Help diagnosing four maybe related issues

[captain_jim1]

I have a 2010 X5 diesel with four problems.

1. When I first start the car and begin driving, I get random alerts that a door is open. It's not always the same door, and it often switches from left to right or front to back within a couple of seconds. The dome light also comes on with the alert, and if I've just started driving and I'm going slow enough, it puts the car in park.

2. My alarm randomly goes off. Often right after I lock the doors, the alarm goes off, sometimes it stops, sometimes it keeps going. I haven't had much luck locking the car, then locking it again to disable the motion sensor. The alarm still goes off.

3. Locking the doors is... Interesting. When I exit the car and use the fob to lock, sometimes the door will lock, then immediately unlock. I have to have a back and forth with the car, where I lock over and over before I finally win the battle. Battle. This is often followed by the alarm going off as described previously. I have never experimented with this using the comfort access lock motion on the door handle.

4. While driving the other day I heard a pop and completely lost power. No throttle, no power steering, maybe breaks, but all the electronics were still on. When I came to a stop, I noticed the car was in neutral. To start the engine, and it would crank, but the engine wouldn't start. I waited about an hour, and try to again with the same results. I ended up getting a tow, and the next day my mechanic said he was able to start the car drive it around the block multiple times. He did see a crankshaft sensor code but was unsure if that was the issue. He's hesitant to exchange it due to cost and being overloaded with work. He was honest in saying that he does not have all of the knowledge or equipment to properly diagnose a diesel and engine. His recommendation was to take it to the dealership. Obviously the cost to do that will be high, but I'm nervous that this could happen again. I was lucky the first time that I was on a slow road and was able to get to the side. I'm very concerned that this could happen again while I'm on the highway where it would be much more dangerous.

Thanks.. Brad

[ard]

hmmm.


How is the battery health?


Look up the FRM.. foot rest module. This controls a LOT of odd and seemingly unrelated items. Just a suggestion, see if it matches your symptoms


Consider a short in a module pulling down a can bus line... can cause intermittent comm failures and spurious errors. By disconnecting a module, running the car, you can isolate the bad item.



Finally the 'pop' and stall is odd.... Have you checked GROUND STRAPS???? Our cars will not even start with bad Crank sensors, so I am not sure that is a 'real' error...


Hope my random thoughts help...report back!

[Hamfist]

Yeah, frm and look into water intrusion from sunroof drains

[ard]

Originally Posted by Hamfist

Yeah, frm and look into water intrusion from sunroof drains

Good comment.... damage from water, even if it is dry now, can cause issues with modules that generate bus error, odd behaviors....

[crystalworks]

^What both of them said. Check the "easy" stuff first. Battery health, ground straps, water intrusion, etc.

Wasn't there also a wire splice on the E70 behind the glove box that could cause weird stuff like this? I, obviously, forget the details... but vaguely remember it causing weird issues.

The transmission issue sounds like when water gets into the mechatronic sleeve, or it's not seated properly. But that usually throws some sort of transmission failsafe warning with it I believe.