Battery "Registering"

kentvette

CCCUK Member
Here's something that's new to me.....

A friend of mine over there in the UK was recently talking to a BMW "non-franchised" mechanic (ex "proper BMW" I gather) who was telling him about registering a new battery with the car - a process that apparently involved syncing it to to the car's computer. It means that the car will only accept a genuine BMW battery, or , in the case of my friend who has a "Rustang", a Ford battery.

I'd never heard of this and, I have to say, on the face of it, it sounds like tosh! Anyone else come across it? Oh and of course, it costs £20 to do the registering, after the £240 for the Beemer battery!
 

Corvetteville

CCCUK Member
I got a new Boche battery for my wife's Z4, from Tayna. I then discovered that beemer batteries are supposed to be registered, so that the alternator charges it correctly. The car is out of warranty so goes to my local garage for servicing. They installed the battery & apparently used a OBD scan tool for the registration. Don't know if they charged, but the overall bill seemed reasonable. Car is fine, no more flat batts!
 

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
A neighbor of mine said he has to register his replacement battery on his Audi Q7. I didn’t know what he was talking about so I just nodded.
 

PhilV8

CCCUK Member
Sounds like another money making idea, bit like those printers where you can only use an OEM cartridge with a chip in it. Apparently, BMW have been doing this this since 2002 and in the US registration can cost up to $200. All so the computer system will know it's a new battery and how to charge it. Fact that it starts the car, you'd think it would know wouldn't you. Puts the self driving car into perspective though, if it can't fathom how to charge the battery, how's it going to cope with the North Circular at rush hour on a Friday? :D
 

Oneball

CCCUK Member
When I’ve done it on BMWs there’s no need for it to be a BMW battery but you do have to tell the computer it’s a new battery whether it’s AGM or wet and it’s capacity. Based on the info the system charges the battery in a different way.

You can just throw one in but it won’t last as long.
 

kentvette

CCCUK Member
When I’ve done it on BMWs there’s no need for it to be a BMW battery but you do have to tell the computer it’s a new battery whether it’s AGM or wet and it’s capacity. Based on the info the system charges the battery in a different way.

You can just throw one in but it won’t last as long.

Ah ha! I guess that makes a bit of sense. And I assume with stop-start technology etc, things are a bit different. Still sounds like a bit of a scam to charge £20 to press a few buttons though - but I guess you need a OBD type thing!? And I'm surprised I haven't heard anything similar for the later Corvettes.....
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
Later BMW's additionally have regenerative charging/charging on demand - means that traditional alternator type charge rates are significantly lower. Batteries certainly need to be to a better standard with the additional duty cycle of stop/start technology.
Hybrid batteries tend to be far smaller with supposedly reduced loads but are actually more critical in performance terms than a conventional engine. Interesting that many hybrid/engine combinations don't use a conventional starter motor - a combined alternator/starter?
 

Daytona Vette

Well-known user
Cars are becoming more intelligent, mine stops when it has no petrol in the tank, telling me it is thirsty
no BMWs are super intelligent 30 years ago they had auto boxes that had a mode that learned and adapted to your style of driving
 
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