P0369 Camshaft Sensor B-Bank 1 With Multiple Symptoms

[BMWX5CHI]

This is my first post and thought this might help a few people out. I have a 2002 BMW X5 3.0 (162,000 miles) with the MIL on. Scanned and got P0369 Camshaft Position Sensor B-Bank 1. (This is the exhaust camshaft sensor not the intake) I drove with the MIL for 2 months and had the following symptoms: Long cranks (At Times) had to try twice to start her up, loss of power almost right after engine was warm, affected my acceleration felt like I had a 4 cylinder, bad gas mileage, and when in high rpm (during heavy acceleration) about the same time the transmission was going to shift the truck would jerk (felt like I got rear ended) or as some people have said ''lurched''

Well I replaced the sensor last night and all of the symptoms went away including the shifting problem. My X is running like new. Took about 10 min. to replace since I was having trouble disconnecting the wiring harness to the sensor but other than that pretty easy. Tools needed were a ratchet, 5mm hex socket and some pliers/channel locks to squeeze off the harness. I ordered the sensor off eBay for $98.45 (Free Shipping) and got the Genuine BMW Replacement sensor. I feel that when it comes to sensors or vital components it's always best to go with Genuine BMW replacement parts.

Well hopefully this can help a few people out. Funny how this sensor caused all these symptoms. Peace

[BigLion]

Damn, I hope so - sounds exactly like the symptoms my car has had the last 2 'winters' - rough idle while in D (not so bad in Neutral) with plenty of vibration through the steering column, and for only the FIRST shift, while driving out of the u/g parking garage, the car lurches into second, then it's fine... sounds like the same problem?

I'm gonna try this fix this weekend

[BMWX5CHI]

My X has some vibration when I shift it into reverse ,drive or at a stoplight I can feel the steering wheels shaking no problems while the truck is moving. I am thinking about maybe having the motor mounts changed but going to try something else first. Looks like my clutch fan is a bit louder than usual. I'm pretty sure its the original fan clutch. I remember I had a 99 Kia Sportage with a bad fan clutch and the inside of the truck would vibrate like hell. I changed all the belts and replaced the fan clutch and it fixed the problem. Idle was nice and smooth. So I'm going to change the fan clutch and see if that helps with the vibration. If that doesn't help I'm going to check the motor mounts.

As far as the ''shifting'' problem if you got the P0369 camshaft sensor or if your X is a high mileage one like mine it wouldn't hurt replacing the sensor, it's going to fail eventually and maybe it will fix the first gear shifting problems. Don't know what the camshaft sensor has to do with the transmission but it sure did fix my problem. If you do replace it, get a Genuine BMW sensor. Hopefully this can help you out.