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      06-20-2016, 10:10 PM   #1
Kwajtrader
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Disconnecting 2014 F12 Battery

If there was ever a car that could make me question my abilities as a home auto mechanic, this is clearly it. I have done my share of car repair work from rebuilding engines back in the day, up to and including pulling the steering wheel on my ’08 650i convertible that required disconnecting the battery among other things. As part of the heated steering wheel retrofit I’m planning for my 2014 F12 650i I have spent weeks researching parts and coding and was ready to go until I pulled open the partition in the trunk and saw the “Borg like” assembly sitting on top of the positive side of the battery. I have no clue how to remove this massive assembly. I have been searching for posts or youtube videos on this with no luck. Do I just loosen the bolt under the cap over the positive terminal and lift the whole assembly off? Any advice would be appreciated.

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      06-20-2016, 11:32 PM   #2
Walt White Coupe
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I did it on my 1 series and while I just glanced at my 6 series it looked like pretty much the same setup. I suspect all the series are basically the same.
Check out:



You just have to remove the nut at the positive side of the battery to remove that red assembly. What that is, is two fuses, a 250 amp fuse for battery power to the starter and a 100 amp fuse for the rest of the car. The 1 series is like the 6 in that the battery is in the center of trunk that makes it easier than the battery in the video. I'll check it out a little more thoroughly tomorrow.
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      06-21-2016, 08:00 AM   #3
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Thanks for the quick response!

Two quick questions:
The panel covering the bottom half of the battery seems to be attached to something behind the plastic trunk cover. Do you have to remove the trunk cover to remove this panel?

I'm disconnecting the battery to remove the steering wheel airbag. It occurred to me that although I normally disconnect the positive battery cable before doing this type of work, I should just be able to just disconnect the ground cable only. Any reason I would need to disconnect both before proceeding with the work or should just disconnecting the ground terminal be good enough.

Thanks again.
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      06-21-2016, 08:34 AM   #4
Walt White Coupe
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Not sure about the plastic cover. But disconnecting the battery ground is all you need to do to completely disable the battery.
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      06-24-2016, 05:57 PM   #5
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I just wanted to thank you again for your help. I successfully retrofitted the steering wheel and switch today. The airbag was a little tricky when only the bottom clip released and then the path to the spring clip was blocked, but after taking a number of deep breaths and making a tool with a groove for the spring clip I was able to remove it and go on with the part swap out. All of the new parts are in and the everything in the car is working as expected, so all that is left is coding. I've got esys loaded and I've been able to read coding data and I've saved all the files, but for some reason the "Edit FDL" option is grayed out and I don't get prompted for a PIN. So close....
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      06-25-2016, 05:34 PM   #6
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Success! Heated Steering Wheel Retrofit Working!

My heated steering wheel is in and working! Thanks again for your help!
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      06-25-2016, 08:00 PM   #7
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You're welcome.
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