[Greyfox]

I had noticed on a few cold mornings that the car would take a few longer grunts to start up....

Battery died.... what I don't understand is that it was replaced May 2013.

[sk55]

Some die early. Did u get it from bmw prob an interstate battery.

[Greyfox]

According to the paperwork from the BMW dealership it's an Excide which I believe is the BMW OEM battery.

[robthewrench]

Put it on a battery charger to get it back up to full charge. If you run into the same problem after about a week, then you've got something going on.

Are you driving the car for at least 20 minutes? Is it sitting for multiple days? Our cars tend to have a lot of electronic current draw when not running.

If charging / driving the car regularly don't make the problem go away, you may have a defective battery. The one you got in 2013 should be still under warranty, take it back to where you got it and have them test / replace it.

If the battery tests out ok and you are driving it, you have a recharging issue and will need to try a dealer or an indie to test the problem.

[Greyfox]

I do a 250+ mile weekly commute to work and then 250+ on the way home a few days later. It gets driven in between for 20 to 30 minutes or more daily.

But I had noticed on the morning that the temp dropped below 40F, the car took extra turn overs (grunts) to start.

Not sure how these batteries are laid out, but it's acting like it has a cell that has gotten weak or died all together.

[Wilt]

Do not forget that your battery has to be properly CHARGED...and things that can go wrong, so that electricity is going OUT from the battery but not enough is going INTO the battery because one of these is faulty...

1. bad alternator
2. bad voltage regulator
3. bad IBS

...it is not merely about the relative health of a battery.
It is not merely that you drive far enough for the battery to get charged. All of the above has to be working properly, too.

[john231]

Have the battery charged, and then have it load tested this will tell you if the battery is good or bad.

[Greyfox]

It has ended up being the starter... in all the cars I've owned that had starters go out, never seen one die like this one did.

[mellowman]

How much did it cost to get the starter replaced?

[e90ca]

I "think" I am starting to have this problem as well. Had the car for only 6 months now and it would start up quickly and strong on cold starts. But for the last few days, its been sounding different on cold starts. At this point, I'm not sure if its the battery that needs to be replaced or it could be the starter going bad and needs to be replaced soon. I'll just have to play it by ear I guess.

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by mellowman

How much did it cost to get the starter replaced?

Was quoted $1200 by the dealership. Before ya'll scream... the SA is letting me use a new X3 Xline while my car is in the shop.