X5smw

Good thinking greydog. 
I have had an issue with abs where the speed sensor is faulty and the brake switch on the pedal shorts, car thinks it is braking…. Was on a French thing though, so it may have just surrendered. …. Can you tell which brakes are being applied? Do you have an automatic handbrake? 
 

Could a failing abs circuit or ers stabiliser cause this? If it thinks the wheels are sliding or yaw out of kilt, then it would apply brakes etc?  

Where is the car stored? Could you get a trickle charger or a solar panel to keep the battery topped up? I would cover it and have a small solar panel personally. 

Is it only at roundabouts? Is it from a standing start? What are the revs doing? 
my x5 had a weird hesitation at roundabouts and when coming to a stop the revs would drop a bit, therefore when setting off while rolling, the car was jumping and sluggish setting off. … weirdly it turned out to be a dodgy battery. Have you tested the battery yet? 
the alternator would power the car while running so no issues, but as the engine slowed down, not enough power down  to the battery and the alternator would smuggle with the load. 
I replaced both after the alternator failed, no issues since

Hi Steve. Can you post a pic of the car? 
 

e46 saloon

e90 saloon

@greydog will be along soon with what you need. 👍🏻

It sounds like the compressor relay is sticking? That would be my first place to check. 
 

The remote may just need resetting to the car. It’s easy to do and there are loads of tutorials on the net. Just google key fob ews programming. 
hopefully it starts the car…. That’s the hard part. 

Hi mate. 
welcome.

can you show me where in the engine this is, photo from further out?  
mum not familiar with the 6 series but looking at it, it appears to be venting from the exhaust manifold area. 
@greydog , on this engine, does it have an engine preheat plug? Is this the visible object of the heat shield? 
silly question, but was the aircon on going to Ireland? 
good luck! Stu 

Right, you are running 16” wheels. 
change the rear shocks and springs. Get a used set from quarry motors or another breaker. Get standard ones for your model. 
 

Wow…. They do look small! 
can you check the tyre size. The last number will be the wheel size 16 or 17. 
 

jack the car up and check the spring condition. It does seem a little low, but it could be that the wheels look small, giving it a lowered look. 
 

im going out on a limb here and saying the spring could be shot? Does it make any clunking noises?

LOL… love the editing when I type in the French marque! 

Hi all… not sure if this has been done, but I’m bored… list your car history below… I’ll start.

peugeot 309, Peugeot 205 gti 1.6, bmw e36 316,bmw e36 m3,bmw e34 520, bmw e34 525, bmw e34 518, french poo Laguna 2l, ford streetKa, bmw e90 320, bmw e46 316, bmw 3.0 e53 X5, Peugeot 307cc…. 
company cars…. 
ford escort van, golf tdi, golf gti, Hyundai accent, Hyundai lantra, rover 220, rover 620, Skoda Octavia, Skoda vrs, Audi TT, ford transit van, seat Leon, Vauxhall Astra, hyundai Tucson, Vauxhall combo, Audi A3. 
 

I think that’s it

as well as our 2 motorhomes and a yamaha 125 motorbike. 
 

everybody…… GO! 

What is going on with auto correct on here? Lol 

You can buy softer springs for the car no problem, but it may be worth looking at the wheels. What size tyres are you running? 
mot may be worth selling your wheels and getting a smaller set (maybe an inch or 2 smaller) so your tyres have a large side profile, this will give more movement in the tyres and lead to a softer ride without altering the springs 

something like a ***/40/19 will have the same diameter as a ***/50/17 but will have a smaller wheel, giving it a larger flex area. 
hipe it makes sense.

Yeah, they are not currently connected to anything and if you have no intention of using them, tuck them away and hide them. I would check to see if there is a permanent positive feed on one of the cables first though. 
 

The pic showing the armrest has the snap in adaptor missing. 

If it’s in the centre armrest area it could be the telephone? Some cars still have the harnesses in 2008 models. 
 

Have you tried quarry motors at Sheffield? I’m sure they do a fitting service too? 
 

Have you tried the main dealership?

also, try quarry motors in Sheffield. 

Hi Chris,

welcome to the forum. I always fancied a Z4 but wife and kids made me have 4 doors. 

Buy pasoft….. it’s about £40 ish. It’s easy to use and has solved all sorts of issues in lots of BMWs for me. …. I think I’m on number 10 top of my head… it sounds like you maybe just need to re sync the ews and dme. I would expect a technician to do this on the initial diagnosis 

Do you not turn it and unlock? I’m sure mine did?

Also, the battery might be ok but the alternator might not be charging it effectively…  charge the battery fully and try re syncing. Then, if it starts. Check the running voltages and state of the battery. 
pAsoft can tell you this too. 
 

inpa will do everything too. 

 

Morning !   I used PASoft 1.4.0 to read the faults and diagnose all the issues. If you can run a live dianosis, when you insert the key into the ignition and turn one click, you should see the ews read the transponder in the key and go green, showing the code is a match. My key fob transponder failed and stopped the car starting. 
the ews has a rolling code that changes every time the car is turned off. Can you try with another key? 
with pasoft, you can reset and re sync the dme and ews units to correct some issues.

As it’s an automatic, am I right in thinking the gear selector has a sensor that won’t start the engine if it thinks it’s in drive? 
could be a faulty sensor?