DIY: Battery Replacement and Registration

[BoilerMakerATX]

Hello guys,

I started having "increased battery discharge" message recently and I was worried that it was due to the CarPlay module I installed. Did some digging and it turned out my battery is original (2012) and definitely needed replacement. I checked alternator voltage via the cluster and it hovered around 14v even with all light and electronics on. I think that is good enough voltage to keep battery charged but probably would be ideal if it hovered around 14.5v.

Anyways, dealership in Austin wanted $560 to replace the battery! And even if I purchase the battery separately and install it myself, they still want $195 to program and register the battery! Damn thieves... how can they get away with this lol. Anyways, I did some research and seems like Walmart battery does very well in cold weather! (Farm Project YouTube Channel compared batteries). So I bought an H8 EverStart with 900CCA and 95Amp/Hr ($165 + $35 for BimmerLink) which was almost identical with my original one except that one had 90Amp/Hr on the label. In this case, coding is not required but battery registration is.

In this video I show battery replacement process and registration using BimmerLink app. I also show some features on the BimmerLink app... my car is a 2012 X5 35D with 125k mile.

Any questions, shoot!

Cheers

https://youtu.be/i1rpGywx03k

[X535dee]

That's awesome. Thanks for that. I don't have the need of a new battery but I'm glad your posting this to help out here out as there is not too many vidz online for our specific model X5!

[argento]

Just a quick note to add since my battery is going out now. Last week my alarm began randomly going off after about 3 hours of sitting locked. This week I get the discharge error. I switched my P3 vent gauge to Voltage and sure enough when I turned off the car Voltage immediately dropped from 14.2 with the alternator to 11.6V at off. Trickle charged it overnight and it only maxed out at around 11.8V. I believe when you get in the 10's it'll be iffy to start. So replacing soon…but at least it gave me some warning and didn't leave me stranded. I last replaced it in Dec.2017.

[Movado750]

Originally Posted by BoilerMakerATX

Hello guys,

I started having "increased battery discharge" message recently and I was worried that it was due to the CarPlay module I installed. Did some digging and it turned out my battery is original (2012) and definitely needed replacement. I checked alternator voltage via the cluster and it hovered around 14v even with all light and electronics on. I think that is good enough voltage to keep battery charged but probably would be ideal if it hovered around 14.5v.

Anyways, dealership in Austin wanted $560 to replace the battery! And even if I purchase the battery separately and install it myself, they still want $195 to program and register the battery! Damn thieves... how can they get away with this lol. Anyways, I did some research and seems like Walmart battery does very well in cold weather! (Farm Project YouTube Channel compared batteries). So I bought an H8 EverStart with 900CCA and 95Amp/Hr ($165 + $35 for BimmerLink) which was almost identical with my original one except that one had 90Amp/Hr on the label. In this case, coding is not required but battery registration is.

In this video I show battery replacement process and registration using BimmerLink app. I also show some features on the BimmerLink app... my car is a 2012 X5 35D with 125k mile.

Any questions, shoot!

Cheers

https://youtu.be/i1rpGywx03k

Whats this registration of the battery you speak of?

[Tillman]

Originally Posted by Movado750

Whats this registration of the battery you speak of?

The new one needs to be coded to the car.
If I recall correctly, that can be avoided by buying a new battery with the exact same specs as the old.

If that's not possible, a scan tool like the Foxwell NT510 elite can register it.

[TonyBologna]

There's registration and then coding.

Registration tells the car you changed the battery so the alternator knows and doesn't over charge or incorrectly charge the new one.

Coding is if the new battery you're putting in is significantly different than the original/old one. For instance my old battery was 92AH and my new one was 95AH. No coding was required, just registration.

[gadgetfreak2024]

Resurrecting this very helpful forum.

So I used the "Car Scanner" app on my iPhone and got OBD2 voltage readings in the mid-11 range before firing up the car. The battery's date stamp is 2018, 39th week. During the winters, I've been getting regular excess drain warnings at startup, but that may have been because of a dash cam plugged into the OBD2 port. Guess my question is whether I should proactively replace at this point.

I'd go for the same Walmart battery noted here. Do people know if the Car Scanner app can be used to register the battery? Or do you have to use BimmerLink?

Thanks.

[JellyStyle]

Originally Posted by gadgetfreak2024

Resurrecting this very helpful forum.

So I used the "Car Scanner" app on my iPhone and got OBD2 voltage readings in the mid-11 range before firing up the car. The battery's date stamp is 2018, 39th week. During the winters, I've been getting regular excess drain warnings at startup, but that may have been because of a dash cam plugged into the OBD2 port. Guess my question is whether I should proactively replace at this point.

I'd go for the same Walmart battery noted here. Do people know if the Car Scanner app can be used to register the battery? Or do you have to use BimmerLink?

Thanks.

you need to use bimmerlink or code to do the reg and coding. its cheap, the OBD adapter and you can do it for all your friends in your area.

[gadgetfreak2024]

Originally Posted by JellyStyle

you need to use bimmerlink or code to do the reg and coding. its cheap, the OBD adapter and you can do it for all your friends in your area.

Thanks. I already have purchased BimmerCode (vs. Link). So that can do the registration?

On a related matter, the OEM battery I have is 92 Amp Hours and 850 CCA. The replacement I'm looking at is 95 Amp Hours and 900 CCA. I think I have seen someone say that's close enough to not re-code (but just re-register). Is it correct I'd only need to do the registration with this replacement?

[nuwde]

Originally Posted by BoilerMakerATX

Hello guys,

I started having "increased battery discharge" message recently and I was worried that it was due to the CarPlay module I installed. Did some digging and it turned out my battery is original (2012) and definitely needed replacement. I checked alternator voltage via the cluster and it hovered around 14v even with all light and electronics on. I think that is good enough voltage to keep battery charged but probably would be ideal if it hovered around 14.5v.

Anyways, dealership in Austin wanted $560 to replace the battery! And even if I purchase the battery separately and install it myself, they still want $195 to program and register the battery! Damn thieves... how can they get away with this lol. Anyways, I did some research and seems like Walmart battery does very well in cold weather! (Farm Project YouTube Channel compared batteries). So I bought an H8 EverStart with 900CCA and 95Amp/Hr ($165 + $35 for BimmerLink) which was almost identical with my original one except that one had 90Amp/Hr on the label. In this case, coding is not required but battery registration is.

In this video I show battery replacement process and registration using BimmerLink app. I also show some features on the BimmerLink app... my car is a 2012 X5 35D with 125k mile.

Any questions, shoot!

Cheers

https://youtu.be/i1rpGywx03k

Just wanted to ask if you can give us an update on the battery after a year. Thanks!