The BMW dealership told me that only the new cars (guessing 2011-12?) require you to register your battery? Doesn't make sense I thought that once you install the new battery your car will need to be assigned/notified that it has a new battery?

My battery is in the picture attached.

 

the date of manufacture is stamped on top of the negative post. if the battery is original, its due for a change.

 

Battery is original. Going to be changing it soon when I have some free time.

 

So pretty much what I read in your thread was that one of your 5 amp fuse was blown and your battery wasn't registered?


Thanks for the info, very helpful!!

 

During a normal work week, I drive only 5 to 10 miles (16 km) a day. Since it is now summer, I have the following high electrical drain:
- Parked Car Ventilation, just before I get into the car for the drive home
- The A/C fan runs at high speed (Auto) during the drive
- The sound system is on
- I have the CCC unit

Obviously, the short daily drive is insufficient to fully charge the battery. Once or twice a week, I will get the Check Control symbol for a yellow battery: "Battery charge very low. Recharge by driving or using external charger. Automatic electric load will soon shut down!"

Just for grins, I charged the battery at 2A for an hour, and the charger shows the battery capacity almost at 100%. I took it to an AutoZone for their free battery test. After keying in 850 CCA in the tester and running a resistor load test for a few seconds, the battery shows 12.5 volts, and the alternator shows 14.2 volts. It passed all the tests, except for the starter test (which requires the fuel ignition to be disabled).

I charge the vehicle's battery for a few hours or overnight with an intelligent charger once or twice a week at 2A. This battery is about 4 years old, and was installed at a BMW Center under warranty.

Have your battery tested before you determine that it is due for a replacement.

 

Thanks, will get it tested out for sure. But these batteries usually last about 5 years or so.

 

I got the battery tested today and it was reading about 8 or 9v. Getting the battery replaced tomorrow.