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So today I decided to take a look at my battery to see if it was a sealed or one that requires maintenance. To my surprise I found a battery brand I never heard of before.
So I went on Google to find out more about this battery to my surprise they're not even sold here on the US.
So today I decided to take a look at my battery to see if it was a sealed or one that requires maintenance. To my surprise I found a battery brand I never heard of before.
Owned by Johnson Controls. A lot of battery "brands" you see in U.S. are not made by any such real company either. Johnson Controls also also sells under the Optima name that it acquired, and private labels under all sorts, including Autocraft, some Bosch, Champion, Costco/Kirkland, Interstate, apparently DieHard (used to be Exide), etc. OE to all of Euro, American and Japanese car brands.
There aren't that many "true" companies actually making them; Exide is another.
The market has rolled up a lot toward fewer players. But having owned these a long time, it used to be a lot harder to find the typical Audi battery--the prior underseat vented design from which these originally hail was a definite oddball. But I noticed by the early 2000's you could now often find the typical Audi battery, at least the 49, sitting on a lot of volume store shelves in all kinds of "brands." Look carefully at the cases on the shelves and you will start to see a lot of the same stuff beneath the labels.
That is the oem battery. It is not maintenance free. Peel off the decal covering the caps and check the electrolyte level. Top up if necessary. That is a thirsty battery. There is a special "tool" available that allows you to top up without removing the battery. However, I would remove mine and add distilled water from a paper cup. To each their own. The service manual details the procedure.
Last edited by Mister Bally; 11-24-2014 at 05:05 PM.
That is the oem battery. It is not maintenance free. Peel off the decal covering the caps and check the electrolyte level. Top up if necessary. That is a thirsty battery. There is a special "tool" available that allows you to top up without removing the battery. However, I would remove mine and add distilled water from a paper cup. To each their own. The service manual details the procedure.
Thank you... I went to the dealership recently and gave them the part number they informed it was infact the original battery
There is a cost for a certified genuine product. There are many fakes out there. VW/Audi parts inventory management makes sure battery inventory keeps fresh ones available.
Disclosure; I do not buy batteries from the dealer network.
Just a quick comparison photo of my old Group 49 Deka conventional Lead Acid battery and the new Group 95R Deka Intimidator AGM Battery. Sorry for the poor resolution, the photo was compressed for texting purposes.
MP4.2+6.0: You should recognize the Mann filter box in the photo. It once was in the back seat of your W12. Thanks again!
11-20-2014, 01:15 PM
Is this my OEM battery
