Do I need to "code" existing car battery?

[Bluebottle]

Hello, I called Foxwell today for advice and to purchase a scanner from them, as they are recommended by many BMW owners. I was told the best for my BMWs was a NT530 for a not inconsiderable £164!!
Okay, so the first job is to replace the Starline battery the last owner "left" in my Z4 for a decent 80Ah Varta; apparently this is a job that requires recoding, so asked if that is correct. He then told me the NT530 cannot do this!

Performs battery registration functions
(Please note the software currently offers registration of like-for-like replacement batteries, but does NOT offer battery coding functions, so you cannot change values such as the brand, capacity or type of battery)

Is there another scanner that can, or something cheaper? Or is ther another way to code a different battery seeing as coding / registration is very important..can prevent premature failure of the new battery and / or various sub systems to erroneously shut down / misbehave…

This now begs the question, if coding is so important, how do I know if the previous owner coded the Starline battery, or should I not worry about it.

Sorry, quite a lot of questions there.

 

[B21]

Since a decent code reader is an important tool for any long term E89 owner why not bite the bullet and get a decent code reader ?

Given the previous owners demonstrated incompetence / penny pinching I’d humbly suggest that you treat the new battery as a green field situation and explicitly code it then register it.. :tumbleweed:

Of course if you have a laptop and can climb the very very steep learning curve BMWs ISTA is the biz..it will show you who/when the batteries were coded..among many many things

 

[flybobbie]

I used my NT530.
Sure i coded my battery.
Perhaps it didn't. It reset the charge capacity and one or two other things seem to reset.
Did use same 70ahr capacity though.
Been ok a few years now.

 

[Bluebottle]

Thanks very much B21.

Well to answer your questions honestly, because there are so many scanners I don't know which is best for me. Because I hate computers, they confuse and irritate me, because scanners are so expensive, because I really don't know whether I will keep my E89 for long or put my time and money into the simpler and overall more pleasing E39.

I agree with your view of recent owners, so there is a lot to check and correct on this one but the Foxwell will not do the very first thing I need it for.

Where do you suggest I learn about istas?

Thanks again.

 

[RobbiZ4]

Standard is a 70Ah AGM battery.

Coding is only required if type (AGM or not) or capacity changes.
Registering a new battery is always required.

TBH, forget ISTA, it' way too complex for you.

 

[Bluebottle]

Thanks flybobbie and RobbiZ4.

 

[B21]

Thanks very much B21.

Well to answer your questions honestly, because there are so many scanners I don't know which is best for me. Because I hate computers, they confuse and irritate me, because scanners are so expensive, because I really don't know whether I will keep my E89 for long or put my time and money into the simpler and overall more pleasing E39.

I agree with your view of recent owners, so there is a lot to check and correct on this one but the Foxwell will not do the very first thing I need it for.

Where do you suggest I learn about istas?

Thanks again.

The ‘best’ tool this side of BMW’s ISTA is the Android only based Bimmergeeks Protool

If you are not an android fan then, like me, I bought a cheap ruggedised Chinese android phone from Amazon

It undoubtedly the ‘best’ after ISTA..I do have ISTA, Protool, Foxwell 510, BimmerCode and previously Carly…

Most of the ‘cheap’ boxes work after a fashion, but, when you get deeper into the E89 you need something that’s really focussed on that..

The other option is to use an Indy that uses ISTA and rely on them..

FWIW

 

[Pondrew]

The Creator 410 BMW-specific will code a new battery of different amperage.....and it costs about £55.
It will display live data and does most of what any 'normal' person wants a scanner for.

It will also scan pretty much any BMW (and Mini) up to the G series.

Also, I can't see why the brand of battery has anything to do with anything. Only the capacity and type (AGM etc) are important.
Halfords sell their own branded batteries, but they ain't made by Halfords!

 

[Jollygiant]

I bought my Carly for this reason but on my 5 Series as the battery needed replacing and did some coding on that.
They had one of their permeant sales on where it was £70 for the unit and a year of everything and since then I bought my Zed and coded stuff on that and my daughters Fiesta.

I know people slag it off but so far it has read everything I've needed reading, cleared them too and done all the coding I've needed too.

 

[flybobbie]

Halfords branded battery i once bought was Yuasa manufacture.

 

[RobbiZ4]

I know people slag it off but so far ...

Don't ignore that Carly has sold permanent licenses before: pay once, use it lifetime like mine. Compared to that (as well as other tools), it's way too expensive right now.

 

[Bluebottle]

Thank you all. I have bought a Creator C410 on eBay for £22.

I will also try to get my head around exactly what is required to operate Protools; maybe there is a page here on this forum for luddites explaining everything.

I have tried watching Protools videos by numerous twenty somethings on YouTube, but they talk about lots of MHD and c kans as if I am supposed to know. Is it really so complex?

Regards

 

[Pondrew]

I have bought a Creator C410 on eBay for £22.

That was cheap. Used I presume?

 

[Bluebottle]

I have bought a Creator C410 on eBay for £22.

That was cheap. Used I presume?

Yes, I soon realised that I made a very low offer and expected to pay £40, but my offer was accepted!