Battery OPTIMA or OEM BMW
Love the optima redtops, seem to last forever
Finally pulled the trusty old Panasonic battery out of my CX-5 and replaced it with an Optima Yellowtop. When I buttoned everything up, I still had my radio stations and settings right where I left them.
Buy a nice battery. I bought used 6 months ago and did a week of nightly research first, by FAR the biggest complaint was the battery going out or having constant low messages. I put a yellow top in mine a few days after getting it, not one issue this far.
I have an Optima Red Top battery in my 2006 Dodge Magnum that's at least 5 years old (probably older). It was heavily abused for years. Since then, this battery has been in my daily driver (5.7L V8), and it's still cranking strong with no issues.
I put an Optima Red Top in it when my tester showed it below 75% health, about a year ago.
Get the battery from the dealer. It lasts longer and has a 7 year warranty. The Optima Yellowtop died on me after 3 years.
The only issue we’ve had with it is recently a bunch of warning lights started popping up randomly but all at the same time. I assumed it was a wiring issue or something since none of the systems it said were disabled actually were. Dealership couldnt replicate it so it took a couple weeks of bringing it back and forth every time it happened before they were able to see anything on their end. Replaced the battery and it’s been fine since.
Fwiw optima batteries have been garbage for the last 20 years.
Optima batteries are absolute trash for deep discharge use. Their quality is also not what it used to be. Anytime I see them in marine use, I swap them out for a proper AGM. Only thing they are decent at is starting applications in cars.
I bought a red top.. in like 3 weeks it wasn't taking a charge and it got returned. Never again
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Which battery to choose — OPTIMA or OEM BMW?
If choosing battery across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare battery across these categories:
- PR Score.
- Overall ranking.
- Vote balance.
- Average rating.
- Number of reviews.
- Feature ratings.
- Car owners’ choice.
Which battery are better — OEM BMW or OPTIMA?
In March 2026 on PartReview, battery OPTIMA were overall better than OEM BMW.
- OPTIMA received a PR Score of 67 out of 100, and OEM BMW scored 80 points.
- OPTIMA ranked 1 in the overall ranking, and OEM BMW ranked 6.
- The average rating is higher for OEM BMW (4.1) than for OPTIMA (3.5).
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Battery OEM BMW have better feature ratings than OPTIMA:
- Indicator - owners believe, that this property for OEM BMW is better than OPTIMA.
- Lights - drivers claim, that this property for OEM BMW is outperforms OPTIMA.
- Cranking - reviews suggest, that this property for OEM BMW is preferred to OPTIMA.
Which battery are more popular — OPTIMA or OEM BMW?
In March 2026 on PartReview, battery OPTIMA were overall more popular than OEM BMW.
By vote balance, battery OPTIMA surpassed OEM BMW:
- For OPTIMA, the ratio of positive (733) to negative (355) votes is 378 votes.
- For OEM BMW, the ratio of positive (128) to negative (32) votes is 96 votes.
By number of reviews, battery OPTIMA surpassed OEM BMW:
- For battery OPTIMA there are 350 reviews: 219 positive, 38 neutral, 93 negative.
- For battery OEM BMW there are 51 review: 38 positive, 7 neutral, 6 negative.
Which battery do car owners prefer — OPTIMA or OEM BMW?
In March 2026, according to PartReview, battery OPTIMA led more car-specific ratings than OEM BMW:
OPTIMA are chosen by owners of cars such as: Audi TT, Honda Civic, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Leaf, Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester, Volkswagen Jetta, and others.
Battery OEM BMW have not yet taken leading positions in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding a review and specifying your car.
Other comparisons of battery
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of battery OPTIMA with: Varta, Bosch, OEM Subaru, OEM Volkswagen, YUASA, Tesla, Duralast, Exide, Deka, ODYSSEY.
Also available: comparisons of battery OEM BMW with: Varta, Bosch, OEM Subaru, OEM Volkswagen, YUASA, Tesla, Duralast, Exide, Deka, ODYSSEY.
You can also see who is better among other battery manufacturers: OPTIMA or Varta, OPTIMA or Bosch, OPTIMA or OEM Subaru, OPTIMA or OEM Volkswagen, OPTIMA or YUASA.