Dead Battery in 2006 Z4 M Roadster...need help

[bjbstewart]

Consider an Odyssey Battery, I've had very good luck with this brand. Avoid an Optima Battery.

[Z4inAZ]

Originally Posted by bjbstewart

Consider an Odyssey Battery, I've had very good luck with this brand. Avoid an Optima Battery.

Avoid Optima like the plague. When I ran my battery business, we had a disgusting amount of Optimas used as core exchanges. They no longer honor their warranties and to my knowledge, may not even be US produced anymore. Whatever it is, something happened, and their quality is piss poor nowadays. They were bought by Johnson controls in 2000 and mid-2000s their quality started to plummet...

[ace813]

Originally Posted by StickMon

On a whim, I went to Interstate's site and punched up:
Home >> Automotive / Truck >> 2006 >> BMW >> Z4 >> L6/3.2L >>

It looks like an H5 to me.
AutoZone does the same thing.
The ///M takes an H6.

Here's what you get when you punch up:
Home >> Automotive / Truck >> 2006 >> BMW >> M3 >>

Yep, I had an H6 and replaced it with an H6 from Interstate.

[ferrarif1]

Does anyone know the part number for the expanding rivets holding the battery cover on to the battery base plate? The ones with the "screw/hex head". I can only find the blind head non-expanding variety on realoem.

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by ferrarif1

Does anyone know the part number for the expanding rivets holding the battery cover on to the battery base plate? The ones with the "screw/hex head". I can only find the blind head non-expanding variety on realoem.

I think it is part #8 here: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...54&hg=51&fg=65

[StickMon]

That's what I thought, too, but it's shown as a plug, and ECS doesn't have a picture of it.
Pull a 51168197908 out of your fan shroud and see if it fits in the battery cover.

[ferrarif1]

According to this thread, the part is

51 71 8 259 788

Which makes sense based on the picture here.

Should all three expanding rivets on the bottom of the battery box be these rivets? I have two like this and a third without the hex head but it is possible that one had been replaced.

[chickdr]

Good work finding the real part number. Funny that it doesn't show up on the TIS. I had a similar issue trying to find the part number for the expanding rivets which hold down the curved piece which attaches at the top of the center console storage compartment.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by ferrarif1

According to this thread, the part is

51 71 8 259 788

Which makes sense based on the picture here.

Should all three expanding rivets on the bottom of the battery box be these rivets? I have two like this and a third without the hex head but it is possible that one had been replaced.

Do you have a coupe (e86) or roadster (e85)? According to realoem.com, that 51718259788 part number is only listed under the coupe?

[ferrarif1]

I have a roadster but have a strong feeling that leaving this part out of TIS was an oversight on BMW's part. If you look where TIS references this part on the E86, it is not the battery box.

[StickMon]

Might not be the exact same part, but if it works, it works.

I only remember having 2, on the bottom left side of the box.

[RichardTS]

Originally Posted by Z4inAZ

Batteries do not ever come with vent tubes, they are not supposed to. AAA installs vent tubes in every car I have had them work on. They may not be qualified BMW technicians, but they change batteries day in and day out, you would think they know how to do their job. Heck, I am not sure if there is an incorrect way to connect a vent tube.

And guys, battery sizes do change. There will be a time when the OEM battery size for this car is no longer available anywhere. Bigger isnt better and smaller isnt worse, get a battery that fits in the tray and be done with it. H6 is one of the smallest euro size batteries available and if thats the OEM spec for these cars then just about anything should work. I know I have a 26 (comically small battery) in my car right now and it never fails to start and never does anything weird or "off"

ALL batteries are vented, even the ones that appear not to be.

Please ensure that the vent tube is connected. When batteries charge, they release hydrogen gas which is EXTREMELY flammable (more so than even gasoline). The vent releases the hydrogen to the air outside of the car rather than allowing it to build up in the trunk and potentially cause an explosion.

[jpwbrown]

I know my limitations, and my frustration level--any troubles with battery and BMW assist is called and tow truck is on it's way. Prior to joining forum y car had dead battery once and my husband replaced battery...had lots of issues ---had to take to dealership to "reset" a/c and GSP

[bimmerjim07]

While this is an old thread I would like to thank all here for the information.

I have a 2007 Z4M roadster which I bought new. In 09 BMW replaced the battery and alternator. Last week the battery (which had been really straining) finally failed to turn the car over.
The info on this thread allowed me to swap out the battery without too much trouble.

The best matched battery I found was the Duracell Platinum H7 AGM (850 cca) which slid right in....when BMW replaced the battery in 09 they didn't reinstall the vent tube and I went to the dealership for the elbow, tube and three replacement screws for the compartment.

BTW hooking the car to the charger kept all my presets operating while the battery was out...no problems with anything and boy does it turn over fast now!

Again you folks have my thanks.

[racerbruce]

Suggest replacing batteries based upon life cycle; I replace every 4 yrs - the risk(s) associated with being stranded and requiring flat-bedding your beloved machine is not worth it.

[JJZ4MR]

Originally Posted by bimmerjim07

While this is an old thread I would like to thank all here for the information.

I have a 2007 Z4M roadster which I bought new. In 09 BMW replaced the battery and alternator. Last week the battery (which had been really straining) finally failed to turn the car over.
The info on this thread allowed me to swap out the battery without too much trouble.

The best matched battery I found was the Duracell Platinum H7 AGM (850 cca) which slid right in....when BMW replaced the battery in 09 they didn't reinstall the vent tube and I went to the dealership for the elbow, tube and three replacement screws for the compartment.

BTW hooking the car to the charger kept all my presets operating while the battery was out...no problems with anything and boy does it turn over fast now!

Again you folks have my thanks.

As I have read through this old thread as well, I had problems in the past with my 2006 Z4MR when I took out the battery and then got a stern talking to from my mechanic as he told me to have a charge running to the car, while removing battery. Curiously I've seen ZERO mention of this up until reading your post. My question is ( helping other readers in the future ) how do you have the car hooked to a charger WHILE you change out the battery. I've read that there are charging posts under the hood, which I've never seen, but this would be the only way I could thing of being able to perform this.

* Added after doing some work on the car earlier. While going over the engine compartment ( that I thought I knew pretty well, since I've detailed it twice and done some work on ) I " discovered " I large red wire and a medium red wire going up the fire wall, sort of center/left, coming up to a small black plastic box, which has a top with a BIG "+" on it, I flipped the top up, found that there was a post. So before removing the battery which would not charge and repeatedly came up FAIL on my new charger, I attached the positive from the charger to the post, the negative to bare metal nut on a bolt that would act as the ground. I was just going on a hunch that this may be how to keep a charge going so all my preset functions would stay. When I disconnected the battery my charger went blank. So is that just for use in jump starting from another vehicle ? If anyone ever reads this and has answers I'd sure like to know, as I done as much research as I can.

[Molez93]

I use the under hood connections for charging while stored so it would make sense to use them if I wanted to maintain power while swapping the battery.

That being said, I had no issues simply swapping the old to new battery a few years ago without having power connected as I think you/ that tech suggested. Maybe I got lucky, but I also had not read/heard about any need to do so except for that earlier post.

[Emmrbee]

Step by step instructions:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm

[JJZ4MR]

Thanks for the responses guys, I just added and edited attachment from what I did earlier today. When you say " posts " I only found one " + " is there a negative post I'm not seeing ? My group 47 650 CC charged back to 12V at OReillys, no charge. I'm about to go do the install and hopefully that was that. I killed it by putting the top up and down several times while not running, while I was doing a five day process of leather restoration using Leatherique....Man are my seats soft and beautiful right now. Of course I did not discuss this with the guy at O'Reilly's

[JJZ4MR]

Originally Posted by Emmrbee

Step by step instructions:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm

Thanks, it's pretty thorough and I have no problems with battery replacement itself....out in less than 1 minute.

[Andyh1]

I replaced the battery in my '06 Z4MR this past spring. It is a pain because of the confined space and the lack of knowledge on the two nuts on top of the battery support bracket. I recall searching all over until I found a YouTube video that illustrated it. I have seen this come up too many times now that I will consider making a very detail video on the battery replacement procedure for the Z4M.

[lfyost1]

Originally Posted by Andyh1

I replaced the battery in my '06 Z4MR this past spring. It is a pain because of the confined space and the lack of knowledge on the two nuts on top of the battery support bracket. I recall searching all over until I found a YouTube video that illustrated it. I have seen this come up too many times now that I will consider making a very detail video on the battery replacement procedure for the Z4M.

Hello, What battery did you use for your 2006 Z4MR, please?