pauliehcfr

Voltage regulators do not tell that the battery is fully charged. They do just what their name implies....regulate voltage so that the alternator does not overcharge the battery. They maintain a constant voltage output to charge the battery and maintain that voltage so it doesn't overcharge. BTW where did you get your automotive certification from again?

turboawd

so if i take the battery out, wouldnt this battery monitor sense the loss of power? and reset to the new battery when installed?

Rudy

Why would it be correct for the car to assume a new battery was installed? Batteries get disconnected quite often during servicing, etc. Resetting to a "new" battery just because power was disconnected would not be "intelligent" at all...

pauliehcfr

It won't reset just because the battery is disconnected because the memory is still maintained in the control modules. The battery sensor monitors the state of charge of the battery while the engine is running. The same way that if you have a check engine light, airbag light, or any other fault, they don't go away when you disconnect and reconnect the battery.

turboawd

Well paulie why don't you tell us do it yourselfers how to reset the module?

steeda106

Dude! I swapped the battery out on my 04 530i my self and there is NO need for any sort of programing or scanning of any kind. Oh and by the way, the batteries that BMW Stealerships use are made by Interstate, so unless you want to go spend a huge buck on a BMW stamped battery, i suggest you contact your local Firestone dealer and purchase the interstate battery for you model vehicle so you can save your self at the minimum $150 - $200.

fryeje

Paulie, I apologize if my ignorance offends you. My fault for not researching before giving my opinion....which continues with the following:

If this sensor is doing any good then it should extend the life of a battery well beyond a typical failure range or it is simply a matter of over engineering with no significant payback as a result. The battery in my car was maintained by the intelligent battery system and factory Certified BMW technicians for 4 years and 43,000 miles and evidently that was not enough to significantly extend the battery life. In the 5 days (repeat FIVE DAYS) they had my car, the (Certified BMW Factory Trained Technicians) did not load test the battery or they would have seen the results that I showed them in 20 seconds. Not to discount your training, nor to excuse my lack of thoroughly researching the topic, I suppose it's a good thing I decided to quit working on cars for a living (started at age 9 working for my Dad) and get my BSEE because I'm obviously not qualified to be a BMW repair Technician as sound logic does not appear to be a requirement. It also does not take an MBA (my other degree) to understand that is highly unlikely (again my opinion) that there is a significant payback in extending the life of a battery to justify the cost of designing and implementing an intelligent battery charging system.

If your fellow BMW factory trained technicians here can not correctly diagnose a battery failure in five days of shop time then is it their training, the poor documentation of the procedure, or just lack of concern for serving their customer? Regardless of the cause, if that simple test surpassed their troubleshooting ability and the capability of BMW diagnostics then there is very little I would trust them to do on a car that carries my family and I. I hope that my experience is the exception not the norm for most customers or your BMW factory training certificate won't be worth much in a few years.

Again, my apologies for not better researching before posting.

bha7176

For what its worth, I had a bad battery at only 12,000 and 1 year. Went completely dead. I called the BMW roadside assistance number and they sent a BMW technician to my house. He replaced the battery free of charge and told me I had to bring it in to the dealer to have the car reset to know it had a new battery. Again, no charge.

So, they did this with no cash from me. Seems it must be required if they are willing to do it for only the small amount they may have received from BMW NA for the reset.

Just my two cents on the issue. Good luck.

fryeje

Car would not start after programming the iDrive with key on in the driveway for 15 minutes. Two other times car would not start after listening to radio while reading owners manual to find out how to program Bluetooth phone sync. battery would charge while driving but would not supply current to load without alternator (car not running). Quick check with a voltmeter - check battery voltage all off. Should be ~12 volts (+/- .1v or so) With only headlights on battery should drop no more than a few tenths of a volt for as much as an hour. If battery is weak it will consistently drop in voltage the longer you leave lights on. If it's less than 10 volts in a few minutes your in trouble and may be on its way out. I would buy an interstate battery and ask Paulie how to reset the IBS. Better yet, if it's under warranty make sure the dealer replaces it, and resets the battery sensor as required.

pauliehcfr

The only way to reset the IBS is if you have a diagnostic tool that supports this function, i.e. dealer equipment or a good independant shop. The sam goes for any other control module. You used to be able to disconnect the battery and erase the fault memory of control modules, but now the memory is maintained even if the battery is disconnected. It has to do with the type of memory similar to your home computer.