BMW Repair: SI Board Battery, bmw owners, ammount

Question
Hi Josh,

I recently changed the batteries on the SI Board (1984 318i), unwittingly i used NiMh instead of NiCad, will that be a concern?
Thanks.

Sanny  

Answer
Sanny,
 I would not be worried about it.  I've done this battery swap too, and I think I used NiMh instead of NiCad's as well.  It still works on my car.  

 I think the main issue with this is that the lifespan of NiMh is less than NiCad, but it's probably only by a small ammount.

 Even so, its not very hard to change them if they do go bad (maybe 30 minutes total).  You have to remember that most BMW owners are overly obsessive about the parts they put on their cars.  This is not ever a bad thing, but it can end up wasting money.  Sure the NiCad's are better... but if that means that they will last 10 years and the NiMh's will only last 8.5 years... who cares, right?  Or running Royal Purple motor oil and changing it every 3,000 miles.... thats over kill!

 Good luck,
 Josh