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  #1  
Old 09-05-2016, 06:18 PM
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Battery discharged what should I do?

I have a 2007 x5 4.8l, it has a 2 year old battery installed by BMW.
About 3 to 4 months ago I disconnected the battery for about 48 hours as I worked on replacing the dreaded oil thermostat gasket.
I reconnected without "introducing the battery" again, did I need to do that? What tool should I get to introduce the battery if needed?

This happened ... Yesterday my wife noted that the x5 had it's date and time cleared.
Then today as we were driving we had the AC fan slow even through
is was on high. Then 10 minutes after that a clunk is heard and a warning that there was transmission failure. I pull over into a parking lot and then
could start the car the symptom seemed to be a discharged battery.
I had the x5 towed home and put a battery charge on it and now the
transmission and all seems fine etc.

So .... talked to BMW friend and he thinks the car lost it's battery registration and further he seems positive the alternator will be fried and advises I only buy a vin matched bmw alternator at $750?

So what do you all think I should do?
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  #2  
Old 09-05-2016, 08:31 PM
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WOW, he is not your "friend". This battery registration stuff is a hook for some serious $$$ extraction, but VIN matched alternator would be on the top of the every BS i have heard on the subject. As others have described the alternator fails without any warning. Just charge the battery and buy a decent quality alternator and call it a day. A few guys here have replaced it and sure will shoot some advice for what to buy.
Just to add that i have replaced my battery around 6 months ago for a similar(110AH AGM for 100AH AGM) and was lazy to register it, so the car still drives fine without any problems. The battery may have a slightly shorter life, but i need a full capacity battery anyway and cannot wait until it performance declines substantially.
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Old 09-05-2016, 08:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bawareca View Post
WOW, he is not your "friend". This battery registration stuff is a hook for some serious $$$ extraction, but VIN matched alternator would be on the top of the every BS i have heard on the subject. As others have described the alternator fails without any warning. Just charge the battery and buy a decent quality alternator and call it a day. A few guys here have replaced it and sure will shoot some advice for what to buy.
Just to add that i have replaced my battery around 6 months ago for a similar(110AH AGM for 100AH AGM) and was lazy to register it, so the car still drives fine without any problems. The battery may have a slightly shorter life, but i need a full capacity battery anyway and cannot wait until it performance declines substantially.
My bmw friend has stated that if you do not get the right vin matched oem bmw alternator you risk hurting the $2000+ electrics of the e70. So I need to find out are the vin alternators that match the configuration of your e70? My friends claims online sellers generally have one of four possible alternators vin configurations.

My friend isn't making any money on this, and he worked as a bmw service person so one can't dismiss his paranoia so easily.

My short term plan is to determine best tool or way to register the existing battery ... then do that and then measure the voltage when charging. Need to determine correct range when charging.
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Old 09-05-2016, 09:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bawareca View Post
WOW, he is not your "friend". This battery registration stuff is a hook for some serious $$$ extraction, but VIN matched alternator would be on the top of the every BS i have heard on the subject. As others have described the alternator fails without any warning. Just charge the battery and buy a decent quality alternator and call it a day. A few guys here have replaced it and sure will shoot some advice for what to buy.
.

The above post is from a qualified BMW mechanic...not just some idiot on the internet. He isnt even a friend

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron07x5 View Post
My bmw friend has stated that if you do not get the right vin matched oem bmw alternator you risk hurting the $2000+ electrics of the e70. So I need to find out are the vin alternators that match the configuration of your e70? My friends claims online sellers generally have one of four possible alternators vin configurations.

My friend isn't making any money on this, and he worked as a bmw service person so one can't dismiss his paranoia so easily.

My short term plan is to determine best tool or way to register the existing battery ... then do that and then measure the voltage when charging. Need to determine correct range when charging.
Your 'friend' is an utter idiot.

You just need to buy "the proper part number for your car"...not "VIN matched".. Geez


(Edit- I will allow that MAYBE you didnt understand the friend and this 'matched' stuff....)


Since dealers have part number systems that look up parts based on VIN, your friend seems to be confusion the rather simple task of "get the proper alternator for you car" with a vin look up.

I could do it now on line, many sites with vin based look ups (realoem, bmwofsouthatlanta, getbmwparts, etc, etc, etc), get the BMW part number for the alternator and cross it to a cheaper (and PERFECTLY FINE) OEM part (ie bosch).

You do not need to 'register' the old battery. Only when new. The car was tracking the old battery and right now has the correct 'age' and charge data stored. DO NOT RESET IT unless you put a new battery in.

Testing voltages is fine. but given how BMWs manage charge status, it isnt very useful...or I should say, if it tests "OK" it still can have issues.


I know it is very hard to think guys on a website know what they are talking about, and blood, brick and mortar people dont.... Read up here, understand the quality of technical advice in this forum.... you will be surprised.
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Old 09-06-2016, 12:44 AM
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My BMW friend is a man about 30 that claims he worked as a service machine for bmw for 4 years and I believe him. I have seen him replace valve seals in BMW v8's and he replaced the oil cooler thermostat gasket in my e70 when I couldn't figure how one got access. The trick was removing the front bumper. This friend makes a living doing free lance BMW repairs.
So What "my bmw friend" was telling me is there are maybe 4 alternators for given bmw e70 year that match to vins and if you get the wrong one you risk having it's charging characteristics not being right for the particular car. I also had a strong opinion that my alternator had failed .... but I do question that seems the thing i must do is get the battery registered to the x5 and see if it holds a charge? I am not inclined to replace things that are expensive just because i am guessing. Perhaps I need to take my x5 to the local indy repair shop and tell them the story and see if they can simply introduce the battery again and test the charging system?
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Old 09-06-2016, 08:14 AM
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You're not reading what ard posted explained...and I thought fairly well.

There's a difference between VIN matched and what is the right part.

For instance....VIN matched door panel would be what the car rolled off the assembly line with. That is the one and only door panel that is VIN matched. There is no other door panel that meets that criteria.

The "right part" door panel is any other door panel that matches that body style and fits.

Yes, the wrong alternator can screw stuff up. But it doesn't need to be "VIN matched". It just needs to be right. The VIN will tell you what options your car has, and therefore the correct alternator you need. But calling it a "VIN matched" alternator is over the top, or just someone trying to sound fancy that they know how to look up part numbers based on your car's VIN.

I'm sure if you post the last 7 of your VIN, someone here would be happy to look up the part number for you, so you can get your "VIN matched" alternator.
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Old 09-06-2016, 08:45 AM
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The only difference between the alternators(that fit any given engine)would be the max charging current (amps). And because the cars with V8 will most probably be fully loaded there are no 4 alternators available for the V8. As a matter of fact if you open Realoem you may find that there are 2 alternators available for your model - 180A and 220A. Even if you put the other type than the one you have it will not burn anything and it will not burn the alternator itself. Regardless of how complicated it all looks like, the basics are the same.
Not registering the battery in the car will not cause a not charging condition in any case.
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Old 09-06-2016, 08:58 PM
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I have a voltage reader you pull into the cigarette lighter. Drove around and saw 13.9 to 14.5 for voltage when charging does that seem right? When engine was off I saw 12.0 volts from battery. I am not sure but seems to be able to charge and battery took a lot of amp hours of charge to fully up which makes sense being almost totally discharged. So question is did battery become slowly discharged over months? and why?
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Old 09-06-2016, 09:30 PM
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This reading seems Ok, but one of the symptoms of the failing alternator is that it sometimes is charging and sometimes not. You should drive with the voltmeter plugged in for a while to see what is going on.
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Old 09-07-2016, 02:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron07x5 View Post
So question is did battery become slowly discharged over months? and why?
possibly. it's not like in the olden days, where you pulled the key out of the ignition and all electrics were switched off. nowadays you have alarm systems, comfort access, remote receivers etc etc etc, all of which need to stay live after you lock the vehicle and walk away. so given enough time the battery will drain.
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