Battery Replacment

[Ash83]

When do we have usually to replace our batteries? 4 years? 5 years?

Also i heard that dealers charge like $400 for coding? Does the coding involve a BT scanner or something similar that anyone can buy?

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by Ash83

When do we have usually to replace our batteries? 4 years? 5 years?

Also i heard that dealers charge like $400 for coding? Does the coding involve a BT scanner or something similar that anyone can buy?

The 5 year old battery in my E90 was replaced yesterday by my dealer.

Battery cost - $170 (varies with model)
Labor including registration - $180
Shop supplies, tax, etc. - $40

Don't know where you heard $400 for registration (what you call coding) alone...

Tom

[JimD]

Battery life seems pretty variable at least in part due to how you use and store your car. Winters are mild where I life and mine are garaged. I just replaced the battery in my SUV (non-BMW) after 6 years for about $120 (I splurged on a "Diehard Gold). I'm hoping my bimmer goes at least this long. I left a light on inside my SUV for 4 days at the airport or that battery might still be working.

When my bimmer's battery requires replacement I will have tried my hand at coding. I have a cable on order for $100 right now and when it arrives I will put the "free" software on my laptop and try a few things. At the top of my list are having the top go down with the key fob and getting the speedometer to be reasonably accurate. If those things go OK, then when it comes time to replace the battery I will do that too.

An alternative would be something like the BT tool. The somewhat reasonably priced model will only do a few BMWs but since that is all I am likely to own that could be OK. It is supposed to be able to register batteries and is probably far easier to use than the coding I discuss above. I was planning to justify the purchase of the tool with the battery replacement - which seems possible.

Jim

[TMR013]

Mine died shortly before 3 years. Dealer replaced it 100% warranty.
However, I do live in AZ and the heat here is murder for batteries. Rarely do they last more than 3 years.

[bogart]

I didn't need to, but I swapped my 50 lb stock battery out with a 20 lb braille battery. No coding necessary. Works great.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

The 5 year old battery in my E90 was replaced yesterday by my dealer.

Battery cost - $170 (varies with model)
Labor including registration - $180
Shop supplies, tax, etc. - $40

Don't know where you heard $400 for registration (what you call coding) alone...

Tom

$400 for a battery replacement?!
That's way expensive. Yet another reason why some people won't buy used German cars.
Just a battery replacement is outrageous.
Glad I lease. NO maintenance costs.

What CCAmp did you get?

At 7% state tax that's ony about $12.
$28 for "shop supplies"? Nuts.
We have to pay for some orange cleaner and paper towel so the tech can wash his hands.

Germancarpartswholesale.com has a few choices for battery, varies by cold cranking amps.
570cca - $140
640cca - $152
720cca - $170
I think shipping is free, and no tax.

How much for "registration" if you install the battery yourself?

[instalher]

i want to replace mine with a d3100 powermaster..any issues??

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by bogart

I didn't need to, but I swapped my 50 lb stock battery out with a 20 lb braille battery. No coding necessary. Works great.

Interesting.
What is this "braille" battery?
How much does it cost?

Was coding not necessary, or you just didn't do it and hope for the best?

I read that coding/registration was necessary in order for the "advanced", read overly complicated, charging system to properly charge your batter.
If the system were really "advanced" then it would know that you just changed the battery and adjust itself accordingly.

[dtwyim]

Originally Posted by RPM90

I read that coding/registration was necessary in order for the "advanced", read overly complicated, charging system to properly charge your battery

This is also what I read on this forum. Need some form of coding to properly charge the new battery.

Mine is 4 years old and mostly parked in the winter 3 months of the year. I do try to drive it once every few weeks if the weather allowed. No tender. I do lots of highway driving. Maybe that helps?

[bogart]

The 20 pounder is $188 through HPA

http://hpashop.com/Braille-Lightweig...ht-battery.htm

No coding necessary, I've been running it for a year with no problems

When it gets super cold here in St. Louis I swap out to the stock 50 pounder, because the smaller batteries don't seem to like to work in the cold

[JimD]

Coding tells the car one or more things. The one thing it always wants to know is whether the battery is new or old. It charges the battery different based upon it's age. The other thing that you may need to do is to tell the car if you change the type of battery (mat type electrolyte or liquid) and/or the cold cranking amps. BMWs charge AGM (mat type) batteries differently. This is supposed to be to our advantage to make the battery last longer. The penalty for not telling the car what you did (or are doing) is the battery will not last as long. It is being charged as if it was a different battery.

From what I have read, the range of inputs for CCA does not go low enough for the 20 lb batteries. So you could get closer to your battery but may not be able to charge it "correctly" regardless.

If you just swap in a new battery, it will work. The question is how long it will last.

Jim