XSeries-forum

Good evening all,

Just recently (7 weeks ago) purchased a lovely 2.5 X3 M sport with all the kit and just about every factory extra.

The car had 131000 miles when i bought it and now has 139000, i do a lot of mileage, i commute from Loch Lomond to Edinburgh every day nearly and have been working in Carlisle and Cumbria as well so even more miles.

The car was perfect for 5 weeks i didn't  notice any problems atoll, then one day sitting in traffic i noticed a slight ticking, i checked oil and there was none, I added 3 litres of Castrol 5/30 C3 to get it back to top of dipstick and noise disappeared.

I then decided to get it in for an oil change and filter change, so I purchased filter pack from BMW and had my mate put it on the ramps in his garage for an oil change.

I changed the oil to Castrol 0/30 Edge.

When on the ramps he noticed the rear tyre had worn straight through to metal on inside and was close to blowing. So I took to my other mate, a tyre fitter who works for Farmers, and he then noticed a rear spring was snapped.

So £887 later for 4 pirelli's and 2 new rear springs (Very good price) i thought everything would be perfect, WRONG!

The car has now started stuttering when i put the foot down around 2600-3200 rpm. It doesn't always do it, but does most of the time??

Am i right in thinking it is more than likely coil pack or spark plugs or Lambda sensor???

I just cannot work out how it has only started immediately after new tyres and springs, i never ever had the problem before?? Unless the worn out of alignment tyres possibly hid the problem???

Thank you

Sounds like just coniencidence TBH......but.

Pirelli tyres are one of the OEM fitments so it's unlikely to be those unless you have a non-standard size but I would not expect that would not affect the engine at the same rpm in all gears....or is it speed sensitive too?

There have been reports of non-standard tyres causing transmission issues though I have not seen any with Pirelli tyres.  Have you got '*' rated (they have a star symbol on the side)?  If so then those are made for BMW.

It sounds more ignition or fuelling related as you suspect.

And as you have discovered these engines do use oil, some not much but it can be as much as 500ml/1,000 miles.  At that mileage try a slighter 'thicker' grade.  5W30 is very common now.

Thank you, yes i have read up that tyres can cause these problems which is confusing?

The car is a manual i forgot to add.

The new tyres are the exact same size as before, but before it had pirelli up front and kumho rear.

The wheels are 19" and front tyres are 235/45/19 and rears are 255/40/19.

Should i book it into BMW for diagnostics?? I only paid £3350 for the car after serious bargaining so i don't want anymore big bills, if its going to need a lot of money ill just get rid of it, been looking into leasing a new X5 through business anyway.

Will diagnostics flag up whats wrong?

I was thinking possibly change the spark plugs and leads and possibly coil packs, any idea on cost for this? Also cost of changing Lambda sensors?

Thanks again much appreciated.

Also ment to say the car apart from this problem is running MUCH better on the new 0/30 Castrol Edge and after 1000 miles doesn't seemed to have burned any oil!

Bit like my girlfriend actually.

She makes a nicer noise when I give her better lube

the only nice noise a woman makes is when they are asleep ) )

Dealer will cost a few quid to diagnose and  repair anything .
Best find a decent independent specialist . Proper diagnosis is the place to start . Could be a faulty sensor , fuel filter or injector .
You don`t want to start guessing what needs replaced because that gets expensive .

Impossible to diagnose online. Buy a decent scanner tool or pay for a diagnostic check.

One of the Camshaft sensors would be my bet.

Thanks guys can anyone recommend someone in Central Scotland? Or even north England as working Carlisle this week.

Thank you

Remove fuse no26, check if still does it...

Read similar posts om BMWLAND where there were a greater number of X3 drivers/ owners. The X3 is super sensitive to rolling circumferences in tyres, much more so than the X5, as the site is down at the moment you won't be ab.e to view the posts, have you got the staggered tyre set up, or the same size all round, did you replace all 4 tyres at the same rime with the same brand ?
If you have miss matched tyres it causes havock with the permanent 4 wheel drive and can cause failure of the diffs and transfer box.
Edit, sorry just read your post again and see you've changed all 4 tyres, are the star marked tyres that have the same rolling circumference when using the staggered setup, also what tyre sizes are they on the front and rear
( profiles , that is ? )

If you're in Carlisle I would strongly recommend Lloyd BMW- purchased all my BMW 's from them and drive from Central Scotland to there to have my servicing done as they are cheaper and more competent than closer garages.

In fact I'm in there Monday with the X5 for its service.

Will be interested in your finding as my wife is driving a 2004 2.5i Manual.

Good luck

I will try removing the fuse, where are they located? thank you

Also tyre sizes are exact same sizes as before only difference being Pirelli all round now. The wheels are 19" and front tyres are 235/45/19 and rears are 255/40/19.

Thank you

GMS- Im in Carlisle on thursday working all day so will call them tomorrow see if i can get booked in. Thanks mate

[quote="kkx5"]
Remove fuse no26, check if still does it...
[/quote]

Is fuse 26 the transmission transfer case .

Could the DISA valve cause the issue .

Would help to know fault conditions such as engine hot or cold , speed .
Found this fuse chart online  , Image is huge on my screen with a grey bar below to adjust left and right .

More info http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=530507

This link may be useful http://www.kneb.net/bmw/E83/02_E83%20Bo ... trical.pdf



And a you tube video for the hard of thinking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ph-KB7LIu0