Greydog

Morning Russell Still fighting with the PDC ? I would check below both headlamp areas as looms run into both areas. If you are lucky the connectors are there just tucked away. If the last owner was a real plank and cut back the loom, can't think why unless he hit something and just tore the bumper off ?? Even if that was the case you should still find the loom end/ends, your new loom will give you wire colours so all that you will need is a new connector. On my sons friends car the ambient sensor is on the drivers side bottom of the bumper Dave

Hi Al Welcome to the Forum Have you looked behind it ? Could it be a cover for the towing eye ? Dave

Morning Simon Welcome to the Forum Sounds like great fun ENJOY your new Beemer Dave

Hi Stephen So your original tyres are probably Runflat's which combined with their stiff construction and low profile have a reputation for giving a stiff/harsh ride. I helped a friend who has a Merc 4matic transfer case was toast quote from Merc £3k. Before pulling the transfer box (it is better to practice on someone else's car) I put a chalk mark on the front tyre and ground and rear tyre and ground then rolled it forward until the front tyre chalk mark was bottom again the rears had travelled about 80mm further, doesn't sound much but travel a few miles and the strain on the transfer case is enormous. To much for his, we rebuilt it successfully and a new set of tyres he was back on the road costly lesson learned. From other forums dealing with AWD depending on the mechanical set up mis-matched tyres can kill transfer cases and/or diffs. So some maths your original tyre/wheel combo 225 x 35 x 20 will have a circumference new of 203.1 cm front and rear. The trick now is whatever tyres you choose they need to be within a tiny percentage front to rear circumference to avoid transmission wind up and damage. So here goes (make sure you check my sums as I am an old bloke) Say Front wheel tyre combo is 225 x 45 x 19 circumference would be 208.9 cm. So target for the rear has to be as close to that as possible. As an example 255 x 40 x 19 would give a circumference of 209.5 cm, so I think that should work as the sizes are so close a better match would be 235 x 45 x 19 front 212 cm circumference with 265 x 40 x 19 rear 212 cm circumference That's the maths, in practice if your tyre supplier is helpful maybe put a front and rear side by side and roll them forward to be sure before fitting. If they from the same maker you should be OK ( lucky mine is and I have done this several times) Bit "War and Peace" but I hope it helps and makes sense Dave

Hi Paul The X5 3.91 diffs are like Rocking horse stuff to find, hence the silly prices. How ever I did read of someone on another forum who brought 3.15 front and rear diffs for less than the cost of a 3.91 and changed front and rear with no issues There are rebuild kits but they do tend to be similar in cost to replacement diffs the benefit is you know the condition of all parts when you have rebuilt it yourself. Dave

Hi Deborah Welcome to the Forum Cant tell anything from the files you uploaded, how long have you owned the car and was it Private or Garage sale? Dave

Hi Rak Welcome to the Forum Looks nice ENJOY your new Beemer Dave

Morning Brian From memory when loading 1.4.0 there was a sequence for getting the drivers to load. If the old grey stuff is working it was something like "load program plug the OBD lead into the computer select drivers in the program menu and load them" try a Google search on loading 1.4.0 Dave

Morning Russell Nightmare over !! Just the bad dreams now From this it looks like it lives behind the bumper near side low down different pictures show it protruding through the lower bumper (antenna part) ?? I did read that the sensor can be reset by pushing and holding the AC and Re-circ buttons at the same time, nothing to lose by trying. Good Luck seems your making progress Dave For BMW Genuine Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Front 65816936953 _ eBay.html

Hi Steve It doesn't matter whether they fit, with just about all AWD/Xdrive cars the rolling radius front to rear must be with a given tolerance to avoid transfer case damage. As an example my X5 summer wheels are staggered Front 91/2J x 20 Rear 101/2J x 20 Tyres Front 275 x 40 R20 Rear 315 x 35 R20 My winter wheels are 9J x 18 Tyres are 255 x 55 R18 all round The staggered summer set need the difference in rolling radius front to rear to maintain the rolling radius. The tyre sizes that you have been offered are as advised by BMW even if the wheel sizes are not. You also need to consider wheel offset so as not to upset geometry in the suspension. Are you wanting Wider tyres or deeper side wall ? What ever you go for if the rolling radius is out front to rear you could end up with an expensive repair bill for the transfer box or a Diff Dave

Hi Dave Strange I had never heard of this before this weekend when my son rocked up to use "dads tools and beer" with a can of Wurth DPF cleaner (every day is a school day) He had a "how to Video on his Phone, with his 2.2d Toyota he had to remove the Front temp sensor on the DPF easy on the Toyota. Then spray the cleaner into the DPF he took his time to make sure he gave it a good soaking (plus it gave his mum time to make him some lunch) Then we put the temp sensor back ran it up to temp and triggered the regen with my laptop. Quite a bit of grey smoke while it went through the cycle has it made a difference I will have ask him in a few days? So if yours is the same I would Google to find out where your top temp sensor is and off you go Good Luck Dave

Hi Gary Welcome to the Forum No one come to help yet ? I don't know where you are in the country so this may not be much use but here goes. My Brother In-law has used BW Auto Repairs in Hayes/Uxbridge West London for ecu tuning on his last 3 BMW 5 series his cars have all been purchased new and serviced by the supplying Dealer (North London) with no comment. He has interim oil and filter changes carried out outside the dealer network (often on my drive) BW have their own rolling road and are BMW specialists so know their stuff one point all his cars are the 3.0 turbo diesel. When I owned the Volvo's they were all ecu tuned it became so common the Volvo Sweden started offering Polestar upgrades themselves. I would give them a call and ask what can be done without putting a dent in your Warranty Dave Dave

Morning Brian I also have INPA/ISTA which is OK with my brother in-laws 535d (2017 MY) but i.4.0 is much faster to load and easier to use than INPA (in my opinion) allows scanning of all modules plus registering to the chassis or re-programming if required and is perfect with my 2003 vintage X5. Just had a quick look at Ebay copies of 1.4.0 are selling at £25 (about $35 ?) including the lead. The old Dell laptop I have in the garage has Programs for Volvo, Mercedes, Subaru and BMW running plus I have a Maxi diagnostic tool for any waifs or strays who may need help. The 1st generation E38 had an OBD2 port on the centre console and a round diagnostic port in the engine bay I do recall reading something about linking pins in the engine bay port to allow full diagnostics from the OBD port (but then my old brain may be fuddled have to check) First (I guess you may have tried) the Dealer trick of clear all codes then disconnect the battery (both leads some touch the leads together to discharge any static) fully charge the battery and reconnect. Then re=scan for returning codes. Good Luck Dave

Hi Brian As you are going to be doing a fair amount of work on the car I would advise getting a copy of BMW 1.4.0 (Ebay or Google) it is cheap to get hold of easy to use and really very comprehensive (Attached are a couple of sample page) There are 3 pages of different control modules dependent on Model and Configuration all of which will log Fault Codes with the program when you interrogate a module the fault is explained in English (as an example my car has an Error code in PDC which when checked reads Centre right rear PDC fault) The codes you're seeing I think relate to Ibus communication and seems to indicate either a water damaged LCM or a failure there. Often a failure at the LCM blocks communication with other modules effectively looking like multiple failures (cars have been scrapped) BMW (and some others will tell you the only fix is a New LCM that then needs BMW Dealers to program. They are wrong you can fit and program a second hand unit even upgrade to newer units yourself using BMW 1.4.0 Added some E38 stuff that may be useful Dave 1163764210_E38_Driver_Information_SystemsIKE.pdf

Welcome to the Forum Brian Look forward to seeing the Project progress Dave

Hi Stephen Welcome to the Forum Take great care as your new wheels are staggered while your current set are square (same size all round) What car did your new wheels come from ? Make sure the Offset is correct front and rear The staggered 19" Wheels for the X1 should be Front 8J Rear 9J with 225 x 40 tyres Front and 255 x 35 Rear Tyre sizes are critical to maintain rolling radius front to rear or you can cause serious damage to the transfer case Dave

Morning Welcome to the Forum Totally bonkers that your dealer thinks it is OK !! I know it is quite common for new catalysers to smell until they have been through a few heat cycles (rotten egg smell) but often only smelt outside the car and when fully up to temp and stopped. I would be escalating this by involving BMW UK and printing a copy of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Both stipulate that " Goods to be of satisfactory quality" I think you have an argument that you have been reasonable in allowing time for the smell to dissipate. I would then tell the MD, Sales Director, Service Director in writing/email (copy BMW UK Customer Services) that you want a clear course of action and time scale to resole the issue. With a car of BMW "perceived quality" the current situation is unacceptable, basically fix it or supply a replacement Good Luck Dave

Morning Mark Clearly if there is a noise that wasn't there before then something is not OK But if you are happy that "The car Drives Fine" is all you need then what was your query? Personally I investigate any strange noises and lubricate/fix them as it is normally cheaper than waiting until whatever it is breaks Dave

Morning Welcome to the Forum Do you mean actual seat covers or seat protectors ? If it is replacements for the actual seat covers due to wear or damage then check www.realoem for part numbers then Google suppliers. If it is seat protectors then again Google is your friend Good hunting Dave

Turbo or Vacuum air leak would be top of my check list

Morning Mark Have you checked the Idrive for faults? Is it a Beep or a Squeak? Does it increase in speed with revs ? Could be Water Pump, Alternator, AC pump or a belt tensioner Dave

Morning Martin In the vibration in the steering or do you feel it more in the seat/car. I would get the rear tyres checked as well, if you had a front out of balance there is a good chance rear also are out. My son who is a tree surgeon often takes his pick up to a "hand car wash" twice he has had out of balance issues turns out the boys with the jet washers have actually knocked weights off!! In my experience tyre pressure can have an effect but with the x5 it is more tyre wear than balance (I run 36psi (2.5bar) There is a chart on the drivers door panel that gives tyre pressure for differing loads. Worth a try Dave

As an after thought have you had the rear tyres checked for balance ?

Hi Martin As it is speed related 50 to 70 I would look at 2 items First Tyres have they been fitted correctly is one out of round? I would jack up the car and spin the wheel. Viewed from the side is it round? Viewed from in front does it run true ? Next the Brakes it could well be a warped disc same basic test. Put a pointer just touching the surface of the disc and spin it I take it wheel bearings are OK Dave

Morning Martin Loads of questions 1. Does the vibration occur at a set road speed or is it constant? 2. Does it occur when slowing down ? 3. When were the brakes last checked ? 4. How many miles on the clock ? 5. Have the front suspension bushes been checked ? Tip check all bushes front and rear 6. Are the tyres original or have they been replaced ? Dave