So my x5 tried to kill me today...

[patrickkc]

So today I tried to stop at a stop sign at the end of my street and realized it was almost impossible to stop. My car ended up stopping in the middle of a 4 way stop, luckily there wasn't another car. I tapped on the brakes and they went straight to the bottom. I had to push the brakes very hard to stop the car. It was pretty scary having put your foot down and there was nothing.. I actually thought I was just gonna plow right through the intersection.. The "handbrake" light came on and turned around and drove back home.

I found a trail of liquid on my driveway and a puddle on my driver side rear wheel area. I saw it this morning before backing the car out, but I thought it was just melted snow from last night so never thought much of it. But now my garage is all dry except for that spot. And the trail of liquid was also on the left side. It looked like AC condensation drip trails when I look at my driveway. I looked at the x5 from the end of my driveway and see that the rear left of the car is sagging. The rear has been squeaking for a while, but it seems a lot of people have squeaks in their rear suspension so I never thought much of it. I was thinking could my springs have snapped and took out the brake line hence all my fluid dripped out so quickly? or could it just be a coincidence that both, springs and brakes fail at the same time?

I don't have air suspensions, and I tried looking up more information on this, but every time I search, it just brings me to a blank page. Today is "family day" in Toronto so nothing is opened, will get it towed to a shop tomorrow and see what really is wrong with the car.

[bigwave2255]

have you ever heard of knocking it into neutral and yanking on the hand brake (otherwise known as the emergency brake)

you need to give it a try , so you can be prepared for situations such as you experienced

[patrickkc]

I was about to pull the handbrake, but seeing there weren't any cars at other stop sign I just let it stop slowly. Wouldn't pulling the handbrake spin my car? I didn't want to test it unless I was actually going to crash into something..

[bigwave2255]

if you pulled the hand brake progressively you would be ok, unless on ice

but at least you and your car are ok.

[patrickkc]

yeah, I was lucky it didn't happen on the highway. I was going at somewhere below 50km/h.

btw, does anybody know what the OEM springs are and cost? If the spring is really broken, then I need to replace both my rear springs and is wondering what the cost would be? I looked at H&Rs and for a set of 4, it was only $300, so if the OEM springs are costly, I think it would be a good idea to change out to H&Rs? How much would the lowering look like? I tried looking on google because search doesn't work for me on this forum, and most of the lowered E53s are all 4.8 or 4.6s with the sport packages and huge rims. My car is a 3.0 without sport package and 17" rims.

[Bulk]

The only thing that can make your car not brake to the extent that you mentioned is your braking system. Seeing your pedal went straight to the bottom almost guarantee's that you have a brake system leak, the second cause could be air in the lines but I am 99% sure that you have a leak somewhere.

Check your brake fluid reservoir, that'll be a dead giveaway, if it's empty fill it and have someone pump the brakes once while you look under the car, then watch the engine bay and get them to pump them a second time. You'll see very quickly where the leak is.

It is near impossible that your near death experience was caused by anything other than the brakes and even more so considering your statement that the pedal went to the floor

[patrickkc]

yep, it is a brake line leak. I checked the reservoir and it was well below the MIN line. There is a puddle of fluid (99% sure it's brake fluid) under the driver's side rear wheel. That is also where the suspension is sagging. I will have it towed tonight to the shop tonight. Probably brake line and will have to replace rear suspensions.

[Bulk]

is it definitely springs on the rear? I thought the X always came with rear air bags and the only option was to have springs or airs on the front.

If you have springs on the back and it has snapped it probably was the cause of the brake line damage.

[nezarnuaimat]

Just want to thank God that you didn't get hurt

[patrickkc]

thanks guys. Yes, thank god I was inside a small street and not on a highway or busy intersection.

I am actually not sure about the suspensions. I know many people have air suspensions, and I know I don't, so I assumed I had springs in the back? I really am not sure.. haha I will find out tomorrow when the shop looks at it.

Hope this won't cost a fortune to fix.