C400X Battery Replacement and Service Question

[ELvir]

Hi all,


I believe my C400x Battery crapped out. It sat on a battery tender, and would only start only when charged up but if driven it would not start any more. I did some quick search and Turns out that I need to program the battery. charged up battery is sitting at 12.3V, but only makes one click noise, not even an attempt to start.

I have several questions.

1. Does the battery really need programing? If so what are my options? I heard that there are some units you can get from amazon, but do not know the whole ordeal.
2. My service light is on, Can the same tool be used to program the service light off?

EDIT:

I did find these two, but I do not have enough info on whether or not they will work for both of my concerns. Any assistance is much appreciated.

UniCarScan UCSI-2100 OBD2

MotoScan for BMW Motorcycles

 

[wspollack]

Hi all,


I believe my C400x Battery crapped out. It sat on a battery tender, and would only start only when charged up but if driven it would not start any more. I did some quick search and Turns out that I need to program the battery. charged up battery is sitting at 12.3V, but only makes one click noise, not even an attempt to start.

I have several questions.

1. Does the battery really need programing? If so what are my options? I heard that there are some units you can get from amazon, but do not know the whole ordeal.
2. My service light is on, Can the same tool be used to program the service light off?

EDIT:

I did find these two, but I do not have enough info on whether or not they will work for both of my concerns. Any assistance is much appreciated.

UniCarScan UCSI-2100 OBD2

MotoScan for BMW Motorcycles

My experiences, '22 and '23 C 400 GT ...


AMAZON:

My experience with Amazon and batteries involved a battery for my riding lawnmower. The issue was that it wouldn't ship battery fluid needed to pour in the battery I had just purchased from Amazon, because the fluid was hazardous material. I had to get the fluid at my local NAPA. Might as well have purchased the battery there, in the first place.

I don't know if this is always the case, but it seems simpler to avoid Amazon.

On the other hand, a few years ago I bought a really beefy YUASA battery for my former Burgman 650 from Revzilla. It was a sealed AGM battery, ready to roll, and was shipped to my house.

You have any local Batteries Plus, NAPA, etc., where you can just buy a new battery? Or a BMW dealer?


REPLACING A BATTERY ON A C 400:

The owner's manual has the procedure:







I have never removed the battery itself on either my former '22 or my current '23 C 400 GT.

But I have removed the stuff connecting to it, and on top of it, several times -- at least once on each bike -- in order to connect some additional leads for my electrical add-ons.

And it is a real pain. That plastic piece, with the circular radio-wave receiver, is very difficult to remove and reinstall.

It involves: squeezing some parts of it; tilting it at an angle, back and forth; fiddling with it some more; cursing; taking a break; and repeat.

Make sure you take a really good look at how its positioned, and take some close-up photos, before you start messing with it.


PROGRAMMING:

I am aware of this sort of thing with batteries and vehicles. My sole car is a fairly expensive one, and supposedly replacing its battery requires a device to enter a serial number, its amperage, stuff like that.

However, I don't recall reading about a programming requirement for the C 400 battery, either in this forum, the owner's manual, the shop manual, or anywhere else.

In 2024, when I was almost finished with a multi-day out-of-town trip, I had a flat tire on the bike. Eventually, it was trucked to one of Max BMW's shops in CT. (I bought the bike at Max BMW's place in Troy, NY, and have it serviced there. It's about 25 minutes from my house.)

I mention this because in the course of that work, when they had the bike in CT for a couple of weeks, they told me over the phone that the battery was bad, and that they would replace it. Here's the relevant part of the receipt:



Well, that wasn't a "Customer Report" at all. They must have encountered a problem, maybe moving the bike around the dealership, for the tire repair.

In any case, I'm showing you this because there is no mention in the receipt of any programming. Max BMW is usually very detailed about such this -- labor, programming, etc. For instance, near the end of my recent TPMS saga, the receipt notes "VEHICLE SOFTWARE UPDATED." And because that battery replacement was warranty work, I would strongly assume that they'd want to document every aspect of it, because they get reimbursed for that work.

So, my question to you is: where have you heard, read, etc., that replacing a C 400's battery entails any programming?

That's all I got. I don't own any of the programming devices, such as the GS-911 and other devices. I've read about them a bit in the forum here, but never bought or even used one. If you want more info on that sort of thing, others will have to help you out there.

Good luck on all this.

 

[ELvir]

Thanks for that detailed info.

To clear a thing or two, As far as Amazon, I was referring to programing tools not battery. I would get one from Local Auto store if compatible with bike. I was searching batteries online for C400x and that is where i saw multiple pages referencing needing to program it. Something long the lines of bike controls how much battery amperage is needed to charge a battery, which is different between new and older. In my mind that does not make any sense, as the battery is directly tied to a battery tender.

 

[wspollack]

Thanks for that detailed info.

To clear a thing or two, As far as Amazon, I was referring to programing tools not battery. I would get one from Local Auto store if compatible with bike. I was searching batteries online for C400x and that is where i saw multiple pages referencing needing to program it. Something long the lines of bike controls how much battery amperage is needed to charge a battery, which is different between new and older. In my mind that does not make any sense, as the battery is directly tied to a battery tender.

Ah, sorry I misunderstood part of your questions.

Regarding the updating devices, you might want to use the Search function atop most pages, maybe entering "motoscan" "gs-911" or something like that. There are definitely forum members who have experience with such devices, have some suggestions where to buy them (as I recall), have information about their particular capabilities, and so forth.

Regarding programming, I just thoroughly checked the shop manual, and it doesn't mention any programming. Actually, it doesn't mention jackshit, i.e., it is curiously devoid of information:



And it mentions "Remove battery holder" (that's the plastic top thingy) in many places as a necessary step in doing other work, but doesn't ever explain the process (which, as I noted, is a real test of patience and wiggling).

I believe the shop manual doesn't discuss a few things that are already covered in the owner's manual. For instance, removing the panels to add overflow-tank coolant come to mind, as well as the outside battery area cover plastic.

All the manual mentions is the juice:



Yeah, as I say, I learned about the amp rating being input when I bought my most recent car. So such things are possible requirements, but I've never heard of them for a bike, and can't find any mention of this in the owner's or shop manual.

Regarding charging, note that I keep both of my bikes -- the C 400 GT and a Royal Enfield Meteor 350 -- on smart-chargers (PulseTech XC100s) all the time they're in the garage, not just during winter.

And yet: that one-year-old battery was pronounced no good by the Max BMW folks in CT last year. This was after an eight-day trip (five full riding days, three visiting days in the middle), followed by a couple of weeks in their shop. So I gather that even new-ish batteries, batteries routinely hooked up to smart-chargers, can fail. Surprises me a little, but there you have it.

You have some links from your searching, where they mention programming after battery replacement?

By the way, I was just doing some searching myself, and came across this comment in response to a video: "I didn't have an issue getting the battery out but I can't get thte bastard holder/ retainer to sit back in place" -- what I was talking about.

 

[wspollack]

Addendum:

@ELvir : Check out these pages:

C400X maintenance the full BMW Motorrad guide

Discover the complete maintenance guide for the BMW C400X to extend its lifetime as long as possible with expert advice BMW Motorrad.

bmw.europe-moto.com

... which has a link to this ...

BMW Battery AGM (LTX9) - S1000XR - C400GT/X - F900GS/GSA

Opt for BMW Battery AGM (LTX9) - C400GT - C400X - S1000XR (2019-2020) - F900GS. BMW Motorrad Equipment, Parts & Accessories. Best price

bmw.europe-moto.com

Note that bit in there:

Original BMW Motorrad batteries are very easy to install, just replace the old one with the new one. Ready to go, just plug in and roll.

 

[Ceesie76]

I suspect no programming required, just install new battery. Do make sure cables and connections are all good, clean and tight. Batteries in my vehicles typically last at least 5, oftentimes many more years. Still using batteries I bought back in 2005, 2010, 2015. But they do go bad of course, and sometimes in 'strange' ways, so good and relatively cheap to rule that out by replacing it. If that turns out not to be the issue, you can keep the old one as a spare.
I had a 2010 BMW Z4 for a while, and replaced the battery in it. That did require me to let the ECU know about the new battery's specs. I used a bi-directional scanner. These days I have a fairly sophisticated one for my modern vehicles (post 2010), a Topdon Phoenix Lite. It can even program new keys to my cars, and is essential for things like replacing the transmission fluid in my 2013 Mercedes. But it will not work on BMW motorcycles - only Motoscan (I recommend) together with bluetooth dongle, or GS 911 work.

 

[ELvir]

ok thanks guys, I did pull the battery and had it tested at local auto store. When checked the battery was 100% charged, but Battery health was at 12%. I swapped it out for a equally specked Die Hart Platinum and its doing great. Apparently there was a mechanic in the store as well and he was baffled by the need to program the battery so the ECU knows its new. We will see what happens.

 

[Ian650]

I had cause to replace the battery on my 21 plate C400X (Manufactured 2019). I had a spare battery on trickle charge for my 1991 Yamaha SRX400 (grey import). It's identical! I just swapped it over and it's starting charging and running fine now.
Battery code is YTX9-BS if anyone has need. HTH anyone for future reference