I wonder why no PC680 recommendation. I have used that battery for years in my BMW motorcycles, Honda motorcycles, and even my airplane.....with great results. I can't imagine there is much difference in their batteries.

 

What is the biggest, most powerful battery that will fit in a series two MINI?

I'm tired of the wimpy stock battery that will go dead just listening to the radio too long.

Dave

 

I wonder why you say no PC680 recommendation, it seems they make a mount for the Mini for that battery. I have used that battery for years in my BMW motorcycles, Honda motorcycles, and even my airplane.....with great results.

 

Well, they say the PC680 does not have the capacity for all our accessories. Here is the link - http://www.rennline.com/Battery-Odys...info/EL-PC680/

I think that most motorcycles do not have a lot of accessories, nor are you using them on the track in a Mini. I too used a dry cell in my Honda sportbike. But I found when I went for long trips at high altitude where there were cold morning starts at the campsite the dry cells barely had enough to turn over 1100cc's so I went back to the normal type. Oh, it always started, it was a Honda,... but it did not like it.

 

Just replaced the battery on my based Mini Cooper 2010 (R56) with EverStart Maxx battery from Walmart. I have to go with Walmart because my battery just died at night and I need something right away.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-...ttery/20531541

I was worried at first but things went well and easier than I expected. The battery is a bit bigger (wider) than the original one that comes with the car but it fit in the car well. The battery has a went hold on the side and I can just plugged in the tube from the Mini to the battery.

I also bought NOCO Settings Keeper. So that I don't lost any settings and don't have to worry about reprogramming anything.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/NOCO-Setti...ttery/16213367

 

Simple question. Has anyone done the battery adaption using NCSExpert? I know there has got to be a reasonable way to do this.

 

Just wondering if anyone has replaced the battery on an 08 Cooper S with this one from Sears:

DieHard Advanced Gold AGM Battery - Group Size 47

http://www.sears.com/diehard-advance...&blockType=G26

Or should I stick with a non AGM type like the OEM battery?

 

I've only had my R55 a few weeks and I have yet to find where the battery is located. I certainly don't see it under the hood.

 

It's there, but it's beneath a plastic cover. Lift the hood. Standing at the front of the car, look to the back left corner. You'll see a flap on the plastic cowling that runs between windshield and engine bay. Lift it and there's your battery.

Changing the battery is a little bit of a pain, as you have to remove the passenger side cowling. Not hard, just annoying that it must be done.

 

I bought my 08 MCS from a Chevy dealer. ( never again will I do that) anyways, they replaced the battery with an AC/Delco. I will say during the winter months of Buffalo, NY, it will start but sometimes idles very weird. The rpm needle will jump from 1-2500 on its own idle. This was last year. I since have had the intake valves cleaned with walnut shells so hopefully that solves it. I don't think the battery has caused me any issue other than I hate having a GM battery in a German car. Lol

 

Mini did a redesign because owners were having issues with unstable idling in cold weather when first starting the engine, so that's something you should bring up next time you visit you dealer. It's happened to me before, mine went from 800 rpm (idle) to 6000 rpm once starting in cold weather.

Last year when we had that super cold Winter Mini dealers were swamped with Mini Coopers that did run well in super cold weather, the reason for a redesign of the intake manifold.

 

Sweet. I even have a video recording of it. So does this mean it'd be covered by the dealer?

 

I would allows call Mini USA first to document that your having the issue with the intake manifold in cold weather. My dealer has a bunch of unprofessional and unintelligent people working in the service center so I always call Mini first if I believe the dealers service men are not up to the task.

 

Thanks, I'll have to check before snowfall!

 

Oh yes that would be a great idea, I'll never be able to forget my MCS shooting to 6K in a second after starting the engine! That's the worse thing I believe you could do to any engine.

 

Okay I am woman I can fix some things. I replaced my battery and now the airbag light stays on . I can't get past 5 on the trip number to clear the codes. It will do the IP Test but does nothing to turn off the light. I should be able to go up to code 17 but it stops at 5. Then turns off and when I start it the airbag light is back on. The air bag light came on with the battery light. I have all of the lights but the airbag off. How to do this I have taken off the battery cables , unplugged ECU unit put it back on the same thing still. What else can I do the closest dealer is over 4 hours away. And they tell me it will take 2 hours at $45.00 and hour. I am German I don't wast money on things I can do. Now what live with the light and chimes? And never leave the battery cables off I was told or you will erase your computer.

 

Are you sure it's not $145 for labor? Reason I ask is because my dealer charges $165 per hour for labor.

 

I see a lot of differing problems with swapping batteries. My OEM dealer battery went out at, in my 2008 Mini S, after 6 years. I dropped an Interstate MT 47/H5 in with no problems. Perfect fit. Power was disconnected about 30 seconds only lost date/time setting. No other computer settings were lost, such as start/stop. Didn't have to register the battery to get basic performance.

 

Since my Cooper has had it's 4th birthday, I have started to think about replacing the battery. The issue of whether programming is needed with the installation of a new battery has generated concerns for some, so I referred to the Bentley manual for the 2007 through 2011 MINI. Section 121-5 confirms what Carlos has referred to in his post. IBS stands for "Intelligent Battery Sensor" which is not installed in all MINIs.

The manual explains in detail what the IBS does and explains that the battery registration should be performed after replacing the battery. Without new battery registration, odd electrical system behavior and electrical system faults may result.

Apparently there is no "registration" needed for those cars that are not equipped with the IBS. (I am happy to say that mine does not have the IBS.)

You can decide for yourself if this is BS!

 

My 2010 Mayfair was purchased by me a year ago. It is a CPO (6 year 100,000 mile warranty ) Mini replaced my battery free of charge a couple months ago under warranty .

 

I will just go to COSTCO like for my other cars. Good tires and batteries. Replace the battery in our Ford Expedition it took about a 2 mile drive for the computer to get it's act together, same with my Tacoma. Now if the vehicle sat for a week or so with a completely dead battery it might be a different story.

 

More info on the cold climate intake version Here:


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...different.html

 

AS a summary, I've got an '08 Cooper Hatch (non-S) w/automatic. My car also has factory nav and other added stuff - and as such it has the IBS system (with the funky thing on the negative battery connector/cable. I've had some "odd behavior" with my car recently, with clock/odometer resets, and also occasionally the comfort lock/unlock from the door button won't work. Not knowing the history, I thought it might be the battery getting on the edge, so I figured I'd replace it.

I picked up the Napa Legend 7547 battery yesterday, and just installed it over lunch in my driveway (benefit of working from home, I suppose). Was pretty easy to replace, but a couple of observations:
- With the split cowl covers on the 2nd gen Mini's, you don't have to remove the passenger side wiper blade to get the cowl cover off. I've seen a couple of folks say you have to remove it - but you don't.
- I'd replaced the cowl covers when I did the windshield in August, so could look at the old one to find the clips, etc. New one came off easily and the clips weren't an issue.
- Turns out the battery was likely replaced earlier this year - battery had "B4" as a date code. Interstate battery. Whether it had an "iffy" cell or not, I don't know - but I thought I'd start with a known, good, under warranty battery since the kid will be driving.
- I'm pretty sure the battery was replaced by a non-dealer. Why? The vent hose was stuffed down the side of the battery area - took me a while to find it. Whoever installed it didn't connect it - or even use the plugs for the 2 vents on the Interstate battery. In some ways I'm glad I took the time to do this, since now I know everything is connected properly (vent tube w/90 degree connector on one end, plugged on the other).
- Given this - I'm wondering if the odd behaviors I've seen have anything to do with the fact the IBS wasn't reset after the battery replacement? Very hard to tell since I don't know a lot about it - but could be a plausible explanation. Hooking my battery charger to the battery on the car last night (before change) showed 12.6 v while car was off at 60 percent charge. Starting the car shows consistent 14.3v thru alternator. But interestingly enough - the alternator 'percentage' shown on the charger was jumping around. If it was the alternator itself the voltage would have jumped - but I'm wondering whether this IBS system was trying to adjust things based on old data? Who knows.

So I go on Friday to the dealer to have things reprogrammed and see how it goes. I'll have them just check the function of the system while it's there, but I'm thinking that the non-programming might be the issue... Will report back.

andy

 

Found this pdf on bimmerforums

KLASSE_BATTERIE
46ah
55ah
70ah
80ah
90ah
110ah
40ah_agm
60ah_agm
70ah_agm
80ah_agm
90ah_agm

 

Some Minis can NOT have the battery disconnected by us. Those have an extra connection by the battery connection that has to be done by the dealer or you will have issues like yours. Take it to the dealer and have it set.