BMW Replacement Battery Cost

[sarasane]

Hi. I'm new here so forgive me if I'm in the wrong forum (it's my first time in ANY forum, anywhere). My 2012 128i convertible has been parked in the garage since August 2019 (long story) and the battery is shot. I tried to start it back in February/March 2020; AAA gave me a jump but told me I needed a new battery at that time. Then, Covid hit so here I am, 19 months later, finally ready to have it towed to the dealership to get the new battery.

Fortunately, I have a coupon from BMW USA for what I thought was "special" pricing. However, when I called the local dealer, it turns out it's not a special at all - it's their regular price. Moreover, they told me I need the Performance battery for $430 instead of the Standard battery for $320 "to support all the electronics" in the car.

So, my 1st question is whether or not I'm being told the truth about the type battery I need. I have no real car knowledge - I've mostly relied on my younger brothers for that but neither of them have ever owned a BMW so that won't work this time.

Secondly, has anyone in this forum ever had their BMW battery replaced by anyone other than a BMW dealership and had a good result? I know that the battery has to be registered to the car and other programming will be required, I presume. I don't want to take my car to just anyone but my options may be limited by living in Melbourne, FL (about 90 minutes east of Orlando).

Thirdly, I happened to check the reviews of the local BMW dealership and they are not very good. I'm concerned that when I have the car towed there, I'll end up leaving as angry as some of their other customers.

I would really appreciate any and all advice people can offer! Thanks!

[The Beastmaster]

I got a replacement battery at Sam's club. It is a Duracell AGM that was @$150. If you are mildly mechanically inclined, it is a simple job. I have a Foxwell NT510 to register my battery. If you are willing to do so, the Foxwell is about $150 on eBay. It is the same tool as the Schwaben. So for about $300, you can have a new battery, and a diagnostic tool. Or just have Sam's or Costco install the battery for you, then have it registered.

[MarcoZandrini]

Sara, go to www.bimrs.org to find a reputable indie shop that specializes in bimmers (colloquialism for “BMWs”) in your area. There should be several listed. Get a price for the battery and resetting the intelligent battery charging system. Huh? BMW, in an effort to increase mileage by 0.02 miles per gallon uses software that changes the battery’s “charging strategy” as the battery ages. That software needs to be told when a new battery is installed. Otherwise the new battery won’t be charged the “BMW way.”

[sarasane]

I am very mildly mechanical. I'll take a look at the Foxwell and the Schwaben - for $150, I hope they do more than register a battery! ;-)

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the suggestion but bimrs.org came up with nada for the Melbourne, FL area, nor for Orlando. Bumr! (see what I did there? sorry, not sorry.)

[sarasane]

Beastmaster, I just ordered the Foxwell, should have it tomorrow. Does it come with everything I need? Amazon is suggesting I might need an adaptor: FOXWELL Obd2 Female to 20pin Extension Convert Adapter OBD1 to OBD II Cable (11 Inch)

True?

[The Beastmaster]

That cable is for the older BMWs. You will not need it. I have the Foxwell NT510 and used it on my 2011 X3 and 2014 535 to register batteries. It also does diagnostic codes and live data. I have used it to check codes on those BMWs and a few others.

[sobsCar]

I just had my battery replaced by local BMW garage. For me I wanted to make sure I had no other problems causing my battery fault. It was expensive but service was great and I have the correct battery going forward. In the past I did not have money to go that route though. Just to let you know you can register a battery with https://www.bimmerlink.app/ for £30 or something together with vGate iCar pro also around £30, so around £60 in total.

[sarasane]

Beastmaster, now my problem is that I can't get into the trunk! I've been searching youtube and it looks like the easiest thing is to attach jumper cables under my hood and then to the live battery in my pickup but I don't know the correct order to do that after over an hour of looking at videos. Argggh! Remember, I said that I am only mildly mechanical, and at age 69, I'm not as ballsy as I once was. Can you direct me please? While I'm waiting for an answer, I'll go try to find the jumper cables.

[MarcoZandrini]

Here’s how to “jump” your car:
1. Park the car close to each other so that the jumper cables can reach all jumper points in both cars.
2. Locate the jumper points in both cars. In your bimmer, there is a positive jumper post located under the red plastic cover under the hood. The other car’s jumper posts could be the battery!
3. Connect the red cable clamp (jumper cables’ clamps are usually color coded red and black) to your car's jumper post and to the other car’s positive post.
4. Connect the black cable clamp to the engine in your car and to the engine of the other car. This is the ground cable. You could see some sparks. That’s ok.
5. Pop the trunk and start the car.
6. Shut the engine off. Remove the black ground cable.
7. Remove the red positive cable.

[sarasane]

Thought I would update: I bought a battery but later learned it's apparently a good idea to replace the old battery with one that is close to the same specs. I considered exchanging the battery but a guy at O'Reilly Auto suggested I take my car to a mechanic about 5 minutes away who would register it for me since the Foxwell wasn't recognizing my car, even after updating the software, etc. The mechanic did the job for $25 so I was very happy to return the Foxwell to Amazon. With the new battery, my car purrs like I didn't leave it sitting for 2 years, all by its lonesome. Even after paying the mechanic, I still saved $180 by not taking it to the dealer for battery replacement. Win!

[The Beastmaster]

Sorry to hear the Foxwell wouldn't recognize your car. Sometimes you have to input the VN manually. Under warranty, go to the dealer. Out of warranty, get a good indy.

[sarasane]

Sorry to hear the Foxwell wouldn't recognize your car. Sometimes you have to input the VN manually. Under warranty, go to the dealer. Out of warranty, get a good indy.

I did enter the VIN manually but it said the car was a 2011, not 2012. Then, it asked me to choose 2008 or 2009; I didn't know what to do with that so I chose one and proceeded -- didn't work. Next time, I made the other choice -- still didn't work. I tried Foxwell customer service via email (only other choice is to call them in China) but they take 24+ hours to respond and their replies are often just reiterations of their previous response. I don't know if I just got bad Foxwell units (I bought a 2nd one thinking maybe the 1st one was bad, ultimately returned both). Ultimately, I found a good indy just 10 minutes from home.