[Watsey]

I replaced the battery in my F31 (a pig of a job) in June 2020. The original battery had lasted around 7 years, and the new battery is also an OEM Bosch AGM A5S13 95Ah supplied by Tayna.

Over the past 2-3 weeks a 'battery insufficiently charged' warning has displayed on the dash so I've given the battery a full charge using my CTEK. The car doesn't do many miles at all, and is often not driven for days at a time.

The same thing happened today. Low charge warning when I started the engine to take my son to football coaching, so I fully charged it when we got home. Then we had to drive to swimming coaching, which is only a 10 minute journey. When I switched the engine off the same battery warning was displayed.

I'll have to remove the boot lining panels etc and test the resting voltage with a multimeter (and also the alternator output when the engine is running), but do these repeated warnings suggest premature failure ?

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Watsey

I replaced the battery in my F31 (a pig of a job) in June 2020. The original battery had lasted around 7 years, and the new battery is also an OEM Bosch AGM A5S13 95Ah supplied by Tayna.

Over the past 2-3 weeks a 'battery insufficiently charged' warning has displayed on the dash so I've given the battery a full charge using my CTEK. The car doesn't do many miles at all, and is often not driven for days at a time.

The same thing happened today. Low charge warning when I started the engine to take my son to football coaching, so I fully charged it when we got home. Then we had to drive to swimming coaching, which is only a 10 minute journey. When I switched the engine off the same battery warning was displayed.

I'll have to remove the boot lining panels etc and test the resting voltage with a multimeter (and also the alternator output when the engine is running), but do these repeated warnings suggest premature failure ?

Unplug and replug in the IBS just to clean the contacts

Check that it's fully registered to the car as well (if you've that capability)

It could be the IBS playing up though

Do you have Bimmercode/Bimmerlink etc that'll tell you the battery health?

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Unplug and replug in the IBS just to clean the contacts

Check that it's fully registered to the car as well (if you've that capability)

It could be the IBS playing up though

Do you have Bimmercode/Bimmerlink etc that'll tell you the battery health?

Yes, I have BimmerLink and BimmerCode (and Carly, but I don't bother with it any more since it's shifted its focus and pricing).

I thought that battery coding wasn't required if it was replaced like for like ?

From memory the IBS is connected very close/directly to the battery itself. Is that correct ?

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Watsey

Yes, I have BimmerLink and BimmerCode (and Carly, but I don't bother with it any more since it's shifted its focus and pricing).

I thought that battery coding wasn't required if it was replaced like for like ?

From memory the IBS is connected very close/directly to the battery itself. Is that correct ?

IBS is on the negative cable

You register a battery to the car when it's like for like; you code and then register the battery to the car if it's a whole different spec etc

[SkyJawa]

Check for fault codes for sure, you will probably find it’s due to something else failing. Seems a bit early for a battery from 2020 to be dying.

I get a battery discharging when stationary message, but as I have comfort access this is quite often because the handles are starting to go faulty. Typically bad when it rains a lot as the water seems to keep activating the handles. I replaced the drivers side as they didn’t work when I got the car, but left the passenger side alone, got some new handles now to replace those too. I keep getting a Terminal 30F error, and that circuit deals with the car access systems….

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by danb1979

IBS is on the negative cable

You register a battery to the car when it's like for like; you code and then register the battery to the car if it's a whole different spec etc

OK I'll pull the IBS, check the contact, etc.

I can't remember whether I registered the battery when I changed it. From memory there was a pop-up message in BimmerCode/Link which said that like-for-like didn't need to be registered, but I may be wrong. Regardless, I'll check again.

Cheers.

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Check for fault codes for sure, you will probably find it’s due to something else failing. Seems a bit early for a battery from 2020 to be dying.

I get a battery discharging when stationary message, but as I have comfort access this is quite often because the handles are starting to go faulty. Typically bad when it rains a lot as the water seems to keep activating the handles. I replaced the drivers side as they didn’t work when I got the car, but left the passenger side alone, got some new handles now to replace those too. I keep getting a Terminal 30F error, and that circuit deals with the car access systems….

No CA on my 2012 build, but thanks anyway.

[SkyJawa]

Soz, CA was just as an example to a fault elsewhere causing a battery issue reiterating my best to read the codes message I didn’t make that very clear lol

[Eddamoo]

Interesting you're having this problem as I've had similar. Only 8 months ago I replaced the battery on my 2015 car with an Exide AGM 95ah with specs slightly better than the original. I registered the battery as normal using Bimmerlink. I've also had a few 'battery drain while stationary' error messages recently in the cold weather.

I've only checked the SOC once and it's been over 85%. I'm fairly certain the only thing resetting the BMS does is reduce the max charge amount, it simply charges a new battery less aggressively.

Itd be good to get a proper battery tester on it to rule out the car being over-sensitive

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Watsey

OK I'll pull the IBS, check the contact, etc.

I can't remember whether I registered the battery when I changed it. From memory there was a pop-up message in BimmerCode/Link which said that like-for-like didn't need to be registered, but I may be wrong. Regardless, I'll check again.

Cheers.

Deffo needs to be registered squire - it's all to do with letting the car know it's got a fresh battery installed; so it'll charge it accordingly etc

Re-registering it won't do any harm; but least you know it's done then

Are you subscribed to ConnectedDrive too do you know; if you are when did it last do an update?

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Deffo needs to be registered squire - it's all to do with letting the car know it's got a fresh battery installed; so it'll charge it accordingly etc

Re-registering it won't do any harm; but least you know it's done then

Are you subscribed to ConnectedDrive too do you know; if you are when did it last do an update?

I'll re-register the battery - it's possible that the alternator charging is being capped.

I stopped using ConnectedDrive years ago - crap nav, crap 'find my' capabilities, expensive, and being able to lock/unlock the doors remotely isn't a big deal.

Cheers.

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Soz, CA was just as an example to a fault elsewhere causing a battery issue reiterating my best to read the codes message I didn’t make that very clear lol

No problem. It's a good point anyway - there are a couple of things that could/would cause a slight drain (perm wired dashcam, and an MMI box that has a delayed shutdown much like the head unit) but nothing that should be triggering a low charge warning.

[un1eash]

Bimmerlink will tell you when the last battery was registered. If you didn't register the new battery then it's the likely cause of early failure.

[ian332isport]

Originally Posted by Watsey

I replaced the battery in my F31 (a pig of a job)

I did mine yesterday and confirm the ‘pig’ status. I was able to remove the old one on my own, but couldn’t get the new one in without assistance holding the positive connection out of the way. I’m sure the skin will grow back on my wife’s knuckles in time.

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by ian332isport

I did mine yesterday and confirm the ‘pig’ status. I was able to remove the old one on my own, but couldn’t get the new one in without assistance holding the positive connection out of the way. I’m sure the skin will grow back on my wife’s knuckles in time.

It really is an idiotic bit of design (one of many) by BMW.

To do the job you need at least three hands, triple jointed wrists, and skin grafts afterwards.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Watsey

It really is an idiotic bit of design (one of many) by BMW.

To the job you need at least three hands, triple jointed wrists, and skin grafts afterwards.

I swore a lot putting mine back in the touring

Getting it out was easy enough; but trying to get that 13mm bolt back in that holds the clamp down at the side is just bloody stupid

Ive shovel like hands that aren't designed to fit into small spaces; it took 3 extensions, blu-tac and lots of French to get it nipped back up

My E39 touring was much easier and there was bags of room around the battery...

Anyways it's done

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by danb1979

I swore a lot putting mine back in the touring

Getting it out was easy enough; but trying to get that 13mm bolt back in that holds the clamp down at the side is just bloody stupid

Ive shovel like hands that aren't designed to fit into small spaces; it took 3 extensions, blu-tac and lots of French to get it nipped back up

My E39 touring was much easier and there was bags of room around the battery...

Anyways it's done

Exactly that.

Probably another design based on BMW's fabled, and fundamentally wrong, "sealed for life" ethos.

[Tommo3]

Originally Posted by Watsey

Exactly that.

Probably another design based on BMW's fabled, and fundamentally wrong, "sealed for life" ethos.

Sealed for life on a battery means that you don't need to top up the electrolyte, and you don't.

Not sure why the OP stripped the boot lining out to check the battery voltage when you can do that at the terminal under the bonnet.

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by Tommo3

Sealed for life on a battery means that you don't need to top up the electrolyte, and you don't.

Not sure why the OP stripped the boot lining out to check the battery voltage when you can do that at the terminal under the bonnet.

Like danb1979 I was referring to the design of the securing bracket and the pig bastard position of the retaining bolt, not the battery.

Checking the battery voltage at the battery terminals rules out any voltage drop through the wiring loom.

[Watsey]

BimmerLink (great App) shows that I did register the replacement battery after I'd installed it. The car has only done 14K miles since then.

I also checked the SoC before I had to make a relatively short journey. 49% SoC increased to 52%, which at least confirms that the alternator is charging the battery. Not quickly though bearing in mind that the alternator should be able to output a FAR higher amperage than my 5A CTEK charger (which restored the battery to fully charged status ~90 minutes).

Maybe it's just a combo of the cold weather, the car not doing substantial miles, and background drain from the car and the dashcam. I'm still surprised to have seen a low battery charge warning so soon after fully charging it though.

I've got to make a longer journey this week so will check the before/after SoC and see what happens.

[danb1979]

Time for an Italian tune up

[Eddamoo]

Originally Posted by Watsey

Not quickly though bearing in mind that the alternator should be able to output a FAR higher amperage than my 5A CTEK charger (which restored the battery to fully charged status ~90 minutes).

Ahh that may indicate your Battery is dead then. The batteries in our cars are 90-95AH. Just a 40% additional charge to a 95AH battery = 38AH. So your CTEK charger would have needed to take 7.6hours to charge it - probably even more as the 5A may not be continuous.

I would first try cleaning both the male and female terminals. I know our batteries are well protected in the boot, but resistance caused by a bad connection could cause issues.