Opinions on Batteries

[IminDiegoTriick]

Insterstate for boring daily driving.
Optima for awesome sound system and cool horsepowered car.

[Supadave]

optimas suck because you cant charge them like other batterys. not worth the extra price in my opinion unless its oem.

What do mean? "you cant charge them like other battries"

[mamzak]

I'm sure it doesn't make a significant difference, but I've always used Bosch batteries. They seem to last a bit longer than other brands I've tried. But they do cost a little more up front.

The original Bosch battery in my 318is lasted over 15 years before in finally had to change it...and that was because I left the lights on and ran the battery down to zero one too many times. They're all I use.

Your 318is lets you leave the lights on with the ignition off? Mine doesn't!
That always fucks me up when I switch from my E30 to the winter car, because in the E30 i always just leave my lights on all the time.

[Van Westervelt]

Optima Yellow Top FTW. I have drained those things out more times than I can count and they still hold a strong charge after near 10 years.

[StereoInstaller1]

New Optimas suck donkey balls. 100% made in Mexico, no longer owned by Johnson Controls. My red top has eaten shit TWICE in less than 2 years and they give me mass static on warranty...fuck optima these days. Like Curt said, old Optimas kicked ass, but I am telling you, now they suck. Do a little google if you don't want to take my word for it.

optimas suck because you cant charge them like other batterys. not worth the extra price in my opinion unless its oem.

Uh, what? That's nonsense.

I would suggest an AGM battery, as they don't off-gas (no risk of boom boom, but more importantly no terminal corrosion), and seem to be very tolerant of abuse.
I've had good experiences with optima, but if you're not interested in that brand, I'd suggest you look at Odyssey.

Jesus fuck, college boy talking out his ass again.

Dude, if you wanna come off as a know it all, maybe you should do some reading on the specific topic, since you seem to have no experience at all.

You cannot charge Optimas properly with MOST chargers. Simple shit here...Optima batteries (AGMs too, if you actually read up on it) have too low an ESR to let most chargers perform properly, as they see that low an ESR as a fully charged normal battery. If you actually read up on Optima batteries, they will tell you to make sure to parallel a normal lead-acid battery with your Optima to get it to charge. In fact, M20 alternators won't properly charge an optima either, unless you put a big load on it frequently, like big stereo, etc.

AGM batteries are fragile as hell too. GM won't warranty theirs if the car has run flat more than once.

OP: if possible, see if you can swing a DEKA battery. Only a little more coin than normal batteries, but thicker plates than average, will work great in an E30.

[u3b3rg33k]

Jesus fuck, college boy talking out his ass again.

Dude, if you wanna come off as a know it all, maybe you should do some reading on the specific topic, since you seem to have no experience at all.

You cannot charge Optimas properly with MOST chargers. Simple shit here...Optima batteries (AGMs too, if you actually read up on it) have too low an ESR to let most chargers perform properly, as they see that low an ESR as a fully charged normal battery. If you actually read up on Optima batteries, they will tell you to make sure to parallel a normal lead-acid battery with your Optima to get it to charge. In fact, M20 alternators won't properly charge an optima either, unless you put a big load on it frequently, like big stereo, etc.

AGM batteries are fragile as hell too. GM won't warranty theirs if the car has run flat more than once.

It's totally unnecessary to swing your e-penis around like that.

As for the terminal corrosion, have you ever looked at a standard flooded battery that's been installed for 5 years (in either a vehicle or a large UPS)? They almost always have gunk built up on them, whereas the sealed batteries never have that problem.

You're probably using a $$$ battery analyzer/charger? A standard battery charger is much less expensive, and unless you leave it on a battery for way too long, won't cause any problems.

AGM seem to be less fragile than flooded batteries, the chemistry is virtually identical - they're still lead acid batteries, not Li-Ion, which do require per-cell management.

It's much harder for the laypeople to damage AGM batteries in deep cycle situations (like the GEM I rebuilt 5 years ago), because the folks that drive it every day never remembered to check the water level on the trojans it used to have, and they seem to handle high vibration (like the kind you'd encounter driving off-road in said electric car) much better than a standard plate type deep cycle battery.
Batteries don't care what the power source is. Apply enough voltage, battery charges. There's nothing special about the alternator on the M20, it's a coil of wire, some diodes, and a voltage regulator.

Most battery warranties don't cover repeated full discharges, unless the service desk person is too stupid to ask, or you lie to them. Why would they? No one covers running your engine without oil either.

[MoparJ]

New Optimas suck donkey balls. 100% made in Mexico, no longer owned by Johnson Controls. My red top has eaten shit TWICE in less than 2 years and they give me mass static on warranty...fuck optima these days. Like Curt said, old Optimas kicked ass, but I am telling you, now they suck. Do a little google if you don't want to take my word for it.

This is correct. Optimas went to shit after they changed ownership and their manufacturing process. What amazes me the most is that they are also over twice the price they used to be. :loco:

We used to use them in the navy for the aircraft GSE equipment; you could not kill them.........the two I owned after they changed hands did not even last a couple of years in two separate cars that were unmodified daily drivers.

Just my 2 cents.

[u3b3rg33k]

That's why I suggested Odyssey. Still AGM, not optima. I haven't experienced newer optima batteries sucking, so I continue to use them. If it survives the 3 year free replacement period without any issues, then I figure it'll hold up alright for the next three.

The only optima battery I've ever killed was in a jaguar, and it was not disconnected for the winter. It sat during a very cold winter completely flat, and recharged just fine (30A rate for 3 hours). It finally died the next winter, when we allowed it to go flat a second time.

I can't really fault optima for that, as a flooded battery would've frozen and cracked the first time around.

[imprttuner88]

Aparrently the napa branded batteries are at the top, according to consumer reports

What I use and so far so good!