Why BMW's twin-turbo V8 needs a new battery with every oil change

[lanbrown]

My battery lasted about 4.5 years. Keep in mind that while BMW will replace a battery every oil change but not in under 12 months; so someone could drive 1,000 miles a month and they would keep a battery for 20 months. This only applies to the N63 vehicles and how many are under the original warranty/maintenance? Many are coming off of warranty/maintenance now and BMW will not be replacing the battery in those.

BMW is taking the proactive approach in making sure the battery issue doesn't arise. It is not like they are paying $500 for the battery. They are getting those batteries at a pretty cheap price and the labor is not all that expensive either. The customer is already in the shop getting service done and performing a battery coding is quick. My estimates, they are paying under $150 if not under $125 for a battery replacement, so even if someone got one a year, that is $500 to $600 that BMW paid. Many vehicles will never see our batteries paid by BMW though. Many 2011's probably never saw a battery from BMW with the rest just one. 2012's probably will see 1 maybe 2. 2013's will see 2 maybe 3. 2014's would be 3 to 4.