fastgirl5

I've read a lot of the posts listed about battery replacement but wanted to share my experience today, the wife's 2007 550 with V8. The 49 series battery may fit but the vent hose is in the wrong location on the one i tried. Did not try the 8H, it may fit too but I did not try and did not check the vent hose location. The battery I used is the Duralast Gold 95R-DLG, exact replacement.

After the bmw shop told me a new battery was $280!!!, i decided to swap it myself. You can look to see what you have before you even buy a battery. Make note of vent hose location, position of battery terminals and nut secure point under battery:

Remove two plastic screws that right rear trunk lining in place. Remove black metal bar that spans battery with 13mm socket. Remove silver 10mm long bolt near neg side that holds battery securely to vehicle. DO NOT REMOVE POST CONNECTIONS YET!!! At this point, there is enough room to pick up battery from compartment and move to the trunk floor. You can look into the battery compartment and see that there are additional nut holes to secure a shorter battery. But I did not see one that has the vent tube in the correct position.

I LOOSENED but DID NOT REMOVE the battery terminal connections at the post. I have a 400cca jump pack I then connected to the connections and slowly twisted/raised battery connections free of the existing battery. I then removed the battery from the trunk. No electrical data or current was lost. I placed new battery in trunk in same position as old battery. Reinstalled new battery, stated car and away I went. Didn't need to reset clock, seat, radio etc.

This is what I did. If there are issues later, I will add to this. This is my wifes car. We bought it used with 50,000 miles in 2010. Looks to be original battery, white in color. If I did it again, I would investigate the 49 series and 8H batteries more, maybe save $40-60. But I will be out of town for a week and dont want the call from the pregnant wife if there is a problem!

5thbmw

Thanks for the post. I see a battery in my future and I've been doing a lot of research. The only thing I'm unsure of is if you need to register and/or program the battery. I read that the car will charge the battery differently... assume it's an old battery which can led to short life for your new battery. Then again, the Duralast has a 3 year warrenty if that happens.

Looking forward to your follow up to see if there are any electrical or error messages. Thanks.

fastgirl5

Over a week later and still no issues. Have not found need to reprogram. Car runs normally.