XSeries-forum

Hey everyone it has been a while since I have posted. I have a 3.0i.
Last week when I was attempting to get to the airport for 4 am, I went to start the X and the dreaded trans fail safe warning came up on the dashboard. I pulled out of the drive way and when the car went in to second there was a clunk. This went right the way through the gearbox from first gear up to fifth, with the clunk clearly more noticeable when coming down the gears from third to second and then finally first.
After a drive around the block and a through gritted teeth assessment I had no option left other than to drive the X to Gatwick as I was already running late and the girlfriend would not have been happy to wake up in the morning with a broken X on the drive, coupled with no way of getting to work.
I am fortunate that there was no traffic and the drive is 90% motorway so minimum gear changes could be made. The drive as I am sure you can all imagine was not fun, worrying if the gearbox would fail the whole way.
To cut a long story short the X made it back home in one piece. On return I found a local independent specialist who was extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the X. The company is Barker motor works Haslemere Surrey. www.barkersmotorworks.co.uk. Richard the owner owns an X himself and would happily chat all day about them so anyone looking for a good indy in the hants/surrey area I can’t recommend Barkers enough.
They were thorough and filled me with confidence which is more than I can say about some garages. I had same day service and was pleased with the diagnosis, It turned out to be the hot film air mass meter….. it was sending incorrect readings for when the gearbox should change gear: I was just relieved that it was not a new gear box that was needed.
Anyway the car was repaired and I had the inspection one service done at the same time and couldn’t have been happier with the service I received.
If anyone is looking for a new indy you will be hard pushed to find someone with the knowledge on the X that Richard has. Having over ten years experience owning Xs he really can’t sing there praises high enough.
So for all reading, when you see the TRANS FAIL SAFE warning it is not always as bad as you think…..

so what exactly has been done on the car to repair the fault?

He said air mass meter, assume replacement.

Always good to read highly rated testimonials & a good idea to share them.

Yesterday I placed a link to an excellent garage review site.

I strongly recommend folk on here email garage reviews,(good or bad) ; they are very useful not only to us but also to the wider BMW community. Thre is one short review re that garage on that site- another would be useful.

The link is contained within this post .

Good to hear the proprietor runs an X5 interested to know which engine fitment he has.

Also interested in his hourly labour rate, (if provided please clarify if plus or inc vat).

That indy similar travel distance & time to others I use on occasion, (for non dealer stamp stuff).

Hi AW8, not sure what the hourly rate was for Barkers I can find out and let you know though. He currently owns an E53-V8.

All the best Stew.

That would be useful & apprciated - if you dont get around to it I expect I will call to ascertain same.

Dont forget to send brief summary of your experience to the site I mentioned - only takes a couple of mins......... click here for quick link

Hmm..............Well I think I may have found a future new indy.

With a few mins to myself I just made a call to Richard to ascertain labour rate................Subsequently we ended up talking X5's & BMW's for some while.

IIrc he said today he had 4 E53's being worked on by him & staff, (he agreed that many buy used & inherit issues passed on by last keeper).

It was reassuring to hear that his 2001 4.4i with similar miles to mine has had near identical work carried out.

He is a firm believer in ATF changes & he volunarily detailed the extact correct procedure for an ATF change on the ZF box including attention to temperatures. He even said he prefers to have the car overnight so job started with a cold car thern warmed to temp.

I already use 2 good indies & though without fault - neither seem as enthusiatic as Richard re the X5.

Richard is an ex BMW Master tech - effectively he knows his stuff & has helped advise re complex issues.

I seem to recall being recommended this guy in the past on bmwland - your thread has caused me to make another great indy contact - Thankyou X5south/Stew.

Always good to have confidence in an Indy, hopefully your experiences will be as good as others who have recommended.


Turks.

[quote=""AW8""]That would be useful & apprciated - if you dont get around to it I expect I will call to ascertain same.

Dont forget to send brief summary of your experience to the site I mentioned - only takes a couple of mins......... click here for quick link[/quote]

Ah, I've used that site before and found my helpful indy in Hove Is that far from you AW8?

W.

An hour or so driving time from me, (if sticking to speed limits), as I am further West.........................If you mean Alan Robertson then I have both used his services, (only for the Z3 thus far), & also posted a positive testimonial re same on the aforementioned site.

I also use Chris at PBM Ditchling Common - he's an independent BMW Merc & Porsche specialist, has lots of engineering qualifications. I have seen some quite rare stuff being worked on there & including an old 50's Bentley with engine stripped down. Not knocking the newer breed but this suggests skills extend past merely replacing bits with new off the shelf items.

Inspection visits still collected via Chandlers albeit main dealer visits are an expensive way to collect stamps.

GSR Motors in Harwood Rd Littlehampton is a £40 per/hr indy run by an ex Chandlers mechanic...Not tried him yet but came highly recommended to me via a PM from a member of another BMW related forum.

That's very useful, thanks. Yes it's Alan I use, he seems proper 'old school'!
My service book doesn't have many main dealer stamps, so I'm sticking with indys for the moment.

W.

[quote=""Waka""].......he seems proper 'old school'! [/quote]

Thats a bit of an understatement.........I can imagine some using him for first time & having only prior used main dealers might have mixed reactions albeit majority for the better. Personally I find it refreshing to speak to the person working on my car rather than speaking to an advisor via a receptionist, paying to have piping cappuccino blown up my (self censored), whilst mechanics race to finish the job in less than allocated time for their financial gain.

Be sure to add a garage review on that site if you have the time.