My 1st x5, what have i done!!!!. There is so many faults with this car

[andy406]

hi to all  xdrivers members  i am new to this site and hopefully i might get some help from you kind guys
i i have got my 1st ever bmw  and decided to get the x5 e53  3l d

i love the car its so nice to drive, when its running right  but i think i have bought a lemon
Here is the list of problems i have , some i have repaired others are on the to do list

fuel injector faulty                  repaired
reversing sender                    repaired
final stage resister                  repaired

injector wiring loom  intermittent fault                                      to do

Battery draining all the time                                                    to do

Noise from behind heater control when car is turned off        to do

both back brake lights not working  top middle ok              to do

fuel sender faulty  always 1/4 of tank showing,                        to do
Unless i fill up totally    and thats not cheap  lol 

dead pixels on dash and mid unit                                              to do

Drivers door hand will not work from the outside                        to do



and finally the pump in the tank  was running slow  this morning had to tap it to get it running properly


  if you can share your views i would be grateful


regards andy

[sonny007]

First of all,  to the forum and very sorry to hear you bought a bad car. Damn the seller!!

Lets get some details of the X

When did you pick it up?
Mileage?
Year?
Spec?
how much you paid for it if you dont mind me asking?

Noise from behind heater control when car is turned off        to do (No need, this is normal when you turn the engine off)

Drivers door hand will not work from the outside                        to do (Very common and pig of a job to do according to most xdrivers).

dead pixels on dash and mid unit                                              to do (loads of posts re this, do a search)

Dont worry, there are loads of experts on here and they will respond.
In the meantime, why not introduce yourself in the forum newbies section.

[andy406]

hi thanks for  your reply  sonny007

i have had the car a few months now , purchased from a auction sold as seen
mileage 124k
2003 x5d sports auto
paid 4k and spent loads so far on it.

regards andy

[sonny007]

4k for a 2003 model at that mileage, you're bound to face problems.

Especially when you bought it from an auction. Would recommend Warranty Direct. Unlimited claims and they cover most parts. Check em out.

Keep us posted 

[Horizon]

[quote="andy406"]
hi thanks for  your reply  sonny007

i have had the car a few months now , purchased from a auction sold as seen
mileage 124k
2003 x5d sports auto
paid 4k and spent loads so far on it.

regards andy
[/quote]

Hi and welcome
There are members on here with older cars with high mileage that have had fairly trouble free motoring. These are complex cars and cost a fortune when new. The trouble is they cost a fortune to keep on the road when they go wrong. Everyday service parts are cheap, but when major parts go wrong it can get that they are a money pit.
Sorry to hear you've had so many problems.

[graemeX5]

Hi an welcome to the forum and as the others have said there is a lot of help available here, and also the truth that they can cost a bit to fix.

But at 4k you may have a bit of leeway to fix it, I paid more than that for 4.4 and still spent money on fixing the initial faults due to previous owners neglect. But it has paid dividends in getting it back to a standard where if there is a problem it's only one at a time to fix. So if you can afford a bit it may be worth persevering if you like the car.

I am not an expert but others certainly are and also we have Jason of BW Chiptune has helped a lot of members and we have used him for repairs & mapping their cars.

from your to do list the injector wiring loom  intermittent fault to do - not 100% sure but i think you may need to test each injector separately - and it may require a garage to do it or specialist equipment but not sure on this

Battery draining all the time - this you need to check if the car is going to sleep when locked and there was a recent thread on this as it can be a lot of things including an old battery but best to check the level of power drainage 1st. Iirc search for battery drain and posts by X5Sport as Richard gave some invaluable advice on this.

Noise from behind heater control when car is turned off  I think Sonny007 answered that one

both back brake lights not working  top middle ok -I assume by top middle you mean the brake light in the rear roof spoiler. so excluding that one and looking at the rear light units there was a series of recent posts about faulty connections in the light units due to corrosion just do a quick search as definitely worth checking them first as may just need a clean up.

fuel sender faulty  always 1/4 of tank showing, Unless i fill up totally and thats not cheap  lol  - it sounds like it not sure of how to test apart from a new part, also not sure how much they are but Eurocar parts may do a pattern part which may be cheaper than BMW although I believe the Cotswold BMW dealer gives good discounts to xdriver forum members.

dead pixels on the dash and mid unit again Sonny007 answered that one but there is a chap who does repairs to the units based Southampton / Portsmouth area

Drivers door hand will not work from the outside  -there is a how to do this repair and also a temporary repair as well but previously stated it's fiddly

and finally the pump in the tank  was running slow  this morning had to tap it to get it running properly - to me it sounds like it could be faulty connection to the pump if they are secure and clean then the its likely to be the pump pump.

I hope that helps a bit  :xmaswink:
Cheers
Graeme

[storminmike]

fuel injector faulty                  repaired
reversing sender                    repaired
final stage resister                  repaired


both back brake lights not working  top middle ok              to do
Presumes you get some "check lights" notice on dash?
Check bulbs worked I presumed?
Fail mode beyond that is normally corrosion where the "ears" of the bulb holder contact the circuit board on the back of the lights.
A cheap circuit tester may come in handy fo fault fixing
Mild corrosion cured by sanding. Serious corrosion fixed by sanding and filling any pits with solder then flattening off....lights out job really


Drivers door hand will not work from the outside                        to do
I paid £35 for a 2nd hand carrier (about half price of a new one I think) someone else used a pattern part but regretted it due to iffy fit. There is a good thread on this fix,,,did onemyself....no pleasant but doable with care and a good read first on screw locations etc

[shadrack]

hi welcome 

i wouldnt moan to much you've paid 4k, bought at auction on a car thats 10 years old, if your handy with the spanners the repairs can all be done for a reasonable price, once done youll love it...

as for warrenty direct your over 100k miles so they will pay about 3p towards the repairs

there is a reason why its in the auction  , you've found out, at least its not anything megger expensive, get youre tools out listen to the people on here and it will be done for £500.

[Steamyrotter]

welcome..

sounds like the normal anticipated faults for these...
Ref the fuel level, and a potential for the current drain, i had similar just after i fixed the dash pixels..
did the ultimate nono of plugging the dash back in with ignition on..
lost fuel readings and dash lights dimmed.
Get out of jail clause was disconnect battery and let car drain for a few mins.
Sounds stupid but this can sort a lot of niggles and has the advantage of being free to try.

[Nat]

Hi,

Regarding back lights, this was a known issue and BMW replaced them under warranty. Its well known and documented issue back in the day.
Repair is  to replace them .

Regards,

Nat.

[andy406]

thanks for all the replies,  its nice to know theres so much help out there. you have all certainly given me some hope, think i have sorted the injector wiring loom problem, when i wobble one of the wires it causes a missfire, so i asume theres a break in the wire some where.  i want to keep this car, i think once i have all the problems sorted it will be worth keeping  thanks a gain guys there is light at the end of the tunnel.
i just need to find why the battery is draining  had the battery teseted and thats ok
any more ideas on this guys? :-\

[Nat]

Hi,

Does it have a phone ?

My old E53 was supplied with a Motorola BMW phone. However it was not a BMW phone. The dodgy dealer removed the BMW one and replaced it with a standard one. It drained my battery.
Back in the day a BMW Motorola V50 was over £500 but you could buy a non bmw one for £80.
If you have that,  then thats your issue. Either disconnect it or get the right one.
The BMW phone has special software that sends the car to sleep, whereas the standard one demands to be charged all the time and flattens your battery.


Also common from memory , is the " hedgehog ", which malfunctions and can drain the battery.
Search for final stage resistor .

Good luck
Regards,
Nat.

[andy406]

Hi Nat
          it has a bluetooth device, but this is not working for connecting to radio, i will try removing the fuse for this, see if that works. thanks for the suggestion

[andy406]

forgot to say, i changed the hedghog after the fan was running constantly after turning car off.

[storminmike]

[quote="andy406"]
thanks for all the replies,  its nice to know theres so much help out there. you have all certainly given me some hope, think i have sorted the injector wiring loom problem, when i wobble one of the wires it causes a missfire, so i asume theres a break in the wire some where.  i want to keep this car, i think once i have all the problems sorted it will be worth keeping  thanks a gain guys there is light at the end of the tunnel.
i just need to find why the battery is draining  had the battery teseted and thats ok
any more ideas on this guys? :-\
[/quote]

on one of them there wheelie dealie tv programs they had a Range Rover L3 summat...the BMW one with an injector fault. Edd borrwed and injector and lashed it up to the fuel line and nowt happened on one. He circuit tested the injector and found a potential break. He replaced the loom and all was well

That was a diesel too...IIC the loom was around half a ton