XSeries-forum

Hi All, newbie here,

Please forgive my ignorance but I am not very mechanically minded!

My 2006 X5 auto petrol 4.4 goes into limp mode frequently. I have tried 4 garages without any positive solutions, just alot of money spent!

This is my 2nd X5 and i don't want to sell it for a pittance, I'd rather find the solution and keep it.

The symptoms are the engine starts to surge when at low speed in a queue, engine light comes on along with 4x4 and others. Loud clanks and hops and jumping when accelerating!

Dasboard also has PROG.SECUR.BTE.VIT. which I can only suppose is a French version!

It also goes into what I assume is Limp Mode intermittanly when driving - very stressful!

I hope I am not the only one with this fault so I would appreciate some experienced feedback.

Thanks Mossy

Translated from French - are you in France or has the vehicle language been set to that? That could also be the result of a non-OEM Sat bag DVD with speed cameras being installed which requires the language to be set to French in order to pick up the English speech files. Coded discs modified the French library!

The message itself means that you are in Transmission Failsafe Mode. Described as - apologies but it came up in Caps
THE TRANSMISSION WILL SWITCH AUTOMATICALLY INTO THE EMERGENCY PROGRAM, WHICH IS DISPLAYED IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER VIA A WARNING LAMP AND A MESSAGE, "TRANS. FAIL-SAFE PROG." IN THIS CASE, THE VEHICLE CAN BE DRIVEN IN LOWER GEARS ONLY WITH LIMITED ENGINE OUTPUT.

To me it sounds from the way that you describe the noises as if you have a serious gearbox issue. The only way to be certain is to get the error codes read by a proper system such as BMW’s own INPA/ISTA software, or Autologic. You need the EGS module (transmission control) reading out.

If it is the transmission then it needs looking at urgently of you could be facing a £2k bill (or more) to have it rebuilt. You may already be at that position. My 2005 started making those noises and failing to select gears, and eventually threw a warning light. This all happened over about 30 minutes. It had to be fully rebuilt with a new Mechatronics module as well. That bill was almost £4K 12 years ago.

There are two common causes with the ZF 6 speed box. 1 is a pressure leak around an internal connecting sleeve. The ‘o’ rings fail and pressure is lost. This causes damage to the B & E clutch packs. The second common one is the ‘E’ clutch itself fails. `Sadly, both mean a full rebuild.

Not the best way to start Xmas

But anyway.

Thanks for the feedback