Battery Help. R56 Mini Cooper S
Discussion
SWMBO's Mini is back at the stealership after failing to start, they have diagnosed the car with a dead battery, they said replacement is easy and should take around one hour as the battery has to be reconfigured for the car. The girl then tells me that the battery will cost £280 and labour will be £112/hour so including the £72 diagnosis they want £464 to replace the battery.
I told them in no uncertain terms I am not paying that, would they fit my own battery? She put me on hold, all of a sudden i get connected to the monkey in the workshop "...has he got a proper Mini battery?" I then respond and he realise's its not his colleague any more, he then explains to me that the battery is a special job and that they are not cheap, he asked what I was planning on fitting and I told him "the best version of what ever you tell me, I'm not paying £280 for a battery though", he then responded by saying it needs to be a "Glass Matte Battery"
I told him that's fine, I will get one this afternoon and drop it in (I know a guy that owns a battery center). My question is, what is this "special" battery? Are they totally bulls
tting me? I havent spoken to my guy yet but a quick google search shows "Mini Cooper S R56 Bosch S5 'SILVER' type 0.75 car battery" at £70.00. Also whats involved in configuring the car to the battery? More bullst? I may have every reason to be suspicious or they may (for once) be telling the truth.
Please save your comments of "should of checked the battery first" etc as it was not your standard battery failure symptoms, the car was throwing up fault codes (power steering, airbags etc) so we done what we thought was the safest thing and recovered it back to the dealer.
Advice very much appreciated
I told them in no uncertain terms I am not paying that, would they fit my own battery? She put me on hold, all of a sudden i get connected to the monkey in the workshop "...has he got a proper Mini battery?" I then respond and he realise's its not his colleague any more, he then explains to me that the battery is a special job and that they are not cheap, he asked what I was planning on fitting and I told him "the best version of what ever you tell me, I'm not paying £280 for a battery though", he then responded by saying it needs to be a "Glass Matte Battery"
I told him that's fine, I will get one this afternoon and drop it in (I know a guy that owns a battery center). My question is, what is this "special" battery? Are they totally bulls
tting me? I havent spoken to my guy yet but a quick google search shows "Mini Cooper S R56 Bosch S5 'SILVER' type 0.75 car battery" at £70.00. Also whats involved in configuring the car to the battery? More bullst? I may have every reason to be suspicious or they may (for once) be telling the truth.Please save your comments of "should of checked the battery first" etc as it was not your standard battery failure symptoms, the car was throwing up fault codes (power steering, airbags etc) so we done what we thought was the safest thing and recovered it back to the dealer.
Advice very much appreciated
Christ on a bike, how much, £72 to tell you that you have a flat battery, that is hillarious.
It isnt a special Taste the Difference BMW Mini battery infused with Truffle oil and essence of premium BMW yummy goodness, a plain old fifty quid Lead Acid battery like all the rest will work, they are taking the piss, the AGM batteries are a bit lighter but even so, it is optional
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-One-Cooper-Cooper-S...
The AGM type can be had for £120,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-MINI-Cooper-120hp-0...
It isnt a special Taste the Difference BMW Mini battery infused with Truffle oil and essence of premium BMW yummy goodness, a plain old fifty quid Lead Acid battery like all the rest will work, they are taking the piss, the AGM batteries are a bit lighter but even so, it is optional
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-One-Cooper-Cooper-S...
The AGM type can be had for £120,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-MINI-Cooper-120hp-0...
The BMW engineer is correct in that they use Absorbed Glass Matte (AGM) batteries - most BMW cars do. These just contain a better substrate and aren't filled with water like old car batteries.
Varta and most batteries companies make them, they should cost no more than £130 ish - and considerably less than that if you shop around.
http://www.advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/carbatter...
EDIT: Apparently the batteries are registered to the car - but only to tell the electrical system the type/size of battery fitted so it charges accordingly. However, if it is replaced like for like, there should not be a need to program the battery to the car.
Varta and most batteries companies make them, they should cost no more than £130 ish - and considerably less than that if you shop around.
http://www.advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/carbatter...
EDIT: Apparently the batteries are registered to the car - but only to tell the electrical system the type/size of battery fitted so it charges accordingly. However, if it is replaced like for like, there should not be a need to program the battery to the car.
Edited by Dr Interceptor on Monday 7th January 13:16
Sounds like they do have a system for reprogramming - to keep the Stop/Start and battery condition monitoring systems happy, although if you replace with the same as fitted it shouldn't make enough of a difference to matter.
It'd be interesting to see how it's done though, they don't use an external device, so you should be able to do it at home!
It'd be interesting to see how it's done though, they don't use an external device, so you should be able to do it at home!
Turns out I had every reason to be suspicious, I visited the chap I know who supplies batteries and explained what the BMW/Mini mechanic had told me, his words were "If he will only fit an AGM battery, I suppose it will have to be an AGM battery, doesn't have to be mind you", I said give me a price for the top spec battery stocked, he tapped into his machine, his face turned as I assumed he stumbled across the price, he sucks through his teeth explaining "These are not cheap, they're hell of a price" I wait, thinking its going to be £250+ when he replies "£126 all in", I laughed and he tried to justify the cost, I then told him how much the dealership tried to charge, his words "Good business if you can get it".
I make the short trip (less than a mile) back to the dealership and take my battery in, I then quiz the costs so far, the girl told me before I booked it in that they work on a time allowance, I had agreed them to take one hour to diagnose and investigate the problem @£72/hr, I asked did it really take one hour to tell that the battery had collapsed and would it really take another hour to switch it over and reactivate it, she agreed to fit and reprogram my battery for £17 after that!
Basically they tried charging £464 for a job that has now cost "just" £215. The car is now ready but the mechanic has spotted something else wrong with the car, the timing chain on the car rattles and it needs a new engine timing tensioner at £190, that SHOULD sort the well known death rattle otherwise it needs a new tensioner kit.
Funny thing is, my Girlfriend mentioned this to them when the car was under warranty, their response back then was "They all do that", not really sure how to play this now
I make the short trip (less than a mile) back to the dealership and take my battery in, I then quiz the costs so far, the girl told me before I booked it in that they work on a time allowance, I had agreed them to take one hour to diagnose and investigate the problem @£72/hr, I asked did it really take one hour to tell that the battery had collapsed and would it really take another hour to switch it over and reactivate it, she agreed to fit and reprogram my battery for £17 after that!
Basically they tried charging £464 for a job that has now cost "just" £215. The car is now ready but the mechanic has spotted something else wrong with the car, the timing chain on the car rattles and it needs a new engine timing tensioner at £190, that SHOULD sort the well known death rattle otherwise it needs a new tensioner kit.
Funny thing is, my Girlfriend mentioned this to them when the car was under warranty, their response back then was "They all do that", not really sure how to play this now
The fault was reported to them when it was under warranty and they said it wasn't a fault. I'd be very politely and calmly asking them what they intend to do about it given the only reason its not been fixed already was their advice, and if they refuse to sort it or at least make a massive contribution to the cost I'd then raise merry hell with anyone I could find.
Tuvra said:
Turns out I had every reason to be suspicious, I visited the chap I know who supplies batteries and explained what the BMW/Mini mechanic had told me, his words were "If he will only fit an AGM battery, I suppose it will have to be an AGM battery, doesn't have to be mind you", I said give me a price for the top spec battery stocked, he tapped into his machine, his face turned as I assumed he stumbled across the price, he sucks through his teeth explaining "These are not cheap, they're hell of a price" I wait, thinking its going to be £250+ when he replies "£126 all in", I laughed and he tried to justify the cost, I then told him how much the dealership tried to charge, his words "Good business if you can get it".
I make the short trip (less than a mile) back to the dealership and take my battery in, I then quiz the costs so far, the girl told me before I booked it in that they work on a time allowance, I had agreed them to take one hour to diagnose and investigate the problem @£72/hr, I asked did it really take one hour to tell that the battery had collapsed and would it really take another hour to switch it over and reactivate it, she agreed to fit and reprogram my battery for £17 after that!
Basically they tried charging £464 for a job that has now cost "just" £215. The car is now ready but the mechanic has spotted something else wrong with the car, the timing chain on the car rattles and it needs a new engine timing tensioner at £190, that SHOULD sort the well known death rattle otherwise it needs a new tensioner kit.
Funny thing is, my Girlfriend mentioned this to them when the car was under warranty, their response back then was "They all do that", not really sure how to play this now
As I said then - £126 is about right, you can get them for £105 ish online, but £126 isn't far wrong.I make the short trip (less than a mile) back to the dealership and take my battery in, I then quiz the costs so far, the girl told me before I booked it in that they work on a time allowance, I had agreed them to take one hour to diagnose and investigate the problem @£72/hr, I asked did it really take one hour to tell that the battery had collapsed and would it really take another hour to switch it over and reactivate it, she agreed to fit and reprogram my battery for £17 after that!
Basically they tried charging £464 for a job that has now cost "just" £215. The car is now ready but the mechanic has spotted something else wrong with the car, the timing chain on the car rattles and it needs a new engine timing tensioner at £190, that SHOULD sort the well known death rattle otherwise it needs a new tensioner kit.
Funny thing is, my Girlfriend mentioned this to them when the car was under warranty, their response back then was "They all do that", not really sure how to play this now
Do not spend a penny having the timing tensioner done. That is a well known issue affecting the Cooper S and JCW and if it was reported to MINI while the car was still under warranty, it should be repaired under warranty.
Given it is such a widespread and well documented issue, I would expect that work to be carried with a major goodwill contribution at the very least.
Just wait till the inlet starts coking up
Even better than originally thought. The girl re-worked the figures and waived the £17 resetting fee, therefore we paid the dealership for 45 minutes work i.e. £54
Further good news - I misheard her on the phone, the new engine tensioner is £119 for parts and labor and when quizzed she said BMW would cover the repair if it was more serious due to the low mileage (27k). I don't mind the £119 as theres no proof on the cars file that a rattle was reported. She only mentioned it during a service and on an informal telephone call to the dealership.
Not a bad days work, could have been a lot worse
Further good news - I misheard her on the phone, the new engine tensioner is £119 for parts and labor and when quizzed she said BMW would cover the repair if it was more serious due to the low mileage (27k). I don't mind the £119 as theres no proof on the cars file that a rattle was reported. She only mentioned it during a service and on an informal telephone call to the dealership.
Not a bad days work, could have been a lot worse
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