'04 3.0 X5 issues

[hbrezzi]

Hello all,

I live in central America, far, far away from any BMW dealer... My X5 has been my faithful companion for over 4 years and has 113k miles of washboard/muddy/dusty jungle like roads...

The only services ever performed have been:

Oil and filter change every 2k miles
New spark plugs at 99k miles
Air Filter every 6 months or so
Gas filter at 100k miles

Recently, I have experienced the following two issues:

(Check engine light is on)

At idle, after having driven for a few miles, the engine startn s shaking with very erratic RPM's... The only solution is to shut the engine off, remove the key and then turn it back on. Check engine stays on though. Once in while it turns off but when the shaking occurs it turns immediately back on.

Break issue:

Every month or so I have to take the car to the local mechanic to bleed the breaks as the pedal gradually gets to the floor and the car stops breaking... According to him the lines are ok and the fluid is always full.

By the way, some of you might like to know that I am sorrounded by tons of Toyotas Hilux and other serious off roaders... While at first I was seen as the gringo with a toy car, now my X5 has gained some serious respect! NOTHING GOES UP AND DOWN A MUDDY HILL LIKE THE X! 30-32 degree slopes (on the other hand, if you get stuck in a pool of mud, it is pretty much doomed ;-)

Thanks is advance for any comments!