I am SO SICK of my X5!

[Bulk]

Love mine - I take the more expensive "Just replace the part with new and spend less time 'diagnosing' and more time fixing" approach but mine is our daily drive and it spends 99% of the time in full working order.

[TwinTurboGTR]

I LOVE mine! My '01 4.4 had $560 in "Unnecessary" repairs. i.e window regulators. Other then that, all the money I have put into my X was routine maintenance. My feeling is that so long as these SAV's aren't abused, they are just as reliable. Even my '04 4.8is has had no problems. Sure I got the self level suspension error, but it was an easy fix. But I also obtained the service history on the 4.4 and 4.8is and they were both dealer services in and out of warranty by BMW dealers. SOme X's that have been "lost" or neglected will have problems, just as with any car.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by nitrogass2000

Is there anyone that is actually enjoying their x5??? Or is it just impossible to do so?

Does anyone have any suggestions.

Yes: Sell your X5.

We are on our second 2004 E53. One was 7 years and 100k miles with a 3.0. The one we have now is a 2004 4.8is that I just turned 30k on yesterday. My mother-in-law has driven her 3.0 since new for 12 years, now. No major problems on any of them.

[SkidmarkX5]

Dude! Sell this lemon.Clearly u r not a happy camper. Find a good indy to help buy one that treats u right. Like the Supermodel. That is mine for sure. Not an economy ride but Oh Baby is she there for you when u want her. Be kind to yourself. Trade UP!
SKID

[mistasteppa]

try checking the tires I had my light come on because of my tires b4

[civdiv99]

Dude! 2:30 in the morning???

Originally Posted by SkidmarkX5

Dude! Sell this lemon.Clearly u r not a happy camper. Find a good indy to help buy one that treats u right. Like the Supermodel. That is mine for sure. Not an economy ride but Oh Baby is she there for you when u want her. Be kind to yourself. Trade UP!
SKID

[nitrogass2000]

Ok, i sent my abs module to one of those repair places. They just returned the unit didn't charge me anything and i never could figure out from them if the unit was not defective or they couldn't fix it. I put the unit back on same crap. Buying a new unit is supper expensive plus will need programing. I would love to sell the car but because of this issue how much do you think i can get for her? And i have a lot of money into it

This really sucks right now.

[nitrogass2000]

As far as the voltage regulator or voltage spike. I guess its something i can check my self? Would hooking up the voltage meeter to the positive terminal and the ground terminal under the hood be a correct way of checking that?

[civdiv99]

Coupla options if you just want to monitor voltage - just about any OBD-II reader will display battery voltage which underway will be low 14s ish, which is what you'd see with a meter. You can also unlock your OBC and monitor voltage on Test 9, but it won't reflect more than about 13.5~13.6 under that test.

None of these are going to identify any spikes. If you want to do that, connect a digital meter with a fast peak-hold feature.

As noted in a link posted in this thread previously, a low batt can trigger those 3 lights, although once recharged and underway they usually self-clear. At least mine have when due to inadvertently running the batt down sometimes (don't ask).

Given you have had this looked at in person, and you are now easter egging it, you might consider finding someone with INPA or similar in your area to help out by monitoring systems on the go and see if you can identify a triggering event. The thing is, with these cars, just a flakey connection point can have you chasing your tail, and many of the codes thrown may not be problems, they are many times just friendly casualties.

[X5only]

I echo what CIvdiv mentions. Ensure the battery is fully charged and the alternator has no problems. Two years ago my alternator had problems wherein it would go on and off intermittently (I think it was overheating) with the result that the battery would loss charge very quickly. This caused all manner of problems such as Selfleveling suspension errors, transmissions errors and other random electrical problems. Several times the engine just shutdown while on the free way- very scary.

INPA and DIS indicated a problem with charging system. I replaced the alternator and every single problem disappeared. Confirm that your charging system is ok and get the codes read.

Good luck!

2005 4.4 sports, 92K miles.