Blinking Service Engine Soon Light

[TPIT100]

Ok so I made it the 270 miles with no problems. The engine just running a tad rough. Will get it checked out by BMW Indy shop tomorrow. Oddly, the flashing SES light stopped and became a solid SES light whenever I was stopped. Also I had to jump start the thing this morning before I left. New alternator and battery in last 12 months. I stayed under 65mph for the entire trip. You can't imagine what it is like to be passed by 2 Prius and a few 18 wheelers. Just not right..... Whatever the problem, it will be fixed tomorrow.

[TerminatorX5]

keep us posted on the resolution.

good luck

[Joeybricks]

Hey did you ever find out what happened? This same thing just happened to me! I'm dropping her off Saturday.

[TPIT100]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all your replies. After a $1400 repair bill at Bimmer Motor Werks in SLC, UT,(thanks Aleks) my X5 is fixed and running better than ever. The flashing SES light turned out to be a failing coil pack on the passenger side front. That fixed that. Aleks, cleaned the spark plugs also. That was only a $200 fix. The main repair bill was all the fun little bushing and control arms, ball joints etc. That was $900. Then Aleks fixed my right rear tail light for free. (Plastic melts and ruins entire rear light unit.). So now, comes the hard part. The X5 cost $70k new in 2003. It has 54k on the odometer which is actual!! and now it is time for us to part ways. Sad decision, but the repair costs do not depreciate. I am 257 miles away from the nearest reliable repair shop and I cannot afford a break down with a 2 year old daughter and another due to arrive any day. If anyone is interested, let me know. I have a COMPLETE history from new, the build sheet from BMW, photos, repairs, etc. Just let me know......TPIT

[Bayerische E53]

Wow, I'm utterly surprised that it was a coil pack. That's one of the things I forgot to mention in my above post - I originally thought my was a coil pack so I got some new ones and they didn't fix the issue! So I sent them back and swapped back to my original coils - I've got 151,000 on my packs so I'm quite surprised you had a bad one.

Regardless, I'm glad you got the issue resolved. Leave the DISA/Vacuum problems to the next owner (because, trust me, he or she will certainly have to deal with them!).

Good luck with the sale and congratulations on your new addition to the family

[TPIT100]

I am a little surprised that the coil pack needed replacing at 53K also. In fact, that has come up a few times. I bought this X5 2 years ago with 30K on the odometer. I did some serious research on this BMW. I checked car fax, dealership records, and the BMW registry which records everything that goes on with a particular BMW by VIN#. This X5 checks out. The mechanics just think the car sat and sat and was never driven. I was told by the BMW dealership where this car came from that this was the owner's "other" car and she never drove it. Anyway, I'm making up for it now.

[ard]

"only" $200 to CLEAN the plugs? Nobody just cleans plugs- by the time you pull them out, you just pop new ones in.