Need to replace the battery on my new to me 2014 JCW. I haven't taken a look yet, but I'm going to assume that I have IBS. A couple of questions:

1. Do I need to replace with an AGM or will lead acid work? I usually get my batteries from costco.
2. Resetting the battery...I've seen posts where the car electronics were boogered until reset, but most show no ill effects short term. I plan on resetting it, but might not have the correct tool right away.
2a. So what's the best tool for the job? I've seen carly app (which doesn't look like it has much more going for it over an obd scanner except for the battery?). Schwaben is the other mention, which looks a bit better. However, if I'm spending the coin on a scanner, I'd like the most full featured one available. I haven't had experience with ITSA/INPA/etc, and don't feel like spending hours learning it, but if it's that much more capable, then so be it.

 

Carly is cool because it can a bit of coding for lights and whatnot, but there’s a subscription fee and extra charge for things like battery registration, from what I’ve heard. I own a Schwaben and it is fantastic, I am fully endorsing it! INPA is probably the most full featured, but it seems like there is a heck of a learning curve.... but I have no experience with it.
With the Schwaben, battery registration literally take a couple of minutes including plugging in and booting up the scan tool. For the price I think it’s the best option, but others will probably have different opinions.
Good luck

 

You have IBS i bet if you have that cable, ( https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...427603567~oem/ ) battery will need reset: Schwaben tool does the job. Its on sale right now. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d-q-and-a.html

Just go with a standard battery, AGM you will need a retrofit kit and then code it, i have not seen a person do that with an AGM and the schwaben.

 

Yeah, looks like I have IBS (aka solution looking for a problem). Funny, I thought that OEM was AGM? What would the retrofit entail? So I just need a standard 47 or 48 lead acid? No problem with that, certainly cheaper. And I looked back at the carly site, it doesn't mention anything about a yearly subscription...but the (many) negative reviews don't fail to bring it up. My only concern with the schwaben was that I saw some posts a while back where people's units became obsolete despite being advertised as being software upgradeable.

 

They just same in for the new schwaben tools and they are the updated elite version which posted in the thread with the latest software update. Older ones can be updated. But we no longer carry those, just the newest ones now.

Group 47 works, some other groups will fit, they are just not the exact size of the factory battery.

Think people are buying an older amazon linked Foxwell universal tool ( thinking its the schwaben one) and it does not have the updates.

 

Thanks, looks like that's the way to go. Why would AGM require a retrofit kit?

 

Certain ones will if the size is way off and they need a different bracket due to size to hold the battery. If its a standard size the you are fine.

 

Ok, so to summarize:

No rocket science here. Any standard battery will work as long as it fits.

 

Yep, and as long as it matches or close to the CCA/CA rating of the old one and the terminal are on the correct side and not flipped.

 

On our 2012, I bought a battery from NAPA and called it good. Think it was a group 48, which was bit longer than the OEM battery..

 

I have a 2013 Mini Cooper S which required a battery change. Does this Schwaben OBD2 scanner also allow you to do the reset on your car's battery system? I have been told it would cost an additional $150 from the stealership to reprogram the system for a new battery. I would rather spend this on a good scanner. I have an Apple computer for updates, is this any sort of an issue?

 

The issue is that $150 to register a battery is hiway robbery!

Get the scanner, MINIs like to throw codes, you will need it more than once.

 

Yes, the schwaben tool resets the battery.

 

Just bought the schwaben. Part of me hopes that I'll use it often. Bigger part hopes that it was a waste of money and I'll never need it again.

 

(If nothing else you can reset oil life & brake pad CBS settings.

 

Still waiting on the tool, but replaced the battery with no issues. It's running fine, no wonky electronic gremlins without a reset, though hopefully I'll get to reset it soon. FYI though, the OEM battery was AGM and not lead acid. Group 48 was damn near the exact right size if not exact. The group 47's were about the same price but were not as robust in terms of CA/CCA/reserve time.

 

I called ECS and bought it....150 for a dealer reset vs. 180 for the computer is a no brainer. ECS said it can reset a good bit of Mini codes.

 

It does. I use mine all of the time for different things. It pays for itself over and over. You can reset your adaptations too, and abs, any cel (as long as you fix it), service warnings, and so on.

 

OK, well, got the scanner and it doesn't appear that it actually registers the new battery? Or I'm doing it wrong? As mentioned, the original battery was AGM, and the new is lead acid. I'm also not sure if the new battery is the exact same capacity as the original. I can see that I can tell the mini that I replaced the battery, but can't figure out how to tell it what I replaced it with. There was also a screen about running "Progman" or something (guess I didn't get a pic), wasn't sure what that was all about. Note that it's still displaying as an AGM battery.

 

I believe that battery type change requires coding not registering.

 

I was under the impression that the schwaben could handle whatever was needed to set the battery with the ibs...

 

I was also. Some clarifications are needed. I expect to buy the toy but I need to know if it will do the job. The closest dealer is 100 miles away and the local shops don't know what a Mini is.

 

Here is a good BMW post that answers battery questions - https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1338302

AFAIK the Schwaben/Foxwell tool does not code. And if it does, ECS should chime in here and tell you how.

 

Hello Guys, just saw this.

The tool does not re-code the car like people think, it reads a lot of the codes that most scanners cannot find. It does some coding for things like replacement modules and resets. And regular battery replacement.

https://blog.ecstuning.com/schwaben-...-registration/

I just noticed you did go forward and went from a AGM to lead acid, i have done it with lead acids but not a AGM original back to the lead acid. .

Let me get some more info and try that process linked above here. Its the same you just click MINI. Let me know if that works.

If it still does not work, you can send it back if you want, I use mine for a lot of things so I don't have to run to the dealer to check, just let our CS team know what went on.

 

Yeah, that's what I was doing. As you can see from the screen shot, it registered the replacement, but still reports it as an AGM instead of a lead acid. There was an option for lead acid --> AGM, and there was also a menu where it asked if the new battery had more or less capacity than the old one...but then it didn't do anything further. If you get any more info LMK, otherwise I'll have to try something else. The AGM-->lead acid is probably more significant than the capacity.

Has anyone used Deep OBD? Looks pretty powerful, android based. Can't find much info on it, though it's been around a while. It's a german app, and apparently most of the discussions are in german...
Otherwise it looks like my options are carly or ITSA?