Battery Maintenance Warning

consultadrone · Mar 5, 2020

I’m getting this message on my dash. I’ve seen it 2 or 3 times now in the last few days. I’m not leaving the car “on” without the engine running or lights on or anything drawing power. I had the “Replace Battery” warning in the dash when I bought it and was told it was replaced. I’m wondering if they didn’t just charge it and reregister it.

digicidal · Mar 5, 2020

Seems like it would have to be more than that since I also had the replace battery warning but I just had them recharge and re-register... and I haven't had any issues in 2K miles over 7 weeks from that time. Are you driving for very short distances a lot? I use mine for my commute so it's usually getting 20 miles or so when I drive... maybe that's enough to offset via charging. Hard to say though with these "descriptive" warnings.

consultadrone · Mar 5, 2020

digicidal said:
Seems like it would have to be more than that since I also had the replace battery warning but I just had them recharge and re-register... and I haven't had any issues in 2K miles over 7 weeks from that time. Are you driving for very short distances a lot? I use mine for my commute so it's usually getting 20 miles or so when I drive... maybe that's enough to offset via charging. Hard to say though with these "descriptive" warnings.

I contacted my sales guy who is great and he verified that they did replace the battery and not just charge it up. Going in to have them take a look but I do drive it short distances around town. It’s my daily. Funny thing though is this came on after a longer highway drive (60 or so miles). No mention of the warning in either the Supra or the Z4 manuals.

we’ll see what they find...if anything

anotherbrian · Mar 10, 2020

if it was me, i'd track down the issue using the service manual. $20 for 2 day access: https://techinfo.toyota.com/

If you do, please post your results.

clementc · Mar 16, 2020

consultadrone said:
I’m getting this message on my dash. I’ve seen it 2 or 3 times now in the last few days. I’m not leaving the car “on” without the engine running or lights on or anything drawing power. I had the “Replace Battery” warning in the dash when I bought it and was told it was replaced. I’m wondering if they didn’t just charge it and reregister it.

Same issue with my Supra. Had the "replace battery" warning in dash before I drove it out the lot. Their reason was that the car was sitting in the showroom for a while. After driving it for two weeks the warning sign was still there, so i had to take it back to the dealer service center.

Read on some of the posts here that it is a common problem, and that you have to make sure they register the battery. Took my vehicle back and after a couple hours and them registering it the warning sign was gone.

akasonny · Mar 28, 2020

clementc said:
Same issue with my Supra. Had the "replace battery" warning in dash before I drove it out the lot. Their reason was that the car was sitting in the showroom for a while. After driving it for two weeks the warning sign was still there, so i had to take it back to the dealer service center.

Read on some of the posts here that it is a common problem, and that you have to make sure they register the battery. Took my vehicle back and after a couple hours and them registering it the warning sign was gone.

I'm learning a majority of dealerships are finding, during test drives, the "battery needs replacing" warning is present. Mine was also. The sales guy was obviously embarassed. The dealerships know so little about the Supra, they fail to shut them down properly when parking them. In fact, they delayed delivery of the vehicle explaining BMW had to reset all ECUs (via online)...but it turned out it wasn't necessary. However, they did not replace this battery and given its around $500 (incl install), I'm somewhat concerned about it.

Using an AGM charger (on the posts under the hood), I regularly see it pull 15 amps even after driving for an hour or so. I hardly believe this is normal.

XPOTTEDPLANTX · Mar 28, 2020

I bought a trickle charger for the car. genius ones are good . If its sits for more than a week i make sure the battery is 100 percent. Takes half an hour or so. The car just has small tolerances for battery voltage. I think the main reason is the stupid start stop technology. The car system just wants to make sure the battery can handle shutting off and on while keeping everything on and happy. I think its dumb tbh. Wonder what people thing when my car is turning off and on at stops lol shut it off everytime.

digicidal · Mar 28, 2020

Coding the Start-Stop memory setting is worth the cost of Bimmercode itself. Turn it off once... and never worry about it again (or the battery for that matter).

akasonny · Mar 28, 2020

digicidal said:
Coding the Start-Stop memory setting is worth the cost of Bimmercode itself. Turn it off once... and never worry about it again (or the battery for that matter).

No BimmerCode required. The on/off button sits on the console.

jtsang25 · Mar 28, 2020

akasonny said:
No BimmerCode required. The on/off button sits on the console.

It's not permanent though. It turns back on every time you start the car.

JasonO · Mar 28, 2020

akasonny said:
I'm learning a majority of dealerships are finding, during test drives, the "battery needs replacing" warning is present. Mine was also. The sales guy was obviously embarassed. The dealerships know so little about the Supra, they fail to shut them down properly when parking them. In fact, they delayed delivery of the vehicle explaining BMW had to reset all ECUs (via online)...but it turned out it wasn't necessary. However, they did not replace this battery and given its around $500 (incl install), I'm somewhat concerned about it.

Using an AGM charger (on the posts under the hood), I regularly see it pull 15 amps even after driving for an hour or so. I hardly believe this is normal.

It likely is normal with what others have reported.

Read up on BMW battery registration. Max charge is set to 80% on registration for a myriad of justified and arguable reasons. This explains the oversized battery quite well since they are leaving 20% on the table and allowing additional capacity sag to reduce constant charging which can wear out AGM product (particularly nearing full charge). Your system is likely working as designed.

Axix23 · Mar 28, 2020

A trickle charger for this car is a must if it’s not your daily.....

CarGuy11 · Mar 29, 2020

This is the one I use.

Axix23 · Mar 29, 2020

CarGuy11 said:
This is the one I use.

we all know. I am sure we all seen your videos. Lol

akasonny · Apr 5, 2020

Well thanks, all. I'm sure time will reveal whether or not the battery needed replacement. I'm careful to use an AGM charger here. I drive less than 5K miles a year and so the battery sits in a constant (albeit small) drain (ie: alarm system, etc.).

I'm still a bit bothered by the less-than-full charge on the battery after a drive but...as explained above...that may very well be "normal".

Just picked up the OBDLINK and Bimmercode so I'm off to the garage.

Battery Maintenance Warning

consultadrone

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digicidal

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consultadrone

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anotherbrian

Active Member

clementc

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akasonny

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XPOTTEDPLANTX

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digicidal

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akasonny

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jtsang25

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JasonO

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Axix23

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CarGuy11

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Axix23

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akasonny

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