5 weeks of ownership and problems start

[pnoyako85]

Originally Posted by xRide

I heard about Mspec. I might do that.

Thanks everyone for the tips

Look for Adam or Edde the head tech,,, tell em Mike/Jack X5 sent you there....
They built my boys X5 3.0 (dry all motor work) that eats and shits our 4.8's and 650i coupe.,. Lol. Ull be in good hands

[srmmmm]

Had similar situation on my 02 X5 3.0 when every possible engine and transmission error code was logged by the computer. Turned out to be bad engine harness connectors contaminated in a deep water (14") flash flood event. None of the connectors had any dielectric grease in them from the factory, so dirt and water got in. About a year later, thre transmission went into fail-safe, then locked itself in Park (the ultimate fail-safe mode). The harness connector to the transmission had to be taken apart and all the pins polished to clean it up.

2002 X5 3.0
2004 325i

[xRide]

So I was back tracking what had happened the day when all my problems started. I read on here that these issues could simply be a brake light bulb.....and low and behold I had changed both brake light bulb that dat. So I went out side, put the old bulb back in (i was not having any issue prior to changing bulb) disconnect the battery for about 30 minutes. I reconnect the battery and the SUSP SELFLEVEL INACT light went out. Because this light went out, I took the ride for a spin with the 4X4, BRAKE, DSC? lights on. Went to park the car, shut it down and decided to put it back on. Once back on, I noticed that all the lights went out. So I decided to take it for a spin again. This time I set up the OBC to monitor the volts. While in motion, the volts never went below 13.5V. It was pretty much constant between 13.7 and 13.9v. This was all with all the warning lights off and AC running with interior lights on and music blasting. What I did notice however was that when I come to a stop at a light, it would drop down to high 12s briefly..and this was consistent. I drove around for about 30 minutes until all the lights came back on, including the TRANS FAILSAFE PROG.

At one point when the the lights were on minus the susp selflevel inact and trans failsafe prog, the voltage went up to 14.4.

Once the TRANS FAILSAFE PROG light comes on, thats when my radio cuts out, nav screen goes in and out and transmission jumps into high gear and the steering wheel is hard to turn as if its not getting any boost.

I've had the battery and alternator checked by autozone and they say its fine. I've also monitor the volts and they seem to be fine based on what the readings should be.

P.S. I also wanted to add that my brake/tail light comes on for me to check. It came on before the issues im having, i changed the bulb and im getting the message again.

[Roadkill]

Steering gets difficult? Have you checked belt tightness and condition?

[xRide]

Originally Posted by Roadkill

Steering gets difficult? Have you checked belt tightness and condition?

It gets heavier only when the trans failsafe light comes on.

[BavariaTexan]

I think we have buried the lead. You fell asleep in the x5 for almost 2 hours?! LOL

[xRide]

Originally Posted by BavariaTexan

I think we have buried the lead. You fell asleep in the x5 for almost 2 hours?! LOL

Didn't understand what you are saying

[BavariaTexan]

When I got home I changed a failed brake light bulb and ended up falling asleep in the truck with the driver door and door behind opened for about an hour and a half to 2 hours.

Burying the lead (story)

[bcredliner]

It could be the voltage regulator going bad. Sometimes the regulator problem can be intermittent.

However, since you can tie the problem to replacing the brake light I would continue to trouble shoot there. Be sure your replacement is the correct bulb and be sure that the contacts in the bulb socket are not corroded. Corroded socket can cause a brake or stoplight to go on and off. If you checked the bulbs the first time and they were not out that is a good sign of corrosion. Sometimes all you need to do is apply dilelectric grease, sometimes called electrical grease or bulb grease to correct the corrosion.

[bcredliner]

It could be the voltage regulator going bad. Sometimes the regulator problem can be intermittent.

However, since you can tie the problem to replacing the brake light I would continue to trouble shoot there. Be sure your replacement is the correct bulb and be sure that the contacts in the bulb socket are not corroded. Corroded socket can cause a brake or stoplight to go on and off. If you checked the bulbs the first time and they were not out that is a good sign of corrosion. Sometimes all you need to do is apply dilelectric grease, sometimes called electrical grease or bulb grease to correct the corrosion.