Battery Replacement
01-08-2009, 10:11 AM
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Well I had the experience of my battery dying on me while at the car wash this past weekend. I called the sealer and they wanted $500 plus to exchange the battery. I started looking online for information on how to do this and I found a ton of opinions...from doom and gloom to piece of cake. After reading through many posts on multiple sites and what was described in the manual, I decide I could do it myself. I purchased a Werker 95R from Batteries Plus and was on my way.
Many people warned that the battery needed to be registered with the car or I would lose all Idrive control if I do it myself. I can tell you now that is all BS and you can do it yourself in about 30 minutes or less. I took a little longer because I took pictures at each step along the way.
Here is the link to the pictures: http://gallery.me.com/ratherbeincabo#100032
If anyone has questions, I will be glad to answer them. You can email me at my username here at gmail.com
Marc
Many people warned that the battery needed to be registered with the car or I would lose all Idrive control if I do it myself. I can tell you now that is all BS and you can do it yourself in about 30 minutes or less. I took a little longer because I took pictures at each step along the way.
Here is the link to the pictures: http://gallery.me.com/ratherbeincabo#100032
If anyone has questions, I will be glad to answer them. You can email me at my username here at gmail.com
Marc
01-08-2009, 10:30 AM
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My Ride: '04 530d Executive, all options except sunroof and comfort seats
ECU remapped by ZipTuning to 260+bhp.
What does the little wire connected to the side of the battery do and where does it go?
01-08-2009, 10:33 AM
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My Ride: 04 545i - Titanium Silver/Black, Sport pkg, Comfort Seats w/ Lumbar, Premium Sound, power rear sunshade, Adaptive Xenon Headlights, Steptronic, Park Distance Control, Fold down rear seats w/ski bag, Aux jack, 6-disk changer, puddle lamps...
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Thanks for the write-up! The battery containes no identifying electronics, so whomever came up with the idea of 'registering the battery with the car' was mistaken. However, it is extremely important that the replacement battery is of similar specs to stock, due to the sensitivity of E60 electronics.
01-08-2009, 10:36 AM
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My Ride: 05 545i 6MT
Thanks for the pics Marc!
So the battery caused your Active Steering to spit out malfunction warning?
My AS has been on and off twice in the past 2 months and it has been fairly cold here (about 34 below)
Dealer said they could not replicate the problem and they checked that there's no problem w/ the AS and they said the battery was rather weak.
Define weak? The car started fine.
I can't believe a battery that is still able to start the car will trigger error code and is considered "WEAK".
Autozone carries similar battery w/ 8 years warranty (3 year free replacement) for $139.99 plus tax.
http://www.autozone.com/R,5077109/vehicleI...oductDetail.htm
So the battery caused your Active Steering to spit out malfunction warning?
My AS has been on and off twice in the past 2 months and it has been fairly cold here (about 34 below)
Dealer said they could not replicate the problem and they checked that there's no problem w/ the AS and they said the battery was rather weak.
Define weak? The car started fine.
I can't believe a battery that is still able to start the car will trigger error code and is considered "WEAK".
Autozone carries similar battery w/ 8 years warranty (3 year free replacement) for $139.99 plus tax.
http://www.autozone.com/R,5077109/vehicleI...oductDetail.htm
01-08-2009, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by OverSoft' post='762884' date='Jan 8 2009, 11:30 AM
What does the little wire connected to the side of the battery do and where does it go?
Marc
01-08-2009, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by JAY'545' post='762885' date='Jan 8 2009, 11:30 AM
So did the Active steering reset it self?
Marc
01-08-2009, 12:50 PM
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Originally Posted by advancedlogic' post='762887' date='Jan 8 2009, 11:33 AM
Thanks for the write-up! The battery containes no identifying electronics, so whomever came up with the idea of 'registering the battery with the car' was mistaken. However, it is extremely important that the replacement battery is of similar specs to stock, due to the sensitivity of E60 electronics.
01-08-2009, 12:54 PM
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Originally Posted by salaki' post='762891' date='Jan 8 2009, 11:36 AM
Thanks for the pics Marc!
So the battery caused your Active Steering to spit out malfunction warning?
My AS has been on and off twice in the past 2 months and it has been fairly cold here (about 34 below)
Dealer said they could not replicate the problem and they checked that there's no problem w/ the AS and they said the battery was rather weak.
Define weak? The car started fine.
I can't believe a battery that is still able to start the car will trigger error code and is considered "WEAK".
Autozone carries similar battery w/ 8 years warranty (3 year free replacement) for $139.99 plus tax.
http://www.autozone.com/R,5077109/vehicleI...oductDetail.htm
So the battery caused your Active Steering to spit out malfunction warning?
My AS has been on and off twice in the past 2 months and it has been fairly cold here (about 34 below)
Dealer said they could not replicate the problem and they checked that there's no problem w/ the AS and they said the battery was rather weak.
Define weak? The car started fine.
I can't believe a battery that is still able to start the car will trigger error code and is considered "WEAK".
Autozone carries similar battery w/ 8 years warranty (3 year free replacement) for $139.99 plus tax.
http://www.autozone.com/R,5077109/vehicleI...oductDetail.htm
Marc