Replacement Battery - Excide/OEM/Bosch/Braille -?

[Pip1968]

I just thought I would start a new thread on car batteries. As per a post on another topic I did mention that after having my car at BMW for a week they brought it round from the holding car park for me to take it home and having turned the engine off it would not start. They then brought a battery pack over and it started fine. Of course this could have been caused by them starting and stopping it as they moved her around.

A week later after a longish run (100 miles) to Stansted I packed some jump leads expecting her to need jumping after being parked up for a week. Actually it was left for nine days in the snow and started without a problem first time.

Anyway the other tell tale for me is the trickle charger that it always sits on. After connecting it up it usually has the orange LED on for a short while which then turns to green. The Porsche whose battery was subsequently replaced seemed to have the orange LED on for increasingly longer periods before it went green. The CSL seems to be going through a similar thing. That said I have had no battery lights on the dashboard as some have. Not too bad I suppose considering I have had her since 2007.

I have trawled through the old posts on batteries and just wondered what most have done. Just to emphasize I do not want to buy a caravan battery that will last for ever unconnected to a trickle charger. That would be just wrong almost like replacing the CF roof with a metal one (sorry CSL Spurs ). BMW went to great lengths to lose the weight so why stick a fat cow in as a passenger .

Some have posted that the OEM BMW one (55Ah 480A - h185mm x w175mm x l240mm) is made by Exide and the Exide 065SE (56Ah 480A [CCA]) retails at £50 including delivery (supaprice.co.uk). I am not sure what the OEM BMW goes for but it must be at least £100 having seen the older posts. Are BMW likely to make a fuss with the warranty if it is not the OEM one (by the way why oh why is the battery indicator 'light' on the battery itself completely obscured by the bracket which holds it in... as well as its capacity and cranking Amps ????). I have seen some Varta ones with similar output - is Varta any good??? Then there is of course a Bosch 027 (56Ah 480A) at £80 (alpha-batteries.co.uk).

Finally on batteries there is mention of the Braille battery 8317 although I cannot find it on their site under that number reference and I have no idea how much they are although as it is a 'special' lightweight one it must be fairly expensive. I am not sure how many use them and if they have a short shelf life or are a good buy if you/I are willing to commit the funds and want to lose weight. It seems to need a modified clamp being so small presumably. Will a normal CTEK charger cover its maintenance - ??? Any other pros or cons aside from price and weight?

I do track her with occasional trips to the shops et al.

So what have most got in their little pride and joys now as I assume that there cannot be many original batteries still in use as we reach the 10 year point. Any other non OEM makes worth looking at. I am not willing to stretch to the Voltphreaks alternative (circa £1000 - ).

I may just be a cheapskate and pinch my wife's OEM Mini battery and buy her a new one if there is an issue with warranty and postpone the decision .

Pip