Hiya,

First time owner, first post etc and I'm here looking for a bit of help please.

Bought a 2012 BMW X5 40d (125k miles) from private seller just before Christmas from private seller with FSH etc. However, on the drive home I'd noticed a strange noise......

Long story short, the front diff has gone (leaking oil) and I clearly need to get it replaced as it's very noisy and the smell of oil into the cab is horrible. I can't justify a brand new OEM part, and I'm nervous about getting a chinese one off of eBay.

So I thought I would put a post out to see who people would recommend within the UK? I've seen a couple of companies that do reconditioned ones, but I'm not sure that my existing one would be any good to return for a surcharge refund. I am also slightly confused with part numbers. The place I took it to to have a look for me were very helpful, and gave me a print out, but it lists two part numbers : 31508635861 (I believe to be a discontinued part?) and 31508635860

There's also a couple of other niggly bits with the car I'd like to get sorted:

Rear wiper mounting split - I'll either fix or replace
Drivers door handle light - advice needed, where to buy and how to fit
Front Window Washer jet - end one has broken, I've made a temp fix for now
Unlock crack - sometimes when I unlock, I can hear a cracking noise on the rear left, seems to be around the wheel/handbrake

Obviously those smaller bits can wait until I've got the bigger problem sorted out.

If there is someone out there who could point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Morning Rhys

Welcome to the Forum

Front Diff damage is normally caused by mismatched tyres so before spending your Hard Earned money make sure Front and Rear tyres are (a) the correct sizes and (b) all the same make and wear. It only takes one tyre to be out of sync to cause Transmission Wind up and damage.

Front Diff you have the Part Numbers the discontinued and it's replacement either will do check online but also check BMW specialist dismantlers such as Quarry Motors. As for fitting if you can DIY it's obviously cheaper if not a BMW Specialist or good Independent Garage is the route. Once sorted I would change the Transfer case fluid and Rear Diff oils as well if I recall your Rear Diff has 3 chambers and needs 2 different fluids

As for the rest if you are not aware check www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will call up your model, then search the different sections it will give correct part numbers and small exploded drawings which help to see how where things fit.

If someone has had a fiddle with the Door handle the small LED may have just fallen inside and only needs refitting (seen several)

Hope this helps

Good Luck

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thankyou very much for your detailed response.

Annoyingly I didn't get a handbook with the car, but I will have a look and see if I can find out what tyres it should be running. I did find the info on the tyre pressure sticker on the pillar and can confirm they are the correct sizes. Really useful tip for future reference though thanks. I am on the Quarry Motors site now, and that looks like a great option so many thanks again for that shout!

While I was with the car, I checked to see if I could see the LED on the handle, which I could, so I will use that site to have a look at getting that sorted too.

Is it worth me updating the software on the car? I noticed it seemed to be quite out of date, but obviously don't want to mess anything up.

Thanks again,

Rhys

Hi Rhys

Worth asking Quarry if they have a Handbook for your model

As your car is a 4.0d I would guess Fronts are 285x40x20 and Rear are 315x35x20 Tyres need to be same make and wear across axels and front and rear. BMW X series are sensitive to small differences in rolling tyre diameter I check by making a chalk mark at the bottom of the tyres front and rear with the car parked on a flat surface roll it forward 2 or 3 revolutions all 4 chalk marks should be almost in the same place. If they aren't there could be a problem ahead

I am uncertain what you mean by Software upgrades the Infotainment and Satnav is about all I can think of the Engine DDE is set as is the Gearbox (that is ZF software anyway) when my E70 needed Satnav upgrades I changed the whole screen to an Android unit the complete screen was cheaper than the Satnav software from BMW plus it is freely upgradeable gives Android Auto and Carplay plus I no use Spotify for most of my music now and the unit still allows all the BMW OBC functions as well Plus Plus for me

Dave