Newbiw with a couple of questions

[daeths]

Hi all, been following this forum and now I have bought my wife the X3 decided to join to try to contribute/ask loads of questions.

Bought a 2004 3.0 petrol SE, in black with various factory upgrades including the 18" sport wheels and nappa .

I bought it with a few niggles including a stuck mutli CD cartridge which I have now fix (pushed the stuck disc 'sleeve' back into the cartidge painstakingly over about 20 minutes, cleaned and now aok). The n/s was covered in light hedge scratches, now polished put with an orbital polisher (3 hours !! - but now looks great).

Two questions I have yet to resolve:

1. Have the bluetooth PK code, deleted all old devices, set up pushing button, holding ignition on etc etc. Put in code via phone, car does a single bleep but just says 'ACTIVATE PHONE' What am I doing wrong ??? same result with three different phones so it's unlikely to be phone compatability.

2. I have an annoying rattle coming from the exhaust. Looking into the pipes from the rear, the right hand side has a valve that opens and shuts and when warm, this flap rattles annoyingly, if you touch it it stops. It is powered by a lever that I assume activates on throttle/engine temperature. How do I DIY fix ?? WOrst case scenario, do I need it ? can it be removed with no impact on performance or reliability.

The car is great to drive and we both prefer it to the X5 which we were originally looking at.

Looking to no a little bit to it, such as rear DVD screens for the little un's and would love to fit the M Sport kit, but can't justify the cash right now.

Hope you can help me with my two questions. Cheers !!

[trapdoor]

Originally Posted by daeths

Two questions I have yet to resolve:

1. Have the bluetooth PK code, deleted all old devices, set up pushing button, holding ignition on etc etc. Put in code via phone, car does a single bleep but just says 'ACTIVATE PHONE' What am I doing wrong ??? same result with three different phones so it's unlikely to be phone compatability.

:welcome:

Check your phone Bluetooth - you should see a device on there with BMWxxxx assigned with a handsfree profile. If not, you haven't paired the phone correctly.

Did you go through the pairing process exactly by the book? Is your phone set to automatically connect?

Originally Posted by daeths

2. I have an annoying rattle coming from the exhaust. Looking into the pipes from the rear, the right hand side has a valve that opens and shuts and when warm, this flap rattles annoyingly, if you touch it it stops. It is powered by a lever that I assume activates on throttle/engine temperature. How do I DIY fix ?? WOrst case scenario, do I need it ? can it be removed with no impact on performance or reliability.

I believe the valve opens at high revs, and it may be something to do with providing some back pressure. It can be over-ridden and is actuated by a vacuum pipe IIRC. Have a look here at realoem.com which will give you a clue. I 'believe' you can disconnect the motorised valve that controls the vaccum... Some have done it to give the car a more throaty noise.

Is the car under a dealer warranty (BMW AUC?)?

[daeths]

Cheers Trapdoor. The phone has the BMW device showing, need to check if done automatically.

The car doesnt have a warranty, but have been reading up on this an believe/hope it may be a leaking vacuum pipe. When the engine is not on, the flap does not rattle when running it does, which suggest to me (though I am ignorant on this) it may well be a small airleak. Does this sound plausible ?

Will provide an update post weekend.

Many thx for the response.

[daeths]

Right ! couldn't wait for the weekend so been out in the snow and under the car.

Where the vacuum pipe slips onto the rear exhaust box, the pipe is split. Reading up on this (and now I know what I am looking for - cheers for the schematic trapdoor), it is a common fault where the pipe loops right on the exhaust connection. Great news is all i need to do is pull off, cut the split (it's about 1cm from the end) and then reconnect as there is enough slack to do this.

This would explain why the butterfly opens when you boot it (lots of vacuum) but on tick over doesnt close perfectly and rattles (not enough vacuum as it is leaking)

Hope this helps others with a similar problem. In theory it should also improve mpg if you are doing low rev/town driving...so an added bonus

Just got the blue tooth to suss out now !

[trapdoor]

Originally Posted by daeths

Right ! couldn't wait for the weekend so been out in the snow and under the car.

Where the vacuum pipe slips onto the rear exhaust box, the pipe is split. Reading up on this (and now I know what I am looking for - cheers for the schematic trapdoor), it is a common fault where the pipe loops right on the exhaust connection. Great news is all i need to do is pull off, cut the split (it's about 1cm from the end) and then reconnect as there is enough slack to do this.

This would explain why the butterfly opens when you boot it (lots of vacuum) but on tick over doesnt close perfectly and rattles (not enough vacuum as it is leaking)

Hope this helps others with a similar problem. In theory it should also improve mpg if you are doing low rev/town driving...so an added bonus

Just got the blue tooth to suss out now !

Glad you sorted the flap

The Bluetooth should be straightforward, but with the BMW ULF it never seems to be! I had my O2 XDA Orbit working fine for a couple of years using Jetware extensions and all of a sudden it now no longer will transfer the phonebook or SMS's ...

... so suggest you delete all again and re-pair ... remember though that the last phone paired always takes priority and will always connect if it's in range! That one got me for a while as I initially pared my phone, then the Mrs phone ... and hers would always connect when it was in the house!

Good luck.

[daeths]

Originally Posted by trapdoor

... so suggest you delete all again and re-pair ... remember though that the last phone paired always takes priority and will always connect if it's in range! That one got me for a while as I initially pared my phone, then the Mrs phone ... and hers would always connect when it was in the house!

Good luck.

This may wekk be my problem as I have three paired phones sitting in the car when I tested it and was using my Blackberry (which wasn't the last paired one.

I love this car, and whilst I bought the car with known niggles, now they are being sorted one by one it just gets better. The down side is that it is the wife's and I now prefer it to my Merc E320 estate

[trapdoor]

Originally Posted by daeths

This may wekk be my problem as I have three paired phones sitting in the car when I tested it and was using my Blackberry (which wasn't the last paired one.

I love this car, and whilst I bought the car with known niggles, now they are being sorted one by one it just gets better. The down side is that it is the wife's and I now prefer it to my Merc E320 estate

Because there seem to be serious limitations with the BT ULF, I'd strongly recommend only pairing one fone. Get that working 100% ... though wiith a 2004 car you probably won't get it working fully. You may be lucky to get the phonebook to transfer....

Have you got Voice Recognition enabled on your car? From what I've found out, in the UK it was a costed option and the dealer reckons it cannot be retro-enabled without a £500 hardware addition (yeah, right).

Anyhow, it can be enabled, so you can voice control your phone and if you have nav, voice control that too. To configure you will need an i-bus to PC interface and a bit of software called NavCoder. It's a cool option well worth having, particularly in the UK where the Stasi won't let you even touch your phone whilst driving

[daeths]

ot sure if the voice acivation is enabled or not ?? Will get the phone working over the weekend (hopefully) and check. It has the buttons on the steering wheel but appreciate this may mean it is on prepared not enabled.

We have a good Indy who is a m8. He's away at the moment but may get him to plug and play to get it working fo the price of a drink and save buying any kit.

Like the idea of voice activated Nav

[daeths]

Since the vacuum pipe repaired on the exhaust the mpg for an identical journey to last weekend has jumped from 19.6 to 24.3 mpg. I am amazed the falp makes that much difference (and it is loads quieter whe driving along at low revs).

Happy days