Both should work just fine.
I went redtop for warranty and price. (trunk mounted, so that help sway the decision also)

 

You only use a AGM gel-cell battery in place of a lead acid battery only under the following conditions:

One. You own a retired US Army battle tank (the gel-cell was developed for this application).
Two. You are putting it in boat that never gets below 70mph and you have to strap yourself down to go for a cruise.
Three. You have an all wheel drive truck were you spend as much time upside down or rolling down a hill as you do right side up while rock crawling.
Four. You have a full cage race car with the battery in the trunk and the NHRA requires a gel cell for safety reasons just in case you turn turtle while racing faster than 7.5 seconds in the quarter mile.

If it isn't expected to go upside down, is constantly vibrating violently, or being ponded continuously, you want to use a lead acid battery. AGM batteries require a special charger and are much more expensive than a lead cell battery of the same size and cranking amps. They are only good for extreme conditions as listed above.

Big Dave

 

Dave may be right,
But I've used 3 AGM's at the same time in my boat with very large audio setup,PWC's,street bike, Chevelle's x2, and an Odyssey battery has been in my daily driver truck since January 2010. Alternators and battery tender 1.5 amp chargers is all I've ever used.

I'm either going with the Odyssey 34-PC1500T like what's been in my truck for the last 6 years,or save $100 and go with an Exide FP-AGM34 for the Camaro,trunk mount.

 

My Optima died almost exactly the day the warranty ran out. I replaced it with an Interstate. I've always had good luck with them and it was much cheaper.

 

I have an interstate battery in my wife's car and a optima in my boat (yellow top). I did some research on the optima battery and found that they started producing them with lesser quality a few years back. There are tons of reviews on the internet by people who have owned them and swapped to another brand of gel battery. I had a interstate battery last about 6 years, then I went and got another one. I couldnt find the right interstate battery for the camaro when I needed it, so I bought a cheap one and when it goes I will buy the interstate battery and new tender.

 

I use an EastPenn/Deka battery on my 69. It fit almost perfectly underneath my R59 battery topper. The case is matte black. I pealed off the Deka sticker on the side to make it look more original.

 

Love the deka batteries. Made in PA. I have them in both my diesel trucks for the 2nd time.
68Tiger, What is the model number of the one that fits the topper. Getting ready to get one myself.

 

I have a Deka Maintenance free 70 I believe the number is 724MF. I bought the R59 GM Restoration part topper on ebay from D&R Classic Automotive ($49+$3 S&H) Had to modify/enlarge the post hole opening a bit but no big deal. See my album for before & after pics. Also use a Noco Genius G1100 Battery charger maintainer during the winter months.

 

BMW's use AGM batteries in most of it's cars. In their turbo V8's they limit the charging with a computer program to improve fuel economy. They use AGM to cope with deeper and more frequent discharge cycles.

If you look on the Interstate webpage the Optima's are made by Interstate...

 

I had the same dilemma. I had a small block with high compression, and needed a good cranking battery. I was between Interstate and Optima, and started doing some digging, about performance of each vs. cost, vs. where it is manufactured. I ended up learning a decent amount. This was about 2 years ago, and Interstate had just moved the manufacturing facility of the HD battery I was looking at to Mexico. I ended up purchasing a Deka battery, which was made in PA.
I think it was 850 CCA, and about $120, but I had to go through a car dealer/service repair, because it isn't your run of the mill AutoZone/O'Rielly auto parts battery.
Just my 2 cents

 

I went through 2 Optimas before I learned my lesson. When they go dead they stay dead. Picked up a Battery at my local NAPA 5 years ago. Still going strong.

 

4 years. the cheapest battery walmart had

 

Same here (Everstart Maxx) but seven years now. And a Battery MINDER. Not a tender, a minder. Got a couple I use a couple times a year on everything and plan on getting over 10 years out of all my batteries.

 

Interstate in all of my vehicles, including my BMW E46, but it does not computer control the charge.

 

So you don't have to register a new battery in your cars computer when you replace one? My X5's computer needs to know so it can adjust the charge accordingly.

 

I have the Walmart (Johnson Electronics, I think) 800 CCA Maxx battery in all of my 5 69,s with battery tender and they last 5 to 6 years with a 3 year replacement. They are black as well instead of some bright colored unit. 3 of my cars are BB and they crank fine.

 

No, I don't. BMW started this feature in 2008? I think.
When I change the battery, place jump box on battery post in engine compartment and swap out battery in trunk - don't lose any radio presets, window sets, and PCM memory.