At my wits end with this X5 problem.... PLEASE HELP!

[jungle7895]

Hi,

Firstly this is my first post.... Long time viewer and think this is the best X5 forum for information and has helped me to do a lot of jobs my self that I would usually take to the garage for.

I have had my X5 E53 3.0d (2001) for nearly 2 years now and love it! Best car I have ever owned! its has now about 105k on it and still runs smooth (small amount of Diesel smoke when I floor it but im putting that down to age and me being a bit particular about things).

Sooooo... For about a month now it has been really struggling to cold start after about 4 or 5 attempts or so of turning the key cranking for long periods of time each time it will eventually fire up. No issue when warm or if the car has been left for 7 hours or so in the day (While im at work).

I have a few friends who have small garages etc but decided to take it to an "approved" BMW garage thinking that they have the experience and correct diag equipment etc...

The garage ended up having it for 3 DAYS!!! Plugged it in and it had no fault codes (So they tell me) they checked the fuel feed, injectors, fuel pump. and found nothing although no fault code came up for the glow plugs they tested them (Somehow) and found that 2 were faulty so as they were in there with the manifold loosened they changed them all.

Soo I pick up the car and hand over £300+ for all this time they have spent on the car get it home sleep on it thinking everything is all sorted, jump in the car to go to work and the dam thing still wont start!!! GRRRRR! Same problem crank and crank and crank then eventually it goes..

One thing I noticed this morning... It did the "PRE - HEATING" on the dash board this seemed to cut down on the usual lengthy start process to about half the time?? was this just luck? or does that show anything?

If anyone has any further advice please help!!

Feel like I might aswell of thrown the money down the drain!

Im planning to go back to the garage tomorrow to tell them altho at the moment I cant really afford to spend any more money on it do you have any advise on what I should say?

[Bargain Bucket]

Does the starter turn it over quickly or does it sound sluggish? I thought mine was OK but it turns out that the starter was not churning over nearly quickly enough. Always seemed worse once the weather turned colder. A known issue in the diesels. Made it a bitch to start.

It's not really cold enough yet to need the glow plugs. These diesels start pretty well without even approaching freezing. I found the glow plug controller was broken on mine. I think I have a new one that will suit your pre-facelift E53 that i bought in error for my facelift.

Where in England are you?

[xRide]

starter? weak battery?

[jungle7895]

Wow thanks for the replys so quick! Im in stafford midlands, I have a mate whos got one of those snap on jump starter packs, do you think it would be worth a try starting it with that connected? See if any difference?

[puddinboo]

HOW FAST IS THE STARTER TURNING OVER

[jungle7895]

It seems to be turning over quite fast, doesnt sound slow

[puddinboo]

k cool sounds like batt is good and starter is good. don`t know much about diesels .I would think glow plugs but they have been changed or fuel flow ?

[srmmmm]

Start with the battery. Remember that it is only able to deliver about 70% of its rated CCA at 32 degrees fahrenheit, and 50% at 0 degrees fahrenheit. If the battery passes the load test, then the starter can be tested to make sure it is drawing enough amperage to spin the crankshaft fast enough. Next, I would check the glow plug controller. Are they being energized at the correct engine head temperature and are they staying on long enough?

Although my last diesel was a 1981 Pontiac Bonneville with the 5.7L Oldsmobile engine, I did manage to roll up 264,000 miles on it before selling it. That engine had a 22.5 to 1 compression ratio which gave it a very high temperature rise, but the glow plugs would still energize anytime the coolant temperature was below 100 degrees fahrenheit. They would remain on from 5 to 30 seconds depending on the actual temperature, until the "wait" light would go out. Of the five or six "no-start" incidents I remember, two were from gelled fuel, one was the glow plug controller, and the rest were from weak batteries.

2002 X5 3.0 243,000 miles
2004 325i 108,000 miles

[PsYcHe]

Could be battery, but remember it's dropped to about 3-4 degrees C here in the UK now. Wait until the pre-heat message goes off before starting and see how it is. My wife always does this in my Audi, just starts it and it takes 3-4 seconds of cranking before it starts without pre-heat.

[jungle7895]

Thanks guys checking the battery it has a date stamped on from 4 years ago so I think this is my starting point... Even if not id say its goint to be a good idea to get one for the winter anyway. Thanks will keep you all posted