Jrosa55

Upon arrival from the sandlot I knew that I had a battery issue awaiting. The battery wouldn't hold its charge. The wife already had bought a battery charging contraption. It does hace the AGM option. I wip out my handy Fluke voltage meter and when to town. I also had a cigarette lighter voltage reading gadget to monitor the status of the battery from inside the car. I took the battery to AutoZone for a free battery check and charging just in case my tender wasn't doing the job. When they went to charge it the device said that I had a bad battery and wouldn't hold the charge. I had them confirm it with a portable tool that he just had used when the battery was on the car. On the car is said that it needed to be charged. When the bat was rechecked out of the car if said that I had a bad battery. He said that sometimes when the battery is checked in the car it would sense resistance and give a false readings. After fully trickel charging the battery various times it still left me with a dead battery in my drive way and finally on the side of the road in front of a AutoZone establishment. I went in there and after going thru varios options I pull the trigger on a Duralast Platinum H8-AGM that has the same size and spec's as the OEM. The car started this morning with no battery drain or problems. Some places want 180.00 bucks to register. I heard that on some threads that a 2009 528ix doesn't need the battery to be registered with the same spec's as the OEM. I"m aware of the DIY coding options but it looks complicated. What are your thoughts?

Duralast Platinum/Battery (H8-AGM) | AutoZone.com

tonyb635

I went with a AutoZone Gold 7 yr battery that was exactly the same size and specs that was on the original battery. I did/think I registered it in INPA but it was so quick I'm not sure that it actually took. I was actually planning today to have a look again in INPA to see if the date and time or register info is there from when I did this. I've had the battery in there now for over a year and have had NO problems what so ever. I know I would not pay for this to be registered. My thoughts are this, I've heard by not registering the battery the life will be reduced due to the charging aspects. My decision on this is I have a seven year warranty on this battery and a five year no questions asked replacement. The last two years are pro rated, if the battery craps out, I'll simply just take it back and have it replaced. The seven year warranty is older than my actual car! The battery at the $tealer only comes with a 2 yr warranty and when they came off break from smoking crack and told me the cost would be 645.00 it as an easy choice for me...

dingolfing

I'm going on 2 years with my non-registered non-OEM battery...

Duperstar

Thanks, I was trying to figure where the dealer gets its pricing. That explains everything.

ImTooLegendary

Holy hell, that's not even petty $tealing, that's armed robbery.

SilberGrauE60

OP: Damn, you took a long time to ask your question! And from the tone of the title, I thought we were going to hear a horror story. Batteries are batteries, as long as specs match original, then you are fine. The primary spec to consider is AGM or non-AGM. As long as you get that right, you'll be fine. PS: you must have gotten a "cheapo" tender. A proper one will also confirm a "bad" battery and not report that it is charged when in fact it will not hold a charge.

Jrosa55

Let me throw the wife under the bus. Your correct it's a cheapo tender the wife bought. She suffers the the frugalities disease. Well if you consider 45 buck cheap. I never seen a tender that tells you if the battery is bad. It would had saved me lots of aggravation and pride. At least one i the 45.00 range. My just told that the battery was charged. Which is true he did charged it just enough to pop the green light on the battery indicator. But of course it just worked to get the car started but not for the long. Viagra comes to mine. Just enough to get me to get me stranded fairly close to the AutoZone. Actually across the street from a Toyota dealer. I asked a service manager for help (begging eye look) in getting back in the road. He got a service tech (gofer) to get me started. The guy was happy with the a 5 dollar tip for 2 minutes of work. After 4 Celicas, FJ cruiser and 2 Supras, I felt good that Toyota came after my rescue. After the the X3 and the 528xi are done I'm going back to Toyota. Not, unless a new Super Supra comes out.

Jrosa55

You just opened a can of worms. Thanks. Not sure if I still need to register. It sounds like a scam to me. Free software download and a 25.00 dollar cable should do the trick. Do I really need a 99.00 dollar cable?

BMWLogger – Welcome to BimmerSoftware.com

Check/Clear Codes,Adaptations,Register New Battery. Free, No INPA/EDIABAS required. - BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum - E90Post.com

Car Diagnostic :: By Product Type :: INPA & Ediabas :: BMW INPA / Ediabas K+DCAN USB Interface - one-stop-electronics.com

Amazon.com: K+DCAN: Automotive

https://www.google.com/search?q=BMW+...hrome&ie=UTF-8

Maini

So the original battery which came with your car was a FLA White color battery. You have just replaced it with an AGM battery. For that not only you have to register the battery but you also have to condition all the computers in the car for the AGM battery.. The dealer takes about 3 hours to upgrade all the computers in the car with the right firmware to work with an AGM battery. This car has a sophisticated and high tech charging system that keeps the battery at 80% charge during normal driving and the balance 20% is covered when braking .. decelerating etc. So maybe the AGM battery is fine without registering and conditioning.. but there is some risk in not doing so.

Jrosa55

The key word is maybe. That maybe word could translate to 180.00 bucks for a BMW scam.
That's the word that I'm trying to define as not necessary or is mandatory. So far all is working fine kinda. I do notice that my A/C is as cold as it should be I guess. I bought the car in the Chicago area in September and left in in December so I din't use it. Maybe all it needs is freon. Know what about DIY registering with software and D-KAN cable. Does it work just like the dealer?