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22K views 31 replies 15 participants last post by  mrcamp 
#1 ·
The battery "light" came on last Friday and the car has only run 8,000 miles, 13 months old. I'm sending it to the dealer for a service today.
Replace a battery once a year seems a high frequency to me.
Anyone has experience like this with your 5 series?
Is there a BKM to lenghen the battery life?
 

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#2 ·
This is unfortunately a somewhat common issue, search will reveal more. But there have been many instances where short trips or extended down time have killed the battery, which is bogus.

Fight your dealer to get them to replace under warranty and get one of the battery tenders you will find mentioned in the threads.
 
#11 ·
This is unfortunately a somewhat common issue, search will reveal more. But there have been many instances where short trips or extended down time have killed the battery, which is bogus.

Fight your dealer to get them to replace under warranty and get one of the battery tenders you will find mentioned in the threads.
Thanks for the battery tender hint, I certainly have to look for one.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Good (and surprising) to know that battery is not a under warranty item. I could appreciate that tire is not under BMW warranty, but battery.... doesn't it have similar characteristic like the motor or the light bulbs?

What else (that is easier to break) is not under warranty ?

I certainly don't believe I am abusing the battery, as the car is my DD and it has 20 miles round trip every weekdays, and occasionally longer trips.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I had the battery replaced under warranty on my 740il several years ago.

Detected that the dealer is trained to ask questions with a straight face like "is this an everyday driver?"

I'd sure press for replacement under the "full maintenance" "no cost" advertising they come with.

There is some disclosure from BMW in your OM or other maintenance booklets that the car needs to be driven 10 miles a day or so to keep the new "Efficient Dynamics" "Brake Energy Regeneration" set up adequately charging the battery.

I doubt that many of us thought we were buying a car that required special charging techniques (trickle charger) to preserve the battery!
 
#5 ·
happened to me twice. my car is parked in a garage, and they used to leave the Fob in the car and let it sit until i needed it again. it never gave the car a chance to sleep. do you leave your fob in the car?
 
#6 ·
Got a 2012? If you do then you also have the Stop/Go system. Since the system is supposed to keep the battery above 80% and will not allow an engine stop if it's below that, we can use the Stop/Go system to help evaluate the state of charge. Since there are other reasons why the engine would not stop, the other reasons must not be out of bounds. These include cabin temperature not too hot or cold, or outside temp not below 37 degrees F. With these criteria met, if the engine still does not stop when you would expect it to, then it's likely that your battery is low. On the other hand, if it's stopping when it should and you suddenly end up with a "Replace Battery" warning, then it implies a problem with the battery itself or the charging system. In other words - if the Stop/Go is active, then you probably didn't kill your own battery by not driving far enough. So if your dealer hands you that crap - you now have something you can hand him back.

Q
 
#9 ·
Hmmm... I looked for that and didn't see it. Actually - I still don't.
 
#13 ·
Surprise! My SA just updated me stating that the battery didn't require replacement and it was just a software issue. The technician programed the entire vehicle and registered the battery, and that solved the issue.

Hmmm... did they just clear the error code and claim it is fixed? :dunno:

Hopefully the battery is not really gone bad physically and will last a bit longer.
 
#14 ·
Surprise! My SA just updated me stating that the battery didn't require replacement and it was just a software issue. The technician programed the entire vehicle and registered the battery, and that solved the issue.

Hmmm... did they just clear the error code and claim it is fixed? :dunno:

Hopefully the battery is not really gone bad physically and will last a bit longer.
Good news, just do yourself a favor and buy a smart charger. The battery tender or the the CTEK 3300 seem to tbe the most popular and cost effective, assuming you're not charging many cars simultaneously.
 
#15 ·
Search for the big thread on this forum for battery failure light at approximately one year of service. The dealer will simply re-set the warning light (they will tell you it was an inadvertent light). Do not buy a new battery - if the dealer says you need a new battery, it is covered under warranty.

For those of us who have gone through this, some of us believe our mpg has decreased by 2-3 mph after this event.
 
#17 ·
There is a very comprehensive post on this forum from an obviously well informed engineer or battery expert who explains what may be happening here. Short answer, the extra fuel efficiency realized by our F10 550s and 535s is offset by increased electrical costs, primarily in earlier battery replacement.
But the Battery service indicator coming on, and then the dealer telling many of us it was not accurate (some type of software error), is still a bit of a mystery. Although my OEM original battery was not replaced, and everything seems to be working just fine, I think I may be getting about 1-3 mpg less subsequent to the re-set of my "replace battery" service indicator by the dealer. It appears that the brilliant promotion of better fuel economy from even more powerful engines (i.e., like the F10) is not a free lunch, that it does come at a price -- increased electrical costs.

But this is not inconsistent with general world-wide engineering trade-off patterns - decreased fuel costs with increased electrical costs- such as with hybrids. I think it just came as a surprise to many of us F10 owners.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Needed to search for this thread this morning....
Is the dealer the only ones that could replace my battery?!? I can't just take the batter into AutoZone to get charged?

Had a slow startup yesterday morning. Had an evening slower start this morning in -1 degree weather. Battery light came on when i cut her off when I got to work.

Yeah, it sat last week for about 4 days.
 
#20 ·
Bengal,
I'm in the exact same boat as you (southwestern Ohio), it was 15 degrees yesterday and 1 degree this morning. I've been getting some battery lights coming on and slow starts in the morning these last two days after the vehicle sat for three days. My commute to work (work from home) is dropping the kids off at daycare, then taking the long way home (it's only like a 7 mile round trip when I take the long way home). So I threw the battery tender on it this morning and I think I'm going to make my wife start driving it into work (35 mile round trip) that way the battery has a little more time to charge in this cold weather. I'll keep you all posted as to what shakes out. I had posted in another thread that I recently coded the vehicle and then got this battery light, but I'm guessing the cold weather coupled with the age of the battery and the short commute is the culprit.
 
#21 · (Edited)
There's been a lot of threads about this recently. There are a number of similar, but different, messages from the car which mean different things.

DISCHARGE WHILE STOPPED: there is a malfunction in your car and one or modules are not sleeping when the car is off and it's draining your battery (like leaving your lights on)

CHARGE BATTERY: no specific malfunction, but your usage pattern has allowed the battery state of charge to deplete. Connect a plug in battery charger and connect it to the posts under the hood and recharge the battery. Various electronics in the car might not work, HVAC fan speed might be limited to half etc... You should check to see that you're getting about 14.8VDC system voltage (assuming you have an AGM battery installed and coded) with the engine running.

REPLACE BATTERY: You probably better just do it. This is a long term trending message. It doesn't need to be the dealer. Find an AGM H8 battery and have someone register the replacement with the car. If you're under warranty or service plan it should be free of charge from the dealer.


Other important things to remember:

- although they can, alternators aren't really meant to fully charge dead batteries. They potentially run at 100% load for a very long time and it shortens the life of the alternator. Best to have a plug in charger on hand and use it if you ever encounter a low/dead battery situation.

- When you get a plug in charger, it is best if it has an AGM mode. There are some strict limitations on maximum terminal voltage for AGM batteries and a pre-AGM charger might not respect those limitations and damage your battery.

- Chemistry slows as temperature drops. When cold your battery does not store as much energy, and cannot supply OR ACCEPT as much current as when it is warm due to increases in internal resistance

- As batteries age, internal resistance increases and total capacity decreases, causing similar things as noted in the point above. This is made even worse when an old battery is cold

- Batteries will age prematurely if they are kept with <80% state of charge (SoC). This is another reason why a trickle/float charger isn't a bad idea. Your car may start fine every time and show no warnings, but be hovering at 40% SoC. It will require replacement well before a battery which is kept fully charged.
 
#22 ·
There's been a lot of threads about this recently. There are a number of similar, but different, messages from the car which mean different things.

DISCHARGE WHILE STOPPED: there is a malfunction in your car and one or modules are not sleeping when the car is off and it's draining your battery (like leaving your lights on)

CHARGE BATTERY: no specific malfunction, but your usage pattern has allowed the battery state of charge to deplete. Connect a plug in battery charger and connect it to the posts under the hood and recharge the battery. Various electronics in the car might not work, HVAC fan speed might be limited to half etc... You should check to see that you're getting about 14.8VDC system voltage (assuming you have an AGM battery installed and coded) with the engine running.

REPLACE BATTERY: You probably better just do it. This is a long term trending message. It doesn't need to be the dealer. Find an AGM H8 battery and have someone register the replacement with the car. If you're under warranty or service plan it should be free of charge from the dealer.

Other important things to remember:

- although they can, alternators aren't really meant to fully charge dead batteries. They potentially run at 100% load for a very long time and it shortens the life of the alternator. Best to have a plug in charger on hand and use it if you ever encounter a low/dead battery situation.

- When you get a plug in charger, it is best if it has an AGM mode. There are some strict limitations on maximum terminal voltage for AGM batteries and a pre-AGM charger might not respect those limitations and damage your battery.

- Chemistry slows as temperature drops. When cold your battery does not store as much energy, and cannot supply OR ACCEPT as much current as when it is warm due to increases in internal resistance

- As batteries age, internal resistance increases and total capacity decreases, causing similar things as noted in the point above. This is made even worse when an old battery is cold

- Batteries will age prematurely if they are kept with <80% state of charge (SoC). This is another reason why a trickle/float charger isn't a bad idea. Your car may start fine every time and show no warnings, but be hovering at 40% SoC. It will require replacement well before a battery which is kept fully charged.
Excellent information Surly. I appreciate the advice. I'll pick up a plug in charger with an AGM mode.
 
#23 ·
FBI808;6807832 Hopefully the battery is not really gone bad physically and will last a bit longer.[/QUOTE said:
You might consider a good battery charger like a CTEK that can "recondition" the battery. BMW sells a CTEK with a BMW label . . . but then you pay nearly double for the same one you can get on ebay or Amazon if you want the BMW name on it.

I use one like this, and it has worked great-- not just on my BMW.

https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-864-Automatic-Battery-Charger/dp/B006G14FK8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514387417&sr=8-1&keywords=ctek+mus+4.3
 
#24 ·
Can someone please explain the process of registering a battery to me? ...And can the battery be any brand, etc?
 
#25 ·
It's just a matter of telling the car's charging system that a NEW battery has been installed and letting it know the type and capacity of the new battery. Then the computer can adjust the charging process to the specific battery. The car will start/run just fine if you do not do this-- however it can result in shorter battery life and/or improper charging.
 
#27 ·

Thanks Rick. How is this accomplished?
 
#26 · (Edited)
great responses. thanks guys!!!

So do i need to get home and sit the car until i get a charger and charged? is it safe to even drive home?

So it sounds like i need to get a CTEK. will try to get it in tomorrow or Saturday. Sitting for a long period of time is not a regular thing thou. would of took the BMW on the vacation road trip if I didn't found a bubble on my tire sidewall the day before the trip. but having a CTEK would be good to have.

Rick - Thanks for the link Rick
npscott - I wish my commute was 7miles. lol. doing 20mi one way here.
surly - Some good back pocket info.
 
#29 ·
New battery registration is done with BMW specific software found at the dealer or a good indy BMW garage. You can also buy an app like the Carly for BMW app and use it to register your new battery yourself.
 
#32 ·
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