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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > DIY Guides > Changing the battery



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      12-24-2010, 08:42 AM   #45
Hokie2000
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Thanks for the great write-up! I was able to change out my battery relatively easy and this saved me quite a bit of money. I ended up getting a replacement battery at my local Advance Auto and getting it registered at the dealer. Here's my cost: AutoCraft Gold $136.99 (it was the only battery they had but it was an exact match) and $71 to get it registered at the local dealer.

The only comments I had regarding the install was I had to use bungee cords to keep the battery cables out of the way when dropping in the new battery. Other than that, the removal and install was exactly like the DIY write-up.
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      01-02-2011, 05:11 PM   #46
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Hey i also have the same problem as mds82 where one of my wire is not connected to anything..its a 2 pin blue and burgundy i think
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      01-02-2011, 05:19 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ddizzle View Post
Hey i also have the same problem as mds82 where one of my wire is not connected to anything..its a 2 pin blue and burgundy i think
It's the wire used to short the battery for transport to prevent discharge during transit.

You'll find the other end under your passenger rear seat.

It's nothing to worry about.
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      01-02-2011, 09:52 PM   #48
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Hello,

i didnt replace my battery, but i did disconnect it from the car so i could charge it up last night via a battery tender. Now that its all charged up, i put it all back together and now i have the Seatbelt and airbag warning lights. Anyone know how to reset them with outgoing to the dealer? my local dealer is 1 hour away.

R/
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      01-05-2011, 11:30 PM   #49
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Hey when you guys changed your battery did you guys get like a terminal felt pad..I currently have it on my battery post and it makes my terminal connector sit higher than average..it seems like 2 or 3mm of the connector is stick up from the post itself. I was also wondering when i connect the negative terminal in is it suppose to give a small spark.. Its the first time ive ever installed a battery for a BMW

Last edited by Ddizzle; 01-06-2011 at 02:45 AM..
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      01-15-2011, 04:28 PM   #50
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Smile Good Thread

The photos and instructions on this thread are excellent. I have 3 BMW's and do a fair amount of mechanical maintenance. However, when I looked at my e90's battery I thought "what the $*%$? So I sought out this thread and found this to be pretty easy.
I bought my battery from the "Stealership" for $161 bucks but I value an exact fit. I was a little bit alarmed when I fired up the car after the replacement to find the brake light and 4X4 lights on. They went off before I got out of my driveway, however, and everything seems to be fine. All I had to do reset was the clock.
A number of folks have talked about having the "Stealership" reset the battery management system. I think I'll mention this the next time I'm there. It seems that with the relative complexity of the charging system that it would be "smart" and not require this. It smells of another elitist line of proper BMW maintenance. Sometimes it requires creativity to justify the labor prices they charge. Too many customer's at the dealership don't know jack about cars; they drive BMW's because of the image and are easily snowed.
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      01-23-2011, 03:41 PM   #51
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Thanks for the great write-up. It made my experience today close to bearable. Forgot that I left the car outside last night and went to drive it this morning to run a few errands. It is -20 Celsius out - that's the equivalent of -4 Fahrenheit. Dead battery. I shouldn't be surprised as I'd seen a few low battery warnings lately on the dash.

I ended up buying an Energizer 94R battery from Wal-Mart for $117. For the 2006 330i all of the application guides are wrong and recommend a 48 but it's physically smaller than a 94R. The replacement was exactly the same size as the OEM battery with the vent location in the same spot.

Now I've got to decide whether it's worth heading to the dealer during the week to re-program the car. Stupidest requirement ever.

I'm now trying to get my core temp back up. My feet are freezing!!!
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      01-25-2011, 09:37 AM   #52
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thanks for the clear diy. I put the battery plus' battery. a bit shorter than the original which made installation much easier. Dont know how they got the original battery in
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      02-02-2011, 10:41 AM   #53
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Thanks for the excellent writeup. Your photos and detailed explanation of what was involved convinced me to take my car to the dealer to replace my battery.
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      02-07-2011, 08:10 PM   #54
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Has anybody done this DIY Battery replacement on an E92? I just see experiences with an E90.

Thanks.
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      02-27-2011, 02:58 PM   #55
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Hy,can you tell me pls the exact dimensions of the OEM bmw-varta(12V 70Ah 570A EN) battery? L x l x h thanks
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      03-23-2011, 12:11 AM   #56
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What's the part # for black plastic foam holding battery? I have metal screw rod but no plastic form. Dealer saw the pic but he couldn't locate part #.
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      03-23-2011, 09:17 PM   #57
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my trunk button doesnt work, so I have to use the key everytime. I went and removed the batter and did a complete run through checking all wires and plugs. I notice in this pic that im missing the connector on the right shown in this picture of yours circled in red. I have the left side just dangling around. When I removed the battery, I checked everywhere down there and dont see anything.



Is it a wire connected to the positive terminal and maybe the original owner threw it away when they replaced the batter?
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      03-23-2011, 09:20 PM   #58
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Heres picture I took during the night after removing everything.



Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
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      03-23-2011, 10:02 PM   #59
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Nevermind, found the problem and its kind of embarassing haha. valet switch was on lock.
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      04-01-2011, 01:18 AM   #60
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Thanks for the write up and I went through every post in this thread as well. BMW can still register your battery even if it's not a genuine BMW battery, right? Or it has to be genuine? ._.
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      04-22-2011, 10:19 PM   #61
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Installation on E92- Walmart R94

Quote:
Originally Posted by shaizada View Post
Has anybody done this DIY Battery replacement on an E92? I just see experiences with an E90.

Thanks.
First: What a fantastic DIY this is . Thank you , thank you!

I just installed a Walmart R94 on my 2008 E92. First some numbers:
my BMW battery had 720 CCA and 160RC; LxWxH 14x7x7.5
the R94 has 765 CCA, RC not specified; LxWxH 12.5x7x7.5 price $105.
(Walmart has also an H8 battery with 760CCA 13.75 x7x7.5 for $95; it is a white battery with a black top; looks like a good candidate too, but it does not have the BMW diagnostic "eye" like the R94; I preferrred the R94 because of that). The fit for the R94 is also perfect because there is a second hole in the bottom exactly at the right spot to mount the holding clamp at the Neg pole side. There are one or two minor differences in the DIY procedure for the E92 compared to the original one.
I bought the BT tool, but had some trouble installing the software on an old laptop (took me hours; needed to load some other Microsoft packages before I could install the BT software) and I have not used the "battery reset "function yet. Also downloaded a TIS manual, which was more hassle than I expected. It is a Torrent download and the result is an .iso file - which is a CDROM image - which you then have to burn on to a DVD. Not working yet. I plan to add more info later when I have some more time and results.
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      05-02-2011, 11:53 PM   #62
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I am about due for a battery change. It looks like probably an AGM type for my 2007 335i E92. To accomplish the battery adaption, I am looking at buying a Bavarian Technic Enthusiast Kit. I am not 100% certain which kit I need.

Option 1 includes One 6' Bavarian Technic USB-to-OBDII cable.
Option 2 includes One 6' USB-to-OBDII and one 20-pin round adapter cable

It looks like I should need just option 1 to connect to the OBD2 Connector behind cover on kick panel.

I think I have that straight now that I found the information.

I haven't seen any data about if there is a difference in functionality of this cable/software for cars without iDrive. I don't have iDrive. I am guessing there is no difference, but I would rather not deal in guesswork in buying one of these. Is this correct that there is no difference for using this with/without iDrive?

At first glance, It appears to have a lot of features, but the website does not go into much detail.

If it were going to be for battery registration only, I would just pay the dealership or some other shop. I may as well just spend this little more and get something I can use for other purposes.
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      05-03-2011, 04:15 PM   #63
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This was a great DIY. I ended up getting a decent deal from the the dealership and installed it myself. My service guy told be that it should be a swap and no programming to the car. I swapped and no issues. He did tell me what to look out for. I am lucky my Service Guy knows I am on a budget and I like to do some of the work on my own. So he is very honest with me on what needs to be done, what can wait, & what I can save money on by doing it myself.
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      05-24-2011, 10:16 PM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by donheller View Post
This was a great DIY. I ended up getting a decent deal from the the dealership and installed it myself. My service guy told be that it should be a swap and no programming to the car. I swapped and no issues. He did tell me what to look out for. I am lucky my Service Guy knows I am on a budget and I like to do some of the work on my own. So he is very honest with me on what needs to be done, what can wait, & what I can save money on by doing it myself.
So just to confirm: You replaced the battery but didn't perform any battery registration/reset and your battery is charging without problems despite what others have stated previously on this thread?? If so then that *is* awesome. Can you please confirm? I just replaced my battery and was really concerned about this aspect of the DIY. I am sure many more others would benefit from this as well. Thanks!
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      05-26-2011, 08:54 AM   #65
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I replaced my battery two or three months ago in my e90 and did not perform a battery adaptation reset (i.e. registration).

Frankly I think the reset is a scam and is not needed.
1. The very word adaptation leads me to believe that if the car can adjust current upwards for an aging battery that does not hold it's charge, it should be able to adapt downwards for a battery that doesn't need such a heavy charging load.
2. Other vehicles like Fords, Nissans, motorcycles, etc (non-BMW "sophisticated" cars) can charge their batteries when they age or under heavy load, and back off charge when the load goes away or the battery is new and can hold the charge.

I think BMW says you need to do this "reset" so dealers have another avenue to lure us consumers in so they can pay for their expensive programming equipment that they must buy from BMW with unneeded software resets. The car will learn what the appropriate charge level should be based on *load* just like the unsophisticated cars above do.

Sorry for the rant.

Last edited by john_e90bimmer; 05-26-2011 at 09:19 AM..
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      05-26-2011, 06:37 PM   #66
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Is the battery registration supposed to be for all battery changes? Or only for batteries that have different specifications?

I thought I was going to need to replace my battery because I had the radio on for an hour with the car not running, then when I went to start it later, the battery was dead. After a jump start, things seemed to be normal.

But I bought the Bavarian Technic tool and checked the battery voltage with that, which was good. So I didn't buy a new battery. That can wait. And I have the tool to register it.

Maybe if you replace a battery with an identical/near identical unit then the registration is of less or no importance?
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