Hey Scotty,
I have a 2005 BMW 330ci coupe in immaculate condition. The Energizer brand battery (used from prior owner) from 2011 just died. The dealer and the internet is pushing the battery must be registered to have the car operate correctly and the battery will die faster without it. BMW wants to charge $275 for the battery and $199 for the installation and registration, which I just found out when I arrived at the dealer. I was under the impression the $199 was for the battery and install. So the question is, do you recommend registering the battery or are they and the internet bmw pushers full of 💩
On BMW’s and other German vehicles the battery usually needs to be registered after installation. However, if you buy an OBDII memory saver (Scotty has always recommended these and should have one on his Amazon page) and plug in before changing the battery out, then you don’t need to re-register the battery.
Also, see below:
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/postid/67855/
If you want your new battery to last longer, it is a good idea to register it. It’ll work if you don’t register it, but it might not last as long (potentially overcharging the battery).
You need a super fancy scan tool for registration.
Supposedly, registration is used to tell the car computer how to charge the battery. As a battery ages, it loses its oomph. So the car computer changes how it charges the battery, over time.
Registration resets the parameters, so the new battery isn’t charged like an old battery.
Granted this is what they say, I really don’t know how much veracity there is behind it or if there is a difference, because I’ve always registered my BMW battery.
*Oomph is my term. There is a more technical term that I can’t recall at the moment.
Find an independent BMW specialist mechanic in your area and ask how much will they charge for the battery installation + registration?
Baloney! Just get the proper size battery and CCA rating at any auto parts store with its own warranty and put it in. Just another dealer scam.
It's a German car, I'm unsure about an '05 but most new ones do require using a scan tool to tell it that it has a new battery. Otherwise they overcharge it and you end up replacing battery after battery... yet another fine example of "German Engineering"
In this video he selects a size and rests the battery computer
https://youtu.be/UqKtTqYr4nk?t=284
{blackemo}:laughtertotears:
how did cars ever function without "registration" for the last 100 years?
Exactly right @mmj.