New owner with a few problems! Help

[Dirty Tool]

I've just purchased a 2003 (facelift) E53 X5 which I am loving at the moment but I have a few niggles that hopefully can get some advice on?

1. The engine temperature gauge doesnt go past the cold indication. I thought it might be a fault gauge but there is not much hot air being blown out the vents so assuming it might be a fault thermostat? Before I change the thermostat is there anything else I should try beforehand?

2. I feel the car is sluggish off the line...I just assumed might be a bit of turbo lag but I remember being in a friends one and it definitely launched off the line quicker. Researched this could be a clogged up or faulty EGR valve? Also read a fault EGR valve could cause the engine to run cold also.

3. This is a bit of a weird one...The washer jet on the wiper stalk for some reason seems to be inverted. So to spray washer fluid on the windscreen I have to push away and when I pull the wiper stalk towards me it sprays the rear window. Could be this be because its been installed incorrectly by a previous owner?

[X5-D-Sport]

re washer jets control reversal - - - - simply swap the electrical plugs to the washer pumps over, that will cure the issue instantly.
Regards
Grant B

[X5-D-Sport]

re EGR, swap this out for a blanker device that fits to the top air hose, approx. £30 from Ebay, she will be a lot more lively then...

The Thermostat is the likely issue, and this particular one jams OPEN, this a cold engine...
There are several variants available, ensure the model, year and HP details are correct and you should get the right one, and it's an easy 30 minute job.
The gaskets are O-rings and easy to swap out.

Regards
Grant B

[Horizon]

[quote="Dirty Tool"]
I've just purchased a 2003 (facelift) E53 X5 which I am loving at the moment but I have a few niggles that hopefully can get some advice on?

1. The engine temperature gauge doesnt go past the cold indication. I thought it might be a fault gauge but there is not much hot air being blown out the vents so assuming it might be a fault thermostat? Before I change the thermostat is there anything else I should try beforehand?

2. I feel the car is sluggish off the line...I just assumed might be a bit of turbo lag but I remember being in a friends one and it definitely launched off the line quicker. Researched this could be a clogged up or faulty EGR valve? Also read a fault EGR valve could cause the engine to run cold also.

3. This is a bit of a weird one...The washer jet on the wiper stalk for some reason seems to be inverted. So to spray washer fluid on the windscreen I have to push away and when I pull the wiper stalk towards me it sprays the rear window. Could be this be because its been installed incorrectly by a previous owner?
[/quote]
1 I thought the facelift came out in 2004 ? Sounds like the thermostat is stuck open, if the engine management system sees that the engine is cold it will not run properly, as they are a bit sluggish until they warm up
3 as said, looks like the washer pump wires have been crossed.
Has your X5 got a 5 or 6 speed auto gearbox ?

[X5Sport]

Facelift is the 2004 model year which went into production in Oct 2003 I think.  My E53 was a late 2004 build but was an '05 MY.  Even my X6 is an MY2011 but was built in Oct 2010!  Confused me for a while too.

Richard

[Steamyrotter]

Is no one else curious as to why the washers have been swapped???

Could it be from front end repairs??

[X5Sport]

It certainly caused raised eyebrows from me!  Or it could just have been an incompetent mechanic.

[Dirty Tool]

Thanks for everyones reply. Managed to get the car onto a diagnostics machine today and it came up with the following codes:

4530 - Charge-air pressure control
4501 - Exhaust-gas re circulation

It also had fault codes for every single glow plug:

4212 - Glow Plug, Cylinder 1
4222
4232
4242
4252
4262 - Glow Plug, Cylinder 6

To me that sounds like a faulty glow plug controller (aka relay) so will probably start there after measuring the ohms across the glow plugs to make sure they are working correctly. Would this cause the water temp not to get to 90 degrees as the glow plugs also regulate the temperature of the cylinder?

In regards to be air pressure codes sounds like a split vacuum hose somewhere? Probably why it feels sluggish off the line.

Also got the code:

54C6 - Oil wear (transmission).

I was under the impression these cars had lifetime oil in the gearbox.

Thanks all.

[Horizon]

Sounds like a vacuum leak or the EGR valve is sticking open, easy enough to remove and clean with carb cleaner, search the forum there is a few posts.
Glow plug sounds like the module, but is worth testing each plug as mentioned as they are a common failure.
Oil wear transmission is the oil in the transfer box, easy to do apparantly. Has to be reset to clear the fault.

[Dirty Tool]

[quote="Horizon"]
Sounds like a vacuum leak or the EGR valve is sticking open, easy enough to remove and clean with carb cleaner, search the forum there is a few posts.
Glow plug sounds like the module, but is worth testing each plug as mentioned as they are a common failure.
Oil wear transmission is the oil in the transfer box, easy to do apparantly. Has to be reset to clear the fault.
[/quote]

Thanks for your reply. Would a stuck open EGR valve cause the engine temp not to rise?

[AW8]

Not a diesel owner but glow plug control unit has to be worth serious consideration assuming all that's further down the food chain is fit and well - i.e. Plugs etc. Not heard of the blanking kit but others have fitted improved and new breathers. Stat worth a check. Don't rule out air lock in coolant system either - suggest bleeding it maybe before considering stat and after egr health verified or sorted.

The comments re facelift are correct in that 2004 was the facelift year but that means 2004 manufacture year (MY) and the manufacture year commenced last 1/4 of the prior year. I am reliably informed that nearly all 2003 build 2004 MY cars in UK were initially demos or supplied as press or BMW staff cars and were usually to quite generous spec so it is usual to expect a few option boxes to have been ticked on these.

No idea re wipers but explanation given seems plausible.

Good luck

[Zakbelle]

I wouldn't worry too much about the washer motors. My front ones stopped working intermittently. I swapped the motors around whilst I was getting to bottom of the fault as I could handle not using the rear window for a short time. It may be something as innocent as this

[Dirty Tool]

Thanks for the replies. Just a thought if the glow plug control module was faulty then wouldn't I be also reading the fault code '4203' for the glow module? 

[AW8]

You would think so but in my very limited experience a code can point to problems further back. This based on me pulling codes from another members E53 facelift which had a dealer visit only to have module changed.

By all means start with plugs.

Hopefully someone more knowledgable will be able to clarify and comment re above.

[shadrack]

stas are so cheap, id just replace stat and get fresh coolant in there at same tim, easy cheap fast job