X5smw

This was happening to my x5 and I changed all the ignition barrels and dme units etc…. Turns out it was the immobiliser chip in the key. I bought a key programmer and a blank key with chip off Amazon and got a new one cut for less than £30. I would see if you can borrow someone’s diagnostic software and put the live dme screen on. Put the key close to the ignition and see if the chip reads constantly.

First thing is check the battery. Mine did the same and randomly put the car in limp mode.

When you say it does nothing, do you mean it won’t start? Does the dash lights etc come on?

Long shot but have the brake discs been checked for warps? Is the calliper loose? is there any air in the power steering pump?

Absolutely stunning mate. top job 👍🏻

It was the fuse 75 in the rear cubby hole. may least it was with a bunch of other random fuses that control the front things! 😂

Had a look and the fronts are 9j. I’m going to try and order 2x new rear tyres tomorrow. let’s see what else happens… the fuse blew on my tracker yesterday, cutting the live feed to the stereo… silly me!, how did I not know the fuse for the stereo would be in the boot…. 🙄😂

Depends on the look you are after to be honest. If you are to go the larger wheels route, it might be worth lowering the car too or you risk the tractor look. take a pic of your car from the side and photoshop some on there… try the likes of Khan wheels and then tone it down and see what looks good. my mate once said, pick the wheels and we make the car fit them…

Had a bit of an issue today, puncture on the rear wheel which wrecked… and I mean destroyed the rear tyre. car is looking a bit wonky now on its 17” spare, but on checking the wheel, it turns out the rear wheels are 10j by looks of it. The tyres are 255x50x 19 all round. looking at the other one, it does look a little stretched. what is the correct size I should be looking for? thanks. stu.

Hi all. Not sure if I’m in the right place but hey…. bmw main dealer wanted a LOT for a replacement key for the x5. so I went and bought a cheap ak90 key reader from Amazon and a cheap key with all the internals from Ali express…. both arrived early and the key was an exact duplicate of the genuine key. So off to the locksmith I went… ten minutes later and I had a second key that worked the ignition barrel. installed the ak90 onto my windows 7 laptop and fired it up. After a short bit of working out how to install drivers etc, it connected and I read the key. It did what it said, showed me the key was blank and ready to programme. i went into the car and removed the ews unit from under the dash and used the ak90 to read the unit…. It’s a little tricky to hold the connections, but it read and saved. Then, I ran the evaluation software and the ews told me what key slot to use, I selected it and inserted the key… it wrote within a minute and then I just updated the file back to the ews module. I fitted the ews back to the car, pluggged in pa soft to see what keys read and what are active and started it up with the old key. No issues there…. now for the new key……. Success!!!!!! it reads the transponder fine, i programmed the central locking in about 10 seconds and now, I have a fully working key! all in all, the costs were… ak90 about £20 key £9 key cutting £10 i have ordered another key so we can both have nice new ones that are not taped together which as I have the software, will cost £19! ** the key cutter on the high street starting with T…. Will not cut your own key **

Wow! That sounds shocking! Are all the plugs and injectors working? Sounds like a misfire on a cylinder but you say it’s not throwing any faults? The engine looks like it’s moving around a lot under the cowling, is the covering on the engine loose? check that the fan is not hitting the surrounding bits and all the fins are straight.

Have a look for a split in the air intake after the maf sensor. It would cause stalling as the engine would run lean. Also check throttle position sensor and perform a reset and test. sound like an idle issue caused by incorrect air flow. unplug the maf and see what happens

Hi Dave…. guess which one I have! 😂 I can’t find any settings for it so I guess it’s DiS for me!

Have you got a spare key? my x5 key transponder failed and the car just wouldn’t start. I have just replaced the ews, dme, keys and locks as well as the ignition switch and barrel. if you have a second key, try that first. buy pa soft 1.4 scanner software off eBay and ask the car if that fails. ….. I have invested in spare keys just in case it goes again.

Hi all, does anyone have a copy of DIS as I want to code my e53 x5 to activate the personal settings off the keys. does anyone have info on this? Do I need dis? I have 1.4.0 but not sure if I can activate the settings off this. thanks in advance. 👍🏻

Well, I got annoyed with the central locking… and then the key reader arrived so I had a play. I have a blank key with all the bits coming but I doc a test run and it read my keys …. Apart from the original one… so I’m guessing it was the transponder in the key that failed 🤷🏻‍♂️ Rather than the ews unit. So lesson… buy a 20 quid key programmer and test the keys before replacing the rest… hey ho! anyway, had a brainwave and opened both keys, to find the new one didn’t have a battery in, that’s why it wouldn’t sync with the central locking… put a battery in but no joy, so I figured, just swap the boards over and hey presto, my new key now unlocks the car…… doesn’t start it now though. Looks like the transponders are on the remote board and not a separate item as I thought. I can start the car with the new spare key, or hold the new board next to the key to bypass the ews, but after gluing the new key shut and sticking my mouth to my finger, I gave up. I will use the new key to unlock the car and the spare to start it. When the new key arrives from China I’ll programme it all up fully and hopefully have some good news. If that works, then I’ll get some more keys cut and programmed and write some instructions for you all. fingers crossed!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363092074789?hash=item5489f96125:g:clQAAOSwUBlfTbJA hi. I think it was this one I bought. Plug your laptop in and away you go. I use windows 7, I’m not sure if it is compatible with 10. @greydog should be along soon. he also uses other scanning software, but I found the pa soft food for my needs.

Battery ? Once they get a little bit low, they tend to throw warning lights for a laugh. Do they come on after starting from cold? Do they stay off after a long drive?

Hi and welcome. another e53 owner here. the Pdc is a right pain, get a copy of pa soft and a laptop and scan, it’s a money saver and a nerve saver! by scanning for any issues, it will pinpoint which sensors are causing issues. Once one goes, it throws the whole system out. Another way is to put the car in reverse (without the engine running!!!!) and put your ear to each sensor. You should hear it click. The one(s) which doesn’t clock is the issue. The stereos are all pretty similar in the xtronnproce range. I have one and it does the job. I have sat nav, reversing camera , as card, cd, radio, Bluetooth etc and steering wheel controls too. there are higher end ones that will retain the dash signals .IE the time etc on the dash, but I just use the time on the head unit. The dash tells me how rapidly I run out of petrol ( currently 17mpg average) If your problems are only the ones listed above… get ready! Haha. I have also had a couple of bm’s e30 318 coupe, e36 316 saloon x2, e34 518,520,525, e46 316, e90 2.0, e53 3.0 …

Well, I have ordered a key programmer so we shall see what happens this weekend… await a thread of ‘how do I get into my locked car’ … if it works, I’ll get some spare keys cut and programmed, then I’ll report on the success or not of those. im kind of in the same position with hobbies and spare time at the minute. last night I finally got the studio software transferred over to the new pc, so the wife can now record in the new studio I built in the garage… 6 months of weekend work! … I collect the hot tub tomorrow night after work, as the last one keeps deflating after I may have punctured it putting it back in the purpose built decking which I built again… about two months weekend work…. im currently sat in a bank vault while in my full time job having 5 minutes peace! 😂

Again, thank you so much for your fountain of info greydog…. You really need to get a hobby! 😂 has anyone had any experience with the ak90 ews programmer? Could I code my key to the central locking with this tool? Also, I’m guessing I could get replacement keys and programmed them with this? … or am I talking nonsense again?

Success!!!!!!! managed to clear and update the ews module and we have liftoff! I haven’t changed the door lock yet as I have never used it, so that can wait… another question though. I cannot code my new key (key 4 on the new ews unit) to the central locking but I can code the old key to make the doors lock and unlock. can I swap the old ignition barrel back in? Would it affect the new ews Or should I try another way to code the new key? …. The key looks like it has been opened before so it could be a dead battery?

Right…. Fitted the ignition barrel, the ews module and the dme. what next? It still doesn’t start.