[davethefish]

I suppose it has been on the cards for a while...
... not daring to put the heated seats on in winter

i think 11.5 years is all i am going to squeeze out of one battery

i ordered a new battery from tayna, and decided to pay the extra tenner and get the Varta,
as that is what is currently in it.

and used the bimmer link app to an icar pro OBD2 reader to register it.
the hardest part was lifting the heavy old battery out!

i did notice there were no transit plugs in the breather vents,
so used the one from the original battery to cap the opposite end to the breather pipe connection.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by davethefish

I suppose it has been on the cards for a while...
... not daring to put the heated seats on in winter

i think 11.5 years is all i am going to squeeze out of one battery

i ordered a new battery from tayna, and decided to pay the extra tenner and get the Varta,
as that is what is currently in it.

and used the bimmer link app to an icar pro OBD2 reader to register it.
the hardest part was lifting the heavy old battery out!

i did notice there were no transit plugs in the breather vents,
so used the one from the original battery to cap the opposite end to the breather pipe connection.

Literally about to do this myself; although I've gone with Exide as always stuck with them and never had any issues

I took the boot apart yesterday to see what battery was fitted (original dated from 2015) but down to 51% capacity; so thought best to replace it now before the temps start to properly drop

Will pop the new one onto trickle first and then fit it tomorrow sometime

[davethefish]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Literally about to do this myself; although I've gone with Exide as always stuck with them and never had any issues

I took the boot apart yesterday to see what battery was fitted (original dated from 2015) but down to 51% capacity; so thought best to replace it now before the temps start to properly drop

Will pop the new one onto trickle first and then fit it tomorrow sometime

it's pretty simple 10mm socket on the strap above the battery and the clamps,
13mm socket on the battery clamp down on the r/h side, thats a bit fiddly to get to.

i was having to charge mine about once a month as only doing short trips.
battery had 50% before i took it off.

but i never used stop start. so that has probably helped it last so long...

[Bachu1]

This might be a thick question, how can I find out the battery life left on my battery?

[Allworth]

I have recently fitted BOSCH which is made on same factory as VARTA to replace OEM 12 years old battery, it has no tube for discharge too, so got to use an existing one.
On BMWs as battery state of charge goes below certain values some functions like rear window heating, start / stop will be suspended even if the car is running.

[Allworth]

Originally Posted by Bachu1

This might be a thick question, how can I find out the battery life left on my battery?

• use diagnostic software
• use multimeter
• wait for warning icon to come up

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Bachu1

This might be a thick question, how can I find out the battery life left on my battery?

I've got Bimmerlink & Bimmercode on my iPhone; Bimmerlink will tell you what state the battery is in etc

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by davethefish

it's pretty simple 10mm socket on the strap above the battery and the clamps,
13mm socket on the battery clamp down on the r/h side, thats a bit fiddly to get to.

i was having to charge mine about once a month as only doing short trips.
battery had 50% before i took it off.

but i never used stop start. so that has probably helped it last so long...

Yup; took me 2mins to access it. Very similar to how it was in my E39 touring (same location etc)

I've got a decent extension set that'll reach the clamp bolt fine etc...

Stop/start off in mine too; hate that feature

[Bachu1]

Thanks guys

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Allworth

• use diagnostic software
• use multimeter
• wait for warning icon to come up

Is that giving you the SoC, (State of Charge) or SoH, (State of Health)?

Even good batteries can drop in SoC, depends on the driving profile.

[Allworth]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Is that giving you the SoC, (State of Charge) or SoH, (State of Health)?

SOC.
SOH if you do it multiple times.

[TurboWeasel]

I've always replaced them every 5 years regardless, in all my cars.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

I've always replaced them every 5 years regardless, in all my cars.

Many BMW users have batteries that last much longer than 5-years in our UK climate.

I ran my 535i battery to 10-years and then changed. Didn't want to risk another winter.

Garage checked the energy capacity, (SoH) and it was recording 67%. Not bad for a 10-year old 'original' BMW (Banner) battery.

[davethefish]

Originally Posted by Bachu1

This might be a thick question, how can I find out the battery life left on my battery?

heres a couple of links to the part and app i used.

the OBD 2 reader depends on your vehicle,
i think the new G series require a more expensive OBD link CX reader.
https://bimmercode.app/adapters/


but my 11 year old F30 is fine with the icar pro @ £23

you can read your battery and fault codes without buying the app at £30, to make sure your OBD 2 reader is working...
but can't register the new battery, or reset faults without buying the full version...

icar pro for F30
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071D8SY...roduct_details

bimmer link app
https://www.bimmerlink.app/

[Bachu1]

Originally Posted by davethefish

heres a couple of links to the part and app i used.

the OBD 2 reader depends on your vehicle,
i think the new G series require a more expensive OBD link CX reader.
https://bimmercode.app/adapters/


but my 11 year old F30 is fine with the icar pro @ £23

you can read your battery and fault codes without buying the app at £30, to make sure your OBD 2 reader is working...
but can't register the new battery, or reset faults without buying the full version...

icar pro for F30
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071D8SY...roduct_details

bimmer link app
https://www.bimmerlink.app/

Thank you for the info... otherwise i would of asked to come to yours as I'm local to Bedworth :-)

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by Bachu1

Thank you for the info... otherwise i would of asked to come to yours as I'm local to Bedworth :-)

The Bimmercode/Bimmerlink apps are well worth having in your arsenal IMO

This is the OBD dongle I use and it's faultless:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-BLE-i...s%2C93&sr=8-16

Such a better option over the likes of Carly for BMW IMO which you have to pay for, yearly!

I've also got a Creator C410 OBD code reader which will register a battery to your car too; it won't code a different spec battery though

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creator-Bat...ps%2C93&sr=8-3

Again, another tool well worth owning IMO; small enough to leave in the car at all times too, very much plug n play

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Many BMW users have batteries that last much longer than 5-years in our UK climate.

I ran my 535i battery to 10-years and then changed. Didn't want to risk another winter.

Garage checked the energy capacity, (SoH) and it was recording 67%. Not bad for a 10-year old 'original' BMW (Banner) battery.

It's an old preventative maintenance habit I can't shift, and possibly also a bit of car related PTSD from trying to start my old 1980s jalopies on a cold, dark winter morning

To be fair, start-stop is defaulted to off on my F30 so I can probably get a few more years out of it

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

It's an old preventative maintenance habit I can't shift, and possibly also a bit of car related PTSD from trying to start my old 1980s jalopies on a cold, dark winter morning

To be fair, start-stop is defaulted to off on my F30 so I can probably get a few more years out of it

I tend to fit a new battery to any new car I buy; not done it with this as I've had other priorities this year (ie my body has been trying to kill me)

Now I'm all fixed; I'm on catch up

[danb1979]

New battery fitted










What a sod it is to get to the 13mm bolt that clamps the battery down! My fat hands had no chance of getting in there to put it back in situ; long magnetix extension used and that only just nipped it into place

[davethefish]

that gap for the 13mm bolt looks a lot tighter than on my car, mine was a bit fiddly but still easy to do...

[danb1979]

It's hard work; no way I could get my slab hands in there

Long extension with a 13mm socket with blue-tac in it to hold the bolt and soon nipped the threads and just retightened it

[sensible]

Originally Posted by davethefish

I suppose it has been on the cards for a while...
... not daring to put the heated seats on in winter

i think 11.5 years is all i am going to squeeze out of one battery

i ordered a new battery from tayna, and decided to pay the extra tenner and get the Varta,
as that is what is currently in it.

and used the bimmer link app to an icar pro OBD2 reader to register it.
the hardest part was lifting the heavy old battery out!

i did notice there were no transit plugs in the breather vents,
so used the one from the original battery to cap the opposite end to the breather pipe connection.

I notice that the Ah and A on the new battery are slightly different to the original. Did Bimmerlik work okay, as I thought it could only register like for like.