification of the plastic (cutting away part of the round section that contains the original batteries) two 1/3AA NiMH tabbed batteries fit very well, and are a fraction of the cost of the Varta batteries! They are actually even higher capacity, at 300 maH instead of the Varta 250. I am not going into detail of the repair, since it is pretty straight forward, with + side of the pair going to the silver metal strip going to the bottom of the bulb, the - side to the copper colored strip where the resistor is connected. Two pictures attached.

Attachment 658733Attachment 658734

[chrisn7]

I used the Varta batteries, but replaced the bulb with a modern Cree type which is a direct replacment and is a vast imprivement.

[RIboater2]

are they rechargeable? I had forgotten about it also, and the cree led replacement mod that makes it actually usable. I even have the 12 volt extension cord that plugs in and forgot about that too.

[Timm]

https://www.meeknet.co.uk/E32/Torch/Index.htm

[Grady in Texas]

Do you have a link or part number for the batteries? Thanks

[racer2086]

Clever with the batteries...

You should convert to LED: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ong-Pic-Heavy)

Still use mine. They are nice and bright. I bet there are even better LEDs out now.

[dshealey]

I got the batteries here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-1-3AA-1-...72.m2749.l2649

[Grady in Texas]

Thanks for the battery link. I know next to nothing about batteries but the limitations section was (maybe?) concerning:

• Limited service life; deep discharge reduces service life
• Requires complex charge algorithm. Sensitive to overcharge
• Does not absorb overcharge well; trickle charge must be kept low
• Generates heat during fast charge and high-load discharge
• High self-discharge

I doubt the light has a "complex charging algorithm".

[Timm]

No, it doesn't - but it does trickle-charge at a very low rate circumventing those concerns. The same batteries in the E31 and E32 was charged via a single resistor - at least the E38 version got a transistor!

[dshealey]

They are NiMh batteries, same as the Varta coin cells, just a different configuration. The E38 lights do have a rudimentary charge controller, better than the simpler ones in other BMW's.