X5smw

Good morning Andrea. welcome to the forum.

Hi Jae. welcome to the forum. where are you based?

Hi there. it could be a loose shock/ top mount/ but that sounds like a steering rack or very very dry track rod . get some Ed and spray the top of each suspension strut to see if the noise goes… its very noisy and would lead me to a steering issue.

Hi Kenny. what scanner do you have? a generic ‘cheap scanner’ will not pick up every code I have found in my experience. a garages equipment is much more advanced. my mates mini failed in emissions badly and was told the whole cat, exhaust and sensors needed replacing… a full tank of premium fuel and a couple of bottles of redex, followed by an hours run before the MOT sorted everything 😀 how handy are you with spanners? I wouldn’t have thought it would be that difficult to replace.

Hi rik. a good dyno remap should see ok gains. for 5k i would guess a low pressure turbo kit wouldn’t be too far out of reach? how handy are you with the spanners?

Check for any split in the hoses after the maf sensor.

Quick update after a long pause….. filled it up with premium unleaded and redex and took it for a run…. Did this all week til it ran through the fuel and then repeated. Took it for an hours drive before the mot and it passed its emissions test. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Solar panel trickle charger? we have one in the motorhome which keeps it topped up. …. granted, ours might be a bit big to fit on the dash but they are good!

In all honesty, you can pick up another mini for that price. I would look for another and then eBay the old one with a reserve of its scrap value or search for another engine. Depends on how much the labour costs are?

The very same to you Dave. have a happy new year, wishing blessings and peace to you and your family.

Merry Christmas Dave and all the rest! thank you for all your help and knowledge and words of encouragement throughout the year. All the best for the new year and I’ll see you in 2024.

Silly question but as an experiment, could you swap the front wheels? Or are the sensors calibrated to the wheel and not location?

Got a puncture the other day and on further inspection of the boot, I realised I had a removable westfalia towbar strapped in… so I removed the blanking plate on the bumper and found electrics and everything… fitted it and tested it, all the electrics work so how do I test a towbar? …. Success I say! … now I own a caravan! 😂🙄🙄🙄

Evening all.. my friends mini 1.6 just failed its mot on emissions. can someone point me in the right direction. Does this sound like lamda sensor failure or cat failure? thanks! stu

Hi all, hope you are all well. I am looking for a ACC switched positive wire in the engine bay if anyone knows where I can tap one from. E53 3.0i I have found a permanent positive but I need a switched one too instead of tuning a wire through to the back of the dashboard… cos I’m lazy and time is not on my side. any suggestions please.

Yeah, your right about the pre 2002 lights.. they changed to a near on unbreakable glue called secure flex or something in 2003 just because they wanted to… and stop condensation… and nuclear fallout getting in. I think I’ll get a dremel and maybe a couple of days away from the kids and invite the inventor of the glue over… Maybe it’s karma from when I put tiger seal on my mates tyres for a laugh and he burnt his clutch out trying to move the car … ended up sawing the tyres off the floor! … it didn’t have much torque 😂😂😂

Hi all… basically the glue on the headlights is not shifting. I have fired a heat gun enough to melt the light fitting and tried to bake it…. Just cooked the light…. anyone got a solution to split the light so I can fit some halo lights for the wife. Its a pre facelift model. 2002. Lights are 2003 I believe. either that, or does anyone have a standard set which have been split?

What size are they? are your sizes different front and back?

Hi mate. Not sure about the carpet removal, but I assume the seat rails and subframe will need to come out. bleeding the heaters is a fun job but it needs to be done correctly to get rid of airlocks etc loads of guides on YouTube and I assume it’s the same as an e36 3 series.

It spent its evening on the driveway, covered in its own oil and a spare tyre fitted…. kind of similar to how my 21st ended!

Hi mate. I would assume as it’s a massive water leak the pump is working. make sure you keep topping the water up in the radiator and keep an eye on engine temp! Im guessing a split water pipe is the more logical option but fill the coolant system and keep the engine running to spot the leak. hoses and clips are easy to replace. is the water coming from the engine bay? Any damp in the boot area? also, check the thermostat housing hasn’t failed. It was an issue on the 3 series e36’s

The battery should be running around 12v. Does the car crank? Or just click? If you get it to start, check the alternator output.

Happy birthday to my X5! …. Not me… I’m waaay past that. born today in 2002!

Yep! I concur. sounds like the diff. The clutch etc is at the front of the car… quick way(but not recommended) is to get under the car… from the rear…. And get your friend to put it in 1st gear and slowly let the clutch out. … see if the transmission /prop shaft rotates freely. That would tell you straight away where the issue lies. … or you get run over…

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?