Successful DIY battery replace, is BMW registration necessary ?

Originally Posted by lcompy

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

Until they catch on and develop a tool to read battery program status to confirm BMW owners aren't registering battery and over/under charging them. Updating warranty to not inlude this sort of neglect.

Originally Posted by itscoo2pyopants

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

Actually 5 bolts/nuts, 2 terminals and the battery holder, and 2 for rollover bracket.

Originally Posted by sunny 2005 bmw

I went to an independent shop. I forgot mention I put the battery in and didn’t get it registered till 3 days. The computer had a fault in it for battery needs to be registered

Hey I live in Ft. Meade MD. wher and whatr shop did you go to. Thanks

The recommended method for battery replacement (without registration) is to keep power flowing to your E60 with jumper cables from another car attached to the terminals under the hood of your E60. You can then replace your battery without your car experiencing a loss of power.

While some have not had issues swapping out the old fashioned way, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Originally Posted by racooper3

Until they catch on and develop a tool to read battery program status to confirm BMW owners aren't registering battery and over/under charging them. Updating warranty to not inlude this sort of neglect.

A pretty comprehensive "energy history" is stored in the DME for diagnostics, evaluation and use by control units.

That may be true, but before I bought my 530, the dealer had installed an Interstate Battery.

to borderchris- i deeply apologize for missing your may 2012 response to my posting about draining the battery in my 04 530i in or around march 2012. you say it is impossible to leave the headlights on in E60s. this is what happened. the morning commute to work still needed the headlights on because of darkness at 7 am. i was rushing to get to my job and inadvertently left the car without turning the lights off. i did not hear the lights on alarm because of my hasty exit. when i finished work at 4 pm i noticed the headlights switch was still on. when i turn the ignition switch on it was very weak and luckily after a prolonged slow engine turning it picked up and was able to rev it up. i drove it at highway speed for 1/2 hour to recharge the battery plus i put it on battery tender for overnight charging. it has been fine since then. this is the same battery that was put on without registering 4 years ago. again sorry for the belated response.

This so called intelligent charging system that needs battery registration.............no other cars need battery registration. Doesn't seem intelligent to me.

intelligent to the "bottom-line".........

Originally Posted by stevendc

That may be true, but before I bought my 530, the dealer had installed an Interstate Battery.

You can use any battery make, as long as the specs. are OK. There are Duralast, AutoCraft, and others that work perfectly.

Originally Posted by stevendc

intelligent to the "bottom-line".........

I really don't think this is a money making scheme on their part. It's just an overly complicated design with little upside.

Some people cite the "enormous power requirements" of the E60, yada yada yada...that's baloney. There's no reason an E60 would need more current from the battery than other cars. Even if it did require more current, that's nothing to be proud of- good designs don't need a lot of standby current.

Originally Posted by vwvwvw

I really don't think this is a money making scheme on their part. It's just an overly complicated design with little upside.

Some people cite the "enormous power requirements" of the E60, yada yada yada...that's baloney. There's no reason an E60 would need more current from the battery than other cars. Even if it did require more current, that's nothing to be proud of- good designs don't need a lot of standby current.

this batt-thing is child's play compare to the new F30 (at least on 328i with 4-TT engine), at idle with foot on the brake and the steering wheel is straight the engine shuts off to reduce emission for Europe and US new EPA regulation. Then when you lift your foot off the brake and hit the gas the engine starts and off you go (well I assume the batt is good of course). You can turn it off but default is always on, what a feature huh.

Sometimes keeping an old BMW is worth the effort, IMHO.

my 2002 also drained battery power, even when it was parked; but previous older models I owned did not draw any power until the car was started. OBD and Condition Based Diagnostics are the future....... and alot of other car manufacturers are doing the same thing. Point of fact, they don't want us to work on our own cars.

But we will do it anyway. The Bentley Manuals for my 2006 5 Series are very good as a DIY reference point.

Hi folks, I need your help. Hi! I have a 530i 2006. Got this Duralast H8-DLG with specs: CC 950, CCA 760, RC 100. I haven't installed it yet. Will this work fine? my oem battery specs is 12 v, 110 AH, 850 A, 205 RC, 850 CC..do i need to register this battery? A..or shall i go with Duralast H8-AGM..help will be appreciated.. Thanks guys!

Crown.... see my post here: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=27

I just changed my battery yesterday.

There are two issues you should be aware of registration and coding CAS correctly if battery is different capacity then recommended.

Registering is letting the computer controlling the charging profile that you have a new battery as the charging profile changes over time. Registering can be done by the dealer or yourself using Tools32.exe, INPA in older models, Easy-DIS and others. If you have INPA, then it takes less then five minutes to register your battery.

Coding is only required if you purchase a battery of different capacity then recommended. I read my CAS module and saw that my E90 had 90ah_agm so I purchased the same. This is so the charging profile matches the capacities of the battery. It is easier to replace with same battery as you do not have to recode and for the person down the road who replaces with the proper battery and does not check that you reprogrammed CAS it could cause a problem. If you replace your battery with a 70ah battery and your charging profile is for a 90ah AGM battery it will decrease the life of the battery. Coding with NCSExpert is a ten minute job if you know what you are doing. Else, buy the proper battery. I purchased a 90ah AGM battery for $150.

There are good tutorials on removing/replacing the battery, registering, and coding on the forums.

The settings available in CAS are:

KLASSE_BATTERIE
46ah
55ah
70ah
80ah
90ah
110ah
40ah_agm
60ah_agm
70ah_agm
80ah_agm
90ah_agm

I replaced my battery with a lead acid and didn't register it. No problems after 5k miles. I just pulled the old one, put in the new, and put some shims in to keep it from sliding around as it wasn't a perfect fit. Saved 500 off the dealer's price. Just saying.

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

Sometimes keeping an old BMW is worth the effort, IMHO.

+1 and Ditto too.

Way to go!

Originally Posted by jsimon7777

I replaced my battery with a lead acid and didn't register it. No problems after 5k miles. I just pulled the old one, put in the new, and put some shims in to keep it from sliding around as it wasn't a perfect fit. Saved 500 off the dealer's price. Just saying.

^^I did this, except for the shims. The e60 seems to have two mount points for the battery retaining bolt so I just moved it to the smaller one. The replacement battery at Pep Boys fit and started correctly. Two months in no problems. I'll pay $100 every 3 years that it kills my battery instead of $500 to the dealer. What a rip.