Z4 BATTERY CHANGING- Dealer only function???

Greetings! As a first time BMW owner, I'd appreciate some help please! My 2004 Z4 3.0 battery is dead... I've heard all kinds of horror stories of losing critical electronics, radio codes, even the top doesn't work anymore if you change the battery yourself. I'd appreciate an honest description of how to do it. I'm fairly mechanically inclined, and only want to know the right way to do it and whether I must have a BMW battery to replace it with, or does the $150 Advance automotive do the job just as well. Does the new battery have to be vented? It appears I do not need radio codes on this model... I've searched the threads and could not find anything other than use a tender, which I now have. Please don't send me to the dealer!!
Sincerely appreciate the help.
Thanks gang!
Chef

You don't have to have the dealer do it. I have replaced batteries in 2 M3's and 1 325i with no issues at all. Just make sure you get a decent battery - and make sure that you install the vent tube - it vents gases from the battery to the outside (important since the battery is in the trunk). Just remove the tube from your old battery and place on the new one. About the only thing you may need to do after installing the new battery is possibly reinitialize the pinch protection in the power windows. The owners manual explains it - and it may not be necessary.

The usual caveats apply - it has worked for me, but I cannot/do not guarantee the same results for you (but - this is easy).

Jeff

Originally Posted by m3griff

You don't have to have the dealer do it. I have replaced batteries in 2 M3's and 1 325i with no issues at all. Just make sure you get a decent battery - and make sure that you install the vent tube - it vents gases from the battery to the outside (important since the battery is in the trunk). Just remove the tube from your old battery and place on the new one. About the only thing you may need to do after installing the new battery is possibly reinitialize the pinch protection in the power windows. The owners manual explains it - and it may not be necessary.

The usual caveats apply - it has worked for me, but I cannot/do not guarantee the same results for you (but - this is easy).

Jeff

+1. Replaced the battery in my '99 323 myself and had zero problems. Ron Stygar has probably disconnected his battery more than most on here. You could PM him and ask.

Thanks guys,
I took the advice of a bimmer neighbor, and went to Advance Auto. For any newbies out there, here is how I did it. Battery is in the trunk under the removable floor.
Remove battery bracket with a phillips head screwdriver. There are 3 screws to remove. 2 on the bracket and one to the left that acts as a hold down. Remove vent from battery. Remove positive cable from battery with a 10mm socket. No need to take apart the connection that is bolted onto the positive cable. Remove the negative cable. Remove the plastic pull-out wall on the front side, it will make removal MUCH easier. Remove battery.
That's it! You may want to remove battery connections first, They were the last thing I did when re-installing, but I don't know proper battery changing ettiquette.
I went to Advance Auto, and purchased the 94R2 battery for $150 and reinstalled. The vent plug in the battery needs the plastic cap removed and placed in the opposite hole, as the vent enters near the positive side. Do this before re-installing. I had to remove the sliding bracket to the right of the battery well as the new battery did not require its use.
All I had to do was reset the clock and date, no radio codes required for this model. Then take it back to Advance, and they perform a free electronic check on it that takes about 10 minutes. Checks alternator, all connections, etc. It's free when you buy the battery there. If you live far from AA, they will change it there for no charge, if you can get a jump to start your Z. These were my results, hope you have the same. Important note, I am not a mechanic!!! Thanks for the replies boys!
Chef

Replaced a battery on 2005 Z4 today with BMW replacement. I was advised that the visual indicator as to battery health is not reliable. It showed green. Date on negative post indicated month and year of manufacture which was 41st month 2004. Its time was up.
Parts Department at local BMW dealer had a tech check the battery and called it finished after using a sophisticated meter.

Replacement is child's play. A large phillips head and a few small wrenches was all it took to uninstall battery and convenient handles on battery made lift out easy. Remove plastic seperator from battery compartment so battery slides easily to the rear of the compartment for easy lift out. I was not interested in a non BMW replacement. Vent hose etc. fit perfectyl as you would expect.

Interesting note. When I started car before battery replacement it fired up on what was like its last effort. The engine ran but I hads all kinds of lights on the instrumednt panel and the power stearing went out... all while the engine was running. I am hoping the battery was the only issue. It is running like a champ now today after the new battery was installed..

Originally Posted by CHEFMAJIK

Thanks guys,
I took the advice of a bimmer neighbor, and went to Advance Auto. For any newbies out there, here is how I did it. Battery is in the trunk under the removable floor.
Remove battery bracket with a phillips head screwdriver. There are 3 screws to remove. 2 on the bracket and one to the left that acts as a hold down. Remove vent from battery. Remove positive cable from battery with a 10mm socket. No need to take apart the connection that is bolted onto the positive cable. Remove the negative cable. Remove the plastic pull-out wall on the front side, it will make removal MUCH easier. Remove battery.
That's it! You may want to remove battery connections first, They were the last thing I did when re-installing, but I don't know proper battery changing ettiquette.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. For others who want to disconnect their battery, I would strongly recommend that you remove the negative cable first! If the metal part of your wrench were to touch a grounded part while removing the positive cable, it would create a massive short that could cause damage/fire. Removing the negative cable would cause no current flow if your wrench should touch ground.

Another hint: Hook a trickle charger to the jump start terminals under the hood while you are changing the battery. This will preserve your radio/accessory/engine computer settings.

A 75 dollar Walmart battery does the job even better. There are only a handful of companies that make batteries for cars. You need one with a vent. Walmart has it.

Careful throwing out the anyone can change the battery advice anymore. Newer BMWs it is indeed a dealer only procedure because they have built in a million nannies in some of them that have to be recalibrated or the car will not run.

Originally Posted by blau335

Careful throwing out the anyone can change the battery advice anymore. Newer BMWs it is indeed a dealer only procedure because they have built in a million nannies in some of them that have to be recalibrated or the car will not run.

Thankfully, this does not apply to the Z4.

Trust me. No more posts from me on any subject. Too many negative replies.

Enjoy.

The Z4 battery replacement is easy and straightforward as described. If you are a BMWCCA member, you get 20% off which actually makes it less than the Advance Auto price mentioned.

its interesting that BMW has so many things that are innately simple to do but with the engineering of the elves in the black forrest they become insurmountable tasks. I have been replacing batteries for more years that I care to admit and have never had an issue. Does it really have to be this hard?

Guys, my battery gave up the farm and is stuck in the garage. To top it off the torsion spring on the garage door broke. Two of our vehicles have been stuck in that garage. it's getting fixed today so I would also like to pull the car out.

Outside of the BMW OEM battery, can anyone tell me exactly which make and model battery they bought to replace theirs? 2004 Z4 3.0L

thanks!

05 2.5......H6-B duralast pro. from auto zone

98 Z3 AutoCraft 48/91-1

Walmart for my old non M Z 2.5. 80 bucks, had the correct vents and worked fine. Was cheaper than auto parts store versions at the time.

Folks,

I ended up buying a Dura MAXX H6 from Walmart. It was $97 and fits perfectly including the vents. I believe the 94R would have been a little too big.

thanks for the input.

just replaced my battery with duracell group 48 h6 fits perfect and 730 cranking amps real nice.I hooked up trickle charger before replacing bat worked good 2007 z4 3o si thats the one to go with.

Originally Posted by sailskidrive

Folks,

I ended up buying a Dura MAXX H6 from Walmart. It was $97 and fits perfectly including the vents. I believe the 94R would have been a little too big.

thanks for the input.

+1 on the Dura MAXX /group 48/H6 from Walmart. I have a 2006 Z4 3.0si. When I went to Walmart their "size computer" said I needed the H5 which is the same as a group 47. The group 47/H5 would fit because it is a little smaller. Since I measured my battery I knew the H6 would fit perfectly and it did. I stopped by Advance Auto and bought the "computer memory keeper" that plugs into your cigarette lighter socket for $5. It worked perfectly. Surprisingly, Walmart was a joy to work with. When I took the old battery back, the service desk even knew why I was there.

FYI - I believe the Dura MAXX group 48/H6 is Walmart's battery #13. All of the information Group 48 / H6 / 13 will be written on the battery. Also, the vent tube is extremely straight forward. The battery has two vent holes. You plug up the one you don't need with the plug that is supplied with the battery.

When I installed my M peddles I had to disconnect the battery for a lenght of time. It was suggested to use a battery tender on the car while doing this but several had done the install without doing this and the only thing I need to do was reset the windows. I certianly can't speak for anyone else but it was just that simple.

Regards

Originally Posted by Wheaton2010

+1 on the Dura MAXX /group 48/H6 from Walmart. I have a 2006 Z4 3.0si. When I went to Walmart their "size computer" said I needed the H5 which is the same as a group 47. The group 47/H5 would fit because it is a little smaller. Since I measured my battery I knew the H6 would fit perfectly and it did. I stopped by Advance Auto and bought the "computer memory keeper" that plugs into your cigarette lighter socket for $5. It worked perfectly. Surprisingly, Walmart was a joy to work with. When I took the old battery back, the service desk even knew why I was there.

FYI - I believe the Dura MAXX group 48/H6 is Walmart's battery #13. All of the information Group 48 / H6 / 13 will be written on the battery. Also, the vent tube is extremely straight forward. The battery has two vent holes. You plug up the one you don't need with the plug that is supplied with the battery.

I took the advice above to replace mine. It's a 2005 Z4 3.0i with the OEM BMW battery. Lasted long enough for a factory battery, but unfortunately only has 48K miles on the car! I picked up the MAXX 48/H6 from Walmart (currently $109) and did the swap in about 15 minutes. All I needed was a 10mm socket and maybe a phillips screwdriver. The socket will pull all 3 of the required hold-down bolts just fine even though they are also made to accept the phillips. The 10mm was also what I need to loosen the terminal clamps. I swapped the vent plug from the OEM battery to the new one instead of snapping off the one that came attached to the positive lug cover. Once I had the new battery installed as a plus the OEM red positive shield even was able to be unplugged from the old battery and fit the new one perfectly!

I didn't want to mess around with a trickle charger as sometimes the electronics in our cars are touchy enough without me messing with them. All I had to do was reset the clock, radio presets, and the window auto-cinch feature.

This is what I followed for the windows - had to perform it on both windows:
• Open door window glass fully
• Operate and hold power window switch in "Close" position (second switch stage)
• Once the upper end position has been reached, hold power window switch in "Close" position for approx. 2 seconds longer
• Open door window glass fully
• Operate and hold power window switch in "Close" position (second switch stage)
• Once the upper end position has been reached, hold power window switch in "Close" position for approx. 2 seconds longer

Thanks again to all that contributed to the thread. I know mine was repetitive of previous posts, but just wanted to confirm which models it worked for and how easy it was to knock out!