XSeries-forum

I jumped into the Wife's X5 the other day and was surprised how slow it was to pull away from cold. I started the car first thing in the morning, put it into drive, pushed the pedal and very little happened. It just pulled away like a lumbering battleship - very slowly. As soon as it got moving everything was fine. There was no strange sound or vibration and the gearbox changes gear really smooth. This issue seems very similar to the problem I posted about last summer when I had the caravan on the back and it also hesitated to pull away whilst billowing black smoke out of the exhaust.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the beast but I can't figure out what exactly. I have checked for fault codes but nothing comes up.
Any ideas what this could be?

Loss of vacuum for the turbo controls?  Check all of the pipes (you will need to take the engine cover off) for splits etc.  Losing the turbo will take all guts out of the engine and even rice pudding skins will laugh!

Richard

Hi Richard, I haven't checked pipe work yet but as soon as it gets going and warms up it pulls like a train. Even if you start it and simply leave it for a few minutes it pulls away as normal but if you jump in and try and drive off it's like a one legged slug tied to a boat anchor.

[quote="7builder"]
Hi Richard, I haven't checked pipe work yet but as soon as it gets going and warms up it pulls like a train. Even if you start it and simply leave it for a few minutes it pulls away as normal but if you jump in and try and drive off it's like a one legged slug tied to a boat anchor.
[/quote]

This sounds familiar...but I don't know the answer...but it does sound heat related...or even time related.

I can compare it to the wife's car (same exact models 3.0d facelift) as hers is a tad more sprightly from the get go. Mine can seem more flat from cold. Sometimes after a moderate drive I can pop into a shop and get back in and it's even quicker from then on...as if some sort of heat soak has improved something.

I was going to look at the EGR come nice weather but that's a shot in the dark. I've had a look at the turbo and vaccum pipes but there not a lot to instantly see bar the pipes going in and out of the black blimp/reservoir to the offside wing. The turbo looks well hidden too.

I was considering renewing all those vaccum pipes to the turbo but again it's ashot in the dark but I guess cheap to do...if you can get at them

Basically...no idea

When was the last time your fuel filter was changed?
The difference a new fuel filter makes to these cars is amazing! 

[quote="andym3"]
When was the last time your fuel filter was changed?
The difference a new fuel filter makes to these cars is amazing! 
[/quote]

I don't know about the OP but from my perspective...not in our ownership

[quote="storminmike"]
[quote="andym3"]
When was the last time your fuel filter was changed?
The difference a new fuel filter makes to these cars is amazing! 
[/quote]

I don't know about the OP but from my perspective...not in our ownership
[/quote]
Same here. I'll swap out the fuel filter and see what happens.

The drivers seat and steering wheel adjustment stopped working today so it looks like I need a new electric seat switch module as well.
I must have a Friday afternoon build car. 

Can it be confirmed that the facelift diesel fuel filter is under the nearside of the car behind plastic?

[quote="storminmike"]
Can it be confirmed that the facelift diesel fuel filter is under the nearside of the car behind plastic?
[/quote]

Yes

Don't know why BMW changed its location on the facelift model. It is so easy to change on the pre-facelift!

i had this exact problem on my range rover sport 3 years ago.! On that it was the EGR valves. New ones fitted and problem gone. Dont know if this will help as different car but just thought i would mention.

I did the EGR valve last summer. It was really gummed up. I'll try the fuel filter next and see if that improves things.

I renewed my fuel filter yesterday ,  went out in the car this morning outside temperature was below 3 enough for the car for pre heating to be activated , even though glow plugs don't  work on mine lol and it felt more lively than it did before so it's done some good and the fuel injection warning light no longer comes on when you kick down.