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

[XMetal]

The tube is just a plug. It should just pull right out of the battery...no tools needed.

[SilentNight]

Originally Posted by XMetal

The tube is just a plug. It should just pull right out of the battery...no tools needed.

didn't know there was TWO things to unscrew on the negative terminal. Got the battery out now. I appreciate the help. Sure I look like an idiot but I probably couldn't have got this figured out without all your help. Now off to the local Advanced Auto store to swap the battery for a new one as well as investing in a battery tender which I should have had since I bought the car two years ago.

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by SilentNight

didn't know there was TWO things to unscrew on the negative terminal. Got the battery out now. I appreciate the help. Sure I look like an idiot but I probably couldn't have got this figured out without all your help. Now off to the local Advanced Auto store to swap the battery for a new one as well as investing in a battery tender which I should have had since I bought the car two years ago.

You certainly do NOT look like an idiot my friend. Glad you got the battery out. These forums are awesome, aren't they? The battery tender is a great idea. As I rarely drive my car, I run a tender once a month to keep the battery charged. So far, so good considering the battery is 5yrs old and the car has 13K on the clock.

[SilentNight]

got the new battery installed and while the interior lights come on as does the radio and convertible top working fine, the engine will not start. Also, only the parking lights come on, not the high and low beams.

I am guessing there is a security procedure I need to over ride due to a new battery and draining the old one? Any suggestions on why the car will not turn over yet it seems like everything is fine?

[vicj]

Hmmm. No, no procedure. Your car does NOT require programming with a new battery. This may sound strange, but is the new battery charged? If it sat on the shelf for a long time before purchase, it may need to be charged. If you bought the Tender, just hook it up and let it sit over night.

The second thing to check is to make sure you reconnected BOTH clamps at the negative terminal of the battery. It's easy to forget the second one. make sure they are tightened down thoroughly.

Last, and this rare, when you try to turn it over, do you at least hear the "Click Click Click" of the relays firing? If not, if all you hear is dead silence, then the alternator may be shot as well. This just recently happened on my Buddy's M3, perfectly fine one minute, went to start the car up two hours later, no start, no clicking, and would not jump start. Alternator had shorted because of the dead battery.

If you DO hear the "usual" clicking associated with a dead battery, then just charge that battery up overnight on your BMW Tender, or try jump starting it again. The terminals for jump starting are in the engine compartment, no need to take it all apart again. That's also where you'd connect your tender.

[SilentNight]

Originally Posted by vicj

Hmmm. No, no procedure. Your car does NOT require programming with a new battery. This may sound strange, but is the new battery charged? If it sat on the shelf for a long time before purchase, it may need to be charged. If you bought the Tender, just hook it up and let it sit over night.

The second thing to check is to make sure you reconnected BOTH clamps at the negative terminal of the battery. It's easy to forget the second one. make sure they are tightened down thoroughly.

Last, and this rare, when you try to turn it over, do you at least hear the "Click Click Click" of the relays firing? If not, if all you hear is dead silence, then the alternator may be shot as well. This just recently happened on my Buddy's M3, perfectly fine one minute, went to start the car up two hours later, no start, no clicking, and would not jump start. Alternator had shorted because of the dead battery.

If you DO hear the "usual" clicking associated with a dead battery, then just charge that battery up overnight on your BMW Tender, or try jump starting it again. The terminals for jump starting are in the engine compartment, no need to take it all apart again. That's also where you'd connect your tender.

good advice. I just went out to try it one more time and....it started up! I have literally no idea as to why the car would do that. I think I might go put that battery tender on and keep it on for the next 24 hours just as a precaution. Any ideas as to why it wouldn't start at first then when I tried it an hour later it fired up? So strange.

[XMetal]

That's what you get for a car that have way too many microprocessors. My guessed is that one of the controller didn't boot up properly during the battery reconnection. Then the entire system went to sleep when it sat and woke up properly after an hour

[mimarcos]

Just a heads up, little late in this thread but I also went through a mini nightmare getting the battery out. Turns out, those three plastic screws near the bottom were pretty frayed - couldn't unscrew. Took a needle nose pliers to them and it worked out. I'll get some spares later.

[StickMon]

Someone who got to it before you probably "tightened" them.
They're expanding rivets, so they don't need to be tightened.
Stop as soon as they touch bottom, or they'll strip and get stuck.
There's a whole pant load of them on the fan shroud.
Buy a sack full from getBMWparts.com.

[mimarcos]

I'm sure you're right. I know the previous owner replaced the battery, so I'm guessing they were the casualty of that process. Not a big loss, end of the day. Thanks for the info, I'll grab a whole bunch.

[ace813]

I just replaced the battery on my 2006 Z4M last night. I had "help", and am not sure it went back in correctly. Two questions:

What does the vent tube look like? I'm thinking it didn't get put back into the battery as it should have. But since I didn't see how it came out, I can't be sure. And since I didn't know it had one until I read it in the forums, I still don't know what I'm looking for.

The battery cover doesn't want to go back on easily, as the most forward battery cable (furthest one away from me as I'm standing behind the car...is that the positive or negative, where there are two clamps) now seems to sit too high for the cover to clear it as it did before. I think it's the second clamp that gets tightened that causes that cable to bow up. Is there some trick to routing that cable more forward, or getting it to lay flatter? Looks like it is actually supposed to lay over the edge of the small red plastic "box" on top of the terminal, but that just makes the interference with the cover worse. Apparently a part of that red plastic piece broke while removing the battery, too, but again I didn't see it come out so I don't know how it goes back together.

Are there any pictures out there that show what it should look like? If I would have been thinking, I would have taken "before" pictures.

And as a side note, those three plastic screws/retainers had to be sacrificed when I took the cover off. Two came out okay, but are so stripped I don't want to put back in. The other required a pliers to take out. That was the least of my concerns, and I'll worry about replacing them later. Do they have a part number to order?

[StickMon]

I think the plastic rivets are #8 here, and #3 here (same thing on 2 diagrams).

There's holes at the front and rear of the "cap" on top of the battery.
There's supposed to be a plastic elbow on the one toward the front of the car connected to a flexible plastic hose that goes through the trunk floor.

Found it. Elbow #5 connects hole at top center of battery to hose #6, which passes through grommet #7.

You can get to the hose, with some difficulty, buy taking off the brackets and sliding the battery forward.
Then do a reach-around between the battery and firewall. No need to disconnect the terminals.

Don't know about your terminal height problem. Only trouble I had when I changed the battery was the bubba at AutoZone broke the elbow when transferring it from the old battery to the new.

[pelerojo]

I replaced my battery again today and there are a few things to note for the next guy:

Regarding O'Reilly: They have now changed their part number along with the recommended AGM battery for the M's. While they were 770 CCA and exact fit under the model number 48 they are now showing model 47 with only 600 CCA for the AGM model. More importantly it is 2" shorter so I do not think it will fit well.

They continue to offer the model 48 under the Lead Acid battery which is an exact fit for the M. I did find that one of the local O'Reilly stores had a model 48 in stock although it no longer shows on their website or system.

The good news is that within the last two years they have changed their warranty on these batteries from 2 to 3 years (free replacement). I had mine replaced free of charge at 25 months today with the exact fit model 48 AGM.

One more note on the vent tubes. There are two pieces. One elbow to connect to the tube and the second (a plug) to block the opposite end of the vent channel. The new battery should come with both otherwise be sure to keep your old ones.

Not sure what we will do when the old model 48's run out. Going from 770 to 600 is a big reduction even if they do fit.

And in my opinion, it is a PITA to swap these put when compared to other cars including my Z3. Doable, but not as easy as many other cars.

[StickMon]

If you have AutoZone in your area, looks like they still have this, or at least they still list it on their web site.
I put one in after discovering that the previous owner put the smaller one in, and turned the clamp 90° to make it reach. That put the pointy end of the clamp on the foot of the battery, and it nearly punched through the case.

[Nate4641]

Originally Posted by ace813

The battery cover doesn't want to go back on easily, as the most forward battery cable (furthest one away from me as I'm standing behind the car...is that the positive or negative, where there are two clamps) now seems to sit too high for the cover to clear it as it did before. I think it's the second clamp that gets tightened that causes that cable to bow up. Is there some trick to routing that cable more forward, or getting it to lay flatter? Looks like it is actually supposed to lay over the edge of the small red plastic "box" on top of the terminal, but that just makes the interference with the cover worse. Apparently a part of that red plastic piece broke while removing the battery, too, but again I didn't see it come out so I don't know how it goes back together.

I had the same problem when I replaced my battery. The problem is the one you and I got is the wrong size. It isn't as long as the OEM battery so when everything is hooked up the distance between terminals isn't long enough to clear the sunken part in the battery cover.

[GP20]

Get a AAA membership and get them to replace the battery for you.

[XMetal]

Here's a picture of the battery vent tube and the plug on the unused hole on the battery. Although, the vent tube shown is for an X5, but it look similar on the Z.

Of all the batteries that I've purchased, it only comes with an extra cap for you to plug up the unused hole. None had ever come with the 90* elbow, that connects up to the tube.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by GP20

Get a AAA membership and get them to replace the battery for you.

You will most likely not get a direct fit battery from AAA and "Bubba" from AAA will most like screw up the installation in the process. I can almost bet that over 50% of the cars that get their batteries installed by a "professional" doesn't even have the vent tube or plug connected properly or even connected at all.

I like to wrench on my car on simple maintenance stuffs, knowing that it's done right. If not, I'll know what I've broke, which I can replace.

[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"

[ace813]

Originally Posted by Nate4641

I had the same problem when I replaced my battery. The problem is the one you and I got is the wrong size. It isn't as long as the OEM battery so when everything is hooked up the distance between terminals isn't long enough to clear the sunken part in the battery cover.

The battery I replaced wasn't an OEM battery, as it had been changed out just over four years ago. I replaced with an identical Interstate battery, and the previous one fit just fine.

[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 >>

[pelerojo]

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"

I think the reference to vent tube refers to the elbow which should come with a new battery (both of mine did). Size is one thing but going from 770 CCA to 600 is a big drop in capability given M's appetite for juice.