h9/95R FLA Batteries

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It's time for a new battery in my '08 E60 550i and the options that I have are batteries from Advanced Auto(autocraft gold), Oreilly(super start Premium), Autozone(duralast gold), Pepboys(champion premium), and an Interstate MTP. They honestly all look the same, share the same dimensions, and have essentially identical specs all of which lead me to believing that they're all Johnson Control batteries.

I was initially inclined to go for the O'reilly battery thinking that it would be an East Penn Battery; Oreilly has MSDSs available for a majority of their other batteries all of which show them to be East Penn batteries, but the H9 battery doesn't have an MSDS and it looks exactly like all of the other batteries I listed.

NAPA seems to have an actual rebranded East Penn battery but it's over $100 more expensive with less warranty (2 years) vs the AZ Duralast Gold that has 3 year free replacement and 2 year prorating.

Does any of y'all have any info to the contrary?...that they are not just all the same rebranded JCI batteries? As of now, I'm likely going to pick up the AZ battery because it has the longest warranty and is readily available local.

For reference, here are links to the batteries:

https://www.autozone.com/batteries-...-h9-dlg-group-size-95r-950-cca/820339_0?

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...r-top-post-battery/95rprmj/6251389?pos=0

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/mtp-95r/h9

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...4wcUEAQYASABEgLRjPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.pepboys.com/champion-premium-battery/product/2283528?quantity=1
 
Just checked the AZ battery which has a link for an MSDS that previously was not working...now it is and it's a JCI MSDS. Really does seem like the rest are JCI batteries as well. The Interstate is easily the most expensive; is there any reason to believe that the Interstate battery is any better than the rest? Or are they literally all exactly the same?
 
I have an H8 Acdelco battery in there right now...The H8's from Oreilly and NAPA have specs that meet or exceed OEM specs including Reserve Capacity and Amp Hours but they do have slightly lower AH ratings compared to the H9 batteries (100ah vs. 110ah)
 
I have the AA Platinum AGM's in the Porsches, H8. I like them and they have survived 5+ winters of hibernation so far, still test fine. I went AGM due to my usage profile, flooded batteries just don't seem to last w/ 6 mos off no matter how much I charged them. Probably not an issue in warm TX though.
 
There are some spec differences that don't make sense. Eg Autozone say 950CCA while interstate say 850CCA.

If the Pep Boys is the same as the Autozone, go with PepBoys. It is $40 cheaper for 3 year full warranty vs 3 year full + 2 prorated from Autozone. The Autozone warranty will only save you a max of $64 in year 4 and then $32 in year 5.

Also, see if there are any coupons for AAP. That's what I did when I got an H8 AGM from them.

The other option is to spend $150 at Walmart for the H8 AGM which has the 3+2 warranty. If AGM will last longer than flooded in the Texas heat, then it's the better deal. It weighs just a little less than your H9.
 
I can look up tommorrow and see at my work what the AAA battery price is...95R I don't know off the top of my head but I know a bunch of 5 series take 94R...
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
How much is a genuine BMW battery? You can sometime find coupons online or at the dealer's website. If not BMW, I'd try and find a Bosch.


The dealership is going to charge a ridiculous amount for registering the battery when my indy won't charge me anything for the registration. Bosch I can't find anywhere...easy replacement is something I value so being able to get the battery local/semi-local matters to me.
 
Originally Posted by wings&wheels
I have the AA Platinum AGM's in the Porsches, H8. I like them and they have survived 5+ winters of hibernation so far, still test fine. I went AGM due to my usage profile, flooded batteries just don't seem to last w/ 6 mos off no matter how much I charged them. Probably not an issue in warm TX though.


Thought about going AGM but I would need to have the vehicle recoded to run the correct charging profile for AGM batteries. They make sense given how you use your vehicle but mine is a daily with frequent hour+ long trips. Don't think I'd see any benefit of an AGM for how I use my vehicle.

If I was going AGM though, I'd be looking at an Odyssey H8/49 battery.
 
Originally Posted by TXCarGeek
Originally Posted by atikovi
How much is a genuine BMW battery? You can sometime find coupons online or at the dealer's website. If not BMW, I'd try and find a Bosch.


The dealership is going to charge a ridiculous amount for registering the battery when my indy won't charge me anything for the registration. Bosch I can't find anywhere...easy replacement is something I value so being able to get the battery local/semi-local matters to me.


I see 3 Bosch batteries at Pep Boys on sale for $120: https://www.pepboys.com/car-batteries/c/19447/2008/BMW/550 Series/V8-4799 4.8L DOHC and $25 to program it.
 
Originally Posted by CharlieBauer
There are some spec differences that don't make sense. Eg Autozone say 950CCA while interstate say 850CCA.

If the Pep Boys is the same as the Autozone, go with PepBoys. It is $40 cheaper for 3 year full warranty vs 3 year full + 2 prorated from Autozone. The Autozone warranty will only save you a max of $64 in year 4 and then $32 in year 5.

Also, see if there are any coupons for AAP. That's what I did when I got an H8 AGM from them.

The other option is to spend $150 at Walmart for the H8 AGM which has the 3+2 warranty. If AGM will last longer than flooded in the Texas heat, then it's the better deal. It weighs just a little less than your H9.


I would have to drive about an hour to my local pepboys to pick up a battery from them. Autozone is local and would be much more convenient for me if the battery did die. I do have $20 of AZ reward points that I'm going to use with the battery anyway.

Switching to an AGM requires me also coding the vehicle to run the correct charging profile for an AGM battery. Given how I use the vehicle and that it rarely sits for extended periods of time, I don't feel that I would benefit much from an AGM. If were to switch to an AGM though, I'd be looking at an Odyssey H8/49 battery.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by TXCarGeek
Originally Posted by atikovi
How much is a genuine BMW battery? You can sometime find coupons online or at the dealer's website. If not BMW, I'd try and find a Bosch.


The dealership is going to charge a ridiculous amount for registering the battery when my indy won't charge me anything for the registration. Bosch I can't find anywhere...easy replacement is something I value so being able to get the battery local/semi-local matters to me.


I see 3 Bosch batteries at Pep Boys on sale for $120: https://www.pepboys.com/car-batteries/c/19447/2008/BMW/550 Series/V8-4799 4.8L DOHC and $25 to program it.


Those batteries are H8 not H9 batteries. Plus, it's unlikely Pepboy techs know how to program the vehicle correctly...my indy mechanic will do it for free for me.
 
Originally Posted by KE7JFF
I can look up tommorrow and see at my work what the AAA battery price is...95R I don't know off the top of my head but I know a bunch of 5 series take 94R...


94R would be too small.
 
I thought someone else said they were phasing out the Bosch batteries, they're Exide. Champion is at least JCI and they have their rebate going on. Black Friday they usually do 35-40% off instead of the 25% off that they're doing now.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
I thought someone else said they were phasing out the Bosch batteries, they're Exide. Champion is at least JCI and they have their rebate going on. Black Friday they usually do 35-40% off instead of the 25% off that they're doing now.


That's what they told me at Pepboys...Bosch batteries are on the way out and being replaced by the Champion branded batteries.
 
I went ahead and bought from AZ...much more convenient for me since I don't have a Pepboys locally...would have been nice to get a Black Friday rebate but I don't really want to wait that long for a battery.

Also, I'm Not convinced that they're not all the same batteries simply branded differently. They all seem to be made in Germany as well.
 
Originally Posted by CharlieBauer
Nice that you've gotten a German made battery. The OEM ones seem to last a long time.


Does JCI produce batteries in Germany as well?
 
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