[DeeBee]

Been away for four weeks, came back, ran the car for a week, did 200 miles in daylight yesterday, and got a message on the display today - battery discharging when stationary! Drove to my dealer to be told "They all do that sir, just drive it around for a few days then bring it back and we'll plug the computer in and sort it out"

They then told me that they have to charge the batteries of their used car stock every four weeks. When I asked what was draining the battery, they assured me that everything shut down after twenty minutes and could not tell me why the battery dropped a couple of volts, triggering the Screen of Death message.
Their suggestion was that I buy a trickle charger or take it in after my holiday and they will charge it.

I have also been recalled to have something done to the oil filter, and my door hinge is loose, it's got a strangely shaped nut and has to be booked to the service department for a 30-second tighten-up.

On the plus side, I have been assured that a fix for the paint scuffing on the door pillars is 'imminent'. It's what they call 'progress', making everything more complicated so the only people who can do anything to a vehicle are the people who made it.

 

[stevens]

These cars use a IBS (Intellegent Battery Sensor), the idea is when you lock your car (assuming you do as some US folk leave it unlocked in the garage) then it put most of the systems in a sleep mode and only leaves the essential programs on, likewise if it detects a current draw on a low batter it can shut off non-critical systems. Getting a message like "increased battery discharge" is just saying there has been more taken out of the battery than put back in (charge). I use a CTEK 5 if I leave my car for long periods, that keeps the battery tip top and works with all battery types including AGM.

 

[DeeBee]

But why doesn't the battery charge up when it is driven?

 

[Tiger]

It's a pretty heavy electrical load when all the goodies are running, so it will take awhile to recharge it. If I remember right (and I'm not gonna look it up right now), the Owner's Manual recommends that if you're going to be leaving it for - I think this is the right time frame - two weeks or more, you should keep it on a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up. My motorcycle has a similar kind of issue - if the battery dies, I can jump start it, but the engine itself draws so much that the very act of running the engine will kill the battery (and the bike itself) when it's weak like that. But only when it's really, really inconvenient and probably raining or about to rain ha.

 

[stevens]

Yes as Tiger says pretty much, there are tons of things on the cars these days so running them all takes quite a bit of battery usage so alternator when running might just be driving them and not devoting enough to charge the battery depending on how the IBS sees things, although a long journey (70 miles +) I would think would start to put things right, but short journeys probably not, just get a CTEK 5 and leave it connected overnight

 

[DeeBee]

I love that - just get a CTEK 5 and leave it connected. The nearest power to where my car is parked is measured in hundreds of metres. The whole thing is ridiculous, my last three or four cars have all been left for a month or more and have all started. Progress?

I suspect this unusual (up here any hot weather is unusual) hot weather has caused the aircon to overload the battery. Next time I leave it I'll wind the windows down if it's hot when I get back.

 

[starlily]

Could install something like this...

http://www.jmsonline.net/cole-herse...gle_shopping&gclid=CK7P54rIusYCFUWRfgodTV0Gzg

 

[BigMini]

Hi all, I only drove 25K miles on my 2012 Countryman and I started getting "increased battery discharge". I do usually drive short trips and lately I got into a bad habit of not locking the doors. MINI dealer wants to charge me USD 400 to replace and re-register the new battery. I wonder have I done too much damage now to use CTEK?

 

[kenl]

$400 for a battery - think that must be a world record price!
Is it not still under warranty? I would expect that a battery should last more than 3 years.

 

[Cruella DeGrille]

$400 for a battery - think that must be a world record price!
Is it not still under warranty? I would expect that a battery should last more than 3 years.

For what it's worth... when I had my 2015 MCS' first CBS service, I was advised battery life is expected to be four years based on typical and frequent use (10,000 miles/year). Early failure would be covered under original warranty.


If one falls out of the warranty window, cost for OEM replacement through MINI service today would be close to $400 because, in addition to standard labor costs, the battery must also be registered and programmed to meet the needs of your specific vehicle. If one were to replace it themselves, the OEM part cost is about $150-200.

 

[Nedix]

Pardon my French but wth is "registered and programmed" when we are speaking about a car battery?

 

[jeremybingham]

Agreed,registered and programmed,grrrrrrr sounds like a licence to print money.

 

[johnan]

Possibly means: remove battery connectors from old battery, remove battery.
Put new battery into position, refit connectors.

Switch on, check things seem to work.

Make cup of tea, tell valetting person to get on with scratching paint and moving seats and mirrors to Neanderthal-like ergonomic positions, and mess about with the heater and radio settings so we have something to do going home putting it all back the way it should be.

£400 to you mate, with the vat.


Sorry for being a bit facetious, and I realise there is more to it technically than that, but as JB says it sounds like another way to screw pennies out of unsuspecting motorists.

 

[OrangeCrush]

$400 seems to be the going rate for a German engineered battery. When I had my Audi A4 the battery failed after two years. Audi classifies batteries, brake pads and a few other items as wear and tear, so no warranty after one year. New battery was $650 installed.

 

[kenl]

You paid $650 for a battery - surely not?
A battery is a battery. Anybody can supply one and anybody with a socket set can fit one!

 

[JPslov]

Possibly means: remove battery connectors from old battery, remove battery.
Put new battery into position, refit connectors.

Switch on, check things seem to work.

Make cup of tea, tell valetting person to get on with scratching paint and moving seats and mirrors to Neanderthal-like ergonomic positions, and mess about with the heater and radio settings so we have something to do going home putting it all back the way it should be.

£400 to you mate, with the vat.

Hahaha. For some reason I can totally see this.

You paid $650 for a battery - surely not?
A battery is a battery. Anybody can supply one and anybody with a socket set can fit one!

Agreed. I can't see the batteries being anything out of the ordinary right? I'm really not understanding the "programming part." Does anybody know who MINI/BMW use as the supplier for their batteries?

MY biggest gripe with the battery on the F56 is the fact that it is buried way down in there.

 

[OrangeCrush]

You paid $650 for a battery - surely not?
A battery is a battery. Anybody can supply one and anybody with a socket set can fit one!

Yes, I got ripped off. After I had the car towed to Audi, thinking it would be covered under warranty I was left at their mercy.

Plus replacing a battery on a A4 isn't exactly trivial. It requires the removal of several panels. I wasn't going to attempt it myself and left it to the 'experts'.

 

[julsnlb]

The internal computer is constant therefore draining the battery. I was told to take it on a roadtrip and drive it at least 7500 miles a year. I work from home...so that may be hard to do. Next step is a trickle charger.

 

[teeninvader]

I had a very bad xmas holidays as far as car and bmw/mini service is concerned...

Back story
My 2016 JCW Hatch been mine since new I drive to work about 45min and all has been well as far as battery is concerned.
13 December I traded the car in for a bmw 240i. 17 december I took my mini back and returned the bmw as i was not happy with some things.
My mini stayed at the dealership over the weekend as I had traded it in.

when I took it back it did not appear to have been driven anywhere.

i drove it and everything was fine.

Preparing for +500km trip on Sat 21 Dec I drove the car to pour petrol and all was well. That whole week i drove the car for short trips.

sunday 22 December as I was ready for departure the car displayed a message saying the battery charge was low I should start the engine immediately.
it failed to start, it was struggling to turn the engine as battery was suddenly flat. after a few tries it got started.

i assumed that somehow thebattery was drained maybe by me. I was hoping it will be recharged after the 500km trip.

250km into the trip I stopped for coffee. And that charge low warning popped up again ?

I ignored it and went for coffee. When i came back 10-20 min later the car refused the start sameway as in the beginning of the trip.

i called bmw on call hoping that they were going to bring me a new battery ?
That was the beginning on my disappointment. As the consultant told me that the car must the towed to the service centre for diagnostics or they can just jump start me and i can drive it and bring it in in my own time.

i tried it again and it started although it was struggling.

i drove the remaining 200+km and when i arrived it appeared as though the battery was charged because start/stop was enabled agained (although i did not actually let it engage).

the next morning i tried to start it and all was gone.

i kick started the car and took it to the dealer who then told me that they need to keep the car over night on a slow charge before they can start diagnosing the issue if its battery or not.

mind you i was 500km from my primary residence and they were not willing to offer me a loan car ? they said they don’t have any.

so i did not leave the car

so i have only booked it for 3 Jan.

it so said that 2 days is required to diagnose a battery issue due to motoplan requirements.

i am so disappointed i am actually fed up with bmw mini south africa i am considering leaving this family...
My holidays has been greatly inconvenienced

 

[teeninvader]

slow charging myself because service centres are closed ?