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      02-14-2013, 06:00 PM   #199
faz
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Just sharing my battery change experience...

2007 328i with Navigation, comfort access, xenon lights. The orig battery (90Ah, 900 CCA, the big black one) was showing some sign of wear (the starts would get longer/weaker on multiple short distance stop/start scenarios) and I thought it was time to change the battery anyway (5 1/2 years old.)

Called around, did some research here and there. Autozone had 850 CCA version for $159+tax. BMW dealership had the original AGM 92AH (Excide, BMW part number 61217639053 listed for $290), offered to me for $265+tax ($290 out the door.)

For $100 more, I decided to go with the orig BMW. This was my personal preference in this case, really. I have not been shy of using other brands or aftermarket batteries in my previous cars and motorcycles.

Bought the battery and did the install myself (took me about 20 mins start to finish. This wasn't an internet 20 minutes that in reality takes hours. Started in my garage and opened the trunk at 9:30 am and was done at 9:50 rolling out to work.) It is a heavy battery (the large black one in my case), so keep that in mind if you are not comfortable with heavy lifting. Overall the install was as easy as other batteries that I had done in the past, and everything went clean without any issues. I took some pictures along the way that I share below.

Note in the first post of this thread in Page 1 [[ thank you OP for starting this thread and sharing detailed instructions and pictures, btw ]] the pictures shows a foam pad spacer which doesn't exist in my case, since my battery is the bigger size and fills up the space on its own.

Did some research on this whole registration thing, and decided to go ahead with it at a local independent shop that offered to do it for $65. So basically $355 later, with me doing the install, the battery is new and I am happy with peace of mind that the job was done right (especially since this is my wife's car, and she drives it most of the time, so the extra peace of mind is worth the $$$ difference for me.)

Here are some pics:

New battery: It is rated 92AH and 850 CCA, vs. the old battery's 90AH and 900 CCA. This is what BMW sells now, so they don't have the 900 CCA anymore (as per BMW dealership.)




Old battery in housing:





Old battery out of housing:



The empty housing, you can see the vent pipe (grey) up top:



New battery put in place:



New battery connected:



All ready to go:


Last edited by faz; 02-14-2013 at 06:05 PM..
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      02-20-2013, 09:15 AM   #200
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guys, I have 2006 325i and my battery died yesterday, so today I went to the dealer in the morning and followed this DIY guide, great one, by the way, and when I was done I noticed this wire hanging that I did not notice when I disassembled everything and took the battery out. Anyone know if this was just hanging free for something I do not have or it actually plugs in somewhere? Here is a pic. I drove the car and everything seems to be fine..

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      02-20-2013, 09:28 AM   #201
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaneraiLover
guys, I have 2006 325i and my battery died yesterday, so today I went to the dealer in the morning and followed this DIY guide, great one, by the way, and when I was done I noticed this wire hanging that I did not notice when I disassembled everything and took the battery out. Anyone know if this was just hanging free for something I do not have or it actually plugs in somewhere? Here is a pic. I drove the car and everything seems to be fine..

Are you not registering the new batt?
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      02-20-2013, 02:05 PM   #202
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sounds like the registration business is only necessary for the AGM batteries. I'll give it a shot with another lead acid battery, the H8, i suppose, and forego picking up the BT tool. I'm sure that the techs would appreciate being able to look up the age of the battery from teh computer, but it doesn't really sound like the lead batteries are that sensitive and there should be no issues with slight differences in the charging rates.
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      02-20-2013, 02:12 PM   #203
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleBlue View Post
Are you not registering the new batt?
no, I am not.. I called my BWM rep I used to take my 545 to when I had free maint on it, he told me not to worry about it, I should be fine with this one..

and I found a post on 1st page of the thread of that wire, so it is what it is, so I hid the cable, no one has any idea why it is there it looks like..
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      02-20-2013, 02:16 PM   #204
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Great work you guys and thanks for sharing. Does anyone here knows why some harnesses on top of the batteries are RED and some black? Mine is black.

Anyways I am very ancious about replacing my battery but mine keeps going strong after 7yrs well, I should not say that. I get slow cranks and low battery warning light most of the times but not dying on me just yet. I realized I need rear brakes and rotors too. So hopefully my battery can hold on till next month. Cheers!
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      02-20-2013, 02:20 PM   #205
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaneraiLover View Post
guys, I have 2006 325i and my battery died yesterday, so today I went to the dealer in the morning and followed this DIY guide, great one, by the way, and when I was done I noticed this wire hanging that I did not notice when I disassembled everything and took the battery out. Anyone know if this was just hanging free for something I do not have or it actually plugs in somewhere? Here is a pic. I drove the car and everything seems to be fine..

My battery is the same as yours? same color, same specs and part number. How much did you pay for it?
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      02-20-2013, 04:14 PM   #206
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoRomeo View Post
Great work you guys and thanks for sharing. Does anyone here knows why some harnesses on top of the batteries are RED and some black? Mine is black.

Anyways I am very ancious about replacing my battery but mine keeps going strong after 7yrs well, I should not say that. I get slow cranks and low battery warning light most of the times but not dying on me just yet. I realized I need rear brakes and rotors too. So hopefully my battery can hold on till next month. Cheers!
Well, mine was doing that for awhile until we had a cold night in FL, went down in a 30s, the following day it dies at work.. hahaha., had to jump it.. so be carefull, mine had weird starting issue even after I go to 7/11 lets say, turn the car off, go in and out and had some slow hesitating starts, i even thought it was the starter, nope it was my Duralcel.. hahaha
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      02-20-2013, 04:15 PM   #207
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoRomeo View Post
My battery is the same as yours? same color, same specs and part number. How much did you pay for it?
I picked it up under car dealer discount for $145 out the door, otherwise list was $167+ tax..
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      02-20-2013, 04:46 PM   #208
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaneraiLover View Post
I picked it up under car dealer discount for $145 out the door, otherwise list was $167+ tax..
Thank you! Funny enough I also have a friend who gets this kind of discount and offered me $143.00 Not bad at all of OEM battery. Even though is the same battery as we had originally, it still requires registration right? Did you register yours?
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      02-20-2013, 04:48 PM   #209
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaneraiLover View Post
Well, mine was doing that for awhile until we had a cold night in FL, went down in a 30s, the following day it dies at work.. hahaha., had to jump it.. so be carefull, mine had weird starting issue even after I go to 7/11 lets say, turn the car off, go in and out and had some slow hesitating starts, i even thought it was the starter, nope it was my Duralcel.. hahaha
Yeah same here. Lately we had some cold winter weather here, well not like east coast but cold for us here mid 40's at night and yes I would get slow cranks. I will go pick one up asap. Cheers!
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      02-20-2013, 06:29 PM   #210
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoRomeo View Post
Thank you! Funny enough I also have a friend who gets this kind of discount and offered me $143.00 Not bad at all of OEM battery. Even though is the same battery as we had originally, it still requires registration right? Did you register yours?
no, I will not register it, as per my BMW Service Adviser, he said not to worry about it..
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      02-21-2013, 06:33 PM   #211
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Originally Posted by jaredlevy View Post
Wish I was brave enough to do this DIY myself...woke up Wednesday morning to a 13 degree New York morning, but my car decided it was going to sleep in. Rest in peace original battery, stealership claimed it has less than 5% charge in it and was WAY below whats need to operate a car.

Replacement battery + labor + tax...$509.
What a rip off !
I bought a Bosch OEM spec and fitted it myself,
no registration neeeded
Battery was £80-($110)
Job Done
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      02-21-2013, 06:38 PM   #212
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[QUOTE=f1fan107;12947632]I'd like to provide my input as I think it may help some of you. I came to this forum because my 2006 E90 330i (manual transmission) was not turning over as well as it once was and I thought the battery was beginning to go. One day a couple of weeks ago (as it is getting colder) I noticed that the rear defogger/de-icer was not working. I also was encountering problems with the HVAC fan speed. I lost the fastest three speeds and it also began to sporadically change speeds, especially when I was slowing for a stop sign or red light. Trying to gain information to help me address it, I began at the beginning of these posts an was trying to decide whether I should replace the battery myself and gamble on the registration or if I should suck it up, go to the dealer, cough up the dough, and hope the battery would solve the other two issues, thus being money (very) well spent. Then I read post #118. After that, I decided to go to the local dealership and have them install and register a new battery. It cost about $350. While waiting for it this past Saturday morning, I sat in a comfortable waiting area and next to the show room with the new Lime Rock Edition M3 and the new M5, among other awesome cars. After a couple of hours, I paid and left. When I got in the car the first thing I checked was the HVAC blower. It worked perfectly. I cannot say that I have tried the rear defogger yet because I haven't needed to but I am confident it will work fine. When you think about trying to save maybe $200 to do this one yourself and then you think about the cost of all the other maintenance, let alone tires, for this car, I personally conclude it was money very well spent. To me spending money on maintenance feels much better than spending money on repairs.
Nice one!
You mentioned that your car wasn't starting as well as it should.
Was it better once you changed the battery?
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      02-21-2013, 07:29 PM   #213
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[QUOTE=bbstoke]
Quote:
Originally Posted by f1fan107 View Post
I'd like to provide my input as I think it may help some of you. I came to this forum because my 2006 E90 330i (manual transmission) was not turning over as well as it once was and I thought the battery was beginning to go. One day a couple of weeks ago (as it is getting colder) I noticed that the rear defogger/de-icer was not working. I also was encountering problems with the HVAC fan speed. I lost the fastest three speeds and it also began to sporadically change speeds, especially when I was slowing for a stop sign or red light. Trying to gain information to help me address it, I began at the beginning of these posts an was trying to decide whether I should replace the battery myself and gamble on the registration or if I should suck it up, go to the dealer, cough up the dough, and hope the battery would solve the other two issues, thus being money (very) well spent. Then I read post #118. After that, I decided to go to the local dealership and have them install and register a new battery. It cost about $350. While waiting for it this past Saturday morning, I sat in a comfortable waiting area and next to the show room with the new Lime Rock Edition M3 and the new M5, among other awesome cars. After a couple of hours, I paid and left. When I got in the car the first thing I checked was the HVAC blower. It worked perfectly. I cannot say that I have tried the rear defogger yet because I haven't needed to but I am confident it will work fine. When you think about trying to save maybe $200 to do this one yourself and then you think about the cost of all the other maintenance, let alone tires, for this car, I personally conclude it was money very well spent. To me spending money on maintenance feels much better than spending money on repairs.
Nice one!
You mentioned that your car wasn't starting as well as it should.
Was it better once you changed the battery?
Same symptoms I had with rear defogger working intermittently and HVAC fan blowing at different speeds, it was the battery. BUT! The dealership refused to believe it was the battery at first claiming that the battery voltage was fine after I told them that I've read online forums and sounds like the battery, so since I was Still covered under CPO, they first said the rear window seem to be the culprit, so they changed it and guess what, it wasn't! After a couple junction box replacements still nothing, climate control unit and still nothing, so next was the fuse panel! They replaced the entire fuse panel behind the glove box and it worked. I believe while working on the car for the week the battery was kept on a charger and when I picked it up ($5,500 later that CPO covered) everything worked great, six months later I took it back for rear defogger not working again and only then they said it was the battery shutting down since it was weak, $375 later everything has been good since.
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      02-22-2013, 04:35 AM   #214
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[QUOTE=LittleBlue;13521493]
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbstoke
Same symptoms I had with rear defogger working intermittently and HVAC fan blowing at different speeds, it was the battery. BUT! The dealership refused to believe it was the battery at first claiming that the battery voltage was fine after I told them that I've read online forums and sounds like the battery, so since I was Still covered under CPO, they first said the rear window seem to be the culprit, so they changed it and guess what, it wasn't! After a couple junction box replacements still nothing, climate control unit and still nothing, so next was the fuse panel! They replaced the entire fuse panel behind the glove box and it worked. I believe while working on the car for the week the battery was kept on a charger and when I picked it up ($5,500 later that CPO covered) everything worked great, six months later I took it back for rear defogger not working again and only then they said it was the battery shutting down since it was weak, $375 later everything has been good since.
Did it start better though ? lol
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      02-22-2013, 07:08 AM   #215
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The car always started fine with no bad symptoms, it's just that other electrical components were not getting enough juice as that's how their designed from what I am being told . Electrical components shut down so there's enough juice to start the engine.
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      02-22-2013, 06:56 PM   #216
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Originally Posted by LittleBlue View Post
The car always started fine with no bad symptoms, it's just that other electrical components were not getting enough juice as that's how their designed from what I am being told . Electrical components shut down so there's enough juice to start the engine.
Ahhh I see
Thanks for that
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      02-24-2013, 11:51 PM   #217
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Good DIY, thanks.
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      02-28-2013, 04:13 PM   #218
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaneraiLover View Post
no, I am not.. I called my BWM rep I used to take my 545 to when I had free maint on it, he told me not to worry about it, I should be fine with this one..

and I found a post on 1st page of the thread of that wire, so it is what it is, so I hid the cable, no one has any idea why it is there it looks like..
I also had the same wire which I left untouched. These could be pre-wiring for some option that is not populated in our cars.
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      03-02-2013, 12:50 PM   #219
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Electrical System Dead after One Week w/O Battery?

Hi,

I decided to change the battery in my 2006 330i myself, and made a number of mistakes, including closing the trunk with the battery disconnected and having to use jumper cables to power the car to open the trunk. Late on a Sunday, I discovered I didn't have the elbow connector needed for the vent hose and decided to close the trunk and finish the job this weekend.

Now, I connect the battery of my second car to the 330i via cables, and no dice. The whole electrical system is dead. There is no indication of any life, other than a small amount of sparking when I connect the cables. So now, I can't open the trunk, which has all my manuals in it and I can't open the front passenger side door, so I have no room to work with the fuse box. The car is parked deep in an underground parking lot, so towing it is going to be a real problem.

Any idea what could be going on? Could some small battery have have died that's needed for the system to function? The only thing that changed between when I could power the car via cables, and now, is 6 days have past with no power to the car.

Also, any idea how to open ANY door without the power being on, other than the drivers door?

This is nuts ...
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      03-02-2013, 03:55 PM   #220
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should be a key hole on the trunk lid if you look near the license plate lights that can open the truck.
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