Battery Warranties:
For years I always recommended Costco but apparently Costco changed their warranty on car batteries. Instead of offering a free replacement before 3-4 years like before, they are now 36 month prorated. So after 18 months, you'd only get about a 50% refund. This means, Walmart, who still has the 3 year free replacement warranty is the new local go to place for inexpensive batteries and you don't need a membership.
All battery warranties have seem to lessen over the years. Nowadays, 3 years is the cutoff so what incentive do they have to produce a quality long lasting battery? A lot of things aren't what they used to be, same with batteries.
H6/grp 48 vs H8/grp 49:
I use H6/group 48 batteries on my E30's but as we know...rear battery E30's can accept the larger H8/group 49 battery. I remember these batteries were more expensive but that seems to not be the case anymore. Costco and Walmart both list their AGM H6 and H8 at the same price. My guess is that H8 has become a more common battery as it's used on many newer cars with a lot of electronics. If it's the same price, mind as well get the bigger battery. It will certainly help with cars that have a lot of accessories and sit for long periods without being driven which is probably most E30's nowadays. The only downside is that it weighs a little more but that's not a big deal on a street car.
H7/grp 94R:
Since H7's length is in between H6 and H8...these will fit also and are fairly common as well. If you have a front battery mounted E30, this looks like the largest size that will fit without running into issues.
T6/group 91 vs H6/Group 48
I've had 2 made in germany Duralast gold T6 batteries that didn't last long in my vert (lots of accessories and driven once a week). It would start to crank slowly after about 3 days of sitting. It's shorter than the H6 and has less CCA's. I went to H6 AGM and haven't any issue with the car sitting a week. The H6 fits front and rear battery E30's just fine, so not sure why people are saying the battery cover doesn't fit.
So if you are looking for a batteries, consider which is more common as the price will be cheaper. I picked up a used H8 AGM battery for a registered non op car so I didn't want to spend too much. I figured it should last a good while as it won't see deep discharges and it's rated at 850CCA / 1000 CA's 95aH. So if you have a rear battery E30, take a look at H8/group 49's. They are the biggest that fits the tray and cover.
For years I always recommended Costco but apparently Costco changed their warranty on car batteries. Instead of offering a free replacement before 3-4 years like before, they are now 36 month prorated. So after 18 months, you'd only get about a 50% refund. This means, Walmart, who still has the 3 year free replacement warranty is the new local go to place for inexpensive batteries and you don't need a membership.
All battery warranties have seem to lessen over the years. Nowadays, 3 years is the cutoff so what incentive do they have to produce a quality long lasting battery? A lot of things aren't what they used to be, same with batteries.
H6/grp 48 vs H8/grp 49:
I use H6/group 48 batteries on my E30's but as we know...rear battery E30's can accept the larger H8/group 49 battery. I remember these batteries were more expensive but that seems to not be the case anymore. Costco and Walmart both list their AGM H6 and H8 at the same price. My guess is that H8 has become a more common battery as it's used on many newer cars with a lot of electronics. If it's the same price, mind as well get the bigger battery. It will certainly help with cars that have a lot of accessories and sit for long periods without being driven which is probably most E30's nowadays. The only downside is that it weighs a little more but that's not a big deal on a street car.
H7/grp 94R:
Since H7's length is in between H6 and H8...these will fit also and are fairly common as well. If you have a front battery mounted E30, this looks like the largest size that will fit without running into issues.
T6/group 91 vs H6/Group 48
I've had 2 made in germany Duralast gold T6 batteries that didn't last long in my vert (lots of accessories and driven once a week). It would start to crank slowly after about 3 days of sitting. It's shorter than the H6 and has less CCA's. I went to H6 AGM and haven't any issue with the car sitting a week. The H6 fits front and rear battery E30's just fine, so not sure why people are saying the battery cover doesn't fit.
So if you are looking for a batteries, consider which is more common as the price will be cheaper. I picked up a used H8 AGM battery for a registered non op car so I didn't want to spend too much. I figured it should last a good while as it won't see deep discharges and it's rated at 850CCA / 1000 CA's 95aH. So if you have a rear battery E30, take a look at H8/group 49's. They are the biggest that fits the tray and cover.
. Usually gets driven every day but then it sat for around four days and barely started. Shortly after that I accidently left a dome light on over night which killed it. Ended up just getting another one and it's been fine for over five years so far, though it does get started and driven virtually every day and I haven't drained it by accident.
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