# Need to replace the battery in the E36



## Josh (PA) (Jan 21, 2002)

Anything special I should know before I buy a replacement, and stick it in

_besides the battery is in the trunk of course  _


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## Brashland (Nov 20, 2002)

Other than don't buy it from the stealer...?

Mine died in my car about 2 months after I bought the car (used). O'Reilly Auto Parts pulled it, tested it, verified that it was dead, and replaced it. The only dirt I had on me was from the desk.


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## rwg (May 10, 2002)

Size. If you buy aftermarket, it might not fit as well no matter what the manufacturer claims. If you buy a dry cell, I think it will be significantly smaller. If you buy oem from the dealer, it probably won't last anywhere near as long as the original did. If you do a search, you will find out tons of battery information.


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## KatanaPilot (Mar 25, 2003)

I looked up the group # (size info), and went to an Interstate distributor directly to purchase. Don't forget to buy a battery vent kit. The hardest part was to haul the old battery out of the trunk, as I have a bad back..... That thing is heavy.


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

Josh (PA) said:


> Anything special I should know before I buy a replacement, and stick it in
> 
> _besides the battery is in the trunk of course  _


The original BMW (Or whatever) battery in my 95 318ti lasted 9 years. I bought another one from my dealer hoping for the same. (Yeah, cost a little more than your usual Diehard etc, but I didn't have to watch anybody dropping the part on the floor/themselves/fender) I have a good dealer BTW.


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## kutch (Sep 22, 2004)

*from digging around*

I heard a rumor from a pretty good source tell me that the batteries you buy from the dealer are actually made by Interstate (the green batteries). From the ratings on these things I just may believe him...

-kutch


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## Josh (PA) (Jan 21, 2002)

Well I did some research on this after posting the thread. Turns out BMW used the battery as a vibration sink for e36 convertibles. As such you need a special "vibration proof" battery for it.

Here's an interesting link on e36 convertibles, with notes on the battery. 
http://www.totalbmwmag.co.uk/Buying/BuyingJul01.pdf

I spoke to my non dealership mechanic, who went on a rant about what a stupid idea this was from BMW, about how the size is somewhere inbetween the interstate 91 and 93 sizes, how he's put one or two interstates in convertibles, but had to "jerryrig" them in there and that it voids the battery warranty. He left it that he'd sell me an interstate, but wouldn't install it and strongly recommended I got an OEM one from the dealer

That's what I did. list price: $172.02, with CCA discount $154...

Not as awful as it could have been.


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