Battery disable

[Tomaz]

I know there is a battery disconnect feature in the X5. I believe when the airbags deploy the battery is disconnected as well to prevent fires. My problem is, if the X5 is in a minor accident, like driving into a snowbank, or being rear ended on a busy interstate or really bad neighborhood the car is dead. Once I determine there is no fire danger I would like the option to drive the car to a safer location. Where does this battery disconnect reside? Can I disable it? Can it be manually bypassed? This knowledge could save someone's life.

[JCL]

Interesting question. I assumed you were talking about the fuel safety shutoff, which is activated in the event of an accident. However, the Battery Safety Terminal (BST) does exactly what you say. Apparently it debuted in 1997.

Battery Safety Terminal
The battery safety terminal (BST) will avoid short-circuiting of the high amperage starter circuit in an event of a collision. BST is actuated by the air bag control unit and uses a pyrotechnic charge to separate the starter cable from the battery in a crash.

So, it only affects the starter circuit (heavy-duty cable, not related to accessories). Since it uses a pyrotechnic charge, I can't imagine that it can be reset manually. I haven't heard of this being a nuisance problem, I would just let it do what it was designed to do. If you wanted to bypass it, you would need a set of jumper cables. It likely resides on or near the positive battery terminal. Perhaps someone who has changed one can comment.