Keith,

As far as I can see the, the car does not need any form of programming if the alternator is changed.

On the 5 cylinder engines the alternator control module fitted inside the alternator (charge regulator) is connected to the Engine Control Module (ECM) via a LIN bus and between the ECM and the Central Electronic Module (CEM) they work out the charging rates.

On 4 cylinder engines like the 2Ltr diesel then the charge regulator is again connected to the ECM but this time by two pulse width signals which again are used to control the charging rates via the CEM.

No mention in either case of programming/configuring the vehicle for an alternator change is mentioned in VADIS.

Hope this helps.

Sean