I've always thought you could replace a dead battery or dying one with no issues. I am not at home with my Jag, but asked my son/daughter to go to AutoZone to replace the battery. They would not do it as they said that if they disconnected it, it would lose it's memory. I can't believe that is the truth as if the battery is dead for a while and you replaced it, it would be fine. They also said that they had to remove the bumper to get access.. I think they told my son a bunch of crap as he is still a novice at owning a car. Anyway, I don't have my manual with me so, is there any special things you need to do on replacing the battery? I probably have to fly home to do it myself and if necessary have SDD available to do some reprogramming. I know the windows will need resetting, but not much else.

 

Here in the UK we have had cases recently where people have lost the central locking after disconnecting the battery. There is a TSB about this (see attached). so care is needed, some are saying you need to let all the circuits close down before disconnecting anything. You also need to reset the BMS to tell the car a new battery is fitted, you can do this with your SDD.

 

I replaced my battery without any issues. Its in the trunk with the spare tire. As I recall I had to reset the power window travel limits but that was all (it says how in the owners manual). However, if the state emissions inspection were due anytime soon, I'd have connected an alternative power source to prevent memory loss as all of the emissions monitors are reset to null and it can take weeks of city driving before conditions are met for all internal emissions monitoring tests to be performed. Or if the battery were still OK, just doing preventative replacement I'd have the inspection done first. But if inspection is a couple months out, all internal tests will recycle eventually and it should be fine to just disconnect the battery and reconnect a new one. Batteries often get replaced after they're already dead anyway and usually in the most inconvenient places and times, like an airport parking lot after returning from a two week vacation or the morning after a major snow storm. Jaguar wouldn't purposefully design a car that you can't replace a battery on the side of the road. But don't listen to the teenagers working at the autobone or ohreallys. They aren't familiar with anything but the Hondas and Chevys that come every hour of the day and probably never seen a Jaguar before.

 

Same problem happened to me when replacing my battery. I accidentally left the drivers door open while disconnecting the battery. Installed the new battery and had no central locking and the drivers side window was not operating.
I shut all the doors and windows before disconnecting the battery again. Held the start/stop button while the battery was disconnected to completely drain residual power from the system. Connected the battery again and everything worked fine. Just make sure all the doors and windows are shut to prevent interruptions to the door modules. Sorta like a reset, this was for my 2013 XF.

 

I've had the battery out of mine at least 5 times in the 8+ years I've owned it. And done a couple of battery replacements. Never had any problems. Just disconnect and swap over. Reset clock and window stop limits and that's it. Simple and easy

You don't have to remove bumper or anything else. It's a tight fit to get the battery into it's seating area - careful not to squash fingers as you seat it. And when I first did mine the bolt through the floor of the car holding the battery retaining bracket had rusted and snapped. So I had to drill it out and replace. If you look under the back of the car you can see where the bolt comes through the floor. Would spray it with penetrating oil a day or two before.

There is a breather tube attached to the battery. Don't forget to detach and reconnect. And plug the other hole on the other side of the battery with the little plastic plug it comes with.

BMS resets itself periodically and has never been an issue for me.

Auto shops typically won't do it if they aren't familiar with the car...

 

just curious how u were able to hold the start/stop button if u had all your doors closed and windows up? If there is any residual power left jn the system when u open that door to hold the button down, u would end up in the same boat as the first time. Or so I've been told and that u can't have the key fob anywhere near the car or the system doesn't fully shut down and then u get central locking issues too

 

Also be aware that the 2013-2015 XF has a major problem with the Junction Boxes when the battery is disconnected. Many have been bit on this and Jaguar's solution is a multi-thousand dollar repair consisting of replacing 2 of the junction boxes (Fuse Box's) in the car! We have been told that a certain Autel device can reset this without replacing the junction boxes. But anytime the battery is disconnected you will to do this repair again.


Why it just effects the XF from 2013-2015? I don't know.
Attached is the TSB from Jaguar.
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Let me tell you my experience a few years ago....I have replaced batteries all my long life. I disconnected my 2009 XF battery, dropped in a new battery and reconnected the cables. That's it....it blew up the whole damn electronics. Lost key memory, the dash cluster, too many other components to mention.....$5,000 at the dealer to get it back.......a $5,000 battery replacement. After that, I refuse to touch that battery. I actually drove my car to dealer a few years later to change the battery!!!!! Ridiculous.