X5 4.4i e53 - new to forum

[ScubyG]

Originally Posted by sew

I think the cables are fairly specific, sadly. I tried my old Carsoft cable with INPA and it didn't work. I have the Carly cable for Carly and the VAG cable with pins 7 & 8 shorted for INPA. With Carly and that age I think you need the cable rather than the bluetooth adapter: either way it's likely to be more reliable anyway, to be honest.

Re: Bentley, yes, worth every penny. No idea what the oil burners do for a manual, the Bentley only covers petrol cars because it's American.

The SatNav sounds a bit bodged, to be honest. There are all sorts of wierd and wonderful replacment head units running Android/Windows with what is probably massively better navigation and bluetooth phones than the 15 year old BMW unit, I think I wish I had gone down that route before fitting a wired-in Parrot kit for the phone and replacing my old CD NAV and 4:3 head unit with DVD and 16:9, but it's too late for that now! But if you're starting from a clean slate with bits not working you might like to look for alternatives to the whole BMW set-up...?

I will let you know how i get on with the cable and diagnoatics. Ive read about the TIS with repair steps and free to download rather than paying someone on ebay for it copied to disc.

I will try and trace the cables for the nav and look for any issues, may be beneficial to sell it if working. My future plans is to run Linux or a raspberry pi from the head unit using DVR, Voice / facial recognition and DVD etc

[ScubyG]

Got the Carly OBDC and the full app, i had found 34 faults initially and cleared them all. I now only have 9 faults appear, one is something to do with passenger seat belt tentioner and knee airbag. The others are all to do with the front PDC.

I have spoken to a local garage in MK (DeutschTech) they offer a major service for £380 including plugs. BMW was about £550.

[sew]

Is the £380 for an "Inspection II"? Ask if it includes coolant change and brake fluid bleed; ask also about the final drives and transfer box oils. I bet it doesn't include any of that and on that basis it still sounds like a heck of a lot of money to me considering the work is entirely straightforward and the parts (and oils) are relatively cheap. I reckon on a "new" car with an unknown history you need to get the lot done then you need to get the lot done so you have a clean slate. Note also I'd highly suggest changing the (lifetime!) gearbox oil and filter...

None of your faults would appear to be too difficult to fix from the sounds of it...

[ScubyG]

Originally Posted by sew

Is the £380 for an "Inspection II"? Ask if it includes coolant change and brake fluid bleed; ask also about the final drives and transfer box oils. I bet it doesn't include any of that and on that basis it still sounds like a heck of a lot of money to me considering the work is entirely straightforward and the parts (and oils) are relatively cheap. I reckon on a "new" car with an unknown history you need to get the lot done then you need to get the lot done so you have a clean slate. Note also I'd highly suggest changing the (lifetime!) gearbox oil and filter...

None of your faults would appear to be too difficult to fix from the sounds of it...

Thanks, good info there. I have just sent an email to them asking if this is whats covered. They would also be able to diagnose the strange vibrating noise coming from the engine when idle. I heard it yesterday and it almost sounds like something is catching on plastic trim at a fast rate. Reading various forums it seems to be the pre-tensioner bolt. Looks pretty simple to replace, just a pig to reach.

[sew]

Re: the PDC sensors on the front, BTW, I had to sort mine out, too, when I got the car. They're vulnerable to impacts of various sorts! Two of them are terribly easy to get out to inspect, the other two are much more difficult, but IIRC in spite of what it says in the book you don't need to get the bumper off, you can just loosen it and jiggle it forward a bit to allow you to get to the PDC sensors as required. The sensors aren't expensive, you can hear the "ticks" from the working ones, but in some respects the easiest way is just to swap them out carefully and methodically until the errors go away. Note IIRC you have to "reboot" the car each time you make a change, then re-engage R to re-activate the PDC control module.

[ScubyG]

Thats my next job, i have reversing sensors on my other car and have got used to relying on them. I guess that tbe x5 if there is any fault with the PDC then none will work as the rears appear intact but dont seem to function.

When I had the headlight off (condensation) I could get some access to the centre parking sensor.

[ScubyG]

I have purchased a new head unit, it is an Android Xtrons..standard ISO so though I just needed an adaptor from the Bmw connectors to fit mine, I was very wrong! Ended up purchasing a 5m iso cable and also an adaptor as the 5m cable did not use round iso pins. I emptied the boot removing various boxes with plugs in and re-routed the what I belive to be audio cable with the round pin iso connection...I think all the boxes with connectors are something to do with the stereo? The car still works without them, I have left two boxes one which is the PDC and the other the auto suspension as when I removed it I receive the auto levelling error message.

Does anyone know what the other parts are, I have one slim black box with a fat loom coming from it, on one corner there is a tab that lifts out and it appears it is a sim card??

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by ScubyG

I have purchased a new head unit, it is an Android Xtrons..standard ISO so though I just needed an adaptor from the Bmw connectors to fit mine, I was very wrong! Ended up purchasing a 5m iso cable and also an adaptor as the 5m cable did not use round iso pins. I emptied the boot removing various boxes with plugs in and re-routed the what I belive to be audio cable with the round pin iso connection...I think all the boxes with connectors are something to do with the stereo? The car still works without them, I have left two boxes one which is the PDC and the other the auto suspension as when I removed it I receive the auto levelling error message.

Does anyone know what the other parts are, I have one slim black box with a fat loom coming from it, on one corner there is a tab that lifts out and it appears it is a sim card??

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

If its a box with a sim card well then its got to be some type of aftermarket device.