Natalya

My Dad has 2007 E60 with 35K. Looks like we need a new battery.

Our dealer quoted $600 for the install & part or $335 for just the part. Very expensive.

We found GetBMWParts.com who sell it for $180 + shipping. So we are thinking that we can get it there and install ourselves. The installation doesn't look too difficult. And I read on this forum that they are a good dealer of BMW parts.

But I keep hearing about that we need to register the battery to make it run correctly with the vehicle & some say they did it w/o registering.

Can someone explain what registering does & what happens if you don't do it? I'm confused.

We are pretty new to the German cars (We previsouly owned '86 Chevy Celebrity, '94 Honda Accord, '98 Honda Odyssey, '99 Chevy Tahoe, '01 Accura TL, '09 Honda Accord & now '07 BMW 530i).

It's rather disappointing that the battery died at 4 years old & with less than 50K on it. Never happened to us on any of the prior cars we owned. But it is way more fun to drive. So I guess it's worth it.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

balbs

That dealer is ripping you a new one. Also, I don't think getBMWparts.com will sell it to you since the battery is considered HAZMAT and you can't ship it. I tried to get a battery from onlinebmwparts.com. After I finished the online form, I got an email saying that they can't fulfill my order because of the HAZMAT issue.

Anyway, I had to buy the battery from a local dealer. It was about $225 (110A 850CCA I believe). I installed it myself and had an independent shop register the battery for about $50. The E60 uses the battery very heavily. There are so many things being monitored and settings saved even when the car isn't running. In a nutshell what the registration does is tell the electrical system that you installed a new battery. That way it will properly charge it as a new battery. If you don't register, it will charge it like an old battery (undercharge) which would then cause your new battery to prematurely die.

2007 with 35K...I'm not sure, but some might say that you don't drive the car long enough for the system to fully charge the battery...I don't think 4 years is too bad though. However, when I changed my battery, it was 5 years and 4 months old and still starting the car fine. I only changed it because I was having some weird iDrive errors so I thought my battery might be getting old and changing it would fix it. But that's another story.

balbs

BTW, you may see people saying to just get a battery from Walmart and don't bother with the registration. To me, registration is there for a reason and OEM battery would give me piece of mind. After all, like I mentioned, my battery lasted more than 5 years. I've used Autozone batteries that only last 2 or 3 years.

balbs

Oh, and Welcome to the forum!

Natalya

Thanks Balbs. I guess I will have to do more research on this. I thought that deal with the online shop might be too good to be true. I e-mailed them asking if they can ship. I guess we will see. I will make sure we register the battery when we get it. Will deffinately install it ourselves as that seems like a rip off to pay $600 for replacing the battery. And we will deffinately go with BMW battery. I refuse to use any aftermarket parts on our cars. Because you just never know. Thanks again for quick response.

Natalya

Thanks for the welcome Balbs.

lightfytr

Im one of the guys who will say Wal Mart and forget the registration. Simple math... first off, not one person has posted anything concrete showing a negative side to not registering. Second BMW battery comes with little to no warranty for over $250 bucks. Wal Mart battery is $80-90 bucks and comes with a 7 year pro rated no questions asked warranty. I can only speak for myself and I have had my Wal Mart battery in my 2007 for around a year, no probs. Im riding with Wal Mart... (unless I find out different)

black550_m5sport

lightfytr, are you suggesting that BMW inflates the price of their branded battery and invented this registration process as a means to extort extract more revenue from their customers?

I say nonsense!

For the OP, I would suggest ordering the part from your trusted indy and having them "configure" it.

lightfytr

I would never say that! Really tho, I think some cars which have probably had a bad or declining battery for a while may be the ones who need a registration. In my case, my car didnt start one day and I changed it the next. Not 100% sure if how long it may have been declining but I was on the safe side and changed the battery. No probs since. I really wouldve got it registered if I found anything someone could have shown me that it was necessary. If it truly affects the lifespan of the battery well guess what? Wal Mart will replace it!!! BMW wouldve told me to go kick rocks!

Mr.PC

If your car is still in warranty (you say 4 years, is it exactly four or more since delivery date?) you might press the dealer to replace it under warranty. I had my battery go shortly before the 4 years expired and the dealer (BMW of Manhattan) replaced it free. This was quite generous, as most battery warranties will be pro-rated. Even if pro-rated, you're better off.