Hi,
I am the new owner of a 2005 4.4i X5 with 97k miles (156k kilometers). Bought it 6 months ago. The truck was a really good buy, but had not been well maintained and I had to fix a number of small problems.
Thanks to this forum, I was able to fix the following things myself (still have not had to take it to a service shop):
- battery dying because the car would not go to sleep - found a short in one of the electrical connectors under the cup holder in the center console. Looks like fluid leaked into the connector from spilling.
- random red lights (trifecta problem) on dash - turned out to be an overvoltage problem caused by a bad voltage regulator. I put in a new voltage regulator and no warning lights since.
- rattle in panoramic roof - took it apart and place a small piece of felt on the opening mechanism. Rattle now gone
- license plate light - soldered wires onto board to bypass corroded connections
- mirrors not staying folded - took them apart and repaired the micro-switches
- check side lights - replaced angel eye bulb
- check brake light - re-seated bulbs as they were not fully twisted on
- PDC not working - fixed broken wire by right front sensor
- broken passenger door handle (exterior) - installed new handle unit inside door.
- water in right rear wheel well (a lot!) - reconnected drain hose in panoramic roof
- some dash lights dim - replaced some bulbs in the panel and all is bright now
I ended up purchasing diagnostic software and cable from David Wragg and that helped me diagnose a number of the problems, but I could not have fixed all these things without the sage advice of many members on this forum - thank you thank you.
Here are a few pictures of my truck. It is wonderful to drive and I love it.