Battery replacement 2005 4.8is
 

I have a question on the replacing of my battery and issues I have had since I replaced it. I just read on another forum that the new battery should be "paired" or synced with the car ? My old battery was the original battery and it lasted 6+ years, so I replaced it about 6 months ago and ever since then I have had certain electrical gremlins, battery going dead, my suspension inactive light. So could all of this just be caused because I didn't have a gt3 hooked up and paired ? seems kind of odd but at the same time it makes sense. If this is the case do places like pep boys and sears etc do this ?

I replaced the battery in mine ('04 X5 4.8is) nearly two years ago without any troubles at all. Before that, I replaced the battery in my 2004 3.0 X5 probably three times over 7 years and 100k miles. No coding no problems. Replaced in my Mother in law's 2001 3.0 X5 twice (or maybe three times) since we bought it new, also no problems in 80K miles and almost 12 years.

I have heard that the newer BMW's do require some sort of 'coding' for the battery replacement. Never had the problem across 11 years, 3 X5's and about 6 batteries. We always use BMW Batteries.

From my fading memory, I recall that 'pairing' is on the E70> models, not the E53s...
Never had a prob on our '01 with/after a batt change out.
GL, mD

Are you sure it's a battery problem and not an alternator problem? Search for SlickGT1 and follow his instructions in his signature on how to unlock your OBD. Once it's unlocked you will be able to run test #9 which will tell you your running voltage. Good luck.

I replaced the battery on my 2004 4.4 the other day - No issues.....

I replaced the battery on my 3.0 twice with non-OEM batteries and have never had a problem. Sounds like you've got something else going on.

Let us know what you find.

Good luck!

Pairing as said above only applies to the E70 type X5, and all newer BMW models.

6 years is the 'average' life of the E53 battery and all the errors you describe have been seen by other members and connected with an 'end of life' battery. At least it's amongst the cheaper fixes!

If you have access to a multimeter, then check the readings from under the bonnet - but at least 4 hours after last engine run to ensure the 'charge' has settled. If it's below 12V engine off, then it's worth getting the battery 'stress tested' to see if it can hold a charge properly.

Ok thanks for the info on this, I am going to play with it more today, that is after i charge the battery, I did have the alternator replaced at the dealer 2 years ago, but that is also on the radar of things to check, i may have to start pulling fuses with the multimeter going on the battery as well. But probably the first thing is to get the codes cleared and start from scratch... Will be in touch on this...

Why on earth do you have to pair a battery on the e70's?

Hey guys just an update, saturday I went out to work on it, and I though for sure that I was gonna have to jump start it because i hadnt used it since tuesday, well not the case, it started right up after sitting for 4 days. I wend and got the coded cleared, and on my way there i have my cobra radar detector with the cars voltage, so i plugged it in before i left and it was registering 13.5 steady all the way to the shop. I got bthe codes cleared for the suspension inactive, and low and behold, it's charging 13.8 to 14.2 on the way home. Now on my way into work this morning my navigation screen was all kinds of funky colors, and turned like a deep red, crazy... could it be the navigaion screen messing things up ?