Car Model Guide/ Issues/ Unregistered replacement battery

Unregistered replacement battery

Attaches to E9X at chassis level · Electrical · carried by 65 variants across 4 chassis

Overview

Unregistered replacement battery is a common fault recorded against E9X at chassis level, at any age. It shows up as random electrical faults, warning lights that come and go, a battery that dies again within a year. Where it's documented, the repair runs €30–€60 (coding at an independent, costs dated 2026-07), and it can be partly checked before you buy. 65 variants across 4 chassis in this database inherit it.

€30 – €60
coding at an independent · costs dated
Likelihoodcommon
Typical onsetany age
Detectablepartially
Walk awayno
Evidencedocumented

What happens

Symptom. Random electrical faults, warning lights that come and go, a battery that dies again within a year.

Cause. The car's power management must be told a new battery was fitted. Cheap replacements are routinely fitted without coding, which then overcharges or undercharges the new battery.

How to check it

Paperwork

Ask when the battery was changed and whether it was registered. A car with a new battery, no registration and a scatter of odd electrical faults usually just needs coding.

On these cars the folder is most of the value.

ElectricalcommonPartly detectableevidence: documented

Every variant that carries this

VariantChassisBodyYearsRiskGood buyCost as % of good buy
318i N46E90sedan2005–2011R3€3,1001%
318i N46E91wagon2005–2011R3€3,3001%
320i N46E90sedan2005–2007R3€3,4001%
320i N46E91wagon2005–2007R3€3,6001%
320i N43E90sedan2007–2011R4€3,9501%
320i N43E91wagon2007–2011R4€4,2001%
320i N43E92coupe2007–2011R4€4,5501%
320i N43E93convertible2007–2011R4€4,4501%
323i N52E90sedan2005–2007R2€4,0501%
323i N52E91wagon2005–2007R2€4,3001%
323i N52E92coupe2006–2007R2€4,6501%
325i N52E90sedan2005–2007R2€4,7501%
325i N52E91wagon2005–2007R2€5,0501%
325i N52E92coupe2006–2007R2€5,4501%
325i N52E93convertible2007R2€5,3501%
325i N53E90sedan2007–2011R4€5,2501%
325i N53E91wagon2007–2012R4€5,5501%
325i N53E92coupe2007–2013R4€6,0501%
325i N53E93convertible2007–2013R4€5,9001%
328i N52E90sedan2006–2011R2€5,1501%
328i N52E91wagon2006–2012R2€5,4501%
328i N52E92coupe2006–2013R2€5,9501%
328i N52E93convertible2007–2013R2€5,7501%
330i N52E90sedan2005–2007R2€5,6001%
330i N52E91wagon2005–2007R2€5,9501%
330i N52E92coupe2006–2007R2€6,4501%
330i N53E90sedan2007–2011R4€6,0001%
330i N53E91wagon2007–2011R4€6,3501%
330i N53E92coupe2007–2011R4€6,9001%
330i N53E93convertible2007–2011R4€6,7501%
335i N54E90sedan2006–2010R4€7,3501%
335i N54E92coupe2006–2010R4€8,4501%
335i N54E93convertible2007–2010R4€8,2501%
335i N55E90sedan2010–2011R3€11,7000%
335i N55E92coupe2010–2013R3€13,4500%
335i N55E93convertible2010–2013R3€13,1000%
316d N47E90sedan2009–2011R5€4,2001%
316d N47E91wagon2009–2011R5€4,4501%
318d N47E90sedan2007–2011R5€4,1001%
318d N47E91wagon2007–2011R5€4,3501%
320d M47E90sedan2005–2007R3€3,8001%
320d M47E91wagon2005–2007R3€4,0501%
320d N47E90sedan2007–2011R5€4,4001%
320d N47E91wagon2007–2012R5€4,6501%
320d N47E92coupe2007–2013R5€5,0501%
320d N47E93convertible2007–2013R5€4,9501%
325d M57E90sedan2006–2010R2€5,2001%
325d M57E91wagon2006–2010R2€5,5001%
325d M57E92coupe2006–2010R2€6,0001%
325d N57E90sedan2010–2011R3€7,2001%
325d N57E91wagon2010–2012R3€7,6501%
325d N57E92coupe2010–2013R3€8,3001%
330d M57E90sedan2005–2008R2€5,9501%
330d M57E91wagon2005–2008R2€6,3001%
330d M57E92coupe2006–2008R2€6,8501%
330d M57E93convertible2007–2008R2€6,7001%
330d N57E90sedan2008–2011R3€8,5001%
330d N57E91wagon2008–2012R3€9,0500%
330d N57E92coupe2008–2013R3€9,0001%
330d N57E93convertible2008–2013R3€8,7501%
335d M57E90sedan2006–2010R3€6,9001%
335d M57E92coupe2006–2010R3€7,9501%
M3 S65E90sedan2007–2011R4€35,7000%
M3 S65E92coupe2007–2013R4€35,0000%
M3 S65E93convertible2007–2013R4€30,8000%

The last column is the point. The same repair is an inconvenience on one variant and a reason to scrap the car on another. A failure costing a quarter of the vehicle's value changes the purchase decision regardless of how rare it is.