Well, it took 16 years of driving E53's (3 of them), but I finally had my side line moment on the way to Boise, ID. I started off this morning in Wyoming with an all too familiar SLS error. This is common enough that I dont worry ab it at all- especially when loaded with luggage and at ab ~2,000 miles over the last few days.
I'd already called for a reunion of sorts with the folks at Boise European Motorworks. I was looking for an oil change and an SLS reset as I arrived for a night in Boise. But about an hour outside of Boise, I got the big one: CE light, Engine Failsafe mode (or whatever), ABS, all of the lights and no motor. Now I don't know why people have trouble moving their cars to the side of the road when they tell these stories. I also don't quite understand how that difficulty adds to their thoughts ab E53 reliability. But I moved to the side without drama and called up the shop.
The X5 would crank but not start. Until it did.
For grins and giggles, after a few failed attempts, I turned the key and she sprang to life! That was VERY exciting until it became a pattern repeated 5x's over the next 60 miles or so.
In the end, I got to the shop. Brian, the owner gave me a ride to my hotel in Downtown Boise, and here I remain. WTH knew it could be 105 degrees in damn Idaho?
Well, Brian just called. He said it's a relay (?) that controls voltage to the ECM. When they brought it into the shop, the X5 quit on them and they momentarily lost communication with the ECM. This and the bazillion codes it was throwing made them diagnose it as an IVM- or something- Internal Voltage Module?
But he says the dealer here has one and he can get me on the road in the morning. Seattle, here I come!
07-21-2016, 08:11 PM
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