Symptoms

• The car complains when I make calls through the bluetooth with the car switched off. It tells me to turn the car on.
• The remote key does not work very well. I need to come very close to the door to get it to open or lock. Replacing battery did not work.
• One remote does not work at all. It may be a remote battery thing, need to check.
• The car does not turn on when I press the on button. I need to get the key remote close to the car steering wheel. This is not all the time, about 60% of the time. My wife sometimes uses my car and has never had this issue, so I guess my car likes her more than me.

I checked the car battery on the neg terminal. "42 13" which means Oct 2013. Time to change.

What brand is good? Costco acceptable? I might sell the car next year so not looking for OEM.
I replace the batts of my other cars but I am told BMWs need "programming". What does that entail?

If you plan on keeping the car for another 5 years, I would call the dealer to find out the cost vs doing it yourself which isn't difficult.

When I had to replace the 8-year old battery in my previous m3, the cost different was about $100 more at the dealer that also included 'resetting' the car computer so it will charge the battery properly. Unless you have tool to reset the car computer, I would take it to the dealer, BMW's battery is actually good.

Back in 2018, I had to replace the battery in my 2009 X5.
The battery itself was something like $400 and it had to be reprogrammed.
I recommend finding an independent BMW mechanic to do the work.

infinity ag said:

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Symptoms

• The car complains when I make calls through the bluetooth with the car switched off. It tells me to turn the car on.
• The remote key does not work very well. I need to come very close to the door to get it to open or lock. Replacing battery did not work.
• One remote does not work at all. It may be a remote battery thing, need to check.
• The car does not turn on when I press the on button. I need to get the key remote close to the car steering wheel. This is not all the time, about 60% of the time. My wife sometimes uses my car and has never had this issue, so I guess my car likes her more than me.

I checked the car battery on the neg terminal. "42 13" which means Oct 2013. Time to change.

What brand is good? Costco acceptable? I might sell the car next year so not looking for OEM.
I replace the batts of my other cars but I am told BMWs need "programming". What does that entail?

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BMW requires setting the battery capacity and letting the BMS know a new battery has been installed to adjust its charge programming, Not necessary to code a new battery, but it might cause charging issues down the road

spieg12 said:

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I have nothing to add other than holy crap I can't believe you got 11 years out of a car battery.

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I can't believe it either. It's my first BMW and I thought I had the battery changed at some point. Then I realized I had changed it for my Toyota.
I got fed up a couple of days ago and googled to see how to find the manufacture date and I was shocked to find this.

42nd week of 13 (2013)
Translates to Oct 2013.




That probably explains the problems. I am surprised the shop did not flag this.

oatb said:

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If you plan on keeping the car for another 5 years, I would call the dealer to find out the cost vs doing it yourself which isn't difficult.

When I had to replace the 8-year old battery in my previous m3, the cost different was about $100 more at the dealer that also included 'resetting' the car computer so it will charge the battery properly. Unless you have tool to reset the car computer, I would take it to the dealer, BMW's battery is actually good.

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No, I plan on selling either next year or in 2026.

Do you recommend any brands that I can buy at a store like Costco or Napa or something? (avoiding the dealer)

HollywoodBQ said:

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Back in 2018, I had to replace the battery in my 2009 X5.
The battery itself was something like $400 and it had to be reprogrammed.
I recommend finding an independent BMW mechanic to do the work.

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So seems like too much hassle and I am not up for the adventure. I will get a mechanic to do it.

Can you recommend some brands that are good considering I don't want to overspend on this? Or does it not matter?

Called my car guy who has been servicing my car, he said he can put in the right DieHard for between $400 to $450. That would be an AGM battery. I am likely to go along with this.

Thanks all!

Any AGM battery with matching CCA should work, if you're having your mechanic replacing it, make sure they know how to reset the onboard setting so it'll charge properly.

INTERSTATE. you can buy at an interestate battery center (few and far between) or find a place like kwik kar that will sell to you.

infinity ag said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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Back in 2018, I had to replace the battery in my 2009 X5.
The battery itself was something like $400 and it had to be reprogrammed.
I recommend finding an independent BMW mechanic to do the work.

---

So seems like too much hassle and I am not up for the adventure. I will get a mechanic to do it.

Can you recommend some brands that are good considering I don't want to overspend on this? Or does it not matter?

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If you're selling the car in a year, just buy the right size battery and swap it. Don't worry about coding it in. You won't see any benefits from the wasted money.

txyaloo said:

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infinity ag said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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Back in 2018, I had to replace the battery in my 2009 X5.
The battery itself was something like $400 and it had to be reprogrammed.
I recommend finding an independent BMW mechanic to do the work.

---

So seems like too much hassle and I am not up for the adventure. I will get a mechanic to do it.

Can you recommend some brands that are good considering I don't want to overspend on this? Or does it not matter?

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If you're selling the car in a year, just buy the right size battery and swap it. Don't worry about coding it in. You won't see any benefits from the wasted money.

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What is the coding actually for? Will the battery work if it is not done? I thought it would not.

infinity ag said:

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txyaloo said:

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infinity ag said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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Back in 2018, I had to replace the battery in my 2009 X5.
The battery itself was something like $400 and it had to be reprogrammed.
I recommend finding an independent BMW mechanic to do the work.

---

So seems like too much hassle and I am not up for the adventure. I will get a mechanic to do it.

Can you recommend some brands that are good considering I don't want to overspend on this? Or does it not matter?

---

If you're selling the car in a year, just buy the right size battery and swap it. Don't worry about coding it in. You won't see any benefits from the wasted money.

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What is the coding actually for? Will the battery work if it is not done? I thought it would not.

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I posted earlier what it does...

It sets the amp hour capacity of the battery, the type of battery (AGM, lithium, etc), and tells the BMS a new battery has been installed so it can adjust the alternator charging characteristics.