Lots of problems

[Suzukifarmer]

Hello
I am asking this on behalf of a friend who owns an X5.
It seems to be displaying a whole raft of problems on the MFD in the instrument cluster, self levelling suspension inactive, check brake lights, check tail lights, transmission problems, fuel injection inactive etc.
When given the beans to overtake the car delevers plenty of power for a few seconds then cuts out completely its not even limp mode the engine just dies taking the brakes and power steering with it, which isn't too safe.
The car today was unable to pull a trailer out of some much, the back wheels would spin a lot but the front ones would not engage 4wd i don't see any button on an x5 so I'm not too sure if its broken but it didn't seem to engage 4wd.
One of the reverse lights seems to be a bit dim, and the tailgate can be a bit difficult to release (although that has been a long standing problem with the car).

Its a 2006 x5 3.0d with 70,000 miles, up until a couple of weeks ago there wasn't a single message and the only faulty was the tricky to open tailgate. Im not familiar with BMWs and thought of asking here, would it be possible that there is some sort of electrical problem causing the car to think its got all these problems (I've had a few peugeots that had such a problem) or would each one of these systems its managing actually have a fault.

Thanks

[X5Sport]

Hi and welcome.

Sounds like a very sick car. The E53 is a permanent 4WD and the power is normally split 60:40 Rear:Front. That might change when a trailer is plugged in on an OEM Towbar as there is a module which tells the car to make changes once a trailer is connected.

Electrical issues with the battery are known to throw error spurious and garbage error messages, but this sounds more serious. If the battery is the original it just might be the source. At least that's an easy fix - albeit a pig to get at as it's under the boot floor!

Reversing light could either be a wrong bulb, or a corroded bulb holder (known problem).

Given the number of issues apparent, my recommendation would be to tell your friend to get the car into a local Dealer a bit sharpish and get the fault codes stored in the computers read out to narrow down the issues. You could try a battery change first - or at least get it checked.

The trouble with these cars is that there are so many modules that a fault in one system could cause a cascading effect into others so you end up chasing ghosts, or your own tail trying to find them....

Let us know what's been tried though.

[dirtymonkey29]

Usually that many electrical gremlins all at once points to the battery. Easy enough to check a battery with multimeter if you or your friend have one. If not then your local friendly garage should be able to test it for you. Qwik fit do free checks but I wouldn't trust them to open my bonnet.

[X5Sport]

If you have a meter then the battery should read 12.4 to 12.6V fully charged, engine off. With the engine running it should be at least 13.6 and no more than 14.4V. Don't check it with the engine off until 4 hours after last use (the battery charge has to 'settle').

Or use Menu 9.......someone (scooby1doo1 ?) will know how to get at it...

[Suzukifarmer]

I was going to check the battery, i couldn't find it good now i know that, but he did say the battery was recently replaced.

Although i have had similar problems come up on peugeot 607's the pp2000 detected a lot of faults but once the battery was changed they all erased and went away. My friend asked me if the pp2000 would fix his jeep but it looks like it needs a trip to the dealer, is it obd compliant could a mechanic with a snap on machine see any problems?

Ill have a go at the battery with the multimeter, 11v off 14v running is that what i should look for?

Would it help to mention he thinks these problems have all come about since he ran the car low on diesel and it ran out.

[X5Sport]

Not less than 12.2V off.

I think the BMW System is OBDII, though what the differences are, pass. You will probably get the codes, but would need the BMW book to understand them.

I thought the X5 had a 'self-bleed' fuel system. Might be air in the system still? Never ran mine out, or seen reference to anyone who has suffered that particular challenge!

The battery is under the spare wheel and air compressor ( for rear air springs if fitted). There are jump points under the bonnet which you can use to check voltages. New batteries can go bad, but if it's been changed then unless they did summation wrong I'm a bit puzzled. I know on our E46 (3series) when the battery was changed the garage messed up and it took them a week to fix the issues. My suspicion has always been they connected it backwards! A number of high power fuses were blown! We never did find out, just got a fully working car back a week later..

[dirtymonkey29]

Battery is in the boot under spare wheel and then under the air suspension compressor (black dome)
Far easier to use the jump start points under the bonnet. Can't miss the red + towards the passenger side bulk head then there is a bolt in the passenger side inner wing used for grounding to earth. I can't remember the exact voltages but it's along the lines of 12v engine off no electrical load, 14v with engine running no load and down to 13v with electrical load (demisters on, lights on, blowers, radio) etc. should help show a bad battery or faulty alternator.
I've bought a bad battery before which after exchange has been fine, not on my x5 though.
If the battery has been swapped I'd still check it out. It could be that it's a good battery that's been on a shelf for a while and discharged a bit causing issues and now back in full health them faults may just need resetting.
There may be a member near you willing to read your codes with BMW scanner 1.4.0 and clear them. If not I'd try independent specialist who have similar tools and some larger indys have the same tools but will be a lot cheaper. BMW dealer will be at least £150 as they charge an hourly rate. Only takes 5mins which is not good value. My usual Indy charges £50 for diagnostics but they have the good stuff. Other independents near me charge £75-£125.

[dirtymonkey29]

X5sport you are typing too fast for me tonight!

[X5Sport]

On a roll matey - got warmed up elsewhere.....

I'm off to bed now....the workshop is all yours......

[scooby1doo1]

Ok easy way to check what you battery volts are at is in the hidden menu, not sure what spec OBC you need but I have high.

In the cluster you have 2 push in buttons, one to the right and one to left.

I'm going to take it yours is locked, so press and hold the right button in, first you will see engine check ok, or in your case you may not. keep right button pressed in, then 1 will come up let go of the right button.

1 now press the left button once this is your vin number
2 add the last 5 numbers up, mines 27.
3 now press the right button till you get to 3 then press left and it should say lock, if not some body as already unlocked, in this case press the right button to number 9 this menu is your battery volts. then press the left button to see volts.
4 if lock is said press the left button until you get to the number you added from menu 1 EG mine was 27, so when you get to your number press the right button.
5 now you have unlocked the hidden menu, so go to menu 9 and again this is volts, press left button to see volts.

I have had my battery go flat twice now, it's been on best part of a yr and it's cheapo.
My stats of menu 9 are engine running 13.6 unloaded, 11.5 after a 12 hr stand. So the 11.5 is to low, so been as though it's a crap battery and been discharged by force twice this is getting replace with a branded battery S4-S5 are the said ones on here.

Here is a googling for you, http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... ?t=1241963

Cheers X5sport for the mention.


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