E70 Battery Replacement - DIY

[heizervr6]

I recently had to replace the battery on our 2007 E70 3.0 and after doing some research I determined that the best option was to go directly to the manufacturer of my existing battery rather than getting a replacement battery from BMW. There were multiple reasons for this: 1) OEM was cheaper than OE 2) BMW only sold "updated" batteries that would have required reprogramming that I didn't feel like doing, especially if it was going to cost more for the battery anyway (they now recommend a 90AH and a 92AH instead of the 100AH that my X5 was originally equipped with) and 3) There was nothing wrong with the lifespan or reliability of the original battery to begin with.

The battery that our X5 required was a MegaTron Plus/Interstate Battery. MTP-49/H8100 AH. If you call Interstate directly at 1-800-843-0200 they will be able to provide you with a list of dealers in your area and you'll just have to call each one for the best deal and availability. I paid $237 CAD for mine here in Calgary which was substantially less than the $311.65 and the $366.65 that the dealer wanted for replacement ones mentioned above (not including reprogramming cost). You will want to take a look at the type of battery that you have prior to starting this job to see if you can track down the exact same replacement battery unless you don't mind reprogramming.

My battery (no receipt is required for warranty on these as a serial #/code is embedded in the battery):


This DIY should not take more than 30 minutes and as always I assume no responsibility for injury, death or destruction (to you or your vehicle) - always wear safety glasses when working around batteries!

Our X5 has 3rd-Row seating so I'm not sure if the layout is any different for other models.

1) Flip up the floor in the rear cargo area and undo all of the philips screws that you see (I believe there are 5 in total) and remove the storage/tool tray


2) Disconnect the terminals on the battery beginning with the negative one as usual (I believe they are either 8 or 10mm nuts)


3) Once the battery has been fully disconnected you will also need to unscrew the holders for the battery as well as removing the vent tubes. With the battery out I took a minute to clean the terminals with some sandpaper and electrical cleaner and vacuumed out the residue. I ended up putting on some dielectric grease on the terminals to help mitigate future corrosion issues - I swear by this stuff and have eliminated CEL/MIL's simply by using it on MAF"s, etc.

4) Take a look at your new battery and notice where the vents are located and transfer any parts across that need it from the old battery. Install the new battery in the reverse of removal preocedure.

5) Once the new battery has been installed you will need to "register" it with the vehicle so that it knows at what rate to charge it. It is my understanding that our vehicles no longer have a voltage regulator on the alternator so everything is computer controlled ensuring that as a battery gets older it is charged accordingly). If you do not do this step, and I've read varying stories, you may or may not end up with minor or serious, not to mention expensive issues down the road.

What I used to register my battery was INPA (available in a ton of places online and you may have to mix a couple of different version together in order to get the E70 listed as a vehicle - just look for the missing folder where all the models are listed and copy and past it in there) as well as a $30 diag head ordered from China.

6) Plug your laptop into the OBD port under the driver's side panel and open up INPA


7) Select your vehicle and engine (if you have the wrong one it won't work so just try a different one)


8) Click "F6" - Status Analog/Digital


9) Click "F5" - Power Management


10) Click "F5" - Batterierausch Registrieren


11) Done!


It's all pretty basic and I hope this helps someone.

[jlam86]

THANK U!!!

[fast4d]

can you recommend a source/seller of the inpa software?

I hope it'll work on a win7 64bit system.

[ard]

Might I opine that anyone that can get INPA up and running will not need a DIY for the battery?



But OP- major kudos for the effort AND for showing those that may never do it, what is really involved. Folks that pay a BMW dealer $300 "for programming" need to see the steps above.

[rh71]

Good timing - have an '08 that I may need to do soon.

Was wondering if there are any warning signs that a battery will go soon. Anytime I need to go out (kid drop off or pick up) I don't have a 2nd car available to jump-start it.

[brian5]

Originally Posted by rh71

Good timing - have an '08 that I may need to do soon.

Was wondering if there are any warning signs that a battery will go soon. Anytime I need to go out (kid drop off or pick up) I don't have a 2nd car available to jump-start it.

Yeah, I've been asking the same questions. My low battery signal comes on when I've been coding so I was wondering if it was time for replacement. I've also seen it occasionally when I've been washing car etc. I bought a battery tester, as recommended, and it checked out just fine.

My problem may be that I'm not driving the X5 enough...

[jlam86]

last time, my 08 would do weird things like roll the window down when i wasn't around. convenient right?...

anyway, dealer said it was low battery, and gave me a new one. since then, haven't had the issue return.. so in short, the car will start doing weird things. Sometimes fire up with a whole bunch of lights on the dash,
strangely enough, i get the high battery drain at times, but not at others.

[brian5]

heizervr6,

You've registered the battery but I wonder you have to code for it too (as you're not using original OEM)? I had read about this need to register + code on some other forum (E90?).

The CAS module has function KLASSE_BATTERIE which is set to 90ah_agm (on my '08 E70 4.8i). I haven't physically checked my battery to see if it matches.

There are Wet Cell standard style of batteries and the newer AGM style of batteries (*_agm).

These settings are available for KLASSE_BATTERIE on E70:
46ah
55ah
70ah
80ah
90ah
110ah
40ah_agm
60ah_agm
70ah_agm
80ah_agm
90ah_agm
105ah_agm
wert_00

[heizervr6]

No coding required in my case as I used the exact same battery that had been previously installed by the dealer. Had I gone with the updated part directly from BMW, yes coding would have been required which is more involved that the above.

[brian5]

Originally Posted by heizervr6

No coding required in my case as I used the exact same battery that had been previously installed by the dealer. Had I gone with the updated part directly from BMW, yes coding would have been required which is more involved that the above.

Yeah, you're right. You should be fine.

I should have worded it more as info for anyone else reading this thread and thinking of replacing their battery...