FR door carrier replacement and airbag
 

2005 X5 3.0i sport

When replacing the door carrier in the front right door, I saw in youtube that I must disconnect the negative wire on the battery before unscrewing the airbag. Is this really necessary? I'm scared to disconnect the battery because the last time I had replaced the battery, door lock and interior lights didn't work because of some sort of BMW code. Please advise.

I would disconnect battery and remember reading somewhere it should be done.

Rule of thumb is you disconnect the battery when dealing with an airbag. You could have disconnected the battery in the time it took to post this.

With that being said, I did not disconnect my battery but rather unscrewed (not unplugged) and tucked it out of the way.

You don't have to disconnect the battery if you don't disconnect the airbag. You can unscrew the airbag but you can't disconnect it. I've done two carriers and you don't have to unhook it, just unscrew it.

Having said that, best practices dictate you disconnect the battery any time you are working on a cars electrical system especially the airbag. With all the airbag nonsense going on right now, it may not be a bad idea.