Greydog

Still giving you pain Ben? First did the garage clear any faults ? Or you could try this : The Service 4WD light is most likely the 4WD switch on the dashboard. If the lights are acting funny then the switch needs to be replaced. Dave

Morning Mark Sadly the N47 engine seems to have a fatal flaw with the timing chains, there was a BBC Watchdog program some years back but it appears the issue is still there for many. Failures have been registered from 25000 miles upwards. Repair cost is high as the engine has to be removed as the chain is at the back of the engine I have read that average cost is around £3k + depending on what parts need replacing. There are now a number of Engine Specialists who do this work so I would Google away and contact a few, I would also try the Register of BMW Specialists as they will know what they're doing and normally are much cheaper than BMW. Good Luck Dave

Hi Paulo Welcome to the Forum Use www.realoem.com to check what the wheel offset should be then as long as the wheels you choose are the correct stud pattern and offset you should be OK Dave

Morning Will First and foremost well done walking away from the car above. When buying I have always used Car Dealers as it gives protection under the Sale of Goods Act (I have sold 3 of my cars privately but to friends who have wanted them) When buying my first action is to decide on Model Colour and Accessories, then how far am I prepared to travel. Then I would search (these days Google) the Model and check out the adds to give a feel for average price/mileage. Then MOT History check always a good testament to a well looked after car if advisories are there over a couple of years to me that points towards a driver not an owner. When I have selected the car/cars I want to view I would talk to the seller to get as much information as possible, confirmation of history/evidence of work done tyre condition etc. The viewing I want time on my own to check the body/interior condition colour outside and in does it smell right. Check under neath for any evidence of leaks open the bonnet check that the engine is stone cold I would always be suspicious of a car that was running or had been run before I got there (Why is there a cold start issue??) Then start the car while it is idling again check for noises/leaks etc and inside make sure everything works every button every switch. You don't want or need to begin your new ownership fixing replacing stuff unless of course your confident in doing it and can use it as a stick to beat the seller with. Then the drive is it what you expected/want if it all comes together then it's just a case of negotiation. I don't know where you are but just Googled BMW 3 series Coupe and came up with a Black 2008 car 72k £4999 looks tidy in the pictures it is at the Car Supermarket in Hayes Middx Good luck buy with the Head not the Heart Dave

Hi Arnold Welcome to the Forum Any car not just an E36 can have problems after being left for a year. There can be, sludge blocking the pick up failed fuel pumps failed tank senders and fuel filter blockages.and Filler cap/breather Those are the obvious ones that come to mind around the tank, you could also have sensor issues in the engine bay and injector issues That's the negative stuff out of the way fingers crossed it is something simple like a blocked breather Dave

Morning Keith Sounds like we are in similar condition/age body wise (76 last month) but still do 90% of my own maintenance on the cars the 10% not by me is MOT/Service at Specialist/Dealer to keep the history straight. I have added a few things to the tool box (includes a couple of young bendier sons) to help me along and there is less time pressure when your retired so I can take my time In the Spring after a good wash and cut back I work my way around the cars Clay barring to get rid of all all the winter crud. I do a panel at a time finishing as I go takes 2 days for each car. Couple of years back I added a good DA sander polisher to my tool box, one of the best additions don't know why I waited so long. I know what you mean about keeping the right ankle supple 😈 Always owned performance cars and been fortunate over the years to have had some great ones, but the greatest fun is my wife's Subaru Outback. In 2003 she suffered a frozen shoulder which made driving painful particularly parking. One of our boys had a Legacy which due to it's really light steering she could manage so we brought her a 3.0 Outback which was great but didn't go as she expected. While on business in the States I was told about a company who tuned the H6 Subaru engine I brought a complete twin turbo conversion for her Outback. A real easy swap and just a little fettling to get it running as it should 15 years on still sweet smooth and quiet. Outside it looks bog standard no noisy exhaust just bigger after the swap we had it on a rolling road 397hp at the wheels and ran 11.7 secs at Santa Pod. Beware old ladies in Silver Subaru Estate's 🤣 Enjoy your new Beemer keep it (and your License) CLEAN Dave

Hi Keith I have read the write ups but have no experience of them sorry, old bloke old school wash and wax once a week. Dave

Hi Daniel Welcome to the Forum Seems your Dealer over there are just like ours !! I would say as a recognized parts supplier that you should be OK with MOOG. Dealers do tend to have an arrogance at times after replacing the control arms twice (my 4.6is is 17 years young) I replaced the control arm bushes with Powerflex Poly Bushes. My car was in the Dealer for the Airbag recall the Service Manager came to me and said "you do know your car is fitted with non standard parts which may compromise your safety" I asked him what the service life was of OEM parts against the Poly Bushes. He admitted he had no idea, so I asked him why M sport use Poly Bushes in their competition cars. He walked away and brought my car to reception. Enjoy your X5 Dave

Morning Ken First if you aren't aware of them a couple of Web Sites that I find invaluable. 1) www.realoem.com This is a BMW Parts Data Base put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will bring up your model. Then search the sections for what you need, two benefits if buying spare parts you are sure to have the correct part number plus there are small exploded drawings that are great for clues to how and where parts are fitted. 2) www.newtis.info This is a BMW Technical Information site use it in the same way the information here is used by BMW Dealers to carry out repair and retro fitting of parts. If I recall the EWS controls the Immobilizer and central locking which is linked to the audible alarm, the alarm has links to sensors/switches on doors, windows,bonnet and boot plus interior motion detector. As you can lock unlock with the key and start the car I would suspect the Alarm unit and or one of its sensors. 3series alarms suffered from failed bonnet switches try unplugging the bonnet position switch, who knows you may get lucky? If you lock the car with the key only then press the fob to unlock does the alarm sound? Hope I have helped not hindered Dave

Morning Tim Google The Register of BMW Specialists All BMW Independent Garages should be one near to you Dave

Hi Gareth BMW started fitting Staggered Wheel sets (wider rear) to the "M" series cars M3, M5, M6 due to them being rear wheel drive and having more than enough power to break traction. With the X5 being 4 wheel drive it is for aesthetics only and in fact in really slippery conditions can be a hindrance rather than a help. My car runs 20" staggered wheels 275x40 front and 315x35 rear, but I have a set of Winter wheels and tyres which are 18" and not staggered that run 255x50 So the bigger wider wheels are for looks really I do prefer the car with my summer set of 20" wheels they fill the arches and just look right. If you keep the wheels you have and have to buy tyres take care as a difference in rolling radius front to rear is a well known cause of damage to the transfer box and or diffs on many 4X4 cars and your X5 is no different. The main thing is ENJOY your X5 Dave

Morning Tim Welcome to the Forum You really need a BMW specific code reader to understand what is going on, the Generic codes you have are identifying symptoms. As you can see you have 4 codes any one could be causing the others as they are not seeing the correct operating parameters. The issue is you change a speed sensor (P255B) and find it hasn't cured the issue you can carry on changing parts till you cure the issue, an expensive.way of working A BMW specific diagnostic will give accurate information as to whether your issue is Sensor related or Turbo related (which is what your codes indicate) I would either get a a copy of INSTA/INPA or BMW 1.4.0 or Carly for BMW easy and cheap to buy on the internet and load it onto a laptop or find a BMW specialist near you who can run a diagnostic for you (cost will be lower than a Main Dealer) Dave

Morning Gareth Welcome to the Forum The car looks good sorry to say the wheels are not standard BMW fitment 20" were the largest offered on the E53 versions of the X5 (take a look here https://www.alloywheelsdirect.net/bmw_alloy_wheels/x5_e53_alloys). Those wheels could be from any number of suppliers or manufacturers? Whoever made them there should be casting/identification marks/numbers on the inside of the rims.Once you have them a Google search may turn up something. Take care as some after market wheels that will fit the stud pattern and off set are not designed to carry the weight of the X5 so may be prone to cracking. My personal taste is not for the 21/22" wheels as the range of tyres tends to be restrictive, the 20" type 87 fitted to my X5 are bad enough when searching for tyres plus the bigger the wheel the lower the profile of tyre so a harsher ride. Your car looks like it's Le Mans Blue, if it is a Le mans optioned car then it should have come with 20" 168M style alloys Dave

Hi Stu I do remember reading that if the car was originally fitted with the business radio that part of the cage behind had to be cut away or head units wouldn't fit properly. As my 4.4 already had the Nav screen up front all I had to do was route the 5m ISO extension from the rear to the front then the Dynavin unit fitted really well Dave

Try the For Sale Section on here

Morning Trevor Welcome to the Forum Sorry no experience of either Dealership Good Luck with the service Dave

Morning Jeff Welcome to the Forum I did see some thing on another Forum some time back that if a reset doesn't work this is often the Headunit failed, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I have used a company called Cartronix in Waterlooville some time ago to repair/upgrade my BM54 radio module in my X5 google them and give them a call. Dave

Top Man Dave

A pleasure Bill Glad it is working now, fingers crossed it behaves it's self from now on. The other Web sites I use are www.newtis.info This one is a BMW technical information site the Dealer network use this information. I also use www.pelicanparts.com an American site so steering wheels on the wrong side but great "how to's" with pictures. Heres your ABS unit They call it the HydroUnit DSC Control Unit Part 1. 34516855553 Control Part 2. 34522284921 It also appears you have a DSC compressor that also has a speed sensor Enjoy your 7 series Dave

Hi Gary Welcome to the Forum If your X5 has the Business radio set up then it is pretty much plug and play if you have the Navigation screen up front you will need a 5m extension lead to connect to the Quadlock radio connector. My first X5 was a 4.4 and the screen failed twice along with a few other glitches I replaced it with a Dynavin unit today there are several Android units that are also available. I preferred the Dynavin as it had all the functions Nav,Radio,CD/DVD, Bluetooth etc etc and looked OEM I sold the BMW kit and recovered most of the cost of the Dynavin. Dave

Hi Olly The torque the 325d 330d and 335d produce is mega and wont help as when your pulling away your in the meat of the torque band straight away. The E90 M3 has 420bhp and 400nm torque which doesn't peak until 5k + While your 325d in standard trim has around 200bhp and matches the M3's 400nm torque but yours is available from 1300rpm !! with a tuned ECU you will see around 450nm. The 330d has 520nm and 335d 580nm standard so with a bit of help are monsters. Real tyre munchers all 3 of them particularly with an open diff 😈 If your near the wear indicators that wouldn't help either, Continental Run Flats were among the OEM suppliers I believe as were Bridgestone and Michelin Enjoy, just wear your ballet shoes if it rains 🤣 Dave

Morning Bill I would only work with BMW part numbers personally I have fallen foul of manufacturer part numbers with my X5 one of my AMG's and several Volvo's where the ABS units failed often due to dry joint issues. Not trying to teach Granny to suck eggs but have you checked www.realoem.com for the BMW part numbers ? You will be able to check right and left hand drive models plus if you click on the part number you will see what if any other models used the part, plus what alternatives if any are available. Then google the BMW part number. Also remember certain models have to have the part registered to the chassis or they are not recognized??? Remember years back when BMW boasted the 7 series had more computing power than the Space Shuttle (or something like that) Well soon you will be a fully fledged Space shuttle mechanic 🤣🤣 Dave

Morning Olly Welcome to the Forum Normally if there was an issue it would throw a light, a diagnostic check will tell you if there is an issue or not as fault codes are stored even if not present.That will help avoid throwing money at something not there. There are garages out there happy to take your money for all sorts of "problems" From your description you are clearly enjoy the cars grunt !! Just remember your 325d produces about the same amount of torque as an E46 M3 if it has been ECU tuned possibly quite a bit more. So I would check the rear tyres are they a reasonable make and do they have plenty of tread are the pressures right, it doesn't take much to tear them up (8 to 10k with my AMG's). You could reduce right boot pressure in the wet as due to the long dry spell the country has had junctions and roundabouts are always particularly slippery when it eventually rains. Or use the manual function and pull off in 2nd, On slippery muddy surfaces when towing the horse trailer I select 3rd in manual and let the torque do the work. Dave

What a saga Never heard of Actronics I have however used ECU Testing and BBA REMAN with excellent results on Volvo, Mercedes and BMW Have you checked (or had someone check) the loom for continuity? Hate to have you go through the pain and discover its a break causing intermittent issues Dave

Morning Richard Some progress at least, is there nothing on www.newtis.info that helps with testing and resetting? A Diagnostic session with a garage or maybe someone on the forum that is close to you should let you know what the issue is. I live in West Sussex Dave