2010 X5 E70 4X4 Warning Light - xDrive Failure

[rav]

Hello All,

I posted this on another forum but was kindly guided to this one as it seems more appropriate for X Series topics.

Thought I would try to see if anyone has ideas on the warning light and error codes I am getting on my X5 E70 2010.

I used to get the parking brake, ABS failures previously then also the 4x4. However, since changing the battery and clearing the codes I am now left with 4x4 xDrive Failure although I have not driven the car much to confirm the other codes are definitely addressed by the battery change as my MOT ran out earlier this week (update: it seems like the parking brake warning light still appears, now and then). I was not sure the 4x4 xDrive fault would fail the MOT so did not book the car in test. However on phoning one garage, I was told it should pass so I booked it in for Tue and am hoping for the best. Even so, I still need to resolve issue.

I have registered the battery but not coded even though the old one was 90Ah vs 95Ah on the new one.

I know there are a lot of posts on this with the transfer case actuator plastic gear being the culprit. I am not sure this issue affects the E70 2010 (245 bhp) as when I look at the replacement gears on sale on ebay, they list the E70 up to 2009 suggesting my car has a different actuator. I am not very mechanical so am not able to check and compare myself. When I took the car to my local garage, they did a diagnostics and suggested for an auto electrician to spend 3-4 hour to trace the problem and were not willing to check the TC actuator as this was not their specialty. A BMW indie locally is booked up until later in Jan although they also had done a diagnostics earlier in the year and cleaned up some connectors which seemed to fix the issue for a day or so.

I have the following codes (using BimmerLink):

00 Safety and information module (SIM)
1 error
A6CF: AUC SENSOR

12 Motor electronics
7 errors
4A5E: 4A5E glow plug cylinder 2, control
4A5F: 4A5F glow control unit
4503: 4503 message (STAT_SOLL_MOM_ÜMSETZUNG, 0xBC)
4C3C: 4C3C message (SOLL_MOM_ANF, 0xBB)
48FE: 48FE intake air temperature sensor, plausibility
4B82: 4B82 Exhaust gas recirculation rate control, control deviation
4505: 4505 message (STAT_SOLL_MOM_ÜMSZENTZUNG, 0xBC)

19 Transfer box
5 errors
5249: Four-wheel distributor gearbox temporarily shut down
CF80: Signal from DSC: Target torque request
5209: Terminal 30: undervoltage
520C: Terminal 30g: undervoltage
1
520D: Terminal 30g: line interruption

29 Dynamic stability control MK60 E5
2 errors
5DEC: 5DEC - transfer case ECU: clutch temporarily shut down --- (DSC: transfer case: temporary failure)
5F3A: 5F3A - transfer case-ECU: VG failure - clutch is in open position - rear-wheel drive
--- (DSC: transfer case: failure)

78 Heating/air-conditioning control
1 error
E729: Message (KCAN: Status Sensor AUC, 2D0)

29 ABSKWP
2 errors
5DEC: 5DEC - transfer case ECU: clutch temporarily shut down --- (DSC: transfer case:
temporary failure)
5F3A: 5F3A - transfer case-ECU: VG failure - clutch is in open position - rear-wheel drive
--- (DSC: transfer case: failure)

Any suggestions welcome.

[X5Sport]

Looks like you need the glowplugs and controller replacing - a common issue. Change all 6 or you’ll be back doing the rest. The old plugs have a habit of snapping in the head so apply a release lubricant over a few days.

The ATC450 transfer box was revised in mid-2009. If you use RealOEM and put the last 7 of your VIN in ‘serial number’ it will pull up your model and the right variant of the ATC unit.

Worth checking your tyres too. Bad tyre choice can and has destroyed transfer boxes. You need the right tyres, all of the same brand/model and no more than 2mm tread difference between any of them. Ideally your tyres should have a ‘*’ mark on the sidewall, if not a premium brand is the best option. 5he E70 is very intolerant of out of spec rubber!

If the transfer box has gone then before repairing it, make sure your tyres are in spec or it’ll break again.

[rav]

Appreciate your response.

To be honest, I have been ignoring the glow plug issue for now as it does not show any symptoms that I am able to observe but I now I know to look into this once my transfer box warnings are resolved. I believe I had the glow plug module replaced last year. Do you have any idea of the order of cost to expect in replacing all 6 glow plugs at a garage?

It seems that RealOEM shows a Longitudinal torque module (27607643762) which I assume is the actuator on this car and it looks quite different from the ones that have the common issue of the worn plastic gearbox. There is not a lot on the internet about these so I assume that these do not go wrong that much. If so, can any electrical fault be the cause or is it more likely to be transfer case itself. Could changing the TC oil help here? The 4x4 light comes on after starting the engine before even moving the car.

Tyres wise, they are all of the same brand and model having the * mark. They will need replacing soon but appear to have worn evenly across the four (may have worn on the front outsides more since I live in a town of roundabouts). Will check more thoroughly and get more precise tread differences.

Did not get the car MOT'd in the end as the parking and ABS lights started to appear again - without driving the car.

[X5Sport]

Good news about the tyres at least

What you need to watch for with glowplug failure is that the DPF will not regenerate and burn off the soot. The system uses the glowplugs to raise the gas temperatures high enough to allow regen to take place (at up to 800°C). If it can’t get hot enough it won’t regen, and that brings other issues or expense. The only warning you get is a clogged DPF light, and that’s a bit late - though fixable.

Is the glow fault historic or still present? The controller can be damaged by failed plugs and they should be changed together. What often happens is a plug fails and is changed but the controller has been impacted by that fault and itself fails not long after. Always best to change the controller if the plugs have gone bad. If a garage can get everything done easily then around £400 (Indy price with labour around £100/hr), a main dealer will be a lot more. Use BERU plugs and controllers. Don’t mix Bosch & BERU as they don’t play nicely together! On my X6 I had two plugs snap on extraction and the bill was £800, due to the extra labour. If one does snap it does not mean ‘head-off’ as there are kits that recover the bits without needing major surgery. I had to pay for such a kit and it was about £50.

The transfer box will be an ATC450 so it would be worth seeing if there’s a video of one being overhauled/serviced on line (there are a few) that helps. That unit is used on a number of XDrive models.

Changing the fluid may help, but it depends upon what is actually wrong. It may not be the actuator itself but clutch failure.

Error 5DEC - Given you’ve also got an ABS warning, the issue might actually be one of the wheel speed sensors. If you can get diagnostics done via BMWs own ISTA tool that might help.

Error 5F3A - this might help…. https://youtu.be/AdliyoWu2jw

[rav]

@X5Sport, thank you for your insight in the issues with my X5 and apologies for the delayed response.

Firstly, the good news is that my parking and ABS lights issue was apparently caused by cable loom damage behind the gearbox under the car. This was found by them after a couple of hours of electrical tracing. May have been damaged during a past repair and since deteriorated over time. The Indie garage replaced the damaged section of the cabling and the issue is no more.

Have asked the Indie for a price on the replacing the glow-plugs and controller and will look to getting that done with the service . Do you think the EGR/DPF will need to be cleaned in the process? I attached a snapshot of the DPF values from Bimmerlink - not so meaningful to me.

Also, due to less commuting nowadays, have noticed the rear driver side of the car dropping when parked for a few days. I guess this points to a slow air bag leak although I would have expected some error codes related to this. I will need to address that too at at the same time!

[X5Sport]

Annoying how previous botched repairs show up!

If you’re getting the glowplugs done then give serious thought to having the controller replaced at the same time. Those aren’t expensive and often fail straight after the plugs get changed - especially if the plugs had failed. The key message I’ve had about glowplug replacement on these cars is to use a penetrating fluid in advance. It might help get them out (but not always). I had a couple snap on mine and the bill went from around £400 to £800 because of the additional time to get the broken parts out with a special tool (about £50). Major engine surgery wasn’t needed - and usually isn’t.

Those DPF figures look OK. If you aren’t using it much then we’ll worth a run on fast roads, get the car fully up to temp and then if there’s a dual carriageway locally, keep the speed above 40mph - faster if poss - for about 20 mins as that is what is needed to get a DPF regen cycle to run. You’ll know if it’s happening because the engine fans will run at full belt for a while to keep everything cool away from the exhaust. They should happen every 300 miles or so, more often if short journeys. Your tool may tell you how long since the last one happened.

I didn’t bother with the EGR and my Indy (a BMW Specialist made no mention of needing it.

[rav]

@X5Sport, so I went through exactly what you mentioned above regarding the glow plugs.

I had booked the car in for 6 glow plugs and controller for £565 but the garage had problems with one of the plugs snapping so they they only swapped two in the end. They charged me £735 for two glow plugs and controller in the end saying they had to spend all day on it but only charged me 5 hours labour - they used the "special tool" they have. Going by your guideline above this does seem extortionate. I am not doubting that they spent a lot of time but the question is should an experienced indie BMW take so long on what seems to be common problem with special tools available?

They also struggled with a bolt on in trying the EGR off and snapped that as well which was an additional 1.5 hours work. They said the EGR did not need cleaning however, there was a fault code after fitting it back on which said this fault suggested that it may need replacing.

I had asked them to sort out the rear suspension air bag but the missed this off the job.

Needless to say, not a great day!

[X5Sport]

Labour and parts rates have gone up. My Indy has gone from £65/hr to £90/hr. Still well below main dealer rates though. It does sound expensive for just two plugs and the controller (plus faffing about recovering broken bits!). I had all six, controller, bought the special tool and the faffing for not much more than that.

So they broke a bolt getting the EGR off, refitted it and that resulted in it throwing a code (do you know what the actual code was?) but didn’t look to see what they did or didn’t do? Not my impression of good customer care!

[rav]

The garage is charging £80+VAT (£96)/hr.

Re: EGR valve, they did tell me over the phone that after a test run that some EGR codes were still showing up but explained these are more electro-mechanical related so it might need a new EGR. I checked just now and the glow plug codes are gone but the following are showing up:

4C9F - Exhaust gas recirculation valve, plausibility
4C9E - Exhaust gas recirculation valve, plausibility
48FE - intake air temperature sensor, plausibility

I have had the 4C9F, 4C9E come up in the past but but sure if they present just before I took the car in, The 48FE was there beforehand and I told them about that code.

I did get the EML come up intermittently in the past which is one of the triggers for me getting the work done. It was not on when I took the car in and it has not come on after driver just a few miles. Hopefully it won't come back on but I don't have much confidence on that since some codes are still showing up and it appears they have done a regen. Maybe the changed faulty glow plug and the controller may help prevent this in the future?

Any idea on how much it should cost to replace an EGR? The garage did a service as well and came up with a list of other things to consider fixing so need to weigh the overall potential cost to rectify.

[X5Sport]

Not had that issue but there may be a couple of members who have bought EGRs and had them replaced. A quick look in RealOEM will find the right part number and that will enable in line searches for replacements. Don’t go too cheap though, some of the offerings are a bit…..well….cheap.