E89 Battery

L

Loxford

Member
 London
Is there a way of reading a log of when the battery was last replaced?
Occasionally get the battery icon when engine switched off if I leave the radio playing.
I'd have expected the battery to have enough juice to run some music for quite a long time before challenging the charge?
 
Loxford said:
Is there a way of reading a log of when the battery was last replaced?
Occasionally get the battery icon when engine switched off if I leave the radio playing.
I'd have expected the battery to have enough juice to run some music for quite a long time before challenging the charge?
Click to expand...

If you use a diagnostic tool like Foxwell 520 or BMW's stuff, yes, without it no..

Could be an indication that your battery is wearing out, which many are now :thumbsdown:
 
Pbondar said:
Loxford said:
Is there a way of reading a log of when the battery was last replaced?
Occasionally get the battery icon when engine switched off if I leave the radio playing.
I'd have expected the battery to have enough juice to run some music for quite a long time before challenging the charge?
Click to expand...

If you use a diagnostic tool like Foxwell 520 or BMW's stuff, yes, without it no..

Could be an indication that your battery is wearing out, which many are now :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

Don’t the batteries carry a manufactures date on them somewhere? :?
Rob
 
Here most of them do but it's up to the installer to remove the dots that represent the date installed. Of note is the fact that an older yr 2000 car battery lasts about 6 or 8 years and a (not cheap) replacement 2 yrs !? :cry:
 
Thx Guys,
Yes I looked for a date label.

I've only had the car about 3 months.
It's a 2011 E89. I called BMW to inquire but it had no service record whatsoever.
It was immaculate, had only 18,000 on the clock and a bunch of MOTs showing it had only been driven on average around 500 miles a year since 2015.
I reckon with such little use the battery has not been challenged much but on the other hand neither has it been driven enough to keep it charged up.
Battery is very clean, new looking but if it is the original it's doing amazingly well but would deffo need replacing after 8 years!

Next question : Is it OK to simply disconnect it and replace as I would normally with my older cars or is there any risk of messing up the computer etc?

G
 
Loxford said:
Thx Guys,
Yes I looked for a date label.

I've only had the car about 3 months.
It's a 2011 E89. I called BMW to inquire but it had no service record whatsoever.
It was immaculate, had only 18,000 on the clock and a bunch of MOTs showing it had only been driven on average around 500 miles a year since 2015.
I reckon with such little use the battery has not been challenged much but on the other hand neither has it been driven enough to keep it charged up.
Battery is very clean, new looking but if it is the original it's doing amazingly well but would deffo need replacing after 8 years!

Next question : Is it OK to simply disconnect it and replace as I would normally with my older cars or is there any risk of messing up the computer etc?

G
Click to expand...

You’re supposed to register a new battery on the e89, plenty haven’t bothered with no ill effects though :?
Rob
 
You need an AGM battery of the same capacity as the one you have..

In practice, as smartbear says you will not notice the effects of not registering the battery..however proper registration is better for reasons I'm happy to explain but you don't need to know..

Disconnection may lead to loss of clock and steering angle sensor, I've not seen the latter.

Its probably cheaper if your are not a 3rd Dan+ to get Halfords or an Indy to replace it for you..

Or find someone with Carly /Foxwell /ISTA/INPA to do it properly..

Best to follow instructions on TIS if you do it yourself as its easy to f^&k it up these days with all the computer /sensor s^&t on board!!!
 
All your dire warnings etc are here..enjoy!

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e89-z4-sdrive20i-roa/repair-manuals/61-general-vehicle-electrical-system/61-20-battery/
 
I paid £150 for AGM and registration at Halfords.
Just get it done right, peace of mind.
Interesting to see that battery charge calendar on the Tis.

I have just replaced an aircraft battery (£240 and probably the smallest battery size wise), 1 year old, hardly used stood nearly 1 year and one cell as died.
So lack of use does kill batteries.
 
Thx,
I've always changed my own battery, in fact I've done many repairs on my cars previously but I've only just joined this century with the Z4.
To me a battery was always a few nuts and bolts and it's whipped out, stuck on charge and bolted back in the next day.
Everything is complicated, electronics, computer, I'm wary about touching anything!
Of course, there's also the radio code to think about! Guess what, it didn't come with a handbook which I'm told should have the code.

I've had a good look at the existing battery.
It has a row of figures on the manufacturers label from 1 - 12 (months), followed by the years 2017, 2018, 2019.
These are blank and are for marking on installation. Pretty rubbish of the person who fitted it not to mark them off. However, it does tell me the battery is no older than 2017.
That's not an old battery but considering since 2015 the car has only clocked up 2000 miles it's not had a lot of charge.
 
Loxford said:
Thx,
I've always changed my own battery, in fact I've done many repairs on my cars previously but I've only just joined this century with the Z4.
To me a battery was always a few nuts and bolts and it's whipped out, stuck on charge and bolted back in the next day.
Everything is complicated, electronics, computer, I'm wary about touching anything!
Of course, there's also the radio code to think about! Guess what, it didn't come with a handbook which I'm told should have the code.

I've had a good look at the existing battery.
It has a row of figures on the manufacturers label from 1 - 12 (months), followed by the years 2017, 2018, 2019.
These are blank and are for marking on installation. Pretty rubbish of the person who fitted it not to mark them off. However, it does tell me the battery is no older than 2017.
That's not an old battery but considering since 2015 the car has only clocked up 2000 miles it's not had a lot of charge.
Click to expand...

Several possible points..

Is the replacement battery an AGM, if not it won’t last long

Even if it is and it was not registered it won’t last as long

E89 with battery on board needs to be charged to full capacity every 6 weeks according to bmw to preserve integrity of battery using the correct charging method..

Any or all of the above could conspire the current battery to a premature end... :thumbsdown:
 
Just change as you would normally,you won't loose any radio codes.Get it registered afterwards,no big rush.
ECP do a decent AGM one with discount for £150.
If the car is not a daily runner ,buy a Ctek charger.
 
Pbondar said:
Several possible points..

Is the replacement battery an AGM, if not it won’t last long

Even if it is and it was not registered it won’t last as long
Click to expand...

Here we go again. Without inviting ANOTHER long detailed technical debate on this issue, I just wish somebody would fit a similar agm battery without registration and observe any ill effects.
 
Pbondar said:
Loxford said:
Thx,
I've always changed my own battery, in fact I've done many repairs on my cars previously but I've only just joined this century with the Z4.
To me a battery was always a few nuts and bolts and it's whipped out, stuck on charge and bolted back in the next day.
Everything is complicated, electronics, computer, I'm wary about touching anything!
Of course, there's also the radio code to think about! Guess what, it didn't come with a handbook which I'm told should have the code.

I've had a good look at the existing battery.
It has a row of figures on the manufacturers label from 1 - 12 (months), followed by the years 2017, 2018, 2019.
These are blank and are for marking on installation. Pretty rubbish of the person who fitted it not to mark them off. However, it does tell me the battery is no older than 2017.
That's not an old battery but considering since 2015 the car has only clocked up 2000 miles it's not had a lot of charge.
Click to expand...

Several possible points..

Is the replacement battery an AGM, if not it won’t last long

Even if it is and it was not registered it won’t last as long

E89 with battery on board needs to be charged to full capacity every 6 weeks according to bmw to preserve integrity of battery using the correct charging method..

Any or all of the above could conspire the current battery to a premature end... :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

I'm new to BMW so I'll ask the obvious. Does this mean go for a long drive or employ an auxiliary charge source to put the battery through a proper cycle?
 
ph001 said:
Pbondar said:
Several possible points..

Is the replacement battery an AGM, if not it won’t last long

Even if it is and it was not registered it won’t last as long
Click to expand...

Here we go again. Without inviting ANOTHER long detailed technical debate on this issue, I just wish somebody would fit a similar agm battery without registration and observe any ill effects.
Click to expand...

But why take the chance when registering might only cost a few quid.
The manufacturer does it for a reason, so why ignore, just to prove a point.
We can have enough agro with modern cars without added to any problems.
 
Here it is - everything you need to do and why ... https://www.youcanic.com/wiki/register-code-a-new-bmw-battery
 
Which is best charging the battery or taking it for a run...

Either method works well,

Personally I try and take my car for a15 mile plus run every 3 weeks...needs to be a good run to get rid of moisture in the oil and up to temp..

Or if you can’t do at least that distance then charge it,,,

The whole point about the AGM and battery registration is around the re-generative braking / any start stop/ size of alternator

The E89s have 220 amp alternators....that around 3 hp....

When you over run the engine and/or pit the brakes on the alternator kicks in big time to use the kinetic energy of the car into electrical energy..

In the past original wet batteries it was recommended that you only charged them at 1/10 of their nominal capacity , so a 40bamp hour battery was charged at 4 amps..on an apples for apples basis a bmw battery would be charged at 8 amps on a sustained basis max..

So for cars with re generative braking the battery could be charged at upto 200 amps for a few seconds or maybe longer..

Conversely repeated start / stops in crawling traffic could call for several 500 amp discharges..normal batteries deteriorate very rapidly under such abuse, hence the AGM battery and why it’s more expensive..

It needs a different type of battery technology and also extremely sophisticated charging control...as part of that calculation the age / discharge history/ calculated remaining capacity/capacity of the battery is a key calculation..

Since AGM batteries are sealed and can’t be topped up, over charging can’t be tolerated so you can’t wing it..

Also to benefit from regenerative braking the battery has be not fully charged , so the onboard electronics run complex logic calculations across all the electronic systems, water pump, power steering, audio, air con, oil pump, engine management , roof to decide what to do when based on battery voltage and predicted remaining capacity..

All these systems have default / backup contingencies to cope with low charge / volts..

The question is why would BMW bury their technicians with copious detailed instructions/warnings if they didn’t think it was necessary...

Of course as I said before you can go for the ‘lung cancer...my dad smoked 80 cigarettes a day and he lived till 92’ type view..just don’t bother us with my roof won’t open without running the engine, my windows don’t work, my parking brake has gone wrong, my warning lights are all on etc etc..

These cars are so so dependent on copious quantities of good quality electrical energy , why take the risk...
 
I agree. And I am aware of the differences between wet cell and glass mat storage systems. You are preaching to the choir :wink:
BMW probably went with AGM so they could hide it away in the trunk (boot) without a care. Is there a voltage readout somewhere on the infotainment or dash ?
 
ph001 said:
Pbondar said:
Several possible points..

Is the replacement battery an AGM, if not it won’t last long

Even if it is and it was not registered it won’t last as long
Click to expand...

Here we go again. Without inviting ANOTHER long detailed technical debate on this issue, I just wish somebody would fit a similar agm battery without registration and observe any ill effects.
Click to expand...

Not wishing to provoke an argument, (maybe it's not been long enough or I've been lucky), but I did the above in December 2018. No issues to date.
 
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