Successful DIY battery replace, is BMW registration necessary ?
 

I read where some say it's necessary for BMW dealership to register battery replacement, and some say not. My 2007 525i is running great with new battery, so do I still need to register ??

Thanks

Your car should run fine without registering it. But from what I've learned, our cars employ a smart charging scheme tailored for an absorbed glass-mat (AGM) battery. It varies the charging rate according to the age of the battery to keep it optimally charged. If you get a new AGM battery and don't register it, the car may over-charge the new battery and possibly shorten its life. If you end up getting a standard Pb-acid replacement battery, the car may under-charge it.

Take a look at the thread below, it has lots of info and shows you what others have chosen to do.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...gister+battery

Also take a look at post #13 of thread below:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=566899

Well I have replaced my battery today with Deka battery. It's special made battery to fit our cars perfectly. So it's 200 bucks battery. Anyway about registration, I drove on this battery right from battery warehouse (Leesburg VA) to my friend's shop in Leesburg, I drove about 2 miles something. So after a little digging around in the computer to find right menu with battery registration, we finally found it. So during registration, it asked when (date) was battery replaced, then it's automatically showed miles but it's less two miles (distance from warehouse to shop) then it showed on my dashboard. So it seems to me the car(computer) knows that was installed a new battery. So all this registration to me it's just BMW collecting money from their credulous costumers and the free durability information for their financing planning. It's nothing to do with battery charge.

Noted: I have used a small 12 V battery to keep setting current.

thanks guys
 

thanks everyone for your replies and insight. It's great to be able to exchange info and help each other here, so here's what I ended up doing.

This past Sunday, we went shopping and our last stop was near an O'Reilly's auto store. The car was getting harder to start after each location we visited. Well, it finally happened, the car wouldn't start, but we were parked a couple hundred yards from the store, so I went down there, the employee came and tested the battery, show'd me the results, and it was a gonner.

Ended up buying their premium battery, that has 950 cca, which is better than the OEM, plus, it's made in Germany, specifically for my car, and fit's perfectly. We hooked up a core to the charge terminals under the hood to keep the car with some power, replaced the battery, and now, two days later, it shows no sign that it is different. All settings are still there, and it starts like it used to. We are very happy.

To Blk530's point, it's a standard Pb-acid replacement battery, and if it under charges this battery, I have a battery tender that I use, so it's simple to hook up, and I'll know if it's being under charged, and can keep it in a charged state.

As for registration, I found an indy that will do it for $70.00, but I think I'll just save the money and monitor the battery using my battery tender. I found that I could buy three batteries for what a BMW dealship would rip me off for if I went there.

Thanks, and I hope my story helps others that view this thread.

Do both the registration and the battery tender. The registration tells your car the battery is new so it does not over charge the battery which will shorten the life of the new battery. This doesn't occur in a day/week/month, but it will slowly and systematically kill the battery due to overcharging it because the car thinks the battery is older than it is.

Did you read my post #4?

1. New battery + no registration = minimal/modest battery life

2. New battery + registration = maximum battery life

I installed my own battery and did not register it. That was a year ago and I have not had any problems. With the cost of registering the battery I can buy a new battery every 2-3 years and be money ahead.

You think like me. You might even sell the car (like me) before you need another battery.

Let us know if your newest battery needs an early replacement. If it only lasts a few more months, I might change my approach.

;)The battery I bought has a 3 year free replacement warranty, so I think I'm covered.

Does anyone have a current DIY for the Battery Replacement? I know there was one from RatherBeInCabo back in the day, but his Flickr account is no longer in use. Anyone have any quick tips or tricks other than the typical unbolt, take out, rebolt method?

yes it's unbolt, remove and install. But i will recommend to get a small 12V power source, either connect to cigaret lighter or under the hood on driver side.

So like if I totally connect a second car to the jumper terminals under the bonnet, will I like totally be able to replace the battery without resetting like everything? Totally?

Sounds bitchen.

How would the cigarette lighter work? In every BMW I have owned the cigarette lighter is disconnected from the electrical system when the car is off.



P.S. Do yourself a favor and heed TJPark01's advice:
The number of people who will buy a $50-$70K automobile, throw in a cheap Walmart battery and totally ignore the manufacturer's advice to register the battery to the charging software that regulates the charging system in the car amazes me.

I have never tried on BMW, I have a small 12V battery that can be used just to keep electronics on. Well in this case only solution is connect under the hood.
Well registration will be useful but is not important. Find some small shop that has BMW computer and they will reset it for you.

Any update on this? The people that purchased aftermarket batteries without registration, any problems?

People need to seriously stop being cheap about this. Register the battery.

This is from DIS software, which is used at the BMW dealerships, so it should be the last word on whether we need registration for a new battery....

We do.
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/8...registered.png

I have an 09 535i and the battery acting up already. I guess it wasn't registered at the factory??? Somebody said in another post that our car would "overcharge" the battery. When was the last time an E60 overcharged anything? Why is a 60-70K car need a battery tender/charger? Why is it not replaced under warranty? (VW did with no questions asked.) Why would the entire car has to wake up when you just open the door to get your wallet from the car? It is pretty much a bad design if you ask me. I am scared to open the sunroof because I am not sure I can close it without an error message. Dealer would blame me for using it wrong or something.

I'd like to save a couple bucks if I could.

Dealer quoted me 1300 to replace secondary air valves.. I did it myself and paid for $200 in parts.

They quoted me 1100 for a Guibo, again did it myself for $170.

If the only problem with not registering the battery is shortening the life of the new battery, I can buy 3-4 batteries for the price of 1 with registering. Just wanted to check in with the people above that are running aftermarket batteries with no problems.

Is it really worth $100 for installation? 2 bolts right?

I am with you, man! 2 bolts for the bracket and one each post. Easy money for the stealer plus another $100 for registration to get 2-3 month extra battery life? It is a joke! Autozone 3 year replacement warranty and prorated to 8 years. And the battery is $160.

I put in the Duralast battery a while back and did not pay to have it registered. Everything is fine so far.

But replacing an alternator because it has been overworked will cost way more than the modest savings realized from not registering a battery.

Absolutely wrong. Your charging strategy will be set to overcharge the new battery, and possibly damage your alternator. It's not snake-oil- Just pay the $100.

Not sure on the E60, but my E38 rear console lighter always has power to it. In fact, that is where my BMW tender connects to maintain the battery. BMW recommends not using this particular tender on the E60, due to the complexity of the electronics.