2020 BMW X3 - Scan tool for programming ECU for new battery?

[wavinwayne]

Hopefully the battery in my wife's newish X3 won't need replacing for a while. In the interest of being ahead of the game, have any of you done a battery replacement in a similar BMW, and if so which scan tool did you use to program the ECU for the new battery?

I watched a youtube video of a guy doing it with a scan tool from Harbor Freight, but I've had very mixed results with things I've bought there. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[JavierH19]

I hear you can just plug something into the obd port to keep it alive during the battery replacement to prevent it from recognizing the battery has been taken out making you go through that utter circus of a deliberately engineered problem.

 

[John105]

My original tool won’t work on my car, Bavarian Technic. My car is too old.

When I had to do the ABS pump, I got Rheingold, which would work for registration, not coding. This is likely overkill for your purposes.

Since I have an Ancel tool already, I’d be curious about this one:

BMW Battery Registration Tool, ANCEL BM700 BMW Full Diagnostic Tool Professional SRS Airbag Reset Scan Tool Mini Cooper OBD1 OBD2 Scanner Car Engine Code Reader Injector Coding Oil Light Reset https://a.co/d/7YJBqoZ

I never liked using a laptop so if the above works, likely worth the money. In the past many used Carly but I hear that’s subscription based now…Foxwell too.

I was gonna get a Costco battery, register it, and disregard the 80Ah v 90Ah difference. To factor that in requires coding , as opposed to registration…

I just thought of something. Coulda sworn from memory people used a tool, completed the registration, and verified with a more sophisticated tool like with a laptop, nothing changed

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Hopefully the battery in my wife's newish X3 won't need replacing for a while. In the interest of being ahead of the game, have any of you done a battery replacement in a similar BMW, and if so which scan tool did you use to program the ECU for the new battery?

I watched a youtube video of a guy doing it with a scan tool from Harbor Freight, but I've had very mixed results with things I've bought there. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

The battery on my 4-series is almost 9 yrs old but I have BMW diagnostic APP (ProTools) on my Android which can do it.

A lot of auto battery retailers have a basic scan tool which will register your battery. There are a variety of BMW centric scan tools/APPs which can do it and all have varying levels of additional functionality. Personally I would wait on making this decision because you may no longer have the car when it's time to change the battery and/or you may decide you want to get in deep with the DIY maintenance and opt for a more expensive scan tool with more functionality over a cheaper option or you want a more complete laptop based bootlegged software suite (ex, ISTA+)

Regardless of what anyone tells you. You should register the battery as it resets the charging profile of the system otherwise you'll shorten the life of the battery. Some owners couldn't care less because they're selling the car, but it's still the right thing to do.

 

[drtyler]

The battery on my 4-series is almost 9 yrs old and I haven't had to change it but I have BMW diagnostic APP (ProTools) on my Android which can do it.

A lot of auto battery retailers have a basic scan tool which will register your battery. There are a variety of BMW centric scan tools/APPs which can do it and all have varying levels of additional functionality. Personally I would wait on making this decision because you may no longer have the car when it's time to change the battery and/or you may decide you want to get in deep with the DIY maintenance and opt for a more expensive scan tool with more functionality over a cheaper option or you want a more complete laptop based bootlegged software suite (ex, ISTA+)

Regardless of what anyone tells you. You should register the battery as it resets the charging profile of the system otherwise you'll shorten the life of the battery. Some owners couldn't care less because they're selling the car, but it's still the right thing to do.

Good advice.

The Foxwell NT is popular scan tool for BMW's, but it does not allow you to change the size of the battery. So if the amp-hour rating is different on the new battery from the one in the car now, the registration and charging won't be ideal. You have to be careful on the tool or program you want to buy, as some have limitations.

The batteries from the BMW dealer seem to hold up better than most. It might be $350-$400 well spent to just let the dealer replace when the time comes. The original BMW battery in my E90 provided 9 years of service, I believe.

If the car is going to sit for more than a few days, use Battery Tender or similar and use to keep the charge up.

 

[atikovi]

I hear you can just plug something into the obd port to keep it alive during the battery replacement to prevent it from recognizing the battery has been taken out making you go through that utter circus of a deliberately engineered problem.

Not a good idea as it can overcharge the new battery. If the computer was making the alternator put out more juice to keep the old weak battery fully charged, and it doesn't know you have installed a new battery that doesn't need as much power to work, it's still going to command the alternator to put out more and likely overcharge the battery.

 

[John105]

This isn't in English, but Carly clearly shows that it can code. A good example in the video is that often with used cars, the owner put in a different type of battery than what came with the car. So in the video, he is demonstrating that he is changing the type and capacity.

Just throwing it out there, say the BMW dealer has a coupon--it will be today like $399 for the battery and registration, but maybe $549 if you want to change from lead acid to AGM, because it requires coding.



I thought Carly needed a subscription, but it seems to be $89 or so....

Prices

Find out what Carly costs and what it can offer you. | Carly OBD

www.mycarly.com

Seems if I had it, I could properly reflect the Costco 80Ah instead of the factory 90Ah, if I bought a new battery from Costco.

btw my OE BMW battery is 12 years old now...I stupidly replaced the original at 5 yo even though the dealer said I didn't need to. Back then they charged $280

 

[RooflessVW]

Carly.

 

[JavierH19]

Not a good idea as it can overcharge the new battery. If the computer was making the alternator put out more juice to keep the old weak battery fully charged, and it doesn't know you have installed a new battery that doesn't need as much power to work, it's still going to command the alternator to put out more and likely overcharge the battery.

it's not going to provide actual run level current for a running vehicle. An obd memory saver is used while the vehicle is off and it provides less than an amp to keep the electronics alive, specifically the bms while the battery is slipped in and out. I don't know who would try to swap a battery with the engine running and expect that to work. The car would immediately recognize a loss of power in the section the bms it's connected to. The obd port gets power directly from the battery and supplying a small amount of power through the obd port gets routed to the terminal cables which is connected by the same wiring to the bms module to keep it alive which known to work. The alternator provides power to that system separately only when it's needed. I'm sure automakers will engineer some anti power feedback system to prevent that soon. Though some people plug a solar panel into their obd port to keep the battery topped up since the 12v socket no longer gets power directly from the battery anymore.

 

[John105]

Carly.

Does the $89 include coding etc? I know there was an uproar and they had gone to a subscription model, but nothing seems to say that on their website...

 

[atikovi]

it's not going to provide actual run level current for a running vehicle. An obd memory saver is used while the vehicle is off and it provides less than an amp to keep the electronics alive, specifically the bms while the battery is slipped in and out. I don't know who would try to swap a battery with the engine running and expect that to work. The car would immediately recognize a loss of power in the section the bms it's connected to. The obd port gets power directly from the battery and supplying a small amount of power through the obd port gets routed to the terminal cables which is connected by the same wiring to the bms module to keep it alive which known to work. The alternator provides power to that system separately only when it's needed. I'm sure automakers will engineer some anti power feedback system to prevent that soon. Though some people plug a solar panel into their obd port to keep the battery topped up since the 12v socket no longer gets power directly from the battery anymore.

This is completely different from what I'm try to say. Basically the engine management system, specifically the charging system, is going to run sub optimally if you don't reprogram it for the new battery. It's going to charge the battery and work the alternator as if the new battery was old and weak. Yes I know how a memory saver works, use one myself, but that's not the issue here.

 

[RooflessVW]

Does the $89 include coding etc? I know there was an uproar and they had gone to a subscription model, but nothing seems to say that on their website...

I know OBD11 for VW went to a sub model but OG users are grandfathered in.

I haven't had a BMW in a while so I'm not up to speed.

 

[John105]

I know OBD11 for VW went to a sub model but OG users are grandfathered in.

I haven't had a BMW in a while so I'm not up to speed.

Odd there seems to be no mention of it on the website

edit hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha there is an asterisk next to the $89

and in a font so small probably need a microscope to read, this is blown up 100X

*The Carly licenses are an annual subscription. Keep in mind, every car is unique, so specific features will vary with every model.

also on the Ancel, an amazon review, one 2008 335i owner said it didn't work on his car. I think we have an older DME and that's exactly why my Bavarian Technic does not work on my car for battery registration. I'm likely stuck with Rheingold

 

[wavinwayne]

...The batteries from the BMW dealer seem to hold up better than most. It might be $350-$400 well spent to just let the dealer replace when the time comes...

Luckily, I have a very good independent BMW shop near me. If I decide not to change the battery myself when the time comes, I'll most likely let the independent shop deal with it.

 

[thastinger]

I would go to some place like autozone, who does "free battery replacements" and see what they say about it. I'm sure this can't be the first BMW battery they would have ever changed.

 

[John105]

I would go to some place like autozone, who does "free battery replacements" and see what they say about it. I'm sure this can't be the first BMW battery they would have ever changed.

Lots of people don't bother with the battery registration, so a brand new battery is installed, where the car is aggressively charging it as if its 5-10 y.o., thereby shortening its life.

Remember, all of this is motivated by avoiding the dealer or an indie, who would perform the registration.

 

[John105]

I'm all about marginal cost v marginal benefit...look at my quote above, an AGM used to be at least $150-$200 more because it needs coding. Coding is where the battery type is changed, or the capacity is changed, or both. Registration is simply resetting what the car has currently, like for like, and telling the car the battery is now new.

There is no aftermarket that's 90Ah, which implies all replacements should be coded if OE to aftermarket. But other than a dealer, indie, or friend with Carly, noone is going to do that.

Today, it would seem they have really jacked the price of the standard battery, but the AGM hasn't really been increased. Me, I'd get the AGM then. And I can verify they actually did the work. For one, the battery will be black, not white. And I could plug in the laptop to read it.

Again, in 2011, I paid $280 for the top choice, and they wanted $430 for the AGM....$425 in 2023 is actually less both from inflation and an absolute...

https://bmwusaservice.com/batteries

 

[andreigbs]

BimmerLink and BimmerCode, buy once and you're done. You'll be able to code, diagnose DTCs and do most scan tool jobs on BMWs, Minis, including registering new batteries.

 

[dogememe]

I would go to some place like autozone, who does "free battery replacements" and see what they say about it. I'm sure this can't be the first BMW battery they would have ever changed.

I work at an AZ competitor and cars like this our catalog in the computer says professional installation recommended which means we can’t put in the battery. And yes computer has to be reprogrammed for the new battery. We don’t do that either.

 

[RooflessVW]

I would go to some place like autozone, who does "free battery replacements" and see what they say about it. I'm sure this can't be the first BMW battery they would have ever changed.

Don't know why you'd want an auto parts store associate taking apart your trunk or seats or both, depending on the model.