Xsara Picasso Battery Change

SWMBO reports that, at about -12°C this morning, the battery on the Picasso threw in the towel Been thinking it was getting reluctant to turn over, but hoping we would get throug the cold spell - it obviously thought otherwise when it got a bit chilly this morning Now, I know the BSI is a bit, er, 'fragile' on these (and may already be cactus due to trying to start it with flat battery, knowing my luck ) and there is a prodcedure for shutting it down, then rebooting it when changing the battery. Of couse this says shut all doors, then take the battery off - which is bit tricky on a Picasso since they hid the battery under the passenger seat! So my plan is to get in the back with approriate spanners, shut all doors etc, wait the alloted time, chage the battery over, do the re-boot procedure from within the car. Anyone done this before / had any trouble with these units?

Knowing my luck, the next step after getting out of the car will be to book it in at the dealer to have the keys reset - of course I don't have the key code card for it

As far as im aware there is nothing to be done other than remove the battery.

Ive had the battery out of the 05 reg C5 (to change the sidelight bulb!) and it was fine, it didnt start for half an hour after i reconnected it but then it was fine.

Ive had the battery of my 04 C5 and it didnt give any problems. Im going to have a go at fitting my comms2000 unit this afternoon so i need the steering wheel off and obviously the battery before that.

Just take it off, if the car doesnt go after then start to worry

No, seriouesly should be fine, ive not had any problems with the c5s and they will be the same electronic units.

The procedure is described here (page down) in the Picasso forum.

Interesting, not had any probelms with mine without knowing the correct way, although i suspect it would have been longer than 3 minutes before i removed the connections.

Just about to go and do that just now to remove my wheel, so thanks for the correct link Richard

Its ulikeley that you will have any problems but wait 3 minutes after switching off the ignition to let the BSI shut down to be on the safe side. You can leave the door open no problem just dont close it while you are waiting for the BSI to shut down, the reason being opening or closing the door wakes the BSI back up.
once you re fit the battery wait one minute before trying to start it. You may need to re sync the plips using the normal procedure that i'm sure you will already know.

Job done, nice to work on a nice clean battery inside the car - even if was nearly -10°C! Old battery was reading only 11.8V so it was definitely FUBAR - looks like the original 7 year old battery.