R56 Battery replacement recommendations?
#1
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Northern VA, near the British Pantry!
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Battery replacement recommendations?
Hey all,
Looks like it's time to replace the battery on my 07. It started forgetting some of my settings and the time/date a few times. And yesterday it finally wouldn't start for me. It was weird cause I just took it on a half hour drive and when I went to restart it, there was nothing.
I put it on the trickle charger overnight and it shows a full charge now, but I still think it needs to be replaced.
So what should I replace it with? Does it have to be an oem mini battery? Can I go aftermarket like interstate or die hard? Does it have to be a gel battery like the oem one?
There are so many electronics on this car, I just don't want to screw anything up with the wrong battery. Any thoughts?
Looks like it's time to replace the battery on my 07. It started forgetting some of my settings and the time/date a few times. And yesterday it finally wouldn't start for me. It was weird cause I just took it on a half hour drive and when I went to restart it, there was nothing.
I put it on the trickle charger overnight and it shows a full charge now, but I still think it needs to be replaced.
So what should I replace it with? Does it have to be an oem mini battery? Can I go aftermarket like interstate or die hard? Does it have to be a gel battery like the oem one?
There are so many electronics on this car, I just don't want to screw anything up with the wrong battery. Any thoughts?
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#8
PS: It is a little pricey.
#10
I just tried a warranty claim of a dying battery and had to pay out of pocket.
* https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-no-start.html
Not saying you may have the same issue, but I should have just bought an aftermarket unit and saved in cost.
- Erik
* https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-no-start.html
Not saying you may have the same issue, but I should have just bought an aftermarket unit and saved in cost.
- Erik
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#12
The longest lasting car battery that I have ever had was the factory battery that came in my 1992 Nissan Sentra SE-R. It was just a regular lead acid battery made by Exide branded with a Nissan sticker on it. That Exide battery was still going strong after more than 11 years of hard use when I replaced it. The only reason I replaced it was becuase it was just so old, and I did not want to worry about trusting it for another winter.
#13
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Northern VA, near the British Pantry!
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I just tried a warranty claim of a dying battery and had to pay out of pocket.
* https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-no-start.html
Not saying you may have the same issue, but I should have just bought an aftermarket unit and saved in cost.
- Erik
* https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-no-start.html
Not saying you may have the same issue, but I should have just bought an aftermarket unit and saved in cost.
- Erik
#16
There's still enough internal electical capacitiance to hold memory of radio controls, etc, etc.
You don't lose key fob controls and security settings as those are store in non-volitle memory.
- Erik
#17
That's good to know about replacing a battery. In my wife's Mazda CX-7 your have to retrain the power steering, full lock to lock turns and then retrain the auto up and down switches for the front windows. Kind of dumb if you ask me. But after knowing that, I would not be surprised at all if a MINI needed something in its infinite quirkiness.
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#20
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#21
Does it say anything about programing the car and initializing things in it on the receipt? I can not imagine a $450 fee for just the replacing the battery....
#22
I didn't have time to wait around for him to get his bill but I wish I had. Woulda been nice to see what I may be up against some day. Can't believe that this car is so full of electronic B.S. that you can no longer just do a simple battery r&r on your own.
#23
Optima was once a great AGM battery until it was sold and before production went to Mexico and they started cutting quality corners. I am still running Optima's from the original manufacturer in several cars - they just won't die.
My choice now would be another AGM battery the Odyssey (aka Sears DieHard Platinum).
http://www.odysseybattery.com/batterysearch.asp
They do show one for the MINI.
Last edited by MCS Fever; 09-18-2010 at 07:36 PM.
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#25
I just replaced the OEM battery with an Optima PC680T. Works great. No problem on the switch over with any of the car's electrical systems.
I live up in New England, and my research suggests that the battery has enough grunt to do the job down to Brrrr! We shall see.
But holy avoirdupois Batman - that Optima is LIGHT compared to the OEM, 20 lbs lighter is no exaggeration at all.
Cheers,
Charlie
I live up in New England, and my research suggests that the battery has enough grunt to do the job down to Brrrr! We shall see.
But holy avoirdupois Batman - that Optima is LIGHT compared to the OEM, 20 lbs lighter is no exaggeration at all.
Cheers,
Charlie