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Successful DIY battery replace, is BMW registration necessary ?

200K views 142 replies 64 participants last post by  habbyguy 
#1 ·
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
 
#2 ·
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/showthread.php?t=545684&highlight=register+battery
 
#4 · (Edited)
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.
 
#5 ·
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.
 
#6 ·
t
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.
 
#19 ·
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.
 
#9 ·
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.
 
#12 ·
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?
 
#15 · (Edited)
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.
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:
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.
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.
 
#14 ·
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.
 
#16 ·
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.
 
#20 ·
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?
 
#21 · (Edited)
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.
 
#22 ·
I put in the Duralast battery a while back and did not pay to have it registered. Everything is fine so far.
 
#36 ·
Not Registering



How long is a while back? I bought the same (I think) battery yesterday. The wet cell for 134.99. I was told not to buy the AGM battery because my car did not come with one. The original battery lastest over 7 years! The Duralast has a 3 year replacement warranty. That's hard to beat. I will take my chances with not registering it. I can buy 2 (6 yrs. guaranteed!) Duralast for what I was quotes at an indie import shop......And I'm a tightwad!!!!
I admit it!!!!:rofl:
 
#26 ·
I bought the BavarianTechnic cable, so that I can do basic activiations, read codes, troubleshoot, and yes - register new batteries. Cost a few hundred bucks, but now I can do a lot of things in my garage that would normally be done at the dealership.

I replaced my battery with a new one from Autozone two days ago. I was able to register it myself in a matter of seconds.

Having the BT cable also allows me to set my own service intervals for oil changes (7,500 miles instead of 15,000), reset the brakes, and do quite a few other things. I think it's a worthy investment, seeing how one trip to the dealer for some of these basic functions pays for itself.
 
#27 ·
I bought the BavarianTechnic cable, so that I can do basic activiations, read codes, troubleshoot, and yes - register new batteries. Cost a few hundred bucks, but now I can do a lot of things in my garage that would normally be done at the dealership.
:thumbup:
Plus it frees you from the tether that BMW has around your neck. There is a certain freedom that comes with these diagnostic tools that can't be measure purely in terms of dollars.
 
#30 ·
Is the charging system intelligent or not?

From what I can gather, BMW is saying that the IBS is intelligent and charges based on the age of the battery. The charging map allows for more charging as the battery ages to compensate for wear. If you change a battery but do not register the new battery, the system does not know about the battery change and charges according to the point of the map the old battery was at and thereby possibly overcharging the new battery. This sounds like a time based system and not an intelligent system.

Shouldn't an intelligent system be able to assess the health of a battery and determine for itself whether a battery is new or not?
 
#32 ·
Is the charging system intelligent or not?

From what I can gather, BMW is saying that the IBS is intelligent and charges based on the age of the battery. The charging map allows for more charging as the battery ages to compensate for wear. If you change a battery but do not register the new battery, the system does not know about the battery change and charges according to the point of the map the old battery was at and thereby possibly overcharging the new battery. This sounds like a time based system and not an intelligent system.

Shouldn't an intelligent system be able to assess the health of a battery and determine for itself whether a battery is new or not?
Just to add to the confusion. A new battery can be fully charged or can be discharged to zero. So the intelligent system see it or not? I charge my 3 year old battery every 2 weeks so after charging it up I am killing my alternator like somebody just said in a post. :dunno:
 
#31 ·
battery changing

my 04 530i needed a new battery in 08 or 09, went to a regular battery store and they matched the battery with a similar one, although the replacement was about an inch shorter from side to side. it was a white housing battery, did not need registering and has been fine even after i almost drained the battery when i left the headlights on for 7-8 hours 3 months ago. your battery may be similar to mine, ie, white housing. it cost me about 130$.
 
#33 ·
my 04 530i needed a new battery in 08 or 09, went to a regular battery store and they matched the battery with a similar one, although the replacement was about an inch shorter from side to side. it was a white housing battery, did not need registering and has been fine even after i almost drained the battery when i left the headlights on for 7-8 hours 3 months ago. your battery may be similar to mine, ie, white housing. it cost me about 130$.
How did you leave your headlights on? This is an impossibility on e60s.
 
#34 ·
OK - i've been reading through the forums for about 3 hours now so I just called my local CA dealer and told them to go ahead and install the battery and get it registered - for a whopping $538 (which already includes a 10% discount)-all in all, it sounds like it is probably worth the money considering 60% of the people who claimed that they didn't register the battery came across a myriad of problems afterwards? Oh well, let's just hope it's truly worth the money...
 
#37 ·
I just changed my battery 5 days ago. The car which was built in July of 2005 that makes the battery 7 years old. I think the battery lasted 7 years because the charging system and I go my new battery registered. I got a battery from AutoZone r95. I paid 45$ to register and don't have to worry about it.
 
#42 ·
some where there is a post about using jumper cables to the battery terminals under the hood, in order to keep power flowing to the car while changing the battery........and if done with success, there is no need to register the new battery. Has anyone else seen this post? I ran across while searching thru some threads.
 
#45 ·
This batt replacement topic has become the #1 topic, it was "which oil is better".

No need to register batt after replacing regular batt, no error code will pops up. I replaced 2 batteries on BMW, from the old to the more electronic loaded kind; never I've seen any fault/warning afterwards. No need to plug it to another batt source, all radio, seat, iDrive setting etc stay intact after batt replacement.

I am not saying batt registration has no meritt though.
 
#46 ·
White battery in 07 E61?

I am going thru the clogged Sunroof drains, water in battery and spare well, failed rdc, etc in my 07 wagon. Battery dying too - pulled it out and its a white one which I believe is NOT AGM - did the 07 wagons come with AGM? This is a CPO car that I am starting to find lots of surprises on...
 
#49 ·
I am going thru the clogged Sunroof drains, water in battery and spare well, failed rdc, etc in my 07 wagon. Battery dying too - pulled it out and its a white one which I believe is NOT AGM - did the 07 wagons come with AGM? This is a CPO car that I am starting to find lots of surprises on...
2007, doubtfull.

My 2008 comes with regular batt.

It's probably ok not re-programming the car after getting a new AGM, I just don't like the idea of potential over-charging and hydrogen gas build up (worst case scenario). I checked the alternator output and it was 14.9V before programming and now settles around 14.4V, AGM absolute max from Eastpenn is 14.6V, FYI.
 
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