[sierramike]

Hi everyone,

I know this may not be specific to the iX3 but I don't know if all BMW EVs have the same type of batteries and/or stats.

I'm about to buy an used iX3 2 years old, what's the best way to check battery health before buying? Is there a specific menu to display all necessary details?

Thanks!

[ThreeXi]

Hello serriamike,

As far as I’m aware, it’s not possible to see the health of the battery in the same way as say maybe an iPhone or other similar mobile device.
Having said that, I’m pretty sure if you’re buying a two year old iX3, you’ll most likely still have six years of the original manufacturer warranty from BMW available to you.
Are you buying the car as an ‘approved used BMW’? If so, I’d imagine they run more checks than perhaps say a non BMW dealership?

Many thanks,

[sierramike]

Hello ThreeXi,

Thanks for your answer, you're right there should be 6 years warranty remaining on the battery, and 1 year general vehicle warranty as the actual first owner told me the car is covered by 2+1 years warranty (probably was an offer at time of purchase).

I know the battery is covered but my aim was more to have a general idea about wear of the battery, even if covered by warranty I suppose it has to fail completely on a cell before invoking warranty check?

Is battery check something I could ask to my local BMW dealer once I get the car? Is this an expensive task?

I'm buying the car to a private owner, I'm not afraid about that since it is a recent car still under manufacturer warranty.

[ThreeXi]

Hello sierramike,

I’m pretty sure a BMW dealership will be able to run checks on the high voltage battery for you.
Perhaps that’s something to explore and ask for when the cars next service is due?

As far as individual battery cell wear and replacement goes, it appears that an incredible amount of machine learning, algorithms and software is involved out of sight with the battery charging, deploying and usage, in that I believe by design, wear is balanced and evened out across the cells, so it’s not like a charge from 75% to 100% always uses ‘cell number 4 out of 4’ for example, it rotates across the cells, but I’m happy to be corrected on this, someone else on here will know more I’m sure?

Obviously everyone’s EV buying and usage experiences are different, this reminded me of being worried about battery health when I first explored buying an iX3. I was expecting signs of battery wear immediately within days of picking up the keys and reduced range as the weeks went by, I was comparing it to wear rates like a mobile device, although the principle is in effect identical, the timescales we are talking of with the iX3 is way much longer, enjoy the drive!

Many thanks,

[Helmetbox]

Originally Posted by sierramike

Hi everyone,

I know this may not be specific to the iX3 but I don't know if all BMW EVs have the same type of batteries and/or stats.

I'm about to buy an used iX3 2 years old, what's the best way to check battery health before buying? Is there a specific menu to display all necessary details?

Thanks!

I think there is way to download the bmw data archive whereby your car transmit data to bmw server.

If the value is 200. Mean your battery is good.

This value indicates the health status of the battery.
200 = Adequate health status of the battery
140 = Limited - Battery replacement recommended
110 = Inadequate - Battery replacement required
80 = Degraded - Battery replacement urgently required

[sierramike]

Ok so I'm back after a while, the iX3 I was wanting to buy has been sold to someone else, but I kept searching and found another one, same price negociation, but half the mileage (32.000km), a bit less than 2 years in a lovely whole black livery, bought as a BMW Premium Selection to a BMW official dealer, so it has a total of slightly more than 3 years warranty left, which is really perfect.

Drove back from the dealer and the first step of the back trip went from 100% to 6% battery on 330km, all done on german highway at the exact speed limitations (and set to 135km/h on unlimited sections), using the auto-pilot feature for the whole length. I think I can say battery health seems perfect !

Anyways, Helmetbox , what you say about the data archive seems interresting and I would love to hear more about that, do you know how, or do you have any documentation on how it is possible to retrieve that and read the content?

[Helmetbox]

Originally Posted by sierramike

Ok so I'm back after a while, the iX3 I was wanting to buy has been sold to someone else, but I kept searching and found another one, same price negociation, but half the mileage (32.000km), a bit less than 2 years in a lovely whole black livery, bought as a BMW Premium Selection to a BMW official dealer, so it has a total of slightly more than 3 years warranty left, which is really perfect.

Drove back from the dealer and the first step of the back trip went from 100% to 6% battery on 330km, all done on german highway at the exact speed limitations (and set to 135km/h on unlimited sections), using the auto-pilot feature for the whole length. I think I can say battery health seems perfect !

Anyways, Helmetbox , what you say about the data archive seems interresting and I would love to hear more about that, do you know how, or do you have any documentation on how it is possible to retrieve that and read the content?

Log into your bmw account then find the bmw data on the website.


BMW CARDATA
REQUEST DATA ARCHIVE
With BMW CarData you can always keep an eye on the telematics data which your vehicle sends regularly to BMW as part of the BMW ConnectedDrive services and which is saved there. This includes your BMW's measured values such as mileage and Check Control messages. You can request a BMW CarData archive at any time to find out which telematics data BMW currently has saved regarding your vehicle. This data archive consists of a detailed list of the telematics data saved regarding your vehicle and a glossary which explains the most important terms. This means you are always kept up-to-date. It can take up to 24 hours to create a data archive, and in extreme cases, even longer. You will be notified by e-mail as soon as the file is ready. The data archive will then be available to download for 14 days.

[Helmetbox]

It can take up to 24 hours to create a BMW CarData archive, in exceptional cases even longer. You will be notified by e-mail as soon as the file is ready. The archive is then available to download for 14 days from the My BMW Portal.

[sierramike]

Thanks, it seems the service wasn't activated. I just requested the archive, will see if it contains older data or if it starts only today ...