Battery Question.

[dbruce]

I know that Exide, Interstate and Douglas make vented batteries that will fit the M3.

What I need is a place to pick one up in CT around Stamford. Anyone know of a store....the few I checked I had no luck in.

[cek2]

I use Sears Diehard International batteries in my 325is and 525it. Maintenance free and vented. I went with Diehard because of the many Sears locations. No problem with them over the last two years.
cek2

[Hellmet]

I have an unbranded battery and its been fine for the last 3 years

[Zodiacbw]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...hlight=battery

Here ya go. Hate wally world but they do seem to have most things.

[flyfishvt]

I got mine at CarQuest. $100 and a 5 year warranty. And its not vented. Vented batteries just spew acid into the battery bay.

[paniolo]

Unless you got a gel mat battery like a Optima, your battery is vented. It just vents into your trunk. See those little holes on top of the caps? The vent is not for acid, but for hydrogen which is a by product of the charging cycle. Hydrogen is explosive, venting it in the enclosed trunk environment can be bad.

[flyfishvt]

Unless you got a gel mat battery like a Optima, your battery is vented. It just vents into your trunk. See those little holes on top of the caps? The vent is not for acid, but for hydrogen which is a by product of the charging cycle. Hydrogen is explosive, venting it in the enclosed trunk environment can be bad.

Yes I know the vents are for Hydrogen but haven't you ever seen bubbles comming out of them too? Bubbles = liquid = acid.

By the way...I just checked my battery and its a CarQuest rebranded battery and it has NO vents. After 35 years, 20+ cars and GOD only knows how many batteries...I can tell if its vented or not.

[paniolo]

No offense meant to you Flyfish. I was really trying to point out to other readers that not having a vent tube does not = no vent. Got in a hurry and used the word "you" loosely.

There are no vent batteries ... Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) and they can pretty much be mounted in any position and not leak or vent. Optima, Odeyssy, Lifeline, Deka, Lifeline are some of the brands. Typically AGM batteries have not been available in sizes that fit the e36 clamps and are too tall for the plastic cover to fit and protect the bare terminals. The other type of no vent is the gel batteries, but they are getting phased out with the new AGM batteries. All of these batteries are more expensive to produce and carry a price premium.

The age old wet cell plate battery comes in two versions. Serviceable and Maintenance free. Both are filled with electrolyte and are basically the same but the serviceable has removable caps to check electrolyte level and the ability to check the specific gravity of the individual cells. Some types of "maintenance free" wet cell batteries just eliminate the caps but still have to vent the case. The only true maintenance free wet cell type uses what is known as a Sealed Calcium-Calcium where calcium plates replace the lead plates. The case is completely sealed and the cover has a recombination chamber which collects the hydrogen gas and recombines it back into the respective cells thus effectively nullifying water usage.

Bottom line, unless you are sure you have a vent free battery you need to hook it up to a vent tube when used in a sealed space like the e36 trunks.

[wbarfels]

No offense meant to you Flyfish. I was really trying to point out to other readers that not having a vent tube does not = no vent. Got in a hurry and used the word "you" loosely.

There are no vent batteries ... Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) and they can pretty much be mounted in any position and not leak or vent. Optima, Odeyssy, Lifeline, Deka, Lifeline are some of the brands. Typically AGM batteries have not been available in sizes that fit the e36 clamps and are too tall for the plastic cover to fit and protect the bare terminals. The other type of no vent is the gel batteries, but they are getting phased out with the new AGM batteries. All of these batteries are more expensive to produce and carry a price premium.

The age old wet cell plate battery comes in two versions. Serviceable and Maintenance free. Both are filled with electrolyte and are basically the same but the serviceable has removable caps to check electrolyte level and the ability to check the specific gravity of the individual cells. Some types of "maintenance free" wet cell batteries just eliminate the caps but still have to vent the case. The only true maintenance free wet cell type uses what is known as a Sealed Calcium-Calcium where calcium plates replace the lead plates. The case is completely sealed and the cover has a recombination chamber which collects the hydrogen gas and recombines it back into the respective cells thus effectively nullifying water usage.

Bottom line, unless you are sure you have a vent free battery you need to hook it up to a vent tube when used in a sealed space like the e36 trunks.

Optimas are NOT GELL CELL. I believe they are AGT.
I had an optima Red-Top that went bad in my 325i for whatever reason, and I got it at Oreillys where there not very cheap. The lesson I learned about that today IS to Make damn sure you give the store your phone # for when it goes bad, and Take a picture of the receiept with your phone and dump it onto your computer....That and either put it in your owners manual in a zip lock, OR put it in a Zip lock and Duct tape it to your battery.

Being that are batterys are in the car and not under the hood, You should really get a sealed battery (like an Optima) and an Optima has a 5 year warranty for FULL Replacment (not Pro Rated) Not to mention they come with all kinds of mounting options so your sure it will fit and lock down......Plus they are much, much better battery's. IF your battery is not sealed, its going to create hydrogen gas.....And again since our battery's are in the car with us, a Sealed battery should be the ONLY way to go. Even at an expensive auto store, you can get an Optima that meets your specs for $159. Also since our cars ride a little rough.....Optimas last about 20 times longer under those conditions. And honestly, allot of battery's (even Optima) will fail withing 5 years under these conditions, So a 5 year FULL replacement warranty can easily add up to buying one battery for the life of your car! because after 5 years if it's not in perfect condition, you can get a new one with the same warranty! I decided to upgrade to a yellow top since there a deep cycle battery that is still designed to work in cars, Especially ones with aftermarket stereo systems (and winches and what not)

Sure it cost me an extra $43......But when it perfoms slightly less then optimal in 4 years Ill get a new one for free! Plus I watched a battery explode in my dads face while giving a jump star when I was younger.....And he never full recovered hs eye sight.

Oddly my 99 323IS has the stock BMW battery, which still works great! But my car will need the optima sooner or later..... And a battery is a pretty effective browns gas generator (hydrogen) So saving $60 and getting a normal battery VS a sealed battery like an optima is well worth the money (and IF you look around you can find one for much cheaper)

[DavidBMW320i]

So if your battery needs a vent tube, do you block one side off with the cap and the other side use a vent tube ? Mine is Bosch S5 680CCA

[flyfishvt]

If your battery has two places to put the vent tube you will need to plug one of them.

[paniolo]

... Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) and they can pretty much be mounted in any position and not leak or vent. Optima, Odeyssy, Lifeline, Deka, Lifeline are some of the brands.

Optimas are NOT GELL CELL. I believe they are AGT.
I had an optima Red-Top that went bad in my 325i for whatever reason, and I got it at Oreillys where there not very cheap. The lesson I learned about that today IS to Make damn sure you give the store your phone # for when it goes bad, and Take a picture of the receiept with your phone and dump it onto your computer...

As I said, Optimas are AGM. I had a Red-Top die in a 4x4 7-8 years ago. No receipt so they dated it from the batteries date code on the case and still replaced it. Maybe that was an isolated incident?

[randomy]

Firestone sell interstate batteries.

[wbarfels]

As I said, Optimas are AGM. I had a Red-Top die in a 4x4 7-8 years ago. No receipt so they dated it from the batteries date code on the case and still replaced it. Maybe that was an isolated incident?

Red tops are there "normal" battery, Yellow and Blue tops are made for vehicles where there is extensive power draw (like an aftermarket stereo/winch) and where they are subjected to extensive vibrations (lowered car x 4x4)
In fact I have a graph in front of me showing MTBF on battery's that are put on a machine that vibrates the crap out of them......With most battery's failing at 150 hours or so, and a yellow top exceeding 9000+ hours.

So if you really want a very good battery that will put up with abuse, dont get the red top. it's still a strong battery, but one meant for essentially stock vehicles. Either way having 6 seperate cells per battery, not to mention fully sealed......Is a very good thing. I moved to oprtimas after killing most normal batterys at an incredible rate. since then The only time Ive had to replace a battery is when I first get the car....(with one exception) and even that one was replaced for free under warranty.

[baseball]

This is why you want to use a completely sealed battery like the Optima or a battery with a vent tube.