Greydog

I will have to log on and see what comes up it is about 6 years since I used it myself. Glad to see you chose a car in Estoril Blue by far the fastest colour. If you don't have a code reader enter a search on Ebay for BMW 1.4.0 I had an old laptop that I use in the garage but if you dont have an old machine set up a virtual machine on any laptop running windows. You will be able to read fault codes (in english) reset them and recode many operations, such as auto locking at move off, Key response drivers door one press all doors two presses.

Now to answer your question www.Realoem.com will give you the parts spec and part numbers available for your model at the time of manufacture including all options. Very useful for ensuring you have to replace items and need to know it will fit. Plus the assembly diagrams are a great help (well they have been to me) www.bmwvin.com same process enter the last 7 digits of your vin and it will show you the build sheet all the standard kit plus any options ordered at sale. Other than idle curiosity as to how extravagant or not the first owner was, and possibly indicating if something has been removed I find it little use. Most BMW X5's are pre-wired for just about all options so upgrading is pretty much plug and play with E53 Ibus cars later cars (E70 etc) items may need coding to the car to enable items to function. With the E53 the only one that's a faf would be converting from Business radio to factory wide screen Nav as this would require the fitting of a lot of kit in the boot and a dedicated loom to the front from the boot. Much simpler to fit an after market unit. Hope this helps

Morning and Welcome Which X5 do you have?

Welcome Dan The 3.0d is one of the worlds great engines not just BMW's and will easily outlive turbo's and gearboxes. You don't mention mileage but assuming its automatic it will have a ZF box BMW chose to treat the gearbox as "sealed for life" while ZF say it should be serviced at 80 to 100k km about 60k miles so many BMW maintained cars have box problems above a 100k miles just through poor maintenance. So the fact the box has been changed isnt unusual and if it changes smoothly up and down in all modes and is maintained should give many years service. Turbo's spin at ridiculous rpm's and get incredibly hot so they too are known to fail however if the turbo has been changed did they check the intercooler? Intercoolers can get loaded with oil as a turbo starts to fail then when a new turbo is fitted the extra boost push's oil into the engine the results can be Um interesting !! Voice of experience here. So providing it drives well should be smooth and tight no rattles or shakes and absolutely everything works as it should don't be put off. However you raise colour so it isnt quite the car for you, I would keep looking and get just what you want.

Morning Alan Your a boy with the spanners, top man, that must be a bl**dy heavy lump to heave about. OK simple stuff first, no chance a propshaft is loose? That would have slack at start but once moving the load would be constant. BMW ran 2 gearboxes GM and ZF I believe the GM box was in the early models ZF from late 2001 on (someone with more knowledge may correct me here) If the box is the same as the box removed and it is ZF then at 72k by ZF's own schedules it is due a fluid change which you have done but word of caution here make certain you have used the correct fluid. You can buy cheaper "compatible" fluids but it is a false economy. I would start with a drain and refill using the OEM fluid and filter as now you have run it you will have mixed it with whatever was in the torque converter so effectively a complete flush almost. Then if it persists I think it must be software related I know BMW/ZF had several software upgrades your car may be more advanced than the box or visa versa any good Autobx centre or garage with autolgic readers should be able to tell and update. Fingers crossed its simple Dave

Morning Philip How handy are you with a laptop? I use BMW 1.4.0 with my X5 and have used it on other peoples BMW's to read fault codes etc, if you down load the software you will need either an old laptop with Win 7 or earlier running (I had one) then just plug it into the OBD port on your car. Or there maybe a member near you who has it or similar who could help. I know there is a function in BMW 1.4.0 software for correction of mileage the car retains the date the correction was made so it can be queried if necessary in your case you will have MOT's etc to support the change Dave

Morning Alan You say you just had the gearbox changed is there any warranty with it? Is the replacement box faulty ? It could be something as simple as a software upgrade for the box or it could be a faulty box you need someone with Autologic to read the gearbox for fault codes. That would at least let you know where to begin looking.

Morning Mark Welcome Mark, as with any car purchase new or used I apply 3 rules 1. Condition, is it acceptable to you ? be fussy it's your money. (I recently went to look at an F Pace new in the showroom, the tailgate was open when I went to lift the floor the handle came away the sales staff just said "yes we know its broken we are waiting for spares?? I didnt stay if they are prepared to have that in the showroom what other issues are there) 2 A used cars history is key in particular check any recalls have been attended to Google your model for recalls then ask the seller to confirm they have been done. 3 Make certain everything works as it should, every switch every button every toy don't fall for the "oh thats a simple fix rubbish" if it is why hasn't it been done? Plus you don't want to be taking your new car back for repairs when you have just got it. If it all measure up and you buy your new car then the 2.0 diesel responds well to tuning good luck with the car and if you get it ENJOY

I believe the engine range is : 1.9 L M43 4-cyl1.8-2.0 L N42 4-cyl2.0 L N46 4-cyl2.0 L M47 4-cyl diesel2.0-2.8 L M52 6-cyl2.2-3.0 L M542.9-3.0 L M57 6-cyl diesel3.2 L S54 6-cyl4.0 L P60B40 8-cyl If you try www.realoem.com enter the last 7 digits of your VIN it will give you the spec for your car

There may be a friendly member on here who has a code reader (what area are you) that would put your mind at rest if it is stinky that sounds like un-burnt diesel. Your obviously a girl who enjoys her car and wants to understand it. you could download a program like Carly for BMW if you have an Android phone I think I am right in saying 2005 on you can use a Bluetooth dongle to connect to your phone or BMW 1,4,0 for a laptop, These will let you interrogate whats happening so that even if you need assistance from a garage you will know whats happening, Another thought talk to the Guys who did the remap it may just need tweaking to allow for the exhaust and de cat

Morning Lauren My diesel driving son is a tree surgeon with a Toyota Pick Up so most of his journey's a fairly short it was the Toyota garage who told him give a good run at least once a month. He just looked at your video and asked if the white smoke is constant at tick over or if it goes when the engine is up to temperature. His pick up had that issue last year caused by only having 1 glow plug working instead of 4 it still started first time everytime, just a thought

Glad you enjoyed that Trevor From what I have learned of modern Diseasel engines especially those with DPF technology they need to be given a good "Italian tune up" (my sons phrase) at least once a month to trigger the high exhaust temperatures needed to start a regeneration cycle saving the planet. Me I just trundle around in my petrol V8 safe in the knowledge I am encouraging others to plant trees so I help to save the planet that way.

Welcome Lauren Simple things first check the Crank Case ventilation system and its pipe work and breather it should be a Vortex type I believe, also check all the vacuum pipe work as they can get soft and swell cutting down efficiency also get the EGR cleaned then the simple stuff is done now give a good "italian tune up" to clear out any gunk. If you still have an issue I would start to check the turbo oil feed and return pipes. Hope this helps

I am sure the check system will only show simple stuff like bulbs, washer level etc. You need the codes read for the engine to give a clear steer towards the problem, I would guess at injector blocked/failed as the cause but codes will tell. It could also be a vacuum leak so I would check all the hoses

Forgot to say the sides and bottom of the door card are held by push clips, when the top is free slide your hand down and pop them out I had three broken when I got the card off whether by me or a previous visit by someone else which is why I said get some spares I got mine from Ebay. There is also the inner door handle cable to unhook and the connector for the inner door handle illumination, top done. At the bottom front you have speaker connections and the under door light just take your time and it isn't difficult just fiddly

Welcome Nice looking car where's your private track for you acceleration/speed testing ??

Morning Mike Yes peel back the vapor barrier and look in with a torch at the closing mechanism you will see where the operating cable and rods are. I used my coat hanger tool to hook under and pull up then re position and push down to work the lock first full actuation opened the door, that allowed the whole panel to be removed and better access. Just a case then of making sure it was really freed up then smothering it in spray grease my thinking being it would lubricate and repel water. When putting it all back make sure the vapor barrier is stuck down and has no tears or rips mine did, someone had been there before. I repaired mine with gaffer tape.

Hi Shane Could be the thermostat is either missing or stuck open, this will mean the car will never reach full operating temperature. There are also a couple of solenoid valves on the near side inner wing they control flow to the heater you could check them also but my money would be thermostat the needle should make dead centre of the gauge.

Welcome enjoy

Not an uncommon problem Mike, water gets onto the actual mechanism and it rusts and sticks happened to mine a couple of years ago. First you are going to sacrifice some of the push clips at the bottom of the door card so buy some as spares, then as Philipp says take out the top screws and pull it away (remember one screw is hidden behind the airbag logo) unbolt the airbag DO NOT DISCONNECT WITH THE KEY IN THE IGNITION I didn't take mine out just let it dangle, feel for the electrical connections and unplug them now peel carefully the vapor barrier try not to damage it. I then made a special tool (wire coat hanger with about 10mm bent at 90deg at the end) window down and you can feed the tool down looking behind the vapor barrier with a torch to the lock mechanism and work it manually it may take some force (mine did) once you have the door open remove the door card completely. I then doused the mechanism with penetrating oil and kept working it manually until it was free, Then I smothered it in spray lithium grease and worked it more all in took about 1 1/2 hours and touch wood no issues for the last 2 years.

Welcome to the fold

Welcome Have a look at www.realoem.com put in the last 7 digits of your vin then search. If they were available you will be able to get the part number which should help your search, or you could buy a spare set and have them modified?

Very nice Welcome and enjoy your BMW

Hi and Welcome enjoy your new ride

Just looked at the dealer list in my Handbook looks as though Falmouth is the only one in Cornwall then Plymouth or Barnstable as near. I have read that now there are some Dealers who give good discounts to customers with "older" models. For mine they needed the Vin Number gave it over the phone then they called me 2 days later to say it's in. They wanted sight of the V5 to ensure I was the owner before we swapped Hard Earned for Key and the Service Manager paired it for me. Good luck Dave