How to change BMW X1 Battery & Code it

If you are quoted hundreds of dollars to change your BMW X1 battery and want to do it by yourself and save some money, you are at the right place. There is a step by step instructions to change your BMW X1 car battery and it only takes 15 minutes including the reprogramming or coding the battery using Carly adapter.

In BMW X1, the car battery is located in the trunk/boot of the car.

Symptoms of Low Battery in a BMW X1

difficulty in starting the car when it is cold outside
Start/Stop system stops working
A warning light in the dashboard with a sign of battery (cc-id-229)

Things you need

A 10mm long wrench ( Link in amazon)
A pair of gloves
A compatible Battery – An AGM battery with start/stop capacity (Link in amazon)
Carly Adapter and App (Link in amazon)

How to buy the perfect battery for your BMW X1?

make sure to measure the length, width and depth of your battery. For my car, it was 315mm / Width: 175mm / Height: 190mm. Also checked the Amperage, mine was 800A.
You can find these details on the top of your battery or use Carly app to connect to your car and click on read battery data(after clicking register battery).

If you look in the above picture, you can see that the battery is a 12V, 800 A ,800CCA VRLA/AGM battery. So what does these letters means:

12V — the voltage of the battery is 12V

800A – The amperage of the Battery is 800 (Unit of Current)

800CCA- CCA stands for cold cranking Amperage. This means this battery can delivery a current of 800A for 30 seconds while maintaining at least 7.2 volts(60% of original). It is quite important especially when you are living in a cold climate.

140 RC – RC stands for reserved capacity. It is the number of minutes the battery can provide enough charge in case the alternator stops charging the battery for any reason. So in the case of the battery in the picture is 140 Minutes.

VRLA/AGM — VRLA stands for valve-regulated lead-acid battery. And AGM is a type of VRLA battery, and it stands for Absorbent Glass Mat. There is a fibreglass mesh between the battery plates (source )

These type of batteries don’t require regular maintenance and in the case of BMW, an AGM battery can easily last 6 to 7 years.

Now that you got an idea about what battery to get for your BMW X1, let’s dive in to changing the battery and coding it.

Steps To change the battery:

BMW X1 Battery is in the trunk of your car. So open up your trunk and remove the cover in the trunk
Remove the screws on the metal bar that holds the old battery using a 10mm wrench.
There is a breathing hole on your left side of the battery, disconnect that pipe.
Loosen the screws of the -ve terminal and +ve terminal using the same 10mm wrench
remove the -ve terminal first by giving it a small shake
Next, remove the positive terminal, there is a computer that controls the charge to your battery. There is two pins on both sides, using your hands to push it inside (metal part).
Move the terminals and the metal bar aside. There is a cable that is connected to the metal bar, be careful with that one when moving the parts aside.
On the right-hand side bottom, there is a 10 mm screw that holds the battery in place with a rectangular shaped metal piece. Remove the 10 mm bold using a long wrench.
Then take the battery out. and put the new battery in. Make sure to transfer the small L shaped breather pipe to the new battery
Connect the metal part with the 10mm wrench to hold the battery in place
Connect the +ve terminal first and the -ve terminal and then connect the metal bar that holds the battery in place
make sure to the battery breather pipe back on the new battery.The next is to register your battery using the Carly adapter

How to register/code BMW X1 battery with Carly?

Turn your car on, and connect your Carly adapter and connect to Carly using your Carly app.
Once connected select your car model and select Register battery
Click on the read battery data and once the data is read, click on the Register New Battery to Register the car battery.