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Thread: 2012 X3 3.5i battery issue

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
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    Norcorss, GA
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    My Cars
    2012 BMW X3 3.5i

    2012 X3 3.5i battery issue

    Hello,

    Have had 3 series BMWs for years. Have had this 2012 X3 Xdive 3.5i since 2014. Last Year my dealer replaced the battery. In the last couple of weeks starting started slowing down until it had to be jump-started with "battery discharge" message... Took it to the dealer (United BMW, Duluth, GA) and they said it just needed to be charged.. Why would a re-charge be all it needs when it had just returned from a 3 hour drive..? Fine.. they charged it and the drain error came on.. They then said the whole system needed to be reprogrammed, which would take 4 hours and about $450. The only reason I am at the dealer is because of the battery warranty.

    So I decided to ask my BMW shop (Munich Motorsport.. Norcross, Georgia) for their opinion... The owner has been servicing BMWs for over 20 years.. They came back with battery being faulty. So I take the print-out back to the dealer, and they say they can't replicate this and therefore won't replace the battery.. They insist on the re-code... I ask what if the reprogram doesn't fix the issue (what's a reprogram anyway?).? Then they will try other things.. I think I will be out a lot of money before they finally accept the battery is at fault...

    Meanwhile I have a battery slowly draining ...

  2. #2
    MauiM3Mania's Avatar
    MauiM3Mania is offline Observer/Master Skeptic Moderator
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Saskatoon, Canada
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    '88 320i Mtech2; 2004 X3
    Batteries can be a real pain when not working as they should. I just had to replace the battery two weeks ago ,, after checking records it was 46 months old. Drove the x3 around town all day on the Sunday and then on Monday morning it would not start... no lights, no beeps, no crank in the starter... DEAD.

    My shop who put the battery in almost 4 years ago tested the battery.... it was very low on crank-amps and one cell was very low on charge.... recommendation was to replace the battery (with the comment that they don't make them like they used to). I could have taken advantage of the prorated warranty but decided just to ditch that battery and mechanic found me a larger battery (H8) with 900 cold-crank-amps and a better warranty.

    In your case my temptation would be to forget about that battery from the dealer... and rely on your BMW indi shop who says it is faulty. Testing a battery is really not a difficult thing to do. Replace it with whatever the shop recommends and get on with it.
    Last edited by my1stE30; 12-23-2019 at 03:36 PM.
    ... forty-three years of driving before I get behind the wheel of a BMW .... and I am thinking, "why did it take me so long?"
    ... and then after another 4 years I can't believe that I have two of them !!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Norcorss, GA
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    2012 BMW X3 3.5i
    Sorry for posting in wrong thread..

    I have had over 15 (6 BMWs- the rest Hondas) cars in my lifetime and never had battery issues so not taking it as routine... I have turned off DRLs (wish I could turn off the door handle courtesy lights as well.. Your advice makes sense.. trusting who's working on your car matters most.. BMW dealers have tried to extract as much $$$ from me on a few occasions.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    warwick RI
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    E30/E32/F25
    In the past with e90/60’s you needed to “code” the battery. If you actually do this with an aftermarket scanner it literally ask for the CCA to be typed into the scanner and that’s it. I personally have NEVER seen a non coded battery cause a parasitic draw. But with my experience i mainly work on older bmw’s so this “coding” could change for the newer models. I will also tell you that 4 hours to code the battery is flat out BS it takes 10-15mins tops. I would also ask them why the battery would need to be recoded again? Was it “not probably coded” when the first did it ? Advice take it to another dealer and tell them what’s going on or call bmw corporate.

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1338302

    more info ^^^
    Me E30 87/ 325i + F25 12/ M-Sport + E32 94/ 740i

    G/F’s E34 92/ 525iT + F48 18/ X1

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