E53 3.0d Service Help please

[StewieG]

Hi All,

Just a quick question which may seem daft. When I start my 2005 E53 3.0d I get just one yellow square block displayed out of a possible 4/5 towards bottom left of dash.


What does this mean? Car has done 68k miles.

[X5Sport]

It means you are due for a service now.  If it goes 'Red' it's overdue.

Could be Oil or Inspection 1 depending upon what the last service was.

Richard

[StewieG]

Thanks Richard. How do I tell? When I bought the Car it had done 60k 2 years ago.

I was thinking of doing pollen, fuel, air, and oil filter change with an oil change.

Pollen filter change due to car misting up when im driving in non misty conditions. Other parts as I know these are service parts.

[X5Sport]

Last service should be in the book.......and should say what it was.

The only time I get misting on 'non-misty days' is if the climate control re circulation function is not on auto.

It should need a service every two years for brake fluid (orange clock in a square) and roughly every 18,000 miles for main services which should run Oil/Insp 1/Oil/Insp 1......etc.

Might also be worth looking at the A/c if you don't use it regularly as the gas leaks out as the seals dry.

Richard

[StewieG]

Thanks for the advice Richard. Really appreciated. I dont drive with auto on all the time, ill try this now.

Just for clarification ive taken and attached a picture with key ignition in position 2 as most people have mentioned the Oil service or Inspection but i dont have either. Also I cant tell if the squares are considered green or yellow.

Apologies for my lack of knowledge.

Regards,

Stewie

[StewieG]

[Denis O]

OK. The clock symbol is telling you that a time based action is required. In the case of your car it's a brake fluid change. This happens every 2 years.

As Richard said above the yellow light remaining means you need a service. The lights will not tell you if it's, Oil, Insp 1 or 3rd service. For that you'll need to check what the previous service was as entered in the service book. It should detail the type of service that was done.

If in doubt, change all fluids sans auto box oil and the air fliter, pollen filter etc. That way you'll know that all is well and you then start the sequence Oil, Insp 1, Oil 3rd service, Insp 1, Oil, Insp 1 3rd service ad infinitum.

There used to be a requirement to change coolant every 4 years but I believe that is no longer required.

[PhilT]

StewieG,

The picture you posted is showing one 'green' light remaining (although it does look yellow). That means you're not quite due for a service yet. The 'yellow' light (service due) is the next one along to the right, followed by the red light (service overdue). When the last green goes out the yellow will come on meaning the service is due, then if you take no action, in due course the red will come on meaning your service is overdue.

Also, when the yellow light comes on the line below will indicate textually which service is due - either 'OIL SERVICE' or 'INSPECTION' (although not which 'Inspection').

Once you've had the service & fluid change done your lights will be reset and you will just have a bank of 5 green lights illuminated. These green lights will then go out one by one from left to right as you get nearer to your next service.

As Richard & Denis have already said, the clock symbol is indicating that you are due a time based brake fluid change.

Hope this helps.

[X5Sport]

If planning to DIY the brake fluid, make sure you read up on how it's done.  All the advice I've seen is you need to pressurise the system to 20psi max and then do one circuit at a time, making sure the reservoir never runs out.  If you get air in the system you'll need a Specialist or Dealer to sort it out without wrecking the ABS Unit!

It's the only bit I didn't do on HRH's E46 a few weeks back.

Another thing to look at is the vortex breather having been changed.  It's not difficult but if you change the air filter you right beside it anyway. It should have been done on. 55-plate, but a number of us found otherwise..

There's a how to on here - with pics.

Richard

[StewieG]

Hi Guys,

I dont even know what a vortex breather is or what it does...lol..its sounds like a relation to Darth Vader to me...

Where can I get one? Would Euro Car parts have it? I just searched "vortex breather" to no avail.

Also I have no Idea which brake fluid to buy. I dont know the difference between dot 4 and dot 5.1. Again im looking at Euro, so which fluid would suit the E53 X5.

Any advice, as always is much appreciated.

Thanks

Stew

[X5Sport]

All you could ever wish to now, and more in this thread with piccies.  It's a long thread but tells you everything you need to know about the dreaded crankcase breather.  I think it's supposed to remove gases in the crankcase and separate any oil out.  If it blocks then the pressure can rise and turbo seals are put at risk.  The 'Vortex' comes from the later version.  The earlier version was a foam 'bog roll' and clogged with potentially fatal results to the turbo.  Part numbers are in there as well but for a complete assembly it's - 11127799225.  About £55 now from a Dealer - never seen them anywhere else.  Pics on thread pages 1 thru 4 will help I hope.

I should think DOT 4 should be fine in an E53 unless you're a demon braker!!

If you're doing the steering as well, I did mine with a turkey baster and two litres of Dexron 3 ATF.  Siphoned the old out as est I could, topped up, cycled the steering lock 2 lock a few times abd repeated the process until I was getting nice clean fluid every time.  You can do it from underneath but I found I could an acceptable job from above.

Richard

[StewieG]

So is the old one on 2005 e53?

Can I buy the 55£ part and will it fit straight into replace the old loo roll?

[X5Sport]

Straight swap.  The new design was supposed to appear in 2005 but more than a few users on here have found later cars with bog rolls still fitted.

The kit includes the new gaskets and it's just 4-bolts tightened down and not even to a high torque.  At 68k miles it wouldn't do any harm to change it.  If you get the old one off you can always try and see if the Dealer will take it back if you have a vortex already in place.  I've just done the one on the E46 which was a July 05 and had the new one, but I decided at 51k miles and no use fir the last two years I would change it.  Diesel X5's were 'Special Order' vehicles from Spartanburg, built in batches, and it seem it took more time for them to use up the older parts than European made cars.

Richard

[StewieG]

Re: bleed the brakes

My local indie says he doesn't need a computer to bleed the breaks, it can be done manually through the valves. I though a computer was needed to bleed them or keep psi above 20 as you bleed them.

Is this correct?

[fenj66]

Nothing special needed to bleed brakes the old fashioned way. As long as you don't let the master reservoir run dry and get air into the valve block.