Thank you 740is and ard for sharing your insights. I will look into this Carly app and associated devices.

I was scanning the Forum several days ago for replacing battery and recall one post saying he did not know to register his replacement battery and sometime later the alternator had to be replaced. I wanted to know if there are potential harms "by design" for not doing battery placement properly such as registering it (with on-vehicle computer).

For all we know his alternator could have been failing intermittently, killing the battery... Then the new battery which could take more current put the nail in the coffin...

Oddly enough I had to replace my alternator a few weeks after my battery too, but I did register the battery correctly. Probably just a time issue as I know my registration didn't cause any issue for my alternator. It was probably dying and the battery was original to the X5. So the 9-year-old battery is probably what killed my alternator.

I have never read anything that states not registering a new battery can damage any components. (like the alternator)

I *have* heard that you can shorten the battery life if you don't. But that's it.

Just get it registered within a week and you should be good.

I agree and have also been told that an unregistered battery could shorten its life as the IBS isn't able to perform its functions correctly. As mentioned in my post the fact that I had a 9 year old battery and my alternator was probably already dying were neither components of registration or lack thereof.

In regards to the IBS and registering or not registering a new battery (when it's been changed)...see the last paragraph in the info below...it doesn't say "damage" will occur...but it does say that "power management will not function properly"...

Thank you all for the advice. I have (physically) placed the battery with the one that the owner got from local AutoZone store - the store clerk would normally replace batteries on other vehicle models at the store but not for BMW's.

Attached are photos of the new battery and the original BMW unit. The owner said that they never replaced the battery after purchasing the X5 new. There is no time stamp on the battery to indicate when the battery is produced - I guess the dealer shop can check it out with the bar code on the battery.

(I went though the attachment process for 4 photos in JPG format and each file is smaller than 900KB, the photo attachments don't show up with this note. What did I miss?)

I am impressed by BMW's engineering to the details - my experience with US and Toyota (all before 2006) cars are that a battery would last about 5 years at best, half time of this BMW battery. The IBS must doing something great! I still own a 1987 MB 420SEL. Although I drive it less than 1k miles each year for the 10 years, a replacement battery would last about 5 years.

I am on purchasing the Carly app. Some Carly customers' feedback (November 2017) stating they could not do coding and others say they got error codes often - of cause we don't hear good experiences much online. My Andriod phone is an old Samsung Galaxy with 32GB storage and I also have an Apply iPad with 16GB. I intend to purchase a Pro version but the Carly link in this thread would lead lead me to a Carly Lite version for iOS (for my iPad). Your advice on choosing Andriod or iOS versions of Carly Pro are very much appreciated.

Looks like I am in trouble.

I replaced the battery and took off for a break, posted a note (above). Then I started the engine and got all the Yellow warning messages that were not there before the battery replacement: AWD and DSC malfunction warning; DTC warning, Check Engine warning, Break warning.

What went wrong? Please advise.

That's a lot of corrosion on your old battery near the terminal... how did the clamp look?

The 2 clamps are clean for most parts, just some white deposits on the bottom sides. Looking on the top and inside, you would think the clamps are new.