mark_hk

Went to start my car today.... walked up to my car... pressed my key fob to unlock and the car didnt react... clicked it few more times....nothing happened. Opened my front door with the key, and put it in ignition with no response.... Battery completely dead.

Has this happened to anyone else? I had used the car and everything was working fine 2 days ago - although i recall my HID front light flickering a bit??... I had also just installed HID fogs too... would it be a bad install? some short circuit? It was raining after i installed the HID's...

JerseyGeorge

FNC,

That's BS......BMW would have us believe they're the only option we have for replacement! There's no computer chip or communication device in batteries that BMW needs to activate on our cars!

lospice1

+1...there have been many people who have changed the battery without registering it. Just make sure you are replacing it with an equal cca battery!

W

AP Sales

When I replaced my (original) battery a few months ago at 112,000 miles I just went to a local shop and had a good battery installed for $200. I did not have it registered by the BMW service - I figured this registration thing was a load of BS. So, now at 124,000 my idrive is showing "high battery discharge." I think without the battery registration, I have toasted my battery. If it tests bad, then I'll have it replaced by the battery warranty and then take it to BMW for registration.

By the way, battery life is usually more a function of time than miles from my experience.

w5lx

From Motor Magazine:
Foreign Service

By Dan Marinucci | June 2009

"Vehicles are becoming increasingly self-aware with each passing year. It?s no longer enough to replace a battery when necessary. Many late-model BMWs also need to know when you replaced it.

Last month I discussed a timely trend in higher-end European electrical systems, the absorbed glass-mat (AGM) battery. This time I?ll focus on another one, relearning BMW charging systems after battery replacement. You read correctly?relearning the charging system!

First I?ll recap the AGM battery information. An AGM battery is more damp than wet inside because it isn?t flooded with liquid electrolyte like a traditional battery is. Also, AGMs are designed to be very low-gassing batteries. These features make them especially well-suited for locations inside the vehicle. Some higher-end European vehicles have an AGM battery somewhere inside the vehicle powering on-board electronics while a separate battery under the hood handles starting duties. Finally, fully recharging an AGM battery safely and quickly requires an AGM-capable charger.

Okay, let?s get back to those late-model BMW charging systems. First, the electrical system is so sophisticated that it tailors charging as closely as possible to both the type and the age of the battery. There?s a computer, which goes by several different names, that controls the alternator. Whenever you replace a battery, this computer really needs to know because it doesn?t charge a fresh battery the same way it charges an older battery. What?s more, this computer needs to know if you?ve updated a vehicle from a conventional battery to an AGM type; it charges the AGM differently than a traditional battery.

Second, the process of updating this alternator-control computer is called battery registration. You don?t absolutely have to register every new battery you install in these late-model BMWs. Ignoring the registration process after replacing a battery won?t trigger a DTC or turn on the MIL. However, a savvy BMW specialist warned me that skipping the battery registration process can dramatically shorten the life of a battery in these vehicles, be it an AGM or a conventional battery. For instance, he?s diagnosed cars on which a new battery didn?t even last a year because it wasn?t registered! The charging system could shorten the life of an unregistered battery by charging it too aggressively when it?s cold; it also could shorten the life of an unregistered AGM battery by overcharging it, he said. To say the least, premature battery failure can be aggravating for the customer and embarrassing for you and your shop.

Third, several problems can cause premature battery failure. On a late-model BMW, skipping battery registration can be one of them. Don?t gamble; always register a new battery on any BMW equipped with MOST Bus?a single-line, fiber-optic ring network BMW introduced in the early 2000s. Typically, the easiest way to identify a vehicle equipped with MOST Bus is to look for iDrive. In turn, the quickest way to spot iDrive is to look for the fancy LCD control display screen up on the instrument panel. Among other things, this display screen shows the driver climate control functions, navigational info, entertainment system controls, etc. (To my knowledge, the lone exception to this is the 2006 3-series cars without iDrive, which still use the MOST Bus network.)

Here?s when MOST Bus appeared on the most common BMWs your shop would encounter:

?2002 for 7-series (E65/66 vehicle platforms);

?2003 for 6-series (E63/54 vehicle platforms);

?2004 for 5-series (E60/61 vehicle platforms);

?2006 for 3-series (E90/91/92/93 vehicle platforms);

?2007 for X5 series (E70 vehicle platform);

?2008 for X6 series (E71 vehicle platform).

Fourth, registering a battery is easy but it requires a scan tool that communicates effectively with these BMWs. If you want to service more of these vehicles, shop for scanner updates or a new scan tool that will do the job. The screen capture on page 10 from an AutoLogic scan tool is an example of one of those you?d see during the battery registration. You also could look up battery history on this same screen. Notice that the first entry is ?Last battery replacement (km)?and the reading is 0.00. Meanwhile, all the remaining entries are the same value of 528,392 km (about 328,000 mi.). These readings show that if someone has replaced this car?s battery, he did not register it.

One BMW specialist pointed out to me that sometimes you can quickly check to see if the car?s got the original battery in it. He said that BMW traditionally stamps the battery?s manufacturing date on the negative terminal. The date stamp shows the week first, then the year. For instance, ?42 05?indicates the 42nd week of 2005; ?33 07?would mean the 33rd week of 2007. If the date stamp on the negative battery terminal is fairly close to the vehicle build date, then it?s extremely likely that it?s the original battery.

Look at the screen capture again. The BMW ace told me that if the battery had been replaced and registered correctly, the number in the top box or window would be 1.00. Next, the second entry there would be the kilometer (km) reading when the new battery was registered. Then, the rest of the entries in those little windows would show the vehicle?s then-current km (odometer) reading.

Last but not least, you need to know where to find the registration process within the BMW system. A BMW-capable scan tool initially shows a variety of windows or boxes on the screen. Sometimes you?ll see a window labeled BATTERY REGISTRATION REPLACEMENT; that choice is a no-brainer. On the 7-series cars, choose the Power Module (PM) window to access battery registration. Otherwise, the most common way to reach the battery registration is through the window labeled DME (Digital Motor Electronics). Just choose the appropriate window and then follow all the prompts.

Hopefully, these basics will save you some headaches. After all, customer expectations here are likely to be much greater than they are for many other vehicles you repair. If nothing else, you know what?s required if you decide to subcontract this task to a BMW specialist."

EuroCarFan

Thanks for the info w5Ix. That's a useful post.

My car is still at the dealer and has been there since last Thu. They just called me today and now say it's a problem with the IBS (no idea what that stands for) which is located inside the positive cable to the battery. Apparently it's sending the wrong signal to the computer about the charging rate of the battery.

They also asked if I changed the battery which I never did and I asked my SA what makes him think so and he said the battery looks to be an updated model. Wonder if they looked at the date stamp mentioned above. I never changed the battery though so that's a bit odd.

Oh well..hope this latest diagnosis is the actual problem and will be repaired by next Tue.

I miss my car.....

billeul

The IBS is the negative battery cable. The IBS is located under a vent above the battery in the trunk. I have read that the vent can allow moisture to accumulate and drip on the IBS, thus damaging the IBS. BMW redesigned the IBS in late 2006 to make it moisture proof. If anyone else has had a battery discharge issue blamed on the IBS or if you can substantiate what I read and stated above, please chime in.

Thanks

EuroCarFan

Hmm...I was sure my SA said it was the positive cable so I'll ask him again tomorrow. My car's also a mid-year build 2006 so I assume the IBS is moisture proof?

530inOK

More information on the IBS. Hopefully it's the culprit causing your issues


Intelligent battery sensor IBS
Functional description, see BMW Technology:

TIS -> Document -> SI Technology -> 61 07 03029

Brief description

The IBS is a mechatronic component for monitoring the battery condition. The IBS is secured and connected to the negative terminal of the battery. The power supply for the IBS is fed across a separate cable. For data transmission, the IBS is connected to the DME (Digital Engine Electronics) or DDE (Digital Diesel Electronics) via the BSD (bit-serial data interface).

EuroCarFan

Thanks for the info guys. Negative terminal it is so either my SA said it wrong or I heard him wrong. I'm pretty sure it was his fault. haha

Supposed to find out tomorrow if this fixes my problem. My car's been in the shop for about 24 out of the last 30 days now.