E70 Battery Replacement - DIY

[Dieseldonkey]

Originally Posted by SeanC

I installed that exact battery today. Pretty much the same battery down to the indentations. OE was rated @ 900 CCA, Exide is 850 CCA at 0 F. Wouldn't make any difference here in southeast TX. Both 90Ah, and 160 RC. OE was also an Exide.

Used ISTA to register it. Highly recommend it. I got it for $159 shipped from Rural King. It comes with free replacement for 4 years.

Strong work,
I really don't understand why some people wait until they have electrical issues or get stranded before deciding to change a 5+ year old battery. I went ahead and changed mine a little early to help me sleep better at night especially during winter!

[BoostaVita]

Hi, everyone, I'm coming from e90post and used to own a 335xi. Just changed the battery on my 08 x5 3.0 and compare it to 335xi, it was a breeze (too much contortion needed to replace battery in 3 series' small trunk). I bought the battery from advance auto parts and registered it using Bavarian Technic cable. Works great.

[PGas32]

Originally Posted by SeanC

Used ISTA to register it. Highly recommend it. I got it for $159 shipped from Rural King. It comes with free replacement for 4 years.

Were they running a special at the time? Listed at $213 shipped now, Amazon has it for $225.

[SeanC]

Originally Posted by PGas32

Were they running a special at the time? Listed at $213 shipped now, Amazon has it for $225.

Yes it was 25% off right around good Friday.

[faz]

Just changed the battery on our 2011 x35i (with navigation, heated seats). I came across this thread and thought I should add my information here to help others who may find it useful in future.

The car was on its original battery, close to 6 years old, and even though there were no significant signs of stress on the battery, I wanted to change the battery as I had previously been stranded once in my old E53 X5 and didn't want to be surprised again.

I went with the BMW original battery. I called the local dealership and was given the replacement battery part number 61-21-2-353-812 and was quoted a good price what came out to $265 tax included. (included a 10% discount and $15 core charge that I will get back after returning the old one.)

Although changing the battery was pretty simple and I have done it many times on various cars including Mercedes and BMW, since I still wanted it registered I took it to my indy shop that quoted me $80 for registering it or $120 for install/register. For that $40 difference I just had them do the work while I was standing there and $120 later the new battery was installed and registered.

Some notes:

The mechanic unplugged all connectors before taking off the red distribution panel. I asked why, he said if the wires stay plugged in the connectors or the panel can break and cause issues. If I had done the work at home I would have kept everything connected as it was, but he took them off and put them back in afterwards.

After registering the battery and computer still connected to the car, we got a 'passenger restraining system / air bag malfunction' and the airbag red light on dashboard that was not there before. He checked and then unplugged and replugged the small black connector with two black/yellow wires which took care of the problem. (see picture below, the wires that appear just to the right of the + terminal of the battery, the far right end of the picture, connector not clearly shown in the picture but you can see the black/yellow wires).

I will be taking the old battery back to the dealership to get back the $15 core charge. Things look good now after a total cost of $395.

Below are pictures of:

- screenshot of the registration

- My old battery (interestingly enough, the part numbers do not exist in BMWs systems... I provided them to the dealership parts dept and they couldn't find them.)

- My new battery

[ard]

I just replaced mine a week ago.

Did it in the auto store parking lot, so I didnt have to mess with the core. Used jumper cables to ensure there was always a 12V connection to prevent loss of any volatile settings. About 15 minutes.

Then registered with Carly.

Cost $209.

No other issues, no seat belt issues, no nothing.

Bosch battery. I assume private label from one of the 2 battery manufacturers in the USA. One of which also makes the BMW battery. Looks pretty similar actually, but I didnt take a picture

[faz]

Originally Posted by ard

I just replaced mine a week ago.

Did it in the auto store parking lot, so I didnt have to mess with the core. Used jumper cables to ensure there was always a 12V connection to prevent loss of any volatile settings. About 15 minutes.

Then registered with Carly.

Cost $209.

No other issues, no seat belt issues, no nothing.

Bosch battery. I assume private label from one of the 2 battery manufacturers in the USA. One of which also makes the BMW battery. Looks pretty similar actually, but I didnt take a picture

Good recap of your experience.

I don't have Carly, and given the stories I have read with the FRM footwell module being bricked during programming etc. I don't see myself fooling around too much with programming, so at this time I have no intention of getting Carly or similar.

My belt / restraint system error has been something that has been there for a while, (car showing erroneously that a passenger is sitting on the seat and should have the seatbelt on, during hot days with no passenger on the seat.) BMW couldn't find a fault code so they didn't do much about it. I have a feeling that the black/yellow wire connector that I mentioned above might have been loose to begin with and caused those errors/problems , and showed similar issue now. But after it was unplugged and replugged, the error went away and my wife tells me that she is not needing to put the passenger seatbelt on (with no passengers) in the last two days, so that is (so far) good news.

[ard]

Originally Posted by faz

Good recap of your experience.

I don't have Carly, and given the stories I have read with the FRM footwell module being bricked during programming etc. I don't see myself fooling around too much with programming, so at this time I have no intention of getting Carly or similar.

My belt / restraint system error has been something that has been there for a while, (car showing erroneously that a passenger is sitting on the seat and should have the seatbelt on, during hot days with no passenger on the seat.) BMW couldn't find a fault code so they didn't do much about it. I have a feeling that the black/yellow wire connector that I mentioned above might have been loose to begin with and caused those errors/problems , and showed similar issue now. But after it was unplugged and replugged, the error went away and my wife tells me that she is not needing to put the passenger seatbelt on (with no passengers) in the last two days, so that is (so far) good news.

Lets not confuse the issues: nobody has ever reported a 'bricking' of the FRM with Carly when registering a battery. (If you know of any such events it would be good to post it.)

Carly is- at the most simple use- a code reader. You can add a battery registration, and you can do programming- if you want. You dont need to 'do programming' if all youi want is to register the battery.


Interesting that the seat belt drama was some other existing condition....could be related to low battery charge, cud be related to this black and yellow wire (im too lazy to pull up a schematic to see what they are for,,,,)

[faz]

Originally Posted by ard

Lets not confuse the issues: nobody has ever reported a 'bricking' of the FRM with Carly when registering a battery. (If you know of any such events it would be good to post it.)

Carly is- at the most simple use- a code reader. You can add a battery registration, and you can do programming- if you want. You dont need to 'do programming' if all youi want is to register the battery.


Interesting that the seat belt drama was some other existing condition....could be related to low battery charge, cud be related to this black and yellow wire (im too lazy to pull up a schematic to see what they are for,,,,)

Didn't mean to suggest battery registering would cause FRM issues. Just mentioning why I shy away from any type of programming / registering myself with my limited knowledge in the area, fearing the worst.

[boostedX5SAV]

Originally Posted by faz

Didn't mean to suggest battery registering would cause FRM issues. Just mentioning why I shy away from any type of programming / registering myself with my limited knowledge in the area, fearing the worst.

Isn't that how people sell their product/service to you? Scare you into thinking you cant/shouldn't do it yourself so you can spend the money on them. I'm pretty much scared too but after thorough research from forum members, I've learned to code myself using the laptop software and with carly also.

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