[milkyway]

18 X2's battery has just died after little over 3 years. BMW dealer replaced it. and new battery's BMW part number shown on invoice/work statements is 61212353813. When I looked it up, like on realoem.com, it doesn't fit X2, but 61217555719 does. My local dealer says realoem.com is a pirate site, insists 61212353813, is the only right one and they can get and BMW supplies to fit the vehicle. Is the dealer right? Is there anybody here having the similar experience or know more about X2 battery to share?

Thank you.

[xcelir8bmw]

Here is a pic I made way back from another post of my battery...

Your dealer is full of crap.

[milkyway]

The dealer sends me its part catalog screen shot (attached). Dealer's is similar to realoem.com, but has more info including the side note saying to use 61212353813 from East Penn. I think I have to accept this.

[dianebrat]

Keep in mind that dealers don't stray out of their lane, there can be a dozen different batteries that might fit and work, but if they are not listed as a vetted replacement they won't use them.

You say they put in a 61212353813 and apparently it works and fits since it's in the car now, is there something specific that you can see that shows it's not a suitable replacement? Just because websites aren't fully cross referencing it to the X2 when it's listed for the X1's may just mean it's not in the master list, not that it can't replace it.

[milkyway]

I have not physically looked the new installed battery, since it's not visible without taking off some coverings/bar easily. Since I don't know anything better than realome.com for part catalog available to the public/us, I/we have to accept what dealers show us from theirs/BMW's. That's probably the reason, the dealer says realoem is pirate/illegitimate, although I/we disagree, it may not be as updated/complete/accurate at most.

[dianebrat]

Originally Posted by milkyway

I have not physically looked the new installed battery, since it's not visible without taking off some coverings/bar easily. Since I don't know anything better than realome.com for part catalog available to the public/us, I/we have to accept what dealers show us from theirs/BMW's. That's probably the reason, the dealer says realoem is pirate/illegitimate, although I/we disagree, it may not be as updated/complete/accurate at most.

I took about 15 minutes to do a google search on the assorted part numbers and cross referenced them with each other by using only pages from BMW dealers and could not come up with a reason to choose one over the other, just the differences I posted.

If I were a dealer I wouldn't pay much attention to realoem.com either since they're right, it's not an authorized source for BMW part numbers or cross references, I'd only use dedicated BMW sources, but like I said, dealers are very locked into their supply chain, it's just the way it works. Realoem.com is an awesome resource for those who want to DIY, but it's definitely not BMW authorized.

[//TMT]

When I go to realoem it indicates the data is from December of 2019, which is already 1.5 years ago. These things are always changing, especially in the current supply chain situations.

Apart from OEM quality, there really isn't anything in the battery that's proprietary or special to the X2. If it's an 80AH AGM battery, it's basically gonna work.

[xcelir8bmw]

Originally Posted by //TMT

When I go to realoem it indicates the data is from December of 2019, which is already 1.5 years ago. These things are always changing, especially in the current supply chain situations.

Apart from OEM quality, there really isn't anything in the battery that's proprietary or special to the X2. If it's an 80AH AGM battery, it's basically gonna work.

80 amp hour and 800 CCA

or better

[milkyway]

Originally Posted by dianebrat

I took about 15 minutes to do a google search on the assorted part numbers and cross referenced them with each other by using only pages from BMW dealers and could not come up with a reason to choose one over the other, just the differences I posted.

If I were a dealer I wouldn't pay much attention to realoem.com either since they're right, it's not an authorized source for BMW part numbers or cross references, I'd only use dedicated BMW sources, but like I said, dealers are very locked into their supply chain, it's just the way it works. Realoem.com is an awesome resource for those who want to DIY, but it's definitely not BMW authorized.

Sorry, don't quite understand what you say in the first paragraph, could you elaborate more with some specific. Thank you.

[dianebrat]

Originally Posted by milkyway

Sorry, don't quite understand what you say in the first paragraph, could you elaborate more with some specific. Thank you.

I took the 3 referenced BMW part numbers,
61212353813 80AH
61217555719 80AH
61216805461 70AH
Searched on each of them in Google, only clicked results from BMW dealers, looked at what the dealers said they fit as far as X1 or X2 in the 2018-2021 model years.

61212353813 lists all the X1 models, but doesn't list the X2, but fits 31 models

61217555719 lists all the X1 models and the X2, and fits 29 models

61216805461 lists some of the X1 models and the X2, and fits 26 models

"East Penn" is https://www.eastpennmanufacturing.com a 3rd party battery supplier, so it's most likely that East Penn has a battery that is a replacement part for multiple different part numbers but keyed off of 61212353813.

More than you ever wanted to know about batteries and 3rd party suppliers, and the answer is "the dealer was not wrong"

[milkyway]

Thank everybody's input/help. Sum up what I've learned from this, and hope this helps other BMW/X2 owners:

1. Part number 61212353813 is correct if BMW dealers use it to replace your X2 battery
2. Don't assume realoem.com has the latest/updated data. In this case we can't have any place except BMW/dealer to know 61212353813 is the correct one to use.

Wish BMW makes its part catalog available to at least owners.

[dianebrat]

Originally Posted by milkyway

Thank everybody's input/help. Sum up what I've learned from this, and hope this helps other BMW/X2 owners:

1. Part number 61212353813 is correct if BMW dealers use it to replace your X2 battery
2. Don't assume realoem.com has the latest/updated data. In this case we can't have any place except BMW/dealer to know 61212353813 is the correct one to use.

Wish BMW makes its part catalog available to at least owners.

Or:
If you go to a dealer, let them use their resources to get you the correct part
If you do it yourself just make sure you check the battery providers cross reference for your vehicle.

It's really not that complicated, I'd bet good money all the batteries listed would work fine in an x2 or x1

[//TMT]

Don't forget that after changing the battery, you need to reset the vehicle charging controller and set it to match the new battery's rated capacity! Bimmerlink is able to do this btw, in addition to many BMW-specific diagnostic readers, etc.