X5 3.0d - New owner - Need some help

[dougal]

Hi, thanks for accepting me into this forum

A few weeks ago I bought myself a 2001 E53 X5 3.0d for cheap because it has some issues that need sorting. It works fine but maybe I can get an opinion on the issues.

Issue 1: ABS/Traction Control/Yellow Brake are all lighting up on the dash.
Can this be easily resetted or fixed ?

Issue 2: The camber on the rear wheels looks a little bit off. My mechanic said
that most likely the wishbone bushes are worn out. But my car has the
self level suspension and i dont know if he can mess it up in any way
by accident. It drives fine and no noises.

Issue 3: When fuel is down to last quarter I run a huge risk of running dry. It
happened twice - Now I make sure it is always above quarter full.

Maybe some of you guys know the answer to these issues

Thanks in advance

[omodos]

welcome on board,wont be much help but here is my input

but issue 1 I got a couple of times and it was as far as i can see to caued by my battery being low

issue 2-get the garage to try adjust the camber and see if the wear continues

issue 3- happened to me for the first time ever this week with a message about fuel injection flashing on the dash but car never came to a standstill, just refuelled and all good, fuel level sensor may be duff if you are getting stuk so to speak after fuel level goes down to less than a quarter taken....or the fuel pump?

[eckbmw]

I'm new to the E53 myself having only bought it 5 weeks ago.
Previously owned a 840ci (E31) which had the same symptoms though and took it to a local auto electrician who found that the contacts on the plug to the module needed a bit of nipping / tightening up. He had seen this many times before with all makes of cars and put it down to general ageing and over the course of time cars tend to hit potholes and various bumps and this would be a contributing factor. In the case of my 840 the connector had 36 terminals and he found 2 which were making poor contact.Even one iffy contact is enough to cause a malfunction according to him. Hope this helps.

[Roy_X5]

On my E39 I had issue 3 too. My 530d had 3 fuel pumps;

- A pressure pump located at the bottom of the car near the driver seat
- A feed pump in the right half of the tank
- A leveling pump in the left half of the tank

In my case the leveling pump died. The remaining fuel in the left half of the tank was "seen" by the gauge but inaccessible due to the defective fuelpump.

[kvc]

Welcome to the board.

Using the search facility on this site will be helpful to you, and should provide results for most of your queries.

By way of reply to your queries:

1. Commonly referred to as the 'trifecta' - see this and other threads: http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ng-lights.html
2. Camber/caster adjustment on the rear wheels can be done by any good wheel aligner. Specs are posted on this site (again, simply search and you will find) or ask your local BMW dealer for these.
3. Sounds like your fuel pump is on its way out and not transferring fuel from one side of the tank to the other. Again, use the search facility and you will read a great deal about this issue, along with a step by step process for replacement of the pump. In the meantime, keep fuel level above 1/3 at all times.

Good luck with it all!

[wpoll]

Many of the "trifecta" lights (ABS/4x4/Yellow Brake) threads on this and other forums relate to an issue that is specific to the later XDrive equipped X5 models (late 2003 and up) so you might want to concentrate on solutions for this issue on the older models with the simpler transfer case (no actuator motor).

On the older models the issue is often either a faulty ABS module or wheel speed sensors but once it was even an alternator!

[kevinkay]

For issue #3 read this post:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...mp-change.html

[g300d]

Welcome!

1) Can be a variety of reasons as already mentioned, from low battery/charging system voltage, to sensors, to more expensive parts. A search will give you tips to narrow it down.

2) You have a good mechanic, yes that is a common cause of camber that cannot be adjusted to spec. Self levelling suspension can be at the proper height and you can still have excess camber if the bushes are worn.

3) Usually the transfer pump between the 2 halves of the fuel tank. You can monitor the left/ right fuel tanks using your instrument cluster test, #5 IIRC. Search for unlocking intrument cluster tests to get the procedure to unlock access the tests.