Another Battery Thread - Help Choosing a replacement

[Best4x4xFar]

***I know ANOTHER Battery Thread?!?! I’ve searched and read pages of battery threads, obtaining lots of good information. But most are a few years old, and the landscape of available batteries seems to be ever changing. So please forgive me.****

Well It appears the time has come…

My wife called yesterday when leaving work, saying she got a message about the “Battery Charge Level Low!”. Manufacture date for the car is 6/21/2013, and it shows as the original battery, so just over 9 years of service seems about right (or pretty good I guess).

Pulled out the Foxwell NT520 when she got home and plugged it in. Shows Battery charge state at 41.02%, with the highest charge state in history at 58.20% five days ago (When it was 40 degrees warmer out). Shows last battery replacement at 0 KM, consistent with it being the original battery, but it lists capacity at 106 Ah (?)..

Set the Foxwell to monitor Battery voltage and Alternator load, and took the car for a ride (was 26 degrees, and car did not seem to struggle to start). Voltage seems to run around 14.6-14.7 V, and Alternator load ran from 28% to a max of around 51%. I’m assuming (and hoping) this means alternator is healthy and battery is just old and in need of replacement.

So It seems hard enough to find any 105 Ah AGM Replacements, much less a 106 Ah. And of course, I found out that Foxwell removed the ability to change the battery type/size in the NT520 software (Bang Head – should have bought the older NT510 I guess). I haven’t had a chance to check the battery itself to see if it is actually labeled at 106 AH, as it was dark last night, and snowed this AM, but I suspect it is not, as that is an odd size. So here come the questions:

1) Assume it really won’t make a difference to leave the Capacity set at 106 Ah, with a 105 Ah battery in place (of course will register the new battery after installation, but not the capacity change)
2) Anyone know if you can even code for a 106 Ah (doesn’t seem likely) or why the Foxwell would report the capacity as such?
3) Anyone’s experience with brands/model batteries (there are a lot of battery threads out there, but I don’t see much current when it comes to actual battery recommendations

So the Original Replacement Part number from BMW seems to be NLA: 61217628740

FCP Euro lists an Odyssey 49-950 as a replacement. Odyssey makes great batteries, but this is only 94 Ah capacity..
Interstate Battery Only Lists up to a 95 Ah option..

This is what I have found for replacements thus far:

Local BMW Dealer has a BMW Branded 105 Ah AGM - $220 (It strikes me as odd that this is one of the more affordable options, what am I missing?)
(Have no Idea who the manufacturer is, of course, believe the originals were Exide?)

Rock Auto – Bosch S6-95R AGM - 105 Ah - $245.00
Rock Auto – Deka Intimidator 9A-95R AGM – 105 Ah - $247.00
Local Deka Distributor – Deka Ultimate 9A-95R AGM – 105 Ah - $367.00 (??)
Batteries Plus - Duracell SLI95R –AGM (appears to be made by Eastern Penn) – 105 Ah - $309.00 (??)
Advance Auto – DieHard Platinum H9 AGM – 100 Ah - $210.00
Auto Zone – Duralast Gold H9 AGM – 100 A - $210.00

Thinking Best Option is to purchase a BMW Branded Battery from the dealer and register it with the Foxwell..

Thoughts?

[Nyc Dito]

You're gonna hear "BMW doesn't make batteries just buy _____ brand."

I personally went with BMW AGM after a Deka failure in my E90 and the E70 also got an OE AGM after what I believe the original one was starting to go out last winter.

As far as registration, I don't remember if ProTool had any issues. I think I do remember a thread about the difference in numbers during registration (105 to 106?), but cant think of where.

No issues on either vehicle for the minimal price.

[heatmizr]

Can't go wrong with letting the Dealer put theirs in for that price. If anything goes wrong they should be there to correct it. And they can't possibly blame you for putting in an incorrect battery (I'm not saying any of those others are incorrect, no clue).

I had a new battery put in my 2012 50i in March 2020 and it is a 105ah, part number shows on the receipt as 61-21-2-353-814, at $209 + tax. (jives with your quote)

[robinasu]

Good price on OEM - just do that.

When you register the new battery you are supposed to let the vehicle go to sleep for at least 3 hours. It's part of the ISTA+ procedure to calibrate the battery system after replacement. If the Foxwell doesn't prompt you to do it, might want to anyway. I suspect a lot of the short battery life issues on the forums are from the overly complex battery replacement procedure not being followed by small shops that just slap a battery in.

From ISTA+:

"Notice! Determining the state of charge after replacement of the IBS or the battery
After replacement of the battery and registration of the battery replacement, or after replacement of the intelligent battery sensor (IBS), the vehicle must be in rest state for at least 3 hours: Only then can the new state of charge be determined by open-circuit voltage measurement."

The charging system uses the resting voltage and programmed Ah capacity to estimate the battery state of charge. Unclear how critical the rest state is after registration, but they say to do it.

[Best4x4xFar]

I had never hear that before, but will go ahead and follow the procedure. Thanks so much for posting it, I wouldn't have realized otherwise..

[Best4x4xFar]

Well, for those who care, I went with the BMW Branded Battery from the dealer. My wife picked it up on her way home from work Friday, and I put in in Saturday evening.

I asked them to pull the one with the latest date code, but was pleasantly surprised to find it had a date code of 12/21 on it, so less than a month old. Resting voltage when received was 12.85v. Perfect...

Took apart the hatch area to get to the battery (why on earth doesn't the E70 have some way to hold the hinged cargo floor open, or E53 did?!?!

Disconnected the negative cable, then all the cables from the 'brick' attached to the Positive terminal, in the hopes of being able to get the whole assembly off to the side, but I couldn't for the life of me disconnect this small two wire connector right next to the flap that opens to access the positive terminal screw (I have more trouble getting electrical connectors apart on this beast than anything else I have ever worked on).

So I ended up having to very carefully wiggled the 70 lb battery out, and the new one into place. But everything went back together without issue.

Resting voltage on the original Battery was 12.35V (done)..

Registered the new battery with the Foxwell, closed it up and left it alone till the next morning.

No issues, other than my numb fingers (it was 21 degrees out)..

The next morning my wife left before I could check on things, and she texted me photos of the DSC and xDrive malfunction warning on iDrive, and to let me know the clock needed to be reset.

I called her to have her perform the steering angle sensor reset (all the way left, all the way right, back to center, turn off car, restart), but she said it had cleared on its own after driving it.

So total damage was really only $201(plus tax) once I return the old battery and get my $20 core back. Still can't believe buying a battery from the dealer turned out to be the most cost effective option

Photos of the new battery, with the new part number visible, if anyone is interested..

[Warmy]

Originally Posted by robinasu

Good price on OEM - just do that.

When you register the new battery you are supposed to let the vehicle go to sleep for at least 3 hours. It's part of the ISTA+ procedure to calibrate the battery system after replacement. If the Foxwell doesn't prompt you to do it, might want to anyway. I suspect a lot of the short battery life issues on the forums are from the overly complex battery replacement procedure not being followed by small shops that just slap a battery in.

From ISTA+:

"Notice! Determining the state of charge after replacement of the IBS or the battery
After replacement of the battery and registration of the battery replacement, or after replacement of the intelligent battery sensor (IBS), the vehicle must be in rest state for at least 3 hours: Only then can the new state of charge be determined by open-circuit voltage measurement."

The charging system uses the resting voltage and programmed Ah capacity to estimate the battery state of charge. Unclear how critical the rest state is after registration, but they say to do it.

What is a rest state?

I'm guessing this is just leaving the car after the registration is complete for atleast 3 hours?

[robinasu]

I believe, yes- haven't found much about it; just that note. As I think about it, I suspect it's just to sync the old battery state of charge stored in the car to the new battery's state of charge. The car probably monitors the state of charge every once and a while to stay current in normal operation, but to be optimal right after you change the battery, they want you to rest the car? I doubt many people do the rest because it's a pretty obscure procedure. We don't hear much about failures soon after if people don't do it, but I like to follow procedures on these things.

[525DA_touring]

12/21 says 12 week year 2021

[Best4x4xFar]

Originally Posted by 525DA_touring

12/21 says 12 week year 2021

Well crap, I should have know that by the date code stamped on the neg terminal of the old battery, wishful thinking I guess..

[135ivert]

Originally Posted by Best4x4xFar

Took apart the hatch area to get to the battery (why on earth doesn't the E70 have some way to hold the hinged cargo floor open, or E53 did?!?!

There is a user on this forum that makes a kit. You can also get one OEM from getbmwparts.com. Not sure why they didn't come from the factory with it installed.

PKE70SHOCK https://www.getbmwparts.com/p-e70-x5...kit-pke70shock

[Best4x4xFar]

Originally Posted by 135ivert

There is a user on this forum that makes a kit. You can also get one OEM from getbmwparts.com. Not sure why they didn't come from the factory with it installed.

PKE70SHOCK https://www.getbmwparts.com/p-e70-x5...kit-pke70shock

This one?

Some bean counter apparently decided it was a good place to save money on a $70K vehicle I guess

[135ivert]

Originally Posted by Best4x4xFar

This one?

Some bean counter apparently decided it was a good place to save money on a $70K vehicle I guess

Not sure, it was listed here on the forum. I guess I overpaid for OEM. It did come with the screws, which was nice.

[smugtech]

I bought Duracell AGM battery and installed myself 2yrs ago. I had the CTEK trickle charger connected at all times. bought it from batteries+bulbs.

[SupDuc]

I just replaced my OEM 106ah battery with this:

Standard Sealed 95R/H9 Lead Acid at O'Reilly, was only $159
http://https://www.oreillyauto.com/d...CABEgLzL_D_BwE
It's same size as the OE battery, rated 950CCA and 110AH.
Installed in it 10min and coded it with Protool in about 30secs.

[My135i]

Originally Posted by 525DA_touring

12/21 says 12 week year 2021

What's the life expectancy of this new 105ah AGM battery? Mine has sticker of 12/19 too…

[heatmizr]

YMMV is the life expectancy.
I've had batteries last only 4 years, up to ELEVEN! (That was a NAPA branded battery but in an e36 M3 with lots less electronics).

OP your 12/21 battery still isn't that old, it will be fine.

[Thecastle]

Batteries are fickle beasts. How long one lasts depends on several factors.

Climate, the hotter it is the shorter the life span and faster the self discharge.
How much you drain the battery, these are starting batteries, not deep cycle batteries. They can’t handle being full drained very many times. When I drain one dead, I usually replace it.
Driving short distances and never charging it fully shortens life.


I live in Houston Texas, and have had batteries last less than 3 years due to heat. I replace mine every 4 years, or if I run it dead as they are in the trunk not the engine bay. Never been stranded. I also leave them on trickle chargers as I have v8s

If you live in a northern climate you can probably go 5+ Years with good maintenance

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...ns-bmw-n63-v8/

[dang2407]

Wife's 2010 1-series needed a battery recently - the one that came out was the original...
My 2010 X5 is on its original battery too...

We are over-achievers...