2006 X5 A Lemon?

[v10rick]

Originally Posted by X5Dawg

Burning oil problem, maybe??

Apparently a well known MB issue.

I recently took delivery of a new 2006 4.4 and have felt a vibration in the seat, when the engine is cold and waiting at a stop. The vibration stopped when shifting into neutral, did not see any fluctuation in the tach.

After two tanks of fuel (SHELL) it stopped. Could it be the quality of the gas or water in the tank? This X5 was delivered to the dealer in 11/05 and with 400mi on the odometer it may have been sitting for sometime.

[In_A_Jam]

Originally Posted by CANTWAIT

At lease you are getting a mini cooper. Better than the Hundai Sonata that I have been so lucky to drive around in!

Yes, but try fitting TWO carseats in the back of a mini-cooper!

[E61Silver]

When I was purchasing my X5, I asked about the loaner maybe next time.

My dealer has 325's as loaner, I like driving them more than my X5.

[In_A_Jam]

Update...dealer called and wants authorization to keep the car for the THIRD flippin' day! Stick a fork in me, I'm done! it shouldn't take this long to fix this or to try and figure out how to.

The next closest dealer to me does not have a great reputation and since the car is still under warranty, I only want it at a dealer.

[BruinMan]

How can you say to him that nothing is WRONG (most of the time)?
There is something wrong and he needs it fixed. This is a problem to the X5 (small %) and it is a problem that the BMW service techs don't know how to fix. You need to get BMWNA involved and they will want to fix it the cheap way. They will try to fix it as cheap as they can; it will reappear again and again. Then finally BMWNA will approve the major repair.
Good Luck!

Originally Posted by phil47

Have you noticed any problems with the ride when the message is on?

This is a VERY common message (do a search) and appears to be related to some self-diagnostic that is going on. Most of the time, there is nothing wrong with the self-levelling suspension and the message goes away the next time you start it. Annoying...but not a driveability problem. I get it every few months...never felt a problem with the suspension and it always goes away the next time I start it. Thinking of having the TSB applied next time I'm in for service.


http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/s...esolution.html

[phil47]

Originally Posted by BruinMan

How can you say to him that nothing is WRONG (most of the time)?

Because in many cases (as posted in this forum many times and my own experience included) it turns out that nothing is actually wrong with the operation of the self-levelling suspension itself, the problem turns out to be with the warning system. I didn't say not to get it fixed...in fact I pointed him to a TSB which might help.

[X5Flyboy]

I did not get the self-leveling suspension in my '06 4.4 sport and I'm hardpressed to think of any real problems it's given me - I've had to adjust to the "hesitation" when accellerating from a dead stop - I just hope posting this reply doesn't "jinx" me

[zerochief]

Originally Posted by zerochief

Yes, I had the same problem! Dealer trip 4 times, but the last time I went to Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara CA - They took care of the problem: appearently they replaced several parts - they mentioned $5000 for repairs if I didn't have the CPO. IF YOU LIVE IN THE SF BAY AREA, DON'T TAKE YOUR CAR INTO THE ALLISON (MT VIEW) BMW DEALERSHIP - THEY SUCK - POOR ATTITUDE AND THEY WOULD NOT REPAIR MY X. They told me to just drive around the air susp error and enjoy the rough ride and no DSC. I couldn't accept that. What a difference a good dealership can make! That was in June 06 - No problems since.

"Selflevel Susp. Inact" is back and I'm bummed out - back to the dealer again for this problem. (I already checked fuses - front/rear). This will be the 5th trip for the same problem. Atleast I'm still covered under CPO.

[ucimike829]

I have 2006 X5 4.4. I had it for about 1 yr now with 15k. Previously I had 2001 MB ML320, for five years, several problems like broken window switch, ... etc. Nothing major, not a single time that car stoped.
On the other hand with X5. Yes it is a lot better acceleration & ride compared to ML. It should be for about $20k more. Three wks ago on Sunday morning after car wash, car never started again. X5 was towed to Riverside BMW, and I asked for Mr. John Horgan. I read about his good reviews here previously. No rental car of course, since I bought mine from Shelly BMW. They kept mine for two days, and they claimed that it was all fixed up. On the freeway back from Riverside BMW, engine failure warning kicked in and RPM hits floor. Every warning lights on the dash flash like crazy. I was on the first lane on interstate 15 N. Thank god traffic was light that day, otherwise I would have been stucked in middle of freeway. I called Riverside BMW, and explained what just happened. They towed X5 again, and guess what this time round, they had X5 as loaner ready. I guess they realized they did something wrong. This time it took them 3 days to figure out the problem, moisture in main computer chip, and 3 more days to fix everything.
After all, BMW service sucks compared to MB (MB service is not the best either). Yeah BMW covers breaks and 4 yr oil changes...etc. But when your car really needs service, all dealer service depts are all filled up for days. They wouldn't even look at your car for days. Service depts are already filled up, but BMW usa wants to bring in 1 series next year. I bet it is not going to get better than now.
By the way what is wrong with BMW loaner program. If we get toyota camry as loaner from enterprise, why did we pay extra $30-40k for BMW?? toyota camry owners get camrys as loaner from toyota dealership!!

[DINANM3]

I have a 2006 4.4 and have to say its been flawless.

But my 2004 4.4 has had several issues with the slef level suspen inactive message. They were chasing the problems for months. They changed every part in the suspension and it just kept coming back. Finally the last time it happened the X was in the shop for 2 weeks finally they had a factory rep look at it and he asked them if they checked the fault codes in the instrument cluster because they are totally seperate from all other fault codes the dealer techs didnt even know what the factory rep was talking about. so they check the instrument cluster falt codes and it has like 50 stored. for all kinds of shit and most of them were for the suspension. I guess the instrument cluster has its own computer or something and it was taking wrong readings from the suspension and thought it was inactive.

Anyway they changed the instrument cluster and have not had a problem since.

Originally Posted by In_A_Jam

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else has had this much difficulty with their '06 X5 4.4...

First week of owning the car the "Self Level Susp Inact" error message comes on. Called dealer and reported problem and was told to bring it in the next time it occurred.

Few weeks later, same issue so car went to dealer and item was allegedly repaired.

Five weeks after that, same issue. Again, car goes into dealer, this time spending two days there and was told the item was, again, repaired. Indicated on our "satifaction" phone survey, that not so satisfied with the car given the recurrent issue. Was told that my concerns would be forwarded to BMWNA and that they would be in touch--never heard a peep from them.

Six weeks later, same issue AGAIN. Car is currently at dealer (tomorrow will be day two).

Have mentioned CA Lemon Law and dealer has filed a report with BMWNA and I will be calling them to follow up.

Any thoughts and/or suggestions?

Car is 5.5 mos old and has already needed service 4x for the same issue. I have young kids and having to take the car in so frequently is getting annoying, not to mention that I get saddled with a crummy Mini-Cooper each time as my loaner.