Help with fixing up my X5 ☺️

[Samsonite86]

Hi everyone.. New member here.

My X5 hasn't been on the road for a few months now. I was having problems with the drivers door carrier and then a dead battery so couldn't get into the car! I've manged to get into the car and have now replaced the broken carrier so the drivers door is now fully working and it is now up and running.

My next problems to get it fully back on the road and MOT done (I'm in the UK).

1- My coolant level keeps dropping. Any advice on where to start to check for leaks or the most common problem that causes coolant leakage please?

2- the sunroof. When I bought the car, middle of last year, the sunroof was already damaged. It won't open, the electrics engage but it doesn't move. From the outside on the roof, the sunroof is loose, and can be pushed down slightly towards the back of the sunroof.

3- heating. My heating doesn't seem to work.


Can someone please help a girl out.. Any videos of repairs would be very helpful.

Thank you,

Sam

[Henn28]

Welcome Samsonite. Give a rundown on your X5 for everyone, as this will make it easier for folks to weigh in with advice. Most guys put the year, model/motor, mods, etc in their signature.

The sunroof and it’s issues, for one, has been dissected many, many times on the site so you can probably get working on that without waiting for guys to weigh in. Make sure you know which one you have, pano, or standard one. Loosing coolant could be a number of things and there are also some excellent threads here on the same subject, depending on which motor you have. And finally, there are several fairly recent threads on heating and cooling issues/loss which you may want to check out while waiting for smarter guys than me to weigh in. Very likely your issues have been fixed and commented on already. Often with step by step posts and pics.

Coolant loss is always worrisome. Have you looked at the oil, and coolant for cross contamination?

[Samsonite86]

Thank you,

It's a 2001 E53 (I believe) X5 4.4.

Thank you ill have a look through with regards to the sunroof.

[CapeX5]

Originally Posted by Samsonite86

Thank you,

It's a 2001 E53 (I believe) X5 4.4.

Thank you ill have a look through with regards to the sunroof.

OK, Ready??
Sunroof is the basic one, not pano for that year. There are small plastic clips that break and can be replaced. Bought from eBay I think. Do a search here for step by step instructions
Coolant leaks-these motors run very warm by design(BAD DESIGN!), so lot's of plastic in the cooling system go bad. You also have the coolant pipes under the intake that have O rings that go bad. Than there is the valley pan gasket, than there is the coolant reservoir tank, than there is the plastic tanks on the radiator, than there is the water pump....get my drift??
This car is now 22 years old. Unless you are doing the work yourself, this car will bankrupt you. Especially since we don't know the service history, mileage, overall condition.
And.....we havn't discussed the timing chain guides, brakes, worn out suspension, etc. Just trying to give you a realistic overview of what you are up against. This is all coming from someone who has 3 of the V8 versions, do my own work. So I am a glutton for punishment.
Good luck

[Samsonite86]

Originally Posted by CapeX5

OK, Ready??
Sunroof is the basic one, not pano for that year. There are small plastic clips that break and can be replaced. Bought from eBay I think. Do a search here for step by step instructions
Coolant leaks-these motors run very warm by design(BAD DESIGN!), so lot's of plastic in the cooling system go bad. You also have the coolant pipes under the intake that have O rings that go bad. Than there is the valley pan gasket, than there is the coolant reservoir tank, than there is the plastic tanks on the radiator, than there is the water pump....get my drift??
This car is now 22 years old. Unless you are doing the work yourself, this car will bankrupt you. Especially since we don't know the service history, mileage, overall condition.
And.....we havn't discussed the timing chain guides, brakes, worn out suspension, etc. Just trying to give you a realistic overview of what you are up against. This is all coming from someone who has 3 of the V8 versions, do my own work. So I am a glutton for punishment.
Good luck

Thank you for your reply.

Don't think I'll ever be ready for all that hahahaha.....

This car was an impulse buy after losing my dad and my heart ruled my head! Was all over the place and now I'm the one who has to fix it lol... Wish I just stuck with my lovely x3 sport. Loved that car!

How far do you live from me? Fancy helping me 😂

[CapeX5]

Originally Posted by Samsonite86

Thank you for your reply.

Don't think I'll ever be ready for all that hahahaha.....

This car was an impulse buy after losing my dad and my heart ruled my head! Was all over the place and now I'm the one who has to fix it lol... Wish I just stuck with my lovely x3 sport. Loved that car!

How far do you live from me? Fancy helping me 😂

Too funny! I get the "impulse" part. So sorry to hear about your Dad. Hopefully you aren't in to far financially.
You get me to UK and will be happy to help!!! At least I am on the east coast of US, so will save you some money with airfare that way.......))

[Samsonite86]

Originally Posted by CapeX5

Too funny! I get the "impulse" part. So sorry to hear about your Dad. Hopefully you aren't in to far financially.
You get me to UK and will be happy to help!!! At least I am on the east coast of US, so will save you some money with airfare that way.......))

Thank you, I need to get it all sorted and road worthy before I can sell it. Also around here (outskirts of London) we have something called ULEZ charge so any cars that don't have low emissions have to pay a ULEZ charge. So this car doesn't comply and neither do older diesels like the X3 I had.

To be honest, it would probably be cheeper to fly you over than use the garages around here, rips offs Hahaha.