M6 battery change

[RagtagXMASTER]

Well it was a day that was unavoidable. My battery in my M6 was dead. I bought a odyssey battery group 49-950 from FCPeuro and decided to take a few pictures and capture the results. The battery is a little shorter than the BMW battery, but fits and the hold down engages it although its not great. I also think my car had a couple battery drains on it from my exhaust controller and CTEK battery sense.

If anyone wants instructions.

It is pretty easy to do the replacement. undo the bracee held down with 13mm bolts. undo the negative post, 8mm. unplug all the cables on the battery distribution box that plug into it, you can leave the two other bolted on cables connected. undo the 13mm bolt holding the distribution box to the battery terminal post. move the distribution box out of the way, undo the 8mm on the positive post. remove the battery and replace. do all the steps in reverse order to connect it back up.

[Qsilver7]

Thanks for the write-up...this definitely is helpful in giving those that may be hesitant...some courage to DIY. You didn't mention if you chose to register (or skipped registering) the new battery. It also looks like it needs to be coded, too...since you went from a 105 amp hour battery to a 94 amp hour battery. A change in battery specs requires coding as well as registration so that the IBS (intelligent battery sensor) communicates correctly with the new battery and its slightly different power & charging requirements.

Just a general FYI (in case anyone is curious)...to get a battery the same length (and usually the same 105 AH rating)...you usually will find those things in a H9/95R class size battery. I believe this Odyssey 49-950 is a H8/49 class size battery (which will work)...but really should be coded as well as registered since the specs are slightly different as well as being a new battery:

• Coding is required when a new battery is installed and it has different specs
• Registering is required when a new battery with same specs is installed

[RagtagXMASTER]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Thanks for the write-up...this definitely is helpful in giving those that may be hesitant...some courage to DIY. You didn't mention if you chose to register (or skipped registering) the new battery. It also looks like it needs to be coded, too...since you went from a 105 amp hour battery to a 94 amp hour battery. A change in battery specs requires coding as well as registration so that the IBS (intelligent battery sensor) communicates correctly with the new battery and its slightly different power & charging requirements.

Just a general FYI (in case anyone is curious)...to get a battery the same length (and usually the same 105 AH rating)...you usually will find those things in a H9/95R class size battery. I believe this Odyssey 49-950 is a H8/49 class size battery (which will work)...but really should be coded as well as registered since the specs are slightly different as well as being a new battery:

• Coding is required when a new battery is installed and it has different specs
• Registering is required when a new battery with same specs is installed

Thank you for this. i just received my iCarly dongle to do the coding. i know it is possible via ista but am not advanced enough in ista to figure that part out yet. I will take some screenshots of the registration process next too!

These cars are not terribly hard to work on and i hope other will be encouraged to DIY, for those who have DIY experience, or who are wanting to get involved

[Whipple]

Originally Posted by RagtagXMASTER

Well it was a day that was unavoidable. My battery in my M6 was dead. I bought a odyssey battery group 49-950 from FCPeuro and decided to take a few pictures and capture the results. The battery is a little shorter than the BMW battery, but fits and the hold down engages it although its not great. I also think my car had a couple battery drains on it from my exhaust controller and CTEK battery sense.

If anyone wants instructions.

It is pretty easy to do the replacement. undo the bracee held down with 13mm bolts. undo the negative post, 8mm. unplug all the cables on the battery distribution box that plug into it, you can leave the two other bolted on cables connected. undo the 13mm bolt holding the distribution box to the battery terminal post. move the distribution box out of the way, undo the 8mm on the positive post. remove the battery and replace. do all the steps in reverse order to connect it back up.

I just changed mine a few months ago but I used the factory battery from BMW parts local.The battery was 250 bucks and I registered it with the icarly app,

This was my problem was the exhaust controller for the Meistershaft exhaust ,I initially had it on the wrong fuse giving me battery drain, how I figured it out was when I installed the new battery I had to hook up the ground wire for the controller back on the bolt I used I noticed a spark when connecting, right there told me there was a load on the battery when the car was off, so Im pretty sure I swapped a perfectly good battery,You should relocate your fuse to a key switch on fuse with a piggy back fuse in the fuse block in the rear

[RagtagXMASTER]

Originally Posted by Whipple

I just changed mine a few months ago but I used the factory battery from BMW parts local.The battery was 250 bucks and I registered it with the icarly app,

This was my problem was the exhaust controller for the Meistershaft exhaust ,I initially had it on the wrong fuse giving me battery drain, how I figured it out was when I installed the new battery I had to hook up the ground wire for the controller back on the bolt I used I noticed a spark when connecting, right there told me there was a load on the battery when the car was off, so Im pretty sure I swapped a perfectly good battery,You should relocate your fuse to a key switch on fuse with a piggy back fuse in the fuse block in the rear

The odyssey from fcpeuro was $240 with a lifetime replacement. I had a very similar problem. I built a switch box for my car that lets me turn on or off without really disconnecting anything. So now when i park it i just flip the switch and its cut all power to it.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by RagtagXMASTER

Thank you for this. i just received my iCarly dongle to do the coding. i know it is possible via ista but am not advanced enough in ista to figure that part out yet. I will take some screenshots of the registration process next too!

These cars are not terribly hard to work on and i hope other will be encouraged to DIY, for those who have DIY experience, or who are wanting to get involved

[RagtagXMASTER]

I should also mention i don't know if this is related but after the battery replacement so far, and the car not being coded/programmed for the different battery i got a lot of faults on the car. Brake light, DSC Malfunction, Adaptive headlight Malf, Blindspot Malf, and a brake Malf, along with my Idrive not coming on.

Car started, ran, and drove to the gas station, once i recode/program i will re update. this may be an issue i have separate from changing the battery as i did a NBT EVO retrofit into the car. although strange that i put the car away into my garage with no problems, and after i swapped the battery i had everything fail. strange. could be the IBS though?

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by RagtagXMASTER

I should also mention i don't know if this is related but after the battery replacement so far, and the car not being coded/programmed for the different battery i got a lot of faults on the car. Brake light, DSC Malfunction, Adaptive headlight Malf, Blindspot Malf, and a brake Malf, along with my Idrive not coming on.

Car started, ran, and drove to the gas station, once i recode/program i will re update. this may be an issue i have separate from changing the battery as i did a NBT EVO retrofit into the car. although strange that i put the car away into my garage with no problems, and after i swapped the battery i had everything fail. strange. could be the IBS though?

The TIS does mention that some modules may register faults when the battery is disconnected. But it doesn't say what to do.

[RagtagXMASTER]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

The TIS does mention that some modules may register faults when the battery is disconnected. But it doesn't say what to do.

I like the example. my car did need to reset all the windows, i carried that out with no issues, however i think i will need to reset a bunch of faults and continue on. strange how i have disconnected the battery without all the issues i have had before, like when i change spark plugs. i think it is heavily dependent on the different battery specifications. I think i get so many of those errors and the idrive not turning on due to a low voltage state. maybe the car is trying to protect itself

[plm]

One other thing to note is that you shouldn't really connect your CTEK charging cable ground ring to the battery itself. The battery has the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) in that black module on the negative terminal. If you connect the charging ground directly to the battery then the IBS won't know when you're charging the battery with the charger as you've bypassed it, so it won't factor that into its calculations on battery state, health, and life. If you move the ring terminal to the chassis somewhere then you'll be fine, as the charging current will have to pass through the chassis ground lead, the IBS, and into the battery.

This is why BMW recommend to charge through the engine bay jump start points.

The positive connection point is fine, as the IBS is only on the negative terminal.

[Whipple]

Originally Posted by plm

One other thing to note is that you shouldn't really connect your CTEK charging cable ground ring to the battery itself. The battery has the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) in that black module on the negative terminal. If you connect the charging ground directly to the battery then the IBS won't know when you're charging the battery with the charger as you've bypassed it, so it won't factor that into its calculations on battery state, health, and life. If you move the ring terminal to the chassis somewhere then you'll be fine, as the charging current will have to pass through the chassis ground lead, the IBS, and into the battery.

This is why BMW recommend to charge through the engine bay jump start points.

The positive connection point is fine, as the IBS is only on the negative terminal.

This is what I been doing connecting under the hood on the positive and negative posts never have a problem.I also read awhile ago to just stick with the factory battery ,If I get 3 to 4 years out of it I will just swap it with a new one just as a maintenance factor and piece of mind

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by plm

One other thing to note is that you shouldn't really connect your CTEK charging cable ground ring to the battery itself. The battery has the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS) in that black module on the negative terminal. If you connect the charging ground directly to the battery then the IBS won't know when you're charging the battery with the charger as you've bypassed it, so it won't factor that into its calculations on battery state, health, and life. If you move the ring terminal to the chassis somewhere then you'll be fine, as the charging current will have to pass through the chassis ground lead, the IBS, and into the battery.

This is why BMW recommend to charge through the engine bay jump start points.

The positive connection point is fine, as the IBS is only on the negative terminal.

Ah, you're right...that slipped past me at the time...but now that you've brought it up...it is mentioned to always use the engine bay jump terminals as not to bypass the IBS because it could cause fault codes etc. See text highlighted in green below:

[RagtagXMASTER]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Ah, you're right...that slipped past me at the time...but now that you've brought it up...it is mentioned to always use the engine bay jump terminals as not to bypass the IBS because it could cause fault codes etc. See text highlighted in green below:

This is great. i will relocate my electronics to the engine bay then. I currently made a switch box from an old car starter enclosure to make it even more of a quick disconnect. so i can just flip all the switches and have it all deactivated. I can just move it all to the engine bay and have it connected up there. my only issue is my FI exhaust controller. I cant relocate that out of my trunk easily. could i just send that to chassis ground there, and if i do that can i just put the junction box i made ground to chassis ground through the battery hold down clamp or something else?

[plm]

Originally Posted by RagtagXMASTER

This is great. i will relocate my electronics to the engine bay then. I currently made a switch box from an old car starter enclosure to make it even more of a quick disconnect. so i can just flip all the switches and have it all deactivated. I can just move it all to the engine bay and have it connected up there. my only issue is my FI exhaust controller. I cant relocate that out of my trunk easily. could i just send that to chassis ground there, and if i do that can i just put the junction box i made ground to chassis ground through the battery hold down clamp or something else?

You don't need to move anything to the engine bay. All you need in order for the IBS to know what's going on with anything you've added to the vehicle is to ground anything you add to the chassis and not to the battery negative terminal itself.

You could use the huge ground wire connection bolt in the trunk, or you could use one of the battery retaining screws if these have a good ground connection (measure resistance between the screw and the chassis ground terminal to check). Or find another chassis screw in the vicinity of the area you're looking for.

One not to use is the clamp on the rear wall of the trunk that supports the toolkit. That one looks promising, but it actually screws into a spring clip that doesn't make a good ground connection. Don't ask me how I know!

[JC04]

Originally, the first year M5 and M6 got a94 AH battery but BMW found out that it couldn't handle the load from all the electronics and caused it to die early. That is the reason why we have 105 AH battery with recent models.

BMW issued a warranty replacement from 94 AH to 105 AH for earlier models to fix reported issues.

You changed from a 105 AH to 94 AH isn’t optimal. You may see issues like the earlier models experienced.

You also need to register the new battery, and code it if you change the from 105 AH to 94 AH, or else the car wont charge it optimally and kills the battery faster.

I wrote an extensive info about OEM battery in another thread. In addition, if you don’t know what you’re doing then pay someone/dealers that can do it right the first time, or else you may end up with more issues and expensive fixes like the person in that thread.
https://www.6post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1569619

I replaced my car with the battery below and been running without any issues for almost 1 year. I’m confident it is the same as OEM battery. I hope it can help other people because I saw so many wrong info about BMW battery. Replacing the battery isn’t hard but you need to know how to do it right and with the right tools.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/b.../m6-gran-coupe
Part #: 95RPLT

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by plm

...in order for the IBS to know what's going on with anything you've added to the vehicle is to ground anything you add to the chassis and not to the battery negative terminal itself...

To add to this good info...while answering a question on another forum...I found this info below from the TIS about not putting anything between the IBS and the battery's negative terminal:

[RagtagXMASTER]

Originally Posted by JC04

Originally, the first year M5 and M6 got a94 AH battery but BMW found out that it couldn't handle the load from all the electronics and caused it to die early. That is the reason why we have 105 AH battery with recent models.

BMW issued a warranty replacement from 94 AH to 105 AH for earlier models to fix reported issues.

You changed from a 105 AH to 94 AH isn’t optimal. You may see issues like the earlier models experienced.

You also need to register the new battery, and code it if you change the from 105 AH to 94 AH, or else the car wont charge it optimally and kills the battery faster.

I wrote an extensive info about OEM battery in another thread. In addition, if you don’t know what you’re doing then pay someone/dealers that can do it right the first time, or else you may end up with more issues and expensive fixes like the person in that thread.
https://www.6post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1569619

I replaced my car with the battery below and been running without any issues for almost 1 year. I’m confident it is the same as OEM battery. I hope it can help other people because I saw so many wrong info about BMW battery. Replacing the battery isn’t hard but you need to know how to do it right and with the right tools.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/b.../m6-gran-coupe
Part #: 95RPLT

The replacement 105ah was a bandaid repair to these cars so 94ah will suffice. also there are only 3 major battery manufacturers in the world i believe. Enersys, East Penn Manufacturing, and Johnson Battery Company. with that being said I trust the Enersys product more so than the other brands as they typically are not as accurate as Enersys data specifications. I am not too worried about the issues solved by upgrading to the 105ah, but will be a good opportunity to learn if it was poor quality from the other AGM battery manufacturing.

I do agree using the right tools is required. i did a quick crash course how to program the battery to the car and it doesnt look to hard to do. I have been too lazy to go into my garage and code it in.

[RagtagXMASTER]

Hey guys i have a weird issue. I went to go code my car using a carly adapter and realuzed i need to pay to use the adapter! So i said no way to that and tried to connect my laptop, which i have used prior when coding in other features to my car, and has ista all setup, it couldnt connect to my car. I saw that the ethernet adapter was flaky, but does anyone know how to re establish connection to the car. I normally just let the car complete a read out but i dont even see it come up in the window. I should note its not just my car. I have tried to connect to 2 other F10 M5s and a 3 series.

Should i try to search the 3 series forum for ista guidance?

[Whipple]

Originally Posted by RagtagXMASTER

Hey guys i have a weird issue. I went to go code my car using a carly adapter and realuzed i need to pay to use the adapter! So i said no way to that and tried to connect my laptop, which i have used prior when coding in other features to my car, and has ista all setup, it couldnt connect to my car. I saw that the ethernet adapter was flaky, but does anyone know how to re establish connection to the car. I normally just let the car complete a read out but i dont even see it come up in the window. I should note its not just my car. I have tried to connect to 2 other F10 M5s and a 3 series.

Should i try to search the 3 series forum for ista guidance?

Im not sure about insta but I pay the yearly subscription to Carly to use the full potential of the app,I use it to code all the other accessories that I need and use it for trouble shooting,I remember in the app when I registered the battery It asked me if I want to register the same ah battery size or change it ,there was a drop down box with all different ah batteries to chose from

[RagtagXMASTER]

Originally Posted by Whipple

Im not sure about insta but I pay the yearly subscription to Carly to use the full potential of the app,I use it to code all the other accessories that I need and use it for trouble shooting,I remember in the app when I registered the battery It asked me if I want to register the same ah battery size or change it ,there was a drop down box with all different ah batteries to chose from

I saw that. I just didnt want to pay the extra $100 a year tor a membership when i have ista. I have used ista before and the more you use it, the more familiar you get with it.

[RagtagXMASTER]

hey guys thought i would post an update, I figured out why my car was having some strange issues. It was from my NBT EVO retrofit harness. I had some ETH pins going to my vehicle side harness that should not have been connected. Fixed that up and also made sure all my can lines were in twisted pairs, and presto, everything now works wonderfully. Turns out i was my own worst enemy in that one! Learned a lot about these cars data signals for sure!

Anyways just wanted to touch in, now i can finally communicate with the car and code it. this also resolved that weird DTML i had where my idrive would not turn on either

[MoFoHo]

Hi all. Sorry to resurrect an old thread. But I've been searching since last night, with no luck.
I'm looking at moving to an M6, and I think I've found the one. On looking round the boot and battery area, I noticed something that definetely isn't in my 640d (well I don't think it is). What is that 'thing' right behind the battery, with all the wires going into it??