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Welcome to the Forum Chris

Morning Chris Welcome to the Forum Not me (I drive a fat X5) but my Brother Inlaw is now on his 6th 5 series Touring he travels a lot in Europe. All his cars have been owned from new and serviced by BMW but with interim services/oil changes by us in my home garage, we change oil and filters at 5k intervals (for him that's monthly). All his cars have been larger engines (he likes the power) current is a 540d xDrive ECU tuned to 400hp, all his cars run to over 200k before trading in He has had issues early on BMW used to tell buyers Gearbox's were sealed for life ( we service to ZF standards at home) Infotainment system faults a whole list but not difficult to sort with DIY and a little thought Around 2007 BMW moved timing chains to the rear of the engine so any rattles here could be expensive as the engine has to come out ?? So as with any second user car Service History is key and the first thing I would do is carry out a full inspection and service check the oil drained from the sump with a magnet or pour it slowly through a paper coffee filter for any metal particles if there are any it could well signal issues to come Hope this helps Dave

Hey Stu I’m From Cork Ireland I’ve had audi a6 Passat American trucks dodge and Ford but bmw is 120 d coupe uk e46 318i I’ve had the pleasure of driving the M3 and 1M also there’s more cars just too long to list haha

Hello and welcome to the forum. Good bunch of folks here! Where are you based and what were your previous cars? Hope you find us a useful bunch. Stu

He has anyone any experience but running a touring 520i what Milage were ye getting ? And also any issues mine has 85k kms

Hey all I’m new here but I’m on my 4th bmw but my first 523i touring what I’m hoping to pick up this week - nice to meet you all

Morning James OK phone is running Android 16 what is the Droid running can you connect it to home Wifi and check for updates? Not necessarily a wrong connection just not a clean connection so remaking them after a blast with a good electrical contact cleaner may well be the answer I spoke to my neighbour (330i Touring) he told me he had some connection issues between his Android screen (brought from Amazon last year) and his Samsung Galaxy which sound similar to your issue, Bluetooth calls would not connect properly or not at all, his wife's Motorola connected fine and she is the main user. He remade the Samsung connection several times apparently then noticed his address book hadn't uploaded (as his wife's address book is similar he hadn't noticed at first) He cleared all connections on the Android unit in the car and the remade the connections to his and his wife's phones. His address book uploaded so did his wife's and both phones have worked ever since he has no clue what he may have done different but everything works even Android Auto Good Luck Dave

Thanks for the advice Dave I haven't had a chance to strip yet and phone is running Android 16 so not a phone issue it will play music via the cars Bluetooth etc as the screen doesn't actually control sound so I mush have either not connected it quite right at the back but strange music will play but in car calls don't?!

Bit of a long shot, but has the alternator failed? My x5 did and it did exactly the same, even with a jump pack and a battery charger, it wouldn’t fire or crank at communicate as the battery was fully fully flat. The warning lights came on, then quickly engine lost power. And the car stopped. Surely if the timing chain snapped it would have made a !Removed! big noise before stopping quickly, not coasting as the engine would still be engaged to the gearbox?

Hi Chris Sorry don't trust the AA my neighbour broke down (BMW X5 E53) the AA attended plugged in and their report said no communication with the Gearbox no drive total gearbox failure. Your car Model is F10 the engine designation is M57N He waited to be recovered to home I plugged in my ISTA diagnostics Gearbox fine Engine ran gearbox selected drive and reverse checked underneath and the Prop was spinning? My diagnosis Rear Diff failed he brought a second hand diff (Ebay) and we fitted it on his drive, he still using the car 5 years on Me I would get a second opinion before doing anything drastic. Remove the undertray and get a socket on the Crank shaft bolt and turn the engine by hand that will confirm if it is seized or not. No crank could be a multitude of other things from the starter relay to an ECU failure proper diagnostics are needed Dave

Hi Dave, his exact words on his report reads " we have found no comms with OBD, no crank suspected seized engine or internal engine fault, oil level OK, coolant level OK" I understood this was the F10 engine Dave , there were no symptoms, just driving home, warning lights on dash, , Stop Start etc and then it coasted to a strop and just a click when you try to start... AA put his vehicle charger onto the points in the engine bay and it made no difference. No symptoms, just had a new mechantronic unit and replacement gearbox fitted 2 months ago

Hi Chris That is sad news but for your information your car has Timing Chains no belts involved so if an AA man told you Belt he is wrong The engine in your car should be BMW M57N 3.0D unfortunately the Timing Chains guides and tensioner are at the rear of the engine requiring the engine to be removed for service/repair. So labour is high compared to parts cost What symptoms did you experience and for how long before the AA became involved ? Dave

Just months after spending a small fortune of a new mechatronic unit and replacement gearbox, its broken down again... AA just left, timing belt gone.. I cant afford ( and wouldn't if I could) more money to spend on it, any idea if there is a market for a 2014 530 D, 99 K miles with this amount of work due?

Translation guys. Any ideas? Hello, I have checked if the crankshaft pulley had slack and it is fine, the one on the camshaft is also fine, no slack, I have changed the fuel pressure regulator and the car keeps failing, it is funny because it only fails when the engine is hot, in cold it works perfectly, today I have been able to take a ride with the cold engine and the car works very well but when it heats up it drowns. I have also tried disconnecting the coils 1 by 1, and they all work well, when disconnecting each one the engine changes rpms. Since it is not a failure of the shaft or camshaft sensors, or do you think it could be a failure of injectors that fail when heated?

Hola, he comprobado si la polea del cigueñal tenia holgura y esta bien, la del arbol de levas tambien esta bien, nada de holgura, he cambiado el regulador de presion de combustible y el coche sigue fallando, es curioso porque solo falla cuando el motor esta caliente, en frio funciona perfecto, hoy he podido dar una vuelta con el motor frio y el coche funciona muy bien pero al calentarse se ahoga. Tambien he probado lo de desconectar las bobinas 1 por 1, y todas funciona bien, al desconectar cada una el motor cambia de rpms. Como no sea fallo de los sensores de cigueñal o arbol de levas, o crees que podria se fallo de inyectores que al calentarse fallan?

Hola, ¿has comprobado si la polea del árbol de levas se mueve hacia adelante y hacia atrás? Desconecta los conectores de las bujías uno por uno y observa si el motor cambia. El que no tenga efecto es el que falla. Parece que hay un fallo de encendido o que la sincronización está desajustada.

Como veis, suena un clic clic clic, como si fueran los inyectores, aunque los comprobe y funcionan bien, al acelerar a tope, como veis tarda mucho en subir, no es normal, he cambiado el sensor de arbol de levas y de cigueñal por unos nuevos, pedidos ambos a origen por un rodi, en frio el coche no lo hace, alguien me recomienda que combruebe alguna pieza en especifico porque ya no se que mas hacer, la valvula de relenti bien, y 0 fugas de admisio <font dir="auto" style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font dir="auto" style="vertical-align: inherit;">Grabación_de_pantalla_20260529_164052_Galería.mp4</font></font>

Morning Charles Welcome to the Forum I would Google the Register of BMW Specialists there should be a few close by then call and talk to them about your issue then make a choice I would expect all to say they need to see the car to make a diagnosis and give outline costs Good Luck Dave

hi Can anyone recommend a garage to do a quick fix on my 2015 4 series convertible. A lot of white/grey smoke from exhaust on starting the engine. Needs a compression test and then a flush. Can get AA to transport the car to a garage in the West London area. Need to know range of prices for work/parts

It will drive like a new car when your finished 😁

To be honest, I didn’t mark the position on the eccentric bolts, but the place I normally take the car to for tracking will no doubt thank me for replacing them. They’ve had to heat the bolts in the past till they were orange to adjust them, so will be easy this time round. I’ve put the new ones in about the same position, so at least there is a starting point for them. The other bolts weren’t too bad to remove.

Hi Melvyn Welcome to the Forum A friend who worked for a company upgrading and repairing Audio Systems for high end cars (Merc BMW Audi/VW) told me a few years back it will depend on the year and software version in the Infotainment system not the Manufacture/Reg year of the car. His advice was check using a Vin Decoder exactly what is fitted to your car then you will know what upgrade is possible/needed to enable it as a guide he gave me this CIC (ID3/4) ~2010–2016 No Needs MMI or Android screen NBT (ID4) ~2013–2016 No (rare cases) Some retrofits possible NBT Evo (ID5/6) ~2016–2019 Software activation Needs S6CPA + Wi-Fi for full-screen MGU (ID7) ~2019–2022 Native wireless Bluetooth pairs, Wi-Fi runs it MGU21 (ID8/8.5) ~2022+ Native wireless Requires Siri; setup differs So it would seem if you have the the NBT Evo system then you need a Wifi Antenna and the software (S6CPA) and it should run on your OEM system, Note the Manufacture years shown are for the Infotainment systems I had to fit a replacement Android screen in my E70 and all up very happy with it If you have the NBT system Google the Register of BMW Specialists you should find a few near to you then check out prices Hope this helps Dave

Is there anyone in Norfolk or within 50 miles of Kings Lynn who can supply and fit a system that will enable me to access apple car play but will still enable me to retain all the existing functionality of all the electronic systems and retain the existing screen Many thanks

Hi Gary They can be a beeech can't they😁 first time I did the job it took all day now it take me around 2 hrs a side to take off refurb and replace. Did you mark the position of the Eccentric washers before removal as that helps when putting them back and will get you very close to original setting before alignment. I use a DeWalt reciprocating saw to cut all the the bolts connecting the swing arm and Upper and Lower arms, due to the salt on our roads in winter most are so rusted that even if they eventually undo they need replacing anyway (never like re-using rusted nuts and bolts) Great job keep us up to speed Dave

This has been up for a while now in various places, and nobody seems to want it. Think it’s time I separated this, put it up on eBay and bump up the price. And what with bmw parts prices these days, and the e46 starting to rise in value! Ah well, eBay here it comes!