Bought a replacement battery at Sam's Club
 

We had our first couple of days over 110+ degrees this week, and the heat killed my battery. The only two places in town that stocked a replacement were the BMW dealer and Sam's Club. I chose Sam's to save money and picked up a really nice replacement for $82.28.

It included free installation, but I ended up doing most of it there in the shop since they weren't sure where the battery was. :D It was branded "Energizer" and I think it's a good value for the price! :thumbup:

When I checked a few months ago, my local Sam's didn't have a battery in their catalog for an 04 4.4. I think they did have an 04 3.0 battery.

I'm hoping you made sure the vent hose was hooked up to the battery...? You just don't want it venting in the cabin corroding up the stuff back there. As long as you got that hooked up and the AH and RC rate match the OEM you shouldn't have a problem.

The new battery came with a nice vent tube and an optional extension in case it wasn't long enough. The new battery vented in the middle, so I did use the extension and made sure it vented properly. The new battery had 850 CCA and has a considerable warranty - 36 months full replacement 120 months prorated. It seems like a solid deal to me. FWIW, they also stocked the 3.0 battery as well.

Can you post the model # of the battery and all the specs? I am trying to put together a nice list. Thanks.

I got there just a few minutes before they closed and I installed it in the parking lot in about 10 minutes, so I didn't get a good look at all the specs besides the 850CCA. The model was called the "Energizer E49" for the 4.4 V8 which I what I have. Then the model listed for the 3.0 was E94L if I recall correctly. If I stop back by Sam's soon I'll pick up the rest of the specs.

Great, thanks.

BTW - here's a battery selector that's pretty handy for several brands of battery. It appears that all have some sort of "49" model number for the 4.4:

Battery Selector

Vegas: Thanks for posting the info. I will likely need a new battery in the next year or two. Was this your first replacement on your '02?

I'm surprised they let you in the shop area. My experience with most large places is that their liability insurance restricts them from having customers in the work area.

Also, I remember seeing the free installation offer though they didn't have a battery available for mine when I checked (only checked out of curiosity). There was an asterisk on the free installation offer saying "for most vehicles." I guessed at the time that it might not include X5s since the procedure is more complicated than average. Less than $90 is a great deal even without installation.

Yep it was for mine. I technically wasn't in their shop area. I pulled up to the entrance of the garage without entering the bay and left my car running because I knew it would die if I shut it down. The tech said he would watch it while I confirmed they had my battery and purchased it. After I bought it and came out with the receipt, I turned off the car and the tech started looking around the X5 to figure out where the battery was while it was still parked just outside their service bay. I showed him it was under the spare in the back and he went and grabbed a socket set to start digging in. When he came back with the tools and started on it, another tech called him over to help mount up a set of wheels on a Tahoe. I started wrenching on it myself since I was a little leary of the fact he didn't know where the battery was, and when he came back over I had just lifted the battery out of the back. He said "wow that was faster than I could have done it!". At that point I just decided to finish the job :D. They were really nice guys, but I felt more comfortable doing it myself just to ensure it was done correctly (hose vent, air compressor not damaged, etc.).