Agonising Issues - Help

timharding · Post by **timharding** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:58 pm

Agonising Issues - Help

Well after my X5 being into 2 garages, car is still lumpy, hesitant under load.

History

1) Vehicle has had compression test and coil packs tested and comes back nothing
2) Under different diagnostics comes up with issues under random banks

Changed the Gearbox oil

Then after that the Battery light came on, so changed the alternator, to find the battery light still on.

The car is charging fine and the alternator works fine.

However the battery light stays on.

Battery has been changed for a new one....and battery light stays on.

Unfortunately I do not have the money to keep throwing at it.

So the problems at the moment are

1) Battery light continuously on.
2) Hesitant and missing under load.

Options

Thinking of fixing - if anyone can offer any advice.

Selling as is and selling at a huge loss.

Thoughts anyone?, just do not know what to do..love the car.....but...after months of issues......I give up ..nearly...

Thanks

Tim

gchristofi · Post by **gchristofi** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:10 pm

Hi Tim

Has your battery light always been on since you owned the car, or did it come on as driving or after some work was completed? Just thinking out loud, but a leak from the HT electrics might be linked to the battery light staying on in some way. I have also heard of Coils failing intermittently before so I presume coil packs might do same and therefore test ok but not work correctly all the time.

timharding · Post by **timharding** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:16 pm

The Battery light only came on after the Automatic Transmission Fluid was changed.

The coils packs have been tested at different times by different garages and all say ok.

However the diagnostics say there are issues with the cylinders.

Tim

stevox5 · Post by **stevox5** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:59 pm

Hi Tim

If the battery light came on during a gearbox oil change where do you stand with the garage that carried this out , have they washed their hands of the situation ? Why was the alternator changed was this proved not to be charging or a guess?

As for the missfire does it do this at idle at all or just under load ? Hot or cold?
What exactly has been checked , have the plugs been replaced / checked ? The engine checked for air leaks , fuel pressure ?

Who has been looking at it for you , a BMW specialist / maindealer or a general garage?
Reading your post I would suggest a BMW specialist with proper dealer level diagnostic equipment take a look before you go any further as both faults should not be rocket science to solve by someone with the right kit and knowlage.

Good luck and dont give up.

weirdfish · Post by **weirdfish** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:17 pm

Where abouts in the country are you based, perhaps someone can recc. a decent specialist.

timharding · Post by **timharding** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:49 pm

The last garage it was at was just an independent well known very good recommended garage, they have used basic diagnostics, not specialist BMW, the garage charged nothing.

They did the automatic transmission fluid change, the battery was fine before that, and the alternator didnt need to be changed after all.

The battery light only came on after the Automatic Transmission Fluid was changed...

Plugs have all been replaced.

The hesitancy, I will need to check it more..just got it back..so will take it for a little few mile drive tomorrow..

I live in the North East of England.... Sunderland, Tyne & Wear

Not aware if its been checked for air leaks or fuel pressure, however I did change recently a lambda sensor.

What would you recommend next?, and what costs are we looking at for BMW diagnostics?, and would they be able to find the problem?

all help appreciated..

Thanks again

Tim

timharding · Post by **timharding** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:32 pm

Just been for a little drive

The car wont kick down...The hesitancy missing is under cold and when warm

Tim

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:36 pm

Just thinking out loud here, but have ALL the wires been properly reconnected? No broken connectors? It's just possible that one of the alternator cables has been left off and this is the 'sense' wire. Alternators used to have the main charge wire and a separate thin wire which is the 'sense' line for the light. I'm trying to think back to car basics about alternators, and I may be wrong, but the light is brought on when there's no charge on one side of a circuit so putting it 'out of balance' and allowing current to flow where it normally wouldn't as there should be the alternator output countering the battery. If either side is missing then a red light comes on.

It's about 15 years since I last played with vehicle electrics and warning lights on alternators, and I've not seen the wires on the E53 alternator. Hence the struggle to remember!

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:38 pm

[quote=""timharding""]Just been for a little drive

The car wont kick down...The hesitancy missing is under cold and when warm

Tim[/quote]

Take it back, there's a very specific procedure that has to be followed for transmission fluid changes. If they didn't follow it they might have messed up the box.

timharding · Post by **timharding** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:53 pm

Easier said then done, the garage have said there is nothing else that they can do. In other words...they wont try anything else.

Gutted really

in only 1,500 miles since last October

Over Â£900 spent so far, and still runs rubbish

Just not what I expected, love the car....

Just wish someone knew what they were doing and it wouldnt cost a fortune to fix.

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 6:05 pm

BMW will charge you whatever their standard hourly rate is for running a fault code check - takes less than 30 mins to read out the fault memory. All they do is plug the car in to the machine and see what comes back. No idea what they charge in your area.

Gutted for you. It's heartbreaking when this happens, and one of the reasons to have a warranty from somewhere. Hoping it's actually a simple (& cheap) fix...

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:57 pm

Call Jason - explain you're a member and have made this post. See what he can suggest.

You should consider taking the car to him - I know it's miles away but he is good and he will be sympathetic to your predicament.

Book well in advance and you could get cheap train tickets back home. Just need to have the mind-frame to go there and to get it sorted. But definitely call him up and get a gauge of what he says.

dirtymonkey29 · Post by **dirtymonkey29** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 12:11 am

Check the vac hoses are still attached to the vac reservoir at the very front drivers side engine bay. Mine was hesitant after a service and found a pipe disconnected. Can't help with battery light though

shadrack · Post by **shadrack** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:43 am

this happened with my old x5, poor diagnostic and guess work result in money just been thown at the car, when if you spend the extra to get an acurate diagnostics (pay extra) and you will save in the long run by only buying the parts you need

Ubatoid · Post by **Ubatoid** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:50 am

I would take a look at the connector to the main engine ECU, for sure its got a nice big secure plug and sits in a nice box but I have experienced moisture ingrese into this connection with the associated corrosion leading to "dirty" signal from the crank sensor. Alsofrom a quick look through the wiring schematics, the alternater check signal gets routed through the DME on some variations of managment systems used.

Check for air leaks around the inlet manifold using a good spray of carb cleaner around the joints, if the engine note picks up, youve found a leak.
Its also not unknown, as I discoverd yesterday, for new parts to be faulty. I fitted a new set of coils to my 4.4 two days ago and yesterday one had failed completely.

Can you tell us a bit more about the car Tim, age,engine etc.

Simple checks with a multimeter would have told you if the alternator was duff, same with the battery.

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