What's the average battery life on a Mini? I'm going on three years and swear cranking the engine seems sort of heavier, seems to crank a little longer than it use to before it starts. Just wondering if the battery is reaching the end of its life.

 

My original battery lasted about 4 yrs

 

5.5 years for mini.

 

Cool, thanks for the responses.

 

Got 5 or so out of mine.

Nik

 

Three years for mine. I had the same sensation of slightly more labored starting. Then the battery would fail to start the car, I would charge it completely. It would work for a few more days or weeks, then fail randomly again.

 

My '06 has it's original battery, about 45,000KM on the clock. Sometimes it seems like it cranks slow but then the next day it cranks really fast. I'll probably replace it this year.

 

--The little green indicator window isn't very helpful as it doesn't tell you if the battery is healthy or not. It just tells you that it's not dead, or when the green dot goes away, that it is dead. I have my original battery from 2005, but it could die any day now. MINI batteries have a tendency to just drop dead. =(

Something I've been experimenting with is a solar panel on my back panel. It only charges something like 1.5 watts but that is about what your electronics draw on your car daily even when the car is parked and not doing anything. I also have a power regulator so that it won't overcharge my battery.

Got them both from harbor freight on sale for I think $15 a piece so $30 for the big parts and I also got a small battery tender device with a ton of quick disconnect cables for $25.

So on sunny days my car gets a little juice from mother nature. It's helped my MINI endure 3 harsh winters up here in the northeast(northern Vermont). On really bad weeks when I don't get any sunlight I plug in the MINI to the battery tender, especially when I know I won't be driving for more than a couple of days.

So far so good. Although I do also have my new replacement Optima battery charged and ready to go in my garage.

Doesn't hurt to be prepared.

I think all cars should use at least a small solar panel to supplement the electronics draw that modern electronics pull from our cars. This is drawing current even when parked, and eventually will kill your batteries prematurely. Those hundreds or thousands of dead batteries can't be good for the environment. If I never get to use my Optima battery it will be a good case study for helping reduce battery waste.

~p

 

I love the idea of a solar trickle charger! Unfortunately, I park in a garage almost all the time.

Dave

 

4.5 yrs ('07 MCS) original battery w/ 56,000 mi. and still seems to be running strong.

 

That's how mine feels right now, some days seems slow but others pretty normal. Guess I can have a battery cap check done.

 

Mine lasted 55K miles, about 3yrs.

 

just wondering for those who said theirs lasted so and so years or miles, did it just die completely?

 

I replaced my original 2005 this week, 100k miles (R53). It didn't die, but the battery light came on a couple times when I started the vehicle, power steering didn't work for about 20 seconds, then okay. Took it in, they said the battery failed after charging.

I replaced it with a 47 from Coscto for $65 or so. I plan on swapping it out every 3-5 years from here on out.

On a side note, I've read elsewhere in the forum that another owner had the exact same issue I had and they replace the power steering pump rather than the battery, so if my problem continues I'll probably try that next.

 

The battery in my R55 only lasted just over 26 months... reason being is the previous owner did too many short turn-on / turn-off trips killing the deep-cycle amperage charge.

- Erik

 

I just took the leap and bought a new one. After my last cars battery die while I was driving and leaving me stranded I am not taking a chance with my 07 and roughly 58k miles on it. It lasted longer then I thought it would and well I am being preemptive with my battery. Also reading some of the posts here a lot of you need to replace your battery if you haven't already. The first time you go to start our car and you have to recharge your battery its time for a new one.

 

Does the battery fall under the vehicle's warranty or is it one of those things they pro-rate? My car is still under warranty and I can tell it's going to fail any day now after 3 years, 20,000 miles. I have an appointment at Mini on Monday to have it checked out but after reading Porthos' post above, I'm tempted to just replace the battery myself and call it a day.

 

I just replaced the original battery in my 2005 Mini a few hours ago. I got more than 5 years from it. It was slow to start for the past month or two. I'm surprised I never had to jump it.

 

Honestly I am not sure if it is covered under warranty. You could ask. If they don't cover you can get a battery from some where that is a lot better and cheaper then what the stealership would charge you.

 

[QUOTE=Benibiker;3332693]Does the battery fall under the vehicle's warranty or is it one of those things they pro-rate? My car is still under warranty and I can tell it's going to fail any day now after 3 years, 20,000 miles. I have an appointment at Mini on Monday to have it checked out but after reading Porthos' post above, I'm tempted to just replace the battery myself and call it a day.[/QUOTE

Battery is pro-rated

 

Well I found out the battery is fully covered under the vehicle warranty but this morning when I started the car it was really slow to crank and I couldn't get the radio to come on. It was like car was shutting down accessories to save the battery. I ended up getting a battery from NAPA, a Legend 75, part # Bat-7545 for $108. It's about 1/2" lower and about 1 1/2" longer than OEM which isn't a problem given the battery tray is about 3" longer than the OEM battery. It even comes with vent tube like the OEM. It was really easy to replace the battery, the tricky part was removimg and reinstalling the plastic cover over the battery. It works great now, instantly cranks and starts. I have the same type battery in my Jeep and it has been trouble free. Spent $108 bucks but I think I now have a better battery than the one Mini would have installed.

 

101000 miles and 6 plus years and I think today's 30degree weather is showing it's effects. Time to start looking for a battery. Don't want daughter to be stuck somewhere. ( that only means I will have to put on my cape and play supper hero. Which will only happen when I don't really want to)

 

I have a 2003 Cooper S still with the original battery. Guess I should look to change it but it still works fine

Tsmsoccer

 

That's really good! What kind of environment do you live in? That makes huge difference.

 

Live in Sydney Australia Car is always garaged if that makes any difference