thanks for the info, whiteyanderson and skipirving.

 

Just put a Deka 647MF in my MC to replace my 4 3/4 year old original battery.

The oem one was still doing fine - about 70% charge so ready for replacement
in the foreseeable future, and didn't want it to poop out in the middle of this
winter unexpectedly.
Bracket fits fine, vent fits fine, sits in the battery box fine, but the
battery cover sticks up about an 1/8th of an inch on the front outer corner -
can't seem to figure out what might be a tiny bit too high, as the outside
measurements seem exactly the same as the original oem battery.
Not gonna worry about that.

 

I got one of the Duralast batteries from autozone. Cheap and had the correct vent tube attachment.

 

Mini Cooper Dealer install is $125 dollars on Their battery = Total $280.
I am out of town and they are telling my wife it is to reset the computer sysytem. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT???? BS or??

Thanks All

 

I own a 2005 Mini Cooper 'S'. Will the Sears Diehard International Model # 33347 fit into the boot without any problems?

 

I read where you said that the optima 34r is a direct replacement for the MCS. My battery is in the trunk with the positive terminal on the right side and the negative or ground on the left. Doesn't the Optima 34R have the positive on the left side? Pleaase advise

 

+1 on the OEM bracket not fitting.

Just installed the NAPA 7547 yesterday. General dimensions are spot-on, vent tube connection is perfect, terminals line up great. The battery box cover went back on fine, no clearance issues there.

But I cannot get the battery bracket to fit over the new battery. The vent caps appear to be larger and go all the way to the edge of the top, preventing the 'dip' in the bracket from clearing properly at the driver's side of the battery.

I just left the bracket off. Since the battery sits in such a deep box, I figure it's not going anywhere. But I do still want to come up with a bracket.

Ideas anyone?

 

Thanks, I moved the NAPA to the "doesn't fit" list on the second post.

 

I just installed a DEKA 647MF in my 2005 MC R50 "Hendrix". All you need is a 10mm socket, short extension, rachet... and a terminal cleaning tool. A battery removal strap would have certainly helped to get the old one out . The new one has a built in handle. 5 minutes to get out. 4 minutes to get in.
YES ...I did and always will remove the negative terminal FIRST when removing, and replace it last when installing. You will get a little spark when hooking it up.

The original one failed the load test at the shop. Hendrix has 39K on him.

My cover went back on perfectly. The OEM bracket fits perfect as long as you have it oriented correctly. This was very easy and cost less than $80!!!!

Oh ... Autozone no longer carries the Duralast Gold and said it has been discontinued.

Thanks everyone.

 

It's too bad the choices are so limited for batteries that properly will fit a MC.

My wife's recently-purchased 2005 MC needed a battery (accidentally leaving the dome light on for six hours doomed the original one -- no amount of trickle charging would bring it back to life), and I really wanted to keep the battery box and mounting strap intact.

Bummed to read here that the exact fit one from AutoZone was discontinued. I also couldn't find the Interstate H5-60 that's listed. Most of the "dealers" for Interstate are actually repair shops, and it was doubtful they'd keep that particular one in stock. The two retail locations I called from the list on the Interstate web site didn't stock any batteries starting with an "H", and if you look up a battery for a MINI on the site, it only comes up with that other one that's on the Does-Not-Fit list at the beginning of the thread.

I also couldn't find any place that sells the Deka battery around Southern California, except for a warehouse in Ontario.

So, being that it was a Saturday on a holiday weekend, I gulped and went to the dealership. An older posting here had mentioned $140 for the OEM battery by Exide. The current price...$202.50!

On the plus side, the parts guy at Universal City MINI (very close to my house) kind of laughed when I asked if there was a AAA discount and said, "Uh...yeah...I'll give you 10% off." Final price with tax was $199.11.

But, it was an exact fit, of course.

One other note -- you need to remove the 90 degree vent tube connector from the old battery as the new one just has a hole. I had to go back to the dealershp and grab the one off my core that I brought with me on the first trip.

 

I had my wife's Cooper in for a clutch job, and told the mechanic to replace the battery while it's there - original battery is about 6.5 years old, I don't want to push it any longer...

He's an Interstate Batteries dealer, so I told him about this post - and that supposedly the Interstate Batteries H5-60 should fit.

Talked to him again today - he said that battery would not fit, but he found one that did fit correctly. I'll know more tomorrow when I pickup the car. I'll post all the info then, maybe even a pic...

 

Just to confirm this ... your wife's car is a Cooper and not the Cooper S listed
in your signature? 2 MINIs in one family sounds great. I know my wife wants
an MINI convertible if her VW Cabrio ever goes.

 

Correct - my wife's car is a 03 Silk Green/Blk Cooper.

I should be picking up the car later today. I'll post pics of the battery here no later than Sunday...

 

Just finished replacing the stock Mini battery in my GF's '03 MCS with one of the Exide Everlast 47-3 batteries sold at WalMart. The only difference is that the new battery is a bit shorter in height so the top of the bracket does not hold the battery in the same manner as the OEM Mini battery. However the bottom bracket fits perfectly and holds the battery quite snugly, so I have no concerns about the battery moving around in the well where it sits. Best of all it cost only $64 and the battery capacity exceeds the original. The new one is 590 CCA. The original vent tube fit the new battery (on the "positive side), but I also noticed what appears to be a second vent tube hold on the "negative" side of the battery. I put a small piece of electrical tape over the apparent second vent hole just in case. One other thing to mention...the new battery requires periodic checking of the electrolyte level, whereas the original battery was sealed, a minor issue IMO.

 

Don't you mean 'MC'?

 

MCS (Mini Cooper S)

 

This thread is about the MC. Although the OEM battery is the same for the
MC and the MCS, some aftermarket batteries fit the MC but not the MCS, and some fit the MCS, but not the MC. There's another thread about
batteries for the MCS.

 

Got it, sorry, I will re-post on the correct thread.

 

Sorry for not posting sooner - it's been hectic...

To recap - I had my wife's 03 MC in for a clutch job. Since the original battery is coming up on 7 years old (Build date was 10/02) I figured I should not push my luck any further, and I had Dave change the battery. He's an interstate dealer, so I told him the H5-60 is said to fit OK. So he ordered one from Interstate - and it didn't fit. He said it was too short.

Instead he found a battery from World Source One. "Who?" I said - he says this relatively new company has a number of batteries for hard to fit euro applications. Dave only works on certain makes - mostly BMW and Mercedes, but also VW, Porsche, Audi - and MINI.

http://www.worldsourceone.com/

The battery fits perfectly. I just took a pic, but I've got to resize it - I'll update this post soon with the pic.

 

http://catalog.worldpac.com/worldpac...P&part=Battery

 

...and here it is installed:



My installation is a little more complicated due to the Helix strut tower bar. I do have a top cover, which has a "slot" removed for the strut bar. I had removed it a few months back when I had to jump start the car and never got around to putting it back in...

Larger version is in my gallery... If you want to see something more specific, let me know and I'll take more pics. But the bottom line is - it fits pretty damn well. Even the vent tube is properly hooked up...

 

Appreciate your posts; added this thread to my subscriptions so I can find it later when I need it.

I think these guys at World Source One are on to something with their marketing of the unambiguous, guaranteed fit. Hope they do well.

 

Yesterday (June 22, 2009) I bought a NAPA Legend #7547 for my wife's 2003 Mini Cooper (non-s) and it looks identical to the World Source One battery in the previous post.

Paid $95+tax.

Seems to fit perfectly.

Glad I found this thread as the nearest Mini(& BMW) dealer is 75 miles away and refused to cross-reference a battery with one from a BMW for which there is a dealer 10 miles away. The parts guy said "they use batteries that are completely different"... Yeah wet cell lead acid batteries are just totally unique to Minis.

The whole mini branding thing really burns me up to no end. I married into the car.

 

The Autozone H-5 DLG is still available, at least in the STL area for $129. The NAPA 7547 is $84 and the OEM from local MINI dealer is $135 with car club discount.

 

Bosch 47-600B fits Mini Cooper (R50) but the bracket won't fit. I had a custom bracket made: now I can replace w/ any battery that fits in the box. Last thing I want is to have a 40-lb battery crashing around in the engine bay.