X5 Hell Weekend

Bimmer4125 · #1 02-01-2010, 03:43 PM

Please let me vent - Friday night the 2004 4.4 75,000 miles, starts to leak oil on the garage floor, not bad, but any is bad. Then when I start it, the SES light comes on and the idle is totally off with misfires. Even when I restart it, the SES light stays on and the idle won't smooth. Then the exterior driver's door handle breaks and I can't get the door open from the outside. As I sit and look at the X5 in dejection, I notice the driver's side fog lamp has fallen out of the rear of the fog light mount - the lamp still works but the socket assembly is just hanging. To top it off, the window/door trim on the driver's side rear door is coming off. The X5 left on a flatbed for the dealer this morning. Thank you.

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Repoman · #2 02-01-2010, 03:55 PM

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes and I completely understand your venting. These vehicles excel at two things, handling and breaking . . . and no I didn't misspell breaking. Hope it all works out for you and not to much $$$$.

cheappc · #3 02-01-2010, 04:08 PM

Welcome to the club! The day after I bought my X5 2004 3.0, my door handle broke, it was the carrier, I replaced it... im hoping that the oil leak problem and all that happens right away so I can take it to the stealership...

Bimmer4125 · #4 02-15-2010, 10:32 AM

Update

- Travelled to Albany to pick up my X which had been flatbedded after the oi leak/SES light/misfire issue. I also asked the dealer to complete a NYS Inspection. On Saturday I got to the dealer and paid an $800.00 bill for new oil cooler lines (rusted) and assorted labor and brackets. As I walked to the car, I noticed the NYS Inpection hadn't been completed (no windshield sticker). I went back to the SA and she advised me she would get it right in and get it inspected....20 minute later she advised me it would not pass inspection due to stored "fault codes" and that the car had to be driven 40-50 miles to clear the codes. I said I would get it inspected at home and left. I drove about 10 miles to lunch and noticed the car was idling very roughly....I parked it for about two hours and came back out to drive home.....surprise surprise - when I started it the SES light came on, the engine misfired all to hell and it felt like it was going to come through the hood. I drove it right back to the dealer, pulled it their reception bays and parked it. The dealership immediately lined me up with a new 328 loaner (no complaints there) and said they would get to the X on Tuesday. After all is said and done, I still don't know why the engine is misfiring and throwing SES codes. I'm almost wondering if it could be a bad tank of gas.....thanks for listening.....

motordavid · #5 02-15-2010, 10:38 AM

MotorCop,
Damn! Sometimes one wonders what the dlr "does" when a car is left for days.

Was the Albany dlr a fave pic over maybe Bell in NW NJ?
Good Luck; you are overdue!
BR, mD

marcjac · #6 02-15-2010, 12:06 PM

I was beginning to wonder if perhaps your X had been a victim of a hit and run with all those pieces falling off. This is NOT a happy situation to be in! My X is going to the stealership tomorrow for its own issues. My experience with all manner of dealer service centers has been a big ??? for many years. You bring the vehicle in for a specific problem, and upon return you find that specific problem hasn't been addressed (after paying $$$). It would just take ONE person to PAY ATTENTION. Rather, I think in many cases they rush to judgement or totally ignore what their customer (YOU) is telling them. They had an opportunity to earn more business from you and dropped the ball 1000000%. Sounds like they cleared the codes but didn't FIX anything. All someone had to do was start your X and feel the rough idle and say "that doesn't seem right".

I feel your pain.... and hope things turn out okay.

Marc

Bimmer4125 · #7 02-15-2010, 12:17 PM

The front end was properly repaired by the body shop - I have no complaints there...what really bothers me (and sort of scares me) is that no one really checked into the cars condition...I even left a typed list of my concerns in an envelope on the front seat which they did not read. They only put 3 miles on the car - it wasn't even driven far enough to alledgedly clear the error codes. And then to miss the inspection!! I took off the old sticker so anyone looking at the car through sober eyes would see that it was missing the inspection...so I have to ask, what were they looking at?! I have always had amazingly good results at this dealer - outstanding infact - but this time I had a new/different SA .....I think my communications with him fell through the cracks...I will be dealing with them tomorrow..the more I think about this the more pissed I get.

marcjac · #8 02-15-2010, 01:09 PM

Yes, it's easy to get upset with incompetence and laziness. I don't want to take this thread into a "why dealers suck" direction, but I have a relevant experience that speaks to your issues. I owned a Jeep with heated seats that didn't work; still under factory 3/36 warranty. Took it to the Jeep dealer. They diagnosed the problem, said it needed a sensor. Had to order the sensor and reschedule the service visit (and get someone to chauffer me). They called to say the Jeep was ready. Went to pick it up, and on the way home tried my heated seats. Guess what? They didn't work! Took it BACK to the dealership, where they re-tested and found something ELSE wrong. Had to order ANOTHER part, requiring ANOTHER service visit (and another chauffer). Long story short, this happened 3 MORE TIMES. Only when there was a recall (a year later) did the problem get resolved. If just one technician would have sat his (or her) big butt in the seat and TURNED ON THE SWITCH to see if the seats worked, it could have saved everyone a lot of time, aggravation and $$. As you said, you have to ask "what were they looking at?!". If you've provided them with a typed list, why would they choose NOT to read it?

You are not dealing with a discount store, you're dealing with a BMW. Somewhere along the line, you'd hope someone would realize there's a difference. Where I work, I like to preach 2 things; 1. always take the high road, and 2. take ownership of a situation and see it through to completion. This isn't rocket science; it's just doing the right thing!

<END OF RANT>

StanF18 · #9 02-15-2010, 02:31 PM

You're in good company Bimmer 4125. My 2006 4.4i has also started getting occasional SES-light misfires, shortly after I passed 80,000 miles. This can be caused by any of a number of issues: oil separator valve, spark plugs, vacuum leak, and/or an intermediate levers issue that was part of a BMW NA Service Bulletin. In my case the $tealer said my oil separator was fine and the intermiediate-levers did not apply to my VIN#. Anyway, they swapped out the spark plugs and the problem went away for a brief time. But I am still getting a mis-fire on about 1 in 25 starts. The common denominator on the Forum seems to be the COLD weather. I really think BMW does not have a firm handle on these E53 V8 cold engine mis-fires. It's one of those issues where they take stabs in the dark, which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.

The way I am currently dealing:I wind up turning off the ignition, giving it a good 30 seconds to reset, and then turning it back on again. It has not been mis-firing on the 2nd go round. For now....

Bimmer4125 · #10 02-15-2010, 03:45 PM

StanF18 - I agree with the cold weather start issue...seems to be the only time I get the misfire/rough idle issue. I researched the SIB that was referred to on this forum (God bless who ever posted it!!) and my X seems to fit the parameters with a build date of 10/04. I emailed my SA (closed today) and asked him to refer to it. Who knows. I hate to say it, but my X is quickly becoming the "special car" instead of the daily driver. Might be better in the long run......

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