New Battery for My E46 , Varta or Bosch

zippy320

Well-known member
Soo my cars second battery seems to be on its last legs , First original battery lasted me at least 12 years , and the second battery I got from a wreaked E90 ( also an original BMW battery) has lasted me 7 years . Not bad for original battery.

So I have these options , BMW Original from the dealer ( im not to sure but I think the over the counter ones are SABAT battery's which are different to those that come with the car new from factory , Those I believe are Varta batteries )

Bosch Batteries ( Im told that these are the same as the varta batteries , made in the same factorys ) ( Diesel electric has them in stock )

Varta battery ( No idea where I can find them )

Anyone have any experience with the Bosch batteries ?

Im told that I need to buy the 668 Battery for my 318i

Thanks guys for all the advice . Slowly but surly im getting my E46 back up to speed :)
 

Nikhil

Honorary ///Member
Check with First National Battery. Dont discard Willard tho replaced my dad's cars battery 8 years ago with one and my E46 is running a Willard for the last 6 years both with no issues.
 

Coisman

Administrator
Staff member
Go to Midas or Naskar and get yourself the Exide Silver Calcium Battery, it's exactly a Bosch battery but about R300-R500 cheaper. I got one for my 325i a few months back in November for R1150 I think
 

Yuben

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Sorry just saw now that you need a 668. Strange for a 318 cos only the 4 pipe needed a 668. Nevertheless insured a 668 in my 330 as well due to the sound setup. Willard was my choice. R1375 IIRC 5 years ago.
 

zippy320

Well-known member
So I called a company in Pinetown and they offered me a battery called Fulmen
668 90 or 95 AH ( im not sure which , couldnt hear him properly)
Anyone know anything about these batteries ? Guy tells me that its made in Germany , they supply the dealerships etc? R1851 inc vat was the cost .
 

Spiro

///Member
zippy320 said:
So I called a company in Pinetown and they offered me a battery called Fulmen
668 90 or 95 AH ( im not sure which , couldnt hear him properly)
Anyone know anything about these batteries ? Guy tells me that its made in Germany , they supply the dealerships etc? R1851 inc vat was the cost .

Fulmen is a good battery , very good CCA across the range , I’m using one on my Discovery , been running for a while , works brilliantly
 

jhbhc

Member
I would try to go with an original battery. These other brands don't seem to last as long. I haven't had any luck with Willard. Maybe you can try Exide or Raylite those are also pretty good
 

sherwinZ

Member
Fulmen is the same as Exide, just different branding.
It is good quality.

I got one in my X3 from the same agents who sell Varta in Johannesburg, i.e. Deltec.
 

L~C~G

Active member
PROBE.....PROBE.......PROBE!!!!

In my experience there is no better battery.

I had a SHIT BOX Peugeot Partner Van as my company delivery vehicle for many years. For about three of those years, every time winter rolled in the bitch just would not start. We had to crank for at least ten minutes to get it to eventually take.

We F*cked up countless different batteries in the process. The Probe batteries are the only ones that lasted. They also cranked notably harder and longer than any other brand of the exact same size.

We had one that failed after about 11 months and it was swapped out under wanrranty with no questions.
 

Tinuva

Staff & Webmaster
Staff member
Are they good (Probe) for deep cycle too? Saw one at Brights for quite a bit cheaper than the Royal ones at Marko, but was unsure about the brand and quality.
 

M135i

Well-known member
Nah man, Probe is kak....that Peugeots alternator was likely not in good shape and stuffed the battery up.
 
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