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      03-08-2015, 07:58 PM   #1
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Z4 M Roadster battery vent

I had to replace the battery in my Z4 M and it appears that the battery vent was not attached to the battery. The previous battery was a BMW OEM battery and was most likely replaced by the previous owner. However, the vent tube was not attached and the vent on the other end of the battery was not plugged. I've looked at other threads about replacing the battery both on this forum and another forum, but I haven't been able to find any pictures of how the vent tube is attached to the battery.

Here's a picture of the battery compartment in my car with the battery mounting frame removed to get a better look at the entire battery vent tube. The vent tube is the light gray tube which vents out to the bottom of the trunk. The open end is slightly enlarged and it appears that something was plugged into it with "ribs" which enlarged the end of the tube and left a pattern inside the tube and this part was also plugged into the battery vent hole.



Does anyone have a picture of what this connector looks like or the part number? My parts guy at the local BMW dealer says that it is just an elbow connector but didn't have one in stock so he ordered one. I tried a 1/4" elbow from my drip irrigation parts but this isn't going to work.

Whoever did the last battery replacement didn't do a very good job. I have to replace the positive battery terminal cover because both of the flaps to access the nuts were broken off.
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      03-09-2015, 08:05 AM   #2
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I don't have a picture, but it it just a plastic elbow that connects the tube to the battery. I would guess it is exactly the same as the one in your picture at the end of the tube near where it is taped down.
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      03-09-2015, 08:58 AM   #3
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http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthre...=745266&page=4

Post #77. Si Coupe but the battery vent hose should be the same or very similar.
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      03-09-2015, 11:31 AM   #4
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Thanks guys!

I had the chance to do a lot more research on this after last night and found a video of a battery swap on an E46 and saw that I'm just missing the plastic elbow that goes between the vent tube and the battery, which is apparently the same elbow shown in the realoem.com diagram mentioned in the link.

As mentioned in post #78 in the above link, realoem.com doesn't show that threee of the elbows are required on a Z4 MR. It's more confusing because it doesn't show an elbow between the tube and the grommet which made me think that the grommet was the part that connected to the battery. My parts guy made it a bit more confusing because he said that there's just one elbow, connected to the grommet going through the trunk floor. He ordered the elbow for me along with the positive battery terminal cover which is broken.

I remember seeing that thread in the past but I was only searching in the DIY forum!
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      03-09-2015, 03:43 PM   #5
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FYI...Some auto parts stores also sell a battery "vent kit", which also include the said elbow along with some other bits.
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      03-09-2015, 08:05 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XMetal View Post
FYI...Some auto parts stores also sell a battery "vent kit", which also include the said elbow along with some other bits.
I did find a local auto parts store that sold a battery vent kit, which consists of the plastic elbow and a few feet of clear tubing but it was $19.99! The plastic elbow cost $1.74 with the BMW CCA discount from my local BMW dealer. They had to order it, along with the positive battery terminal cover; they should be here tomorrow.
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      03-22-2015, 08:28 PM   #7
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Update:

I got the elbow from the dealer and it's the same as the other two in my picture. The long end plugged into the vent tube and the short end plugged right into the new battery. Finally got it back together today.

Not so much luck with replacing the positive battery terminal cover which is what I was waiting for before I buttoned everything up. The two access flaps on my cover were broken off. Apparently this is not available separately but is part of an assembly which includes the cable that disconnects in the case of an accident and another cable that goes to the power distribution box. My dealer quoted $197, so that's not going to happen. I just put the two flaps back in place and taped them down with some red electrical tape.

Here's a picture of the cover that Ron Stygar posted here in the past. The cable that disconnects in case of an accident is partially visible on the left side. The other cable goes to the right to the power distribution box:
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