Gents:

I bought the car with an Interstate battery in the trunk. I have not written down the model yet, as I have the car jacked up at this point from an incomplete tranny fluid work I'm doing. I will finish this weekend for the 5-speed first.

When I took the battery out, some piece came out, seems like it's broken though. I see like a tray where the battery should go, and two philip scre heads, looks what something that holds the batter in place. But I do not see anything else, like a venting equipment. Does anyone has picture of properly place battery, and the parts next to it. Getting the feeling that I am missing something in the compartment.

Thanks,
DD

I'll take one today, I'm really familiar with that part of the car these days :D

I think I'm gonna wind up paying like $300 for all these missing parts and broken items. Thought I was getting a bargain at the time but then when I figure in all these minor problems, I would much rather have it bought it local here near NJ.
I'll take one today, I'm really familiar with that part of the car these days :D

Here's the 2 pics....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/amancuso/DSC01491.jpg
one of my long phillips screws broke when I took out the old battery. basically there is a little clamp that the screw goes thru and holds the battery down. I have one left and it's in there pretty tight.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/amancuso/DSC01492.jpg
There is a close up of where the vent tube goes out of the car.

Thanks. Oh, you have original batteries, or OEM? They look just like my VW batteries. Okay, it looks the same as mine, I guess nothing's missing then. But I have no way of securing the Interstate battery, I don't think there's a correct lip on the battery to latch onto. I am going to ask www.GermanAutoParts.com to see if they carry the OEM battery.

Thanks man, I appreciate it, I wich someday I can return the favor!
Here's the 2 pics....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/amancuso/DSC01491.jpg
one of my long phillips screws broke when I took out the old battery. basically there is a little clamp that the screw goes thru and holds the battery down. I have one left and it's in there pretty tight.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/amancuso/DSC01492.jpg
There is a close up of where the vent tube goes out of the car.

no prob.... I found a battery with the same dimensions, but it too didn't have the hold down "lip" so I said screw it and just went with OEM from the dealer. The original one lasted 10 yrs so I hope I have the same luck with this new one.

Been trying to look for the vent tube and could not find any in the battery compartment. Just the vibration damper and the two screws that locks the battery lip in place. Am I at risk here? BTW, just did the tranny oil change. Got the drain plug off the differential, but the 14mm HEX does not have clearance for the fill plug. I am definitely changing the washer since it's damaged.
no prob.... I found a battery with the same dimensions, but it too didn't have the hold down "lip" so I said screw it and just went with OEM from the dealer. The original one lasted 10 yrs so I hope I have the same luck with this new one.

no prob.... I found a battery with the same dimensions, but it too didn't have the hold down "lip" so I said screw it and just went with OEM from the dealer. The original one lasted 10 yrs so I hope I have the same luck with this new one.

My OEM one lasted 28 months.....sucked.

My 323 had a new Interstate battery when I bought the car. Just looked at it and it is short for the space and is not really held down. Any real forseeable problems?-:fartman

My original died and I slapped in a Optima blue top marine starting/deep cycle battery. They are sealed and work during inverted arial manouvering. I can also run the stereo for hours with the engine off without loosing starting power.

It is a bit taller but I managed to strap it in.

Dunbar

Vert forum rocks!

I would think that it will bounce around more, not sure about the life though. Do like I do, pickup a small plastic rail from the dealer (VW will work); it's blue in color. Align it to the side of the battery compartment, mark, and drill. Stick the rail in the holes you just drilled. Remove the hold down bolts, and alighn the battery next to the two holes, and ratchet tight the new lip.

My 323 had a new Interstate battery when I bought the car. Just looked at it and it is short for the space and is not really held down. Any real forseeable problems?-:fartman

Wow! that doen't sound right. How long is the warranty? Maybe you can get it exchanged? I personally like DieHard because if I had problems with it, they wouldn't give me such a hard time about the warranty exchange.
My OEM one lasted 28 months.....sucked.

BTW, I did a short write up my MacGuyver thingy on holding down a non-OEM battery on this VERT forum - check it out.
My 323 had a new Interstate battery when I bought the car. Just looked at it and it is short for the space and is not really held down. Any real forseeable problems?-:fartman

I just replaced my the battery in my 1996 328iC... The previous owner used a generic Interstate battery (group 91). The battery died a few days ago and would no longer take a charge. Since there was a 30 month warranty on it I tried to get it replaced. I called Interstate and they sent me to one of their direct facilities. When they looked it up, they realized that I had the wrong battery. They offered to refund me the total price of the dead one (list $107) and replace it with the correct H7 batter (List $167). They took an additional $20 off so I walked out with a new, correct, OEM battery for $40...

The battery was black (they had white ones as well) and had the cool little handles in the middle like the BMW battery. I'm not sure if it's "Vibration proof" (I guess that means a Gel battery??) but it did come with the correct vent tube location.

It actually had two vents, one on each end. It came with a plug to cover one end and the factory tube plugged into the other side. The clamps fit perfectly. It does not have the color charge indicator, but other than that it's a clone...

Overall, I'm a happy camper. I mention this because I'd think that i'd be possible to buy one of these batteries directly from Interstate at a price less than their MSRP of $167 (I got $20 off with no problem).

NICE! Maybe I'll take mine over there and see if I can get the same deal, thanks for sharing!
I just replaced my the battery in my 1996 328iC... The previous owner used a generic Interstate battery (group 91). The battery died a few days ago and would no longer take a charge. Since there was a 30 month warranty on it I tried to get it replaced. I called Interstate and they sent me to one of their direct facilities. When they looked it up, they realized that I had the wrong battery. They offered to refund me the total price of the dead one (list $107) and replace it with the correct H7 batter (List $167). They took an additional $20 off so I walked out with a new, correct, OEM battery for $40...

The battery was black (they had white ones as well) and had the cool little handles in the middle like the BMW battery. I'm not sure if it's "Vibration proof" (I guess that means a Gel battery??) but it did come with the correct vent tube location.

It actually had two vents, one on each end. It came with a plug to cover one end and the factory tube plugged into the other side. The clamps fit perfectly. It does not have the color charge indicator, but other than that it's a clone...

Overall, I'm a happy camper. I mention this because I'd think that i'd be possible to buy one of these batteries directly from Interstate at a price less than their MSRP of $167 (I got $20 off with no problem).

As far as I know people are buying the Interstate battery Mega-Tron Plus (MTP-91). They now carry an 85 month warranty. They have the correct Euro lip for the factory hold down. It uses a vent tube. Never heard of the H7 battery.

I took a look at the vent tube location. I will have to check my car because I don't remember seeing that hole for the tube to go through.

I just picked up an MTP-91 and it is the first time I have had to use a vent tube. This means there is no factory vent tube in the car and I had no idea where it was supposed to go.

For what it's worth, I bought my car with a regular old POS car battery. It cranks strong though, so I figure I'll just run it until it dies.
The battery cables shook loose last summer from the vibrations and the fact that the hold-downs don't really work.
My fix: I found a scrap of 2x6 in the garage and just wedged it into the battery well against the battery. It's clamped in there tight now! No problems anymore.