A new battery...

A little over 3 years after I got Sergio, the battery he came with finally gave out. I knew this was about to happen as the last time the car was used, cranking was noticeably weak. By the next day, there was no response from the starter. Good thing this happened at home because there were a couple of issues involved in changing the battery.

The first issue, though minor, was the Din88 requirement. Used mainly for Euro cars, Din88 demand is small and a lot of shops need to preorder a unit. I must emphasize that the battery is available - just not necessarily at that instance. Having moved to a new housing estate in Laguna, home delivery service was not as convenient an option as it should be. I had planned to drive to the city for some other things anyway which meant I could source for one along the way.

The bigger problem came about because of the battery's location underneath the rear seat. While it does keep the engine bay and trunk more spacious, I have always had misgivings about this design since its difficult to access the battery quickly. I wanted to bring the old one with me for trade-in but then I found out I could not lift the rear seat no matter how hard I tried. The space at the back was not wide enough for me to position myself properly and generate the necessary leverage. Various methods were experimented with but nothing was able to budge the lock holding the seat to the floor. The Owner's Manual was of no help as all it said was "lift the seat to access the battery".

Thank goodness for the internet. My first search was for a schematic diagram of the rear seat assembly so I could take a look at what was keeping it in place. I knew RealOEM.com would have those and pulled up the correct one. A close examination showed no indication of anything else holding the seat so I went back for another series of tries. Still no luck and with my frustration mounting, I was ready to destroy that damn rear seat or even set the car on fire just to put me out of my misery.

I posted an SOS to the BMWCCP and E34 Club forums before doing anything drastic. Eventually a couple of guys who had experienced the same thing came across with the solution: they were able to do it with the help of another person. In other words, equal pressure had to be exerted on the left and right side. I called in one of our helpers for a briefing and then both of us started to lift. The first few tries remained unsuccessful but suddenly I heard a snap and just like that, the seat was off!



The seat bottom has 2 metal notches which go into those holes
at the rim. For the best possible leverage, lift up the seat
from both areas at the same time.
 

Din88 battery fresh from the factory;
manufactured Dec 2012 - less than 2 months old at purchase
 

After cleaning and applying rust inhibitor
to the battery cavity, everything is ready to go.

All told, this simple matter of a battery replacement took 2 days to complete. I shudder to think of what would have happened if the car refused to start one dark, rainy evening on an unlit street. Having said that, I now know what to do and thus am better prepared to handle this particular situation. The biggest lessson learned: bring the car to a shop and have the battery changed at the first hint of trouble.

After completing the installation, I was excited to find out the result. As always, Sergio came back to life with one click of the ignition....