BATTERY RECALL? BATTERY REG? BURNT...
 

Today my mechanic tells me my X5 is great. NO power drain/draw to be found. However, he is telling me that the dealer has to "register" my battery, and that I have a burnt positive cable that may have been a "recall".
Is any of this true? I am using an aftermarket battery matched for this vehicle. It works fine for a few months and then drains DEAD. Fact. Yesterday after putting in another new battery my key fob worked without having to reprogram. What's uP? :dunno:

You do not need to program anything on e53,
You need to make sure you have the correct battery.

Sounds like either that other battery was bad or something is draining it. You do not need to register batteries on this car. The fact that he insists on that suggests that you need to go elsewhere.

I don't know about a recall. Also I've never had to reprogram my keys after disconnecting or replacing my battery.

:iagree: +1

Actually, he got it right. It's the Battery Safety Switch which disconnects the positive terminal in a crash. However, in earlier models you could still start the car. The open connection will drain the battery. I found some kits to replace this part, but they all want to cut the cable and splice. Or replace the entire cable. 500 bucks. There was a utube at Germanautorecyling that shows how to fix a burnt unit. BUT you need a new end cap.
I'll keep you posted Thanks everyone. And yes, in later years BMtrouble U has you reg the battery. Thankfully mine is less problematic.

As I have heard e53 battery has to be programmed..I do not know what does it mean ...but I was thinking it is just let the car's brains just know that the new battery has been installed...

It's the new generation BMWs that have the completely different communication bus system that requires battery registration. The ones with the LIN/MOST/BSD communication busses.

The e38/e39/e46/e52/e53 generation BMWs do NOT require battery registration.

Everything from the e90 3 series, e60 5series, e65/e66 7 series, e64/e64 6 series, e70/e71 X5/X6 series etc...basically the cars with iDrive...are the ones that require battery registration.

E53's do not need battery registration - that started on the E70

QS7: You need to free some space for PM's!