Transfer case actuator motor gear.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by jv2000

I just did the gear replacement and since there is so much information spread out around the internet and in forums on this topic I created a post to try to consolidate it (see below). So far so good, it fixed the problem no more warning lights and no more clicking when I turn off the car. I chose to replace the gear with a new one rather than risk it failing or slipping back into the worn out portion of the gear, my reasoning being if I was going to spend a Sunday working on this I didn't want to ever have to repeat it

I included my photos and the 3 best videos I found on the problem/replacement:

BMW Transfer Case Actuator Problem And Fix

This article is an attempt to aggregate information in a single place regarding a defect in the X drive systems of BMWs that will typically affect ALL of the following models of BMWs at one point or another, typically around 80k-120k miles.

2001-2003 BMW X5 3.0 L6 E53
2004-2006 BMW X5 E53
2004-2010 BMW X3 E83

The model year 2001-2003 BMW does not have an actuator gear in the transfer case. See Realoem.com. It uses a different transfer case.

[jv2000]

Thanks for catching that, updated. I was basing that off of a part spec that I saw but that must've been in error ...

Originally Posted by upallnight

This article is an attempt to aggregate information in a single place regarding a defect in the X drive systems of BMWs that will typically affect ALL of the following models of BMWs at one point or another, typically around 80k-120k miles.

2001-2003 BMW X5 3.0 L6 E53
2004-2006 BMW X5 E53
2004-2010 BMW X3 E83

The model year 2001-2003 BMW does not have an actuator gear in the transfer case. See Realoem.com. It uses a different transfer case.