How to replace the 12V battery on a BMW i3

[@Jimages_uk]

@9:27 You should NEVER connect the negative terminal first, doing so increases the risk of arcing as you have then connected the body of the car into the circuit, and if your tool touches the body anywhere while tightening the positive terminal, you risk injury and/or damage to the battery and the vehicle. That is also the reason you disconnect the negative terminal first when removing a battery.

[@steve0826]

Other than those "look at me" moments, I like this video.

[@TheAlanSaunders]

There is a considerable difference between 'attempting to follow rules' and understanding why those rules exist! Mr 'Electric Everything' is obviously incompetent; *"All the Gear, No Idea"*.

[@lumpymash]

Great video. Felt your joy when the lights came on. Very pleased to watch this. 😁👍

[@markedwardsphotography]

Brilliant video. Thank for posting this. I drive a BMWi3S 2019 94, and so grateful you have pointed out the battery doesn’t need recoding if using the same battery. Your video will help so many other people.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

I thought the battery in the 2019 models were 120ah?

[@dave20thmay]

@@mamadouaziza2536 No the accessory is the 12volt one. 😊

[@zulupenman]

Often the drivetrain errors to do with a fuel pump relay which dies ...just replace it do it yourself and that error goes...

[@mr.tomyum732]

Great video thx for the informative detailed process. How did you record the video and work on the car at the same time!?

[@livestorun]

Did you charge the battery before installing it? If not did you charge it once hooked up

[@lavalabs]

I did not charge the battery at all. The BMW i3 will charge the 12V automatically to optimal Voltage.

[@bernardrivera5553]

The airbag light stays on why and what could I do

[@chqtwhite100]

This is literally me, right now.

[@lavalabs]

I hope you figured it out

[@artlayton1425]

Suggestion for improvement: Clean your car before recording videos.

[@lavalabs]

Thanks good point.

[@mamadouaziza2536]

I don't know anyone who has a clean interior i3.

[@country-road-driver]

@@mamadouaziza2536 Right. It doesent matter, if the Car is clean or not. The contens of the video are the same.

[@dave20thmay]

@@mamadouaziza2536 I most certainly do. Hate i3's that are dirty it shows they don't love their car, which should be treated like a pet.

[@harrymaguire9469]

It’s not a good point , the video is about replacing a battery who cares if the car is dirty or not - People never happy totally unbelievable

[@sycopath1]

Actually you should always register the battery. The vehicle has a smart charging system that knows when the old battery needs more charging than it did when the battery was new. If, you replace the old battery without registering the new battery. The vehicle will still charge the new battery at the same rate it was charging the old battery. This can cause the new battery to over charge, and the new battery life will be greatly shortened. There are plenty of OBD2 Code readers you can use to register the BMW battery. To include the AUTOPHIX 5900 For BMW Full Systems OBD2 Diagnostic Scanner TPMS CBS ABS SAS EPB sold on eBay for $59.00. The FOXWELL NT510 Elite fit for BMW OBD2 Scanner Full System Car Scan Tool, Bi-directional Diagnostic Tool with All Reset Service, Battery Registration Tool, ABS Bleed Airbag EPB SAS Oil Reset Code Reader will cost you $169.99 on Amazon.

[@covertoperatah]

Great video. My battery is on the right side of the engine bay - UK variant. I like the authenticity of your videos. Nothing staged too much (this is KZbin after all)

[@lavalabs]

Very cool to know and much appreciated on your feedback.

[@kushberry_numbers6984]

Great video. I just changed my 12V battery on my 2014 bmw i3 today. It scared me at first when my car wasn’t responsive thinking the worse but I immediately starting looking for videos on how to go about it. Your video was helpful and that feeling of joy once my car was back to normal was such a relief.

[@SilverShadow2LWB]

Great video. My car is 6 years old and I want to try and replace the battery before it goes completely dead on me. This gives me a little more confidence to do it myself. The bolts on the i3 are just hex head and not Torx heads. The Torx will fit, but has a chance of stripping the bolt head if too much pressure is applies. Is there a reason you chose the Remy battery over a BMW replacement? Thanks.

[@lavalabs]

The biggest reason for choosing Remy vs BMW oem battery for the i3 was the price and availability. I wanted to get back on the road as soon as possible. Plus where my car broke down wasn’t ideal. Also the reviews seemed really good too.

[@alchua6303]

Very helpful video. Had to replace the 12v battery on my 2014 REX that died and was showing the same error message about "Drivetrain malfunction". Followed everything except I had to erase the BMW codes first (using a Foxwell OBD 2 scanner) before it allowed me to drive my I3 again. The Drivetrain malfunction error is blocking me from shifting to Drive or Reverse, only to Neutral. Other than that, everything you said was spot on for me. Thanks a million!

[@terinaware9548]

Hi! Thank you so much for your video! I recently encountered the same problem with my i3, same year but it’s the giga world model (fabric seats) I looked up everything you used down to the tools and I managed to find the battery (back ordered) and borrowed tools from a friend..what I didn’t do was look at the old battery first so when my Remy battery finally arrived I was crushed when I removed the frunk and it had a motobatt racing battery in it😳. I literally wanted to faint! I had pumped myself up to do this all by myself and not to mention, I didn’t even know how to use the tools😅. It took me 10-15 minutes to figure out how to use the ratchet! So now all I felt was defeated!! I’m so confused as to how this car has such a different battery. As much as I wanted to quit I decided to go forward with the job💪🏽! Here I am a single mom of one, fumbling around in the parking lot of my apartment complex and it’s 37 degrees🥶holding my phone as a light underneath the hood trying to pause and unpause your video so that I don’t miss a thing. I managed to remove the battery and once I sat them side by side the motobatt was considerably smaller and there was no air vent😳. I’m about to faint! I throw up my hands and just decide to go inside to look up the motobatt but I have no idea what I’m looking for. I would love to use the remy battery because it makes sense to me but there’s no air vent to connect and can’t find it anywhere on the old battery. Is there anything you can suggest? I really hope to hear from you or anyone that may have any suggestions, thanks guys!

[@danieldeocampo9222]

Thanks so much for this video! I just completed my replacement and everything seems ok so far.....keeping fingers crossed. When I disconnected the vent hose from the old battery, though, the whole vent tube came up. I attached it to the new battery, but it doesn't connect to anything on the car - do you know where it's supposed to connect to? Does it really matter?

[@carleysoul]

I noticed your in VA, would that be in the DMV area?? Ha! Would you come and help a girl out in DC?!😂 I live in apt & car parked in garage and cant get a tow truck in there. I'm having a panic attack. Just got this car 4 months ago. 😅😅

[@kojoefante]

I’m so happy for you ..😊 I’m on my way to pick mine up .. 2014 BMW i3 .. Wish me Luck ..

[@FloydzFeelingz]

I want buy one these cars but why on Earth would they need a separate battery if it has main battery is this a rex with the small engine also?

[@elpatronzapata8418]

I just looked this video, because I’m need a new battery, with this video I have a better idea how can I do it myself Thanks for shearing!

[@DemarcusQ]

Imagine that's actually the battery that gives you your 100 miles of range ☠️ so the battery needs its own battery? Lol

[@lavalabs]

It’s like an inception of batteries. That would be something

[@aukanmeister]

Replaced the 12v on the Leaf at least 3 times in 10 years. It's not just the i3.

[@lavalabs]

Interesting. Since I’ve change the battery it’s been good not a single problem. Knock on wood on the dashboard.

[@marcs1212]

That battery bolt is not a T30 its a hex drive not a torx!

[@lavalabs]

Thanks for clarifying

[@TheAlanSaunders]

Complex monitoring of almost everything but the BMW I3 cannot warn you when the *critical 12V battery* is about to fail? That is poor design of the most critical component. It would be extremely simple to monitor the 12V battery for charge, final voltage and capacity but they just let the voltage drop until the (5V±0.5?) drops to a level that produces a spurious error. BTW, Even on ancient ICE vehicles you should check the charge rate and final voltage before writing off the battery. You could have recharged the battery off of the vehicle and continued to drive it for a while. A decent Battery Shop will have the equipment to test your battery. Low temperatures reduce the capacity of all battery chemistries, approaching winter is a good time to check/replace batteries and tyres.

[@lavalabs]

Thanks Alan very good points. I totally agree with you. Some kind of a warning would’ve been really nice To at least know that the 12V battery’s about to fail. I didn’t think to take the battery to a battery shop to have it tested. Good point.

[@quintoncrockett966]

No joke but I’m being charged $1274.67 for someone to do this. At the my local bmw. And the actual battery change part is $703.65 I’m like what fcking battery costs this much I saw the price and I’m like it must be something wrong with my actual drive train.

[@lavalabs]

Oh man I hope you can do it yourself

[@richardstamper5630]

Easy to follow demo and good content - straight to the point, that's what I liked.

[@michellehotchkiss]

hallelujah!! thank you. i'm going to try my darndest to do thiw without going to my local service shop at the ONE dealer that can work on this car. i3 2015 with 20k miles on it!!!

[@lavalabs]

You can do it!

[@rcpmac]

Other installation videos stress the importance of charging the battery to full before installing and registering it to the system. Also as others have mentioned, always install the positive terminal first. Installing the negative terminal first turns the entire chassis into a negative terminal so if you bump it with the end of the wrench while installing positive you will get a big spark

[@Alai3n]

Muchas gracias 🙏🏼 👍🏼

[@ThatCasinoLife]

I bought this same scanner.. my car had the exact same problems like yours I bought the same battery but the scanner won't connect to the car? Won't read the vin number or link whatsoever. My battery is fully charged and the cable is plugged in correctly. Any idea why it won't link up? My car is a 2014 also

[@lavalabs]

That is a bit weird. When you put in the new 12 V battery does the car start and everything works OK? Where is the car not starting

[@flyingyakdeath]

You don’t need to disconnect the high-voltage at the green connector. The reason you would do this is in case after you disconnect the positive cable you touch it to ground. Because the high voltage is on it may want to charge the 12 V battery and it doesn’t know that it’s disconnected so it could cause a short, if you touch the battery positive cable to ground.but if you’re a decent mechanic, you would always wrap the cable with a rag and move it out-of-the-way and make sure it doesn’t contact ground.

[@rnca27]

The Registration coding is needed because, the DC2DC converter adapts the power that he provides to the 12V battery depending on the age of the battery , km(miles) driven. So if you replace the battery and do not register it the car still runs but the DC2DC will kill your new battery very quickly, as the it still thinks that he is charging an old battery . Please be aware that in some situations the traction battery estimate needs a couple of driven km(miles) to give a accurate estimate.

[@KCJAM1]

Take the terminal t-30 bolts out when the battery is still seated and it will be a LOT easier. Just saying.

[@lavalabs]

Thanks for the tip

[@coocool67]

It's a shame Bmw didn't provide an early warning system as regards the status of the 12 V battery!

[@watchmaster968]

All good, & a friend of mine had almost the same experience, except the drive chain message never disappeared and the drive/park stick never lit up. He had to have the car towed to a garage to erase reset codes etc. $1000 bill to replace the battery! You were lucky. They ripped him off.

[@thebutcher1018]

I have a check engine light “ yellow “ on ! Apparently is the EME ? Or ? I’m lost ….

[@maccoolmac5191]

You must register any new battery, because BMW will regulate the charge higher as the battery ages. If a new battery is installed without registering it, it will be over charging.

[@lavalabs]

Hi Mac, I did not find that to be the case. If it is the same type of battery there appears to be no reason to do anything but to swap it out. If you watch the video you can see that I bought all the equipment needed to do what I thought was necessary to register it. However I changed nothing in the settings and now it’s been almost a year and everything is working perfectly.

[@craigchamberlain]

@@lavalabs I agree with @Mac Coolmac - you really should register the battery with the ECU because the optimum charge profile changes as the battery ages and goes through charge/discharge cycles and the ECU can adjust for that to maximise the battery performance and longevity. But only if it knows that you’ve replaced it. I’ve not had to do this on our i3 yet but I have done it on my E61 535d a couple of times using the BMW tool ISTA+ and it’s pretty straightforward. Just because you’re is working doesn’t mean it’s working optimally. Also, the battery changes are registered in permanent memory so form part of the electronic service history.

[@bernardrivera5553]

Could you do a review about the air bag?Why the light keeps flash

[@mamadouaziza2536]

How old was the first battery? There are plenty of 2014 i3' on the road with the original OEM battery...

[@lavalabs]

It was the original battery so just over 5 years old I believe

[@mamadouaziza2536]

@@lavalabs Ok, thank you...

[@MimicoBungalow]

I am trying to find a review that shows me where the extended range model has the small gasoline motor

[@runemaa]

He said "Everything looks so clean in here..." I`m loving it!" - I say "I have never seen a car that looks like this that is no way clean in inside & outside!"

[@CRveterinary]

Do you ever refill the AC freon? I try to do it myself, but there is no video on how to do that in an i3.

[@lavalabs]

I have never done it

[@961212]

the 12v battery is special for i3? Or it is just normal 12v car use battery?

[@lavalabs]

More or less just a normal battery the chemistry is a little different, but it is closer to a lead acid

[@nusaman]

Oh what a glorious day !

[@QUiNTiNBANKS]

Amazing

[@johnj2803]

You 12v battery looks like was from 4/9/2014. It's still the original battery!

[@lavalabs]

The new battery that I replaced is not from 2014. I think in the video you can see the year and date when I recorded and bought the battery.

[@johnj2803]

@@lavalabs yes that's what I saw I the video...

[@darnellhenderson2170]

Same thing happened to my 2017 BMW i3 with 8,000 miles on it.

[@lavalabs]

Darnell hopefully you were able to sort it out. 2017 was a good year for a BMW i3

[@AllenManor]

The 12V battery failed in our i3 a couple years ago. I ordered the Remy battery and did exactly what you did, but when I went to turn it on, I got error messages and the car would not go into drive. Everything I read said I didn't need to program the battery but I ran out of options and had to tow it to the dealership. They scolded me for using a non-BMW battery and then charged me too much money to "register the new battery". I still don't know what I did wrong or what happened.

[@lavalabs]

Yeah if the batteries exactly the same theoretically you should not need it. However maybe something changed in the code of the newer models. It would probably be cheaper to just buy the programmer that I used. The upside is now you have BMW certified battery.

[@AllenManor]

@@lavalabs I think I will look into getting your programmer, it probably would be a good investment since we plan on keeping our 2014 for 3-4 more years. Thank you.

[@raven4k998]

why does the car not tell you that the 12 volts going bad like a tesla?

[@Rick_Retired]

That is a great question! I didn't even know that I had a 12v battery so when I started various getting battery messages I'd assumed they were all referring to the main battery that powers the i3 wheels.

[@mat29a]

RAC changed my 90AH 2016/7 Rex battery on roadside assistance. After watching this video I checked my battery. It seems they have not connected the vent hose. Look around I cannot find it anywhere. I wonder how significant that may be?

[@lavalabs]

I’m thinking, not very significant. It’s more of a peace of mind In my opinion.

[@atms001]

@@lavalabs Thanks.. Where does the battery hose go? I am not sure where to look as I am not very handy with cars

[@lavalabs]

I’m not sure what you mean. It goes from the 12V battery and exhausts below the car.

[@mat29a]

@@lavalabs little wonder I keep getting light acidic smell inside the car (sometimes overpowering ) I should fit a suitable tube to the vent and run it below the subframe . Thanks for your help.

[@lavalabs]

@@mat29a running a tube from the 12 V battery wouldn’t hurt and may be a good idea to vent. However, I don’t think that’s what’s causing any acidic smell in the car.

[@swavye]

Great video. No nonsense and all of the discussion is at the end.

[@ronmoz5815]

thank you sir for the information.

[@JohnDamenify]

Love this guy!

[@MrSillypoptart]

Awesome video! I have the exact same problems and codes being thrown up! I will change out my 12V battery and hope it works!!

[@ianlove3]

good and easy to follow battery change.

[@APHE03301]

Can you code/register the battery using beemer code and veepeak or do I need the fox well to do that?

[@lavalabs]

Hi James, Beemer code cannot do it and I am not sure about veepeak. I was only able to do it with the FOXWEL. But since I put in the same type and capacity battery there was no need to program anything.

[@dave20thmay]

You need Bimmer Link. Bimmercode can be used to change the battery type. But to register you need Link, which sets up the charging for a new battery. I wonder why he did not charge the new one first or at least check it.

[@maximalniy]

Thank you, just bought i3 Rex 2014, new battery but it doesn’t go in Ready Mode, just Off mode and fuel gauge is greyed out ( Who knows what’s happening?