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Morning Paul Wow that stirs the old grey matter I take it your familiar with www.realoem.com check the Classic section or BMW have a Classic section try their Customer services (I am told they can be slow) If I recall alarms were not a standard fitting back then so you may find Baur fitted it when they retrimmed the car Maybe a question to Baur in Stuttgart I am sure they will have an Archive Good Luck Dave

Hi Hamid Welcome to the Forum First check the engine bay side there is a distribution valve and Auxiliary water pump make sure it's working. Then inside the car if all fans and controls are working check the Final Stage Resistor (used to be a common fail on E53 X5's) Have a look at www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it should bring up your model, then check the Heater section you should find the FSR (Final Stage Resistor) in the blower motor. You will now have all the part numbers you need to find a replacement at a sensible price. The FSR on X5 E53 models was a fiddle to change but not beyond anyone with a bit of sense Dave

After many months of messing with door i decided to try, again, the key in the door after about 10 tries THE DOOR OPENED!!! So I can finally get door panel off to access and replace the actuator. Thank you to everyone that responded and tried to help me. And to Greydog...I found the lever you were talking about.

Morning Phil First thought "is it a genuine wide body or an aftermarket kit that's been fitted" I would check one of the Vin Decoder websites using the Vin number to see what the original build sheet tells you. As it may be a rare customer special order One of our Z car owners may have more thoughts Dave

You have a "list of jobs" too 🤣 I tried confusing her by starting at the bottom I thought if she saw ticks near the bottom 😅 Top tip it didn't work 🤣

Hi all, just an update to my previous post. Finally resolved my problem, with no help from BMW…… Had to replace the generator/starter/alternator unit to sort the problem, having 1st replaced the 48v battery to eliminate that from being the problem, which it wasn’t. So just over 3 years old, less than 70k on the clock and the MHEV system started breaking down. As time went on the issue got worse and resulted in numerous unexpected ‘shut downs’ whilst driving and on one occasion a complete electrical failure due to a flat 12v battery which wasn’t being charged. Lesson from that episode was that I constantly charged the battery when not in use to avoid a si,liar situation…. Hearing more and more people with the same problem and BMW parts confirming they are getting numerous enquiries every week for the component, so clearly BMW have a longevity issue with the system. Going to be a lot of unhappy customers. BMW of course denied there was an issue , weren’t willing to resolve the problem and instead said ‘take it to a main dealer have them identify the problem and if clearly a BMW design or manufacturing problem, they might consider a contribution to the cost’. I could see running up a huge bill at main dealer rates and then getting a minor contribution from BMW if I was lucky so opted to get it fixed by my local independent who was excellent with it. Fortunately, the vehicle was fixed and drove like a dream again, I forgot how good it was! But as the title says MHEV owners beware!1

Just a quick update. Managed to find a second hand front passenger seat in the correct trim. 1o mins to remove ols seat, 10 mins to fit replacement. No Airbag light issues, and seat belt indicator system, working as expected. 😃🤘 Thanks Guys for you suggestions.

Hi guys, turned out it was the 'Idler Pulley' in the belt. Local autoshop figured it out. $100 repair. Thanks again for your help, appreciated! Norm.

Lol… @Greydog just pops out and strips two cars … I managed to find a matching pair of socks! success all round!

Morning All The X5 is back on the road front calipers changed so no more binding brakes As the sun was out I also fitted new front bushes and rear drop links to my wifes Subaru Outback must be the warm weather 😅😅 This morning I feel like an Old Bloke who spent yesterday rolling around on the garage floor 🤣 🤣 Now cut the grass hedges and tidy the garden Dave

I was wary about taking it to someone without knowledge of how these older R12 based systems work and how to work out the correct R134 oil and gas levels. Found a great guy Paul https://pwautoelectrical.co.uk/ He worked on 80's BMWs when new - doing the aircon installs for dealers as in those days you could either order the car with aircon or get it done at the dealer once delivered. Definitely recommend him for anyone wanting similar. He tested it, found a leak, had to replace a couple of seals and rethread a connector, All good now just need the warm weather :)

Morning Bob Welcome to the Forum It is safe to fit Non Runflat tyres to Runflat Rims, the benefits are a wider choice of tyres and costs been doing it for years with my X5's However, if it's only cost then you may well end up with compromised handling/road holding cheap tyres are cheap for a reason. Potholes are a real problem in the summer months easier to see but in the darker months when they are full of water a real issue and danger. Fitting tyres with a deeper sidewall may be possible but may also give clearance issues so check carefully. An alternative is to fit a smaller rim with a deeper sidewall tyre Good Luck Dave

I agree with Dave, back in the day most alarms were retrofit and Hella being an independent company supplying electrical relays and associated switches to fit to Baur and other styling houses of the era. I would be tempted to track the wires individually to see where they go to - I would imagine one or two would go to the starter motor and ignition switch / coil, etc Let us know how you get on with it all

Oooooh that’s nice!

Hi Jock. Is the car 4 wheel drive? 4x4 centre bearing? that would be my first guess. does it make the noise when stationary?

Mileage is154k and MoT to Aug 2nd 26. Sorry for earlier mistakes.

It’s linked to the vanos sensor. but firstly, check the oil cap is the correct one and there should be an insert in it.

Hi Dave Thanks for the reply, very much appreciate it. I've done just that and found a few garages relatively local so will start to work through them. Hopefully it can get resolved now, its been stood a while. Thanks - Paul

Hi Greydog, Thanks for your time checking on the i-Carsoft unit! I will be looking to obtain a copy of the ISTA then! Best, JC

Morning James Welcome to the Forum If you can get a Diagnostic Scan done using a BMW capable system it will help a lot and probably save changing parts that don't need changing. For your model I believe has I-bus so software like BMW 1.4.0 is available and really cheap (about $20) its easy to use and will actually give you Dealer level diagnostics and programming (if needed) Just load it onto a lap top and it will as said allow so much information and test ability. However as you get an attempt to start, the place I would begin is check/test the Fuel Pump relay and it's loom back to the ECU. See if you can download a Pinout for the ECU to check which pins need checking testing Hope this helps Dave

Good morning! My widebodied Z3 is on a W plate (Feb 2000) and it has the 2.0 straight 6 cylinder engine. As far as I know the 4 cylinder was fitted to some of the widebody models (I saw one in a garage recently) but not sure why you would want to go with the 4 cylinder over the 6 cylinder as they are worlds apart and the 6 cylinder will go on forever with makes for a much more exciting drive. Plenty of Z3's on the market at the moment and they are certainly increasing in value so pick one up soon before the prices get out of hand. I would recommend you look very thoroughly at the metalwork as rust is an issue with some, but by the time the widebody Z3 came in, they seem to have sorted a lot of issues. Let us know how you get on with acquiring one and if you need any further info then just let us know.

Morning Gary Welcome to the Forum At 17k I would suspect that the Bushes are OK but check that the Upper Control Arms are torqued correctly The supplying garage should take care of that with no argument even if it means new upper arms, as these are faults that were are present at sale. Even if it is outside their 60day warranty the sale of goods act is on your side as clearly the car in its current condition isn't suitable for purpose Push Good Luck Dave

Well….. the drop top pug is getting kicked out soon… I went on eBay and made a cheeky bid. off to pick up a nice 4.5 v8 Porsche cayenne up on Saturday !! ironically I won it while I was registering my wife on a speed awareness course 🙄 let’s see how many times the X5 is going to have a hissy fit when this one turns up. 😂

Well… finally got round to taking a pic this morning before I left for work.. the lady next door just rolled up in her new purchase… she said she looked at a Porsche, but as I beat her to it she went for another option! 🙄🙄🙄…

Hi. If you have any issues with insurance at all for a change of tyres then please feel free to drop me a line. Regards, Dan.

I think my X5 was built by the same man….. same loom, same year, same car… different wiring and colours!

Gave the car to my mate who gratefully took it for his young family. he took it to his local garage and turns out the camshaft timing sensor was clogged up and misreading. I had changed the inlet and outlet cam sensors but not the camshaft sensor. an engine flush and clean, new oil and spark plugs, a good service and it’s off like a scalded cat! Cost wise it was about £300 to sort. happy days!

I have one! 👍🏻… gearbox is a 5 speed manual… quick on the acceleration but top end is a bit rev hungry. enjoy it!!!

Great little cars Stu A neighbour has one and she loves it they do need a good annual service though, seen several that were unreliable due to not being used much and waiting for the service indicator to tell them it needed service? One was 5 years between services? You will also need a good code reader Dave

Hi Seb Welcome to the Forum First make sure the engine is in Tip Top condition and well serviced (don't forget Transmission and Diff) if it is then you should have no issues. I would ask how many they have done and see if you can talk to other owners Most problems occur when ECU tuning is carried out on a mechanically sad engine and it then gets heavily used, result an engine failure with the tuning blamed. Most issues are heavy right foot is my experience Dave

Morning James Google the Register of BMW Dismantlers (Quarry Motors have always been useful). For my E53 4.6is I used a local Carpet Fitter he made up a full set for me all edges trimmed and including non slip velcro patches. He used the OEM mats as patterns and off cuts from a Dark Grey High Quality Wilton carpet he had fitted, cost was less than half OEM gave the car a new smell for ages. Dave

Morning Steven Welcome to the Forum If you have the original pump and module I would send it to ECU Testing (Derby/Nottingham area) if it is repairable it won't need coding when it goes back on. Brake bleeding is a straight forward procedure I always start at the nearside rear (furthest from the master cylinder) I use a vacuum pump bleeding kit (mine is old but they are about £20 or so) to pull fluid through. Make sure the Master cylinder is above Min at all times, once clear no bubbles or murky fluid lock it off and move to the offside rear and repeat. Then nearside front and finally offside front make sure you are using the correct brake fluid and as said never let the master cylinder drop below the Min mark. Now the only tricky bit is you will need the help of someone who has a BMW capable Diagnostic tool if you don't have your own to activate the ABS unit, job done. If the original can't be repaired the next point to check is "the unit that is fitted is it the correct one for your car" is/was it New or purchased second hand? check the part number of both the Pump and Controller carefully if they are the same as the OEM part then it should have been plug and play. If the unit was (a) Second hand is it faulty? (b) If it is an incorrect part then you will struggle to get it to work. However if it does need coding then again you will need the help of someone who has a Diagnostic program that is capable of doing it Hope this Helps Dave

Hi Dave, Many thanks for your reply, yes i would always DIY this … I am fully aware of realoem and have indeed been researching a replacement front diff. anything i’m looking at will be factoring in new oil seals to be fitted also, along with the correct spec diff oil.. will keep this post informed of the outcome.. Dave 👍

Update on this. It was a terminal in the plug. Terminal was not making a good connection with one of the pins on the o2 sensor plug. Extremely annoying but fixed

Hi, thanks for your input, but I've finally found a lens in Australia. It's exactly the right one, so good result. Phil

Hi Cameron From your description and the additional information it sounds like transmission wind up, probable cause is the rear tyres being new have a larger rolling radius than the front that is putting strain on the transfer case and also the diffs. I would check them carefully tyres are much cheaper than a new Diff or Transfer Case Dave

News to me! Thanks Dave. A wee quick drive 120km to the coast. Apparently there's a place in Benidorm wot copies them. Probably next to a pub that sells beer at £1 a pint. Whoopee...

Morning Stu Ouch!! Fuel pressure check would be my starting place. From memory (old and dodgy) should be around 50psi any thing lower will give the symptoms your getting If I remember Pelican Parts did some great write ups on Fuel delivery and pressure plus stuff on injector testing worth a look at their site I have been told it only hurts when you laugh 🤣 Get well soon Matey Dave

Thanks Dave, the original map company don’t have a clue what could’ve happened as the garage shouldn’t have been able to do anything. I’ve got it booked in tomorrow somewhere else to take ECU out, see if the map is still there/gone dormant and remap if needed. I’ve just done a 500mile round trip fishing at the weekend to wales so I know for certain it’s not driving as it was and the fuel consumption for this journey I do 2-3 times a years has gone up as well as the car being lethargic. As for the headlamp washers…thanks, I’ll get new ones fitted.

On your advice I have left a message with Ash Motors North Wales. Many thanks again

Morning Stu The fact you have a wiper issue would point me away from the Cluster initially My thoughts are Footwell Module it's in the left hand footwell (well it would be 😅) Run a scan it should show up any issues. The Footwell control module on the 4.6 caused all sorts of odd stuff radio that would randomly turn on/off odd light issues seat controls. BMW say you can't swap them it has to be new and set up by them (wrong of course) I changed mine for an upgraded unit second hand it took longer to remove the old unit and swap it than it did to re-program it cured everything and probably stuff I hadn't found 😅 Dave P.S I wont let the E70 on Whats App or Face Book just in case 🤣

🤣 They may have their own Whats App Group 🤣🤣 scary who knows with AI Guess that means we are in trouble Dave

Superb news for older models of BMW, even up to the Z4 https://www.bmwgroup-classic.com/en/offers-and-services/bmw-classic-reproductions.html

Hi all, I hope you are all well! I thought I’d let others know about my positive experience I had with Precision drive near Southend airport. I was recommended by a friend, who had his E90 updated a while ago. I had messaged Chris at precision drive about getting my F36 updated & addition of CarPlay. He replied with the cost & answered any queries I had. Dropped off car & left it with him. I got a call after 1.5hrs to say the whole car had been updated but there was an issue whilst installing CarPlay (he doesn’t yet have dedicated broadband at his workshop, phone tethering wasn’t sufficient) He has kindly offered to come to my house & apply the CarPlay at a later date. It turns out that my cars never had any software updates applied since new! Instantly I noticed the shifts were smoother & engine was quieter. Should anyone else require their cars updating give Chris a message/call (search Precision Drive) I paid £120 for whole vehicle update, £60 to be paid at a later date for CarPlay activation.

Well….. all I can say is, if the oil leaks onto the ground and you drive forward… then new tyres ain’t gonna do much good! get the oil leaks fixed first, save your engine from blowing up, save money on replacing oil and then get new tyres.

Morning Barry Welcome to the Forum Take a look at www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of the cars Vin into the search box it will bring up your model then search the body section. You should find all the information you need you should find exploded drawings that indicate where stuff goes and the part numbers which will help in your search. the bonnet I believe is just mechanical alignment and hinges with gas strut assistance. Once you have the information Google BMW Specialist Recyclers/Dismantlers and you should then be able to contact them to see who has what you need Good Luck with the Project let us know how you get on Dave

Morning Joe Welcome to the Forum What a strange anomaly For years we had a place in Portugal and I kept a car there but have to say 10 years ago it was simple Bluetooth connection for calls. I guess have you talked to Apple to see if it is something they can help with? maybe clone your Spanish phone so at least you have your data Good Luck Dave

Hi Ken It shouldn't be possible to fit an OEM or OEM style replacement wrongly as the joins are 3 bolt flanges. So my guess would be either it is an After Market exhaust or a support hanger is broken/missing If you are not aware take a look at www.realoem.com its an online BMW parts list, go to the Classic section then the model your considering check the exhaust section which will show both front and rear parts are fitted and supported. Dave

Hi Shaun Welcome to the Forum I have read several times about this problem though not seen/suffered one myself From what I read the only solution is change the unit two choices, first BMW I have read £1k+ quotes and long wait times for parts. Second choice a used replacement first use www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will call up your model get the Part Number for your car, double click the part number and it should show a list of any alternatives if they are available. Then Google to find the part and check prices Apparently it isn't a major issue to swap a DIY job then get your Mech friend to clear and reset codes Good luck Dave

here is a link to all bmw owners hand book pdf file free to download http://bmwsections.com