AZ530i

Searching the archives here, there have been quite a few discussions about the necessity of battery registration.

I needed a new battery for my car (2006 530i) and made a trip to the dealer to inquire about one. After providing the parts guy with the particulars on my car, he asked if it had a 80, 90 or 110 Ah battery. Off hand, I didn't know.. would the VIN help? He indicated that we had to physically look at the battery to make sure. I walked out to the parking lot to inspect it and noted that my old battery had a 110 Ah rating.

It was explained to me that if you switch to a different Ah rating on a new battery, then you need to recalibrate/register the battery with the vehicle. Registration is not required if switching to a same Ah rated battery.

Like many others have said before, the new battery that I was shown had an exide label on it. I elected to purchase the battery from the dealer - but I'm fairly certain as long as you're matching battery ratings exactly, you could source the battery from any vendor.

It does make sense that registration would be necessary if you changed the Ah rating. In days gone by, I raced 1/10 scale electrics and for best performance and battery life, you only charged the batteries with a peak charger and never at an amp rate higher than the pack's stated Ah rating. I believe this would be analogous to the registration process setting the charge rate correctly for the battery in use in your E60.

Hope this info is helpful to someone.