Crankshaft sensor replacement DIY

[kevinkay]

I am very much an amateur.
This is what worked for me-

2004, X5, 3.0

It is held on with one metric 5 allen bolt.
You can see it from above - but can't get to it/touch it from above
You can feel it from below but can't see it. All work by "feel"

Allot a couple of hours, its very frustrating. Try to get an extra set of eyes to guide you from above (preferably not a spouse - lots of swearing).

I bought the part from the dealer, $130, you can find it cheaper but not worth an aftermarket for all the effort to replace it. Bentley tells you to replace the "O" ring as well, ( i did).

Bentley tells you to remove the front end reinforcement plate, I did not and can't see it would help much if it were removed.

I had the front wheels on lifting ramps.

From the diagrams I saw and from looking at it, I thought the bolt was horizontal, but it is slightly tilted up. There is a plastic wiring conduit that will constantly be in your way

It was easiest to get a regular bent allen wrench onto the bolt, but I could not break it loose. Needed assortment of socket extensions and M5 allen socket, once I got it loose went back to the regular allen wrench and removed the bolt.

Bentley said something about cutting a plastic tie holding the electrical connection, I did not have this. I removed the sensor before removing the electrical connecter. Push down on the clip to pull out the sensor.

I though there was a pin to line up the sensor as it has a hole, but I could not feel this, nor did my new sensor "lock in" to a position. I pushed it in and kept going back under the hood with a good flashlight until I thought the holes were lined up. Started the bolt by hand, worked it in with the allen wrench then tightened with the socket. The hardest part was the final tightening, hard to keep the socket in, and no way to use a torque wrench.

Why I changed this part
My car was going into "trans safe" mode, getting amber lights of 4x4, brake, and the star trans safe mode lights. If I shut the car off and restarted, it was difficult to restart and the amber service engine light would join the other 3. The car would start without any warring lights after a nights rest. Became more frequent and less time between trouble.
Error codes read were:
83 KW-error
244 segment time measuring faulty

150 CAN Engine speed
149 Can Wheel speeds

couple days into the repair, long rides and 'so far, so good"

attached photo is not my car and only for reference