Three questions about mirror microswitch, keyless entry & secondary airpump
 

Hi guys, back with some questions. I've pulled the old 4.6is back in the garage for some maintenance. Most of it is now done, going to be replacing the flexdisks tomorrow and she'll be ready to go.

1. For some reason there's been some vandalism in my area lately where they pushed over my motorcycle and kicked off some car mirrors, including mine. Luckily it "just" bent backward, so it still works. However, the microswitch has been bent and partly broken causing the folding mirrors to auto-unfold. Now I've taken it apart and bent back the metal part, but the plastic to which it latches has been broken. I can't seem to order the microswitch separately, so I'm afraid I have to play around with some two-component glue. Any ideas what else I can try? I've attached a photo of its current sad state.

1.b. The mirror is also floppy ever since the mirror has been damaged. It has some wiggle room, causing it to move freely (for 1-2cm) when I'm taking a corner. What can I do about this?

2. Last week both my remote keys stopped working to remotely open the car. Today i reprogrammed one of them (holding unlock while pressing lock button three times) and this has fixed the issue. My question is, how or why did this happen? It was totally random when I went to do groceries. Worked when I drove off, didn't work when I tried to lock the car 5 minutes later.

3. My secondary air pump (to heat up the cats) makes a rather high-pitch whining noise, which I assume is a broken/raw bearing. I've unplugged the pump altogether which obviously gets rid of the noise. There seems to be no motornottprogram, but are there any downsides to disabling the pump altogether?

That's all for today, thanks for all the assistance!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...02d38f56e3.jpg

I've attached a photo of the old beaut pulling a Triumph TR6 a few weeks ago:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...87dfb9d937.jpg

I found a secondhand replacement pump from a 4.4 with OEM number 11721437910, does this fit a 4.6 model?

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Check it with RealOEM to make sure.

I have actually been driving for a few weeks with my secondary air pump disconnected for a few weeks, and the only issue is that it throws a check engine light (my car is a 3.0 though). When it is working, the DME injects extra fuel which is combusted in the exhaust manifold in order to heat up the cat quickly. The DME knows the secondary air isn't working, and doesn't inject that extra fuel (with the downside that the cat doesn't heat up as quickly). This is no big deal and actually saves you a bit of gas, but if you have to get smogged it will not pass. (I broke the vacuum line that actuates the valve in the exhaust manifold, which is why mine isn't working.)

Ig the pump is noisy it could be that just the checkvalve is leaking.

Thanks for the replies. I found the secondhand pump for only 40 euro, and it matches my model according to RealOEM. I'll grab that and try to build it in somewhere next week [emoji1360]

Still looking for answers on the key and mirrors!

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The microswitches are very repairable. Either build up a knub or if I remember right I think I put a pin right through. I have not heard of both keys to stop working. Did the lock button inside the car still work?
Make sure you replace or at least check the air pump check valve or valves i guess with v8 when replacing the air pump.

My air pump made that noise. I replaced it. The bearings were shot. Tried three of them. The last one is a Hella. The first two failed ECM checks.

The microswitches are available. I have a part number someone posted. I plan to buy two. I'll check my spreadsheet for a link to them.

- Which valve do you mean exactly? Within the SAP itself?
- Yes, both keys at the exact same time. The lock button in the car was and is still working totally fine. I read a lot of people have this issue when their battery has been replaced; perhaps my battery very briefly lost contact causing the keys to reset? I didn't notice anything like this and my battery is 100% healthy, just a guess.
- Putting a pin through actually sounds like a great idea. I was thinking of playing around with some 2 component glue, but it has to be VERY exact in order not to lock the metal piece in place. I think drilling a very small hole and putting a pin in would be better

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ECM as in you got a check engine light?

I'd love a partnumber if you can find it!

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There should be a check valve to stop exhaust from getting back to the air pump, that is usually what starts to fail and takes out the air pump. Mine was noisy but went back to normal (took a while) after replacing the check valve, but I'm talking 3.0L.

It may not trip a CEL but will trip a "secondary air" code in the DME if the entire system isn't working correctly. (Which includes the pump, the valve(s), and the vacuum solenoid and vacuum lines which open the valve(s).) It is possible that it trips a CEL though as well. Either one would probably prevent you from passing smog, if you have that where you live.



I don't think your key problem is what you think it is. Re-synchronizing one key shouldn't get the other one to start working again too. I think you may have a different problem.

And remember that resynching just one key will block any/all other keys not sync'ed at the same time. :thumbup:

Mirror Switch - eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/154970786449

If you still have the metal arm, this is an option - https://www.access-electrical.co.uk/shop/view/-18453

This might also be an option - BMW E53 1999~2006 Door power mirror micro switch - Hong Mei Trading Co., Ltd

Yes, and OP, you can use a Foxwell or BMW Scanner (among other things) to see if each key is synchronized. As soon as you put it in the ignition it will tell you which key is in the ignition and whether it is synchronized or not. If you have one of these tools, try checking both keys. If both are still synchronized, then like wpoll said, you did not actually resynchonize the one key. Something else is going on.

Yes, on cold start up the air pump would whine. Two less expensive pumps were tried. Both set a DME code at start up. A Hella finally stopped the code.

Micro switch: BMW E53 X5 Series Door power mirror micro switch-皇泰ä¼�æ¥*社Wong Tai Co., Ltd

Thanks everyone for all the replies. I'm back with a quick update, sorry it took a bit longer:

- The secundary airpump has been disconnected for a few weeks now and there is zero downside and have been no faults. No CEL either. Of course the car throws a faultcode when scanning with software, but that's not an issue. I doubt it will be an issue with the emision over here (Netherlands), but the next general inspection for my car is only in 12 months. I can always plug it back in if need be.
- I have manually bent back the metal part of the microswitch of my driverside mirror, and so far it's kept up great. When I try to fold the mirrors it works 4/5 times. Sometimes they do nothing at all, and other times they keep unfolding automatically. But the next day it just works again. Not sure what to think of this. If it gets worse I will buy the replacement as suggested by @wpoll, thanks for the links!


Of course a new issue has come up in the meantime. On my old X5 (3.0i), the driver side door stopped working because the previous owner pulled the door handle the wrong way. This has seemingly now also started on my new 4.6is when I pulled the doorhandle while it was frozen shut. It was 6 below 0 Celcius that night. Whenever I now pull the door (even when it's not frozen), it seems to push the window a little bit as well..

I'm afraid the handle broke on the inside, again. However if I pull really hard and abrupt, the door still opens. For now, at least

I wonder if your euro market DME doesn't throw a fault code when the secondary air pump is disconnected. My USDM car certainly did while I had mine not working -- though in my case, I disconnected the vacuum line that goes to the valve.

If you can get some kind of silcone emulsion or silicone product on the door weatherstripping it will prevent the freezing. It gets worse if the skin is worn off the weatherstrip which allows it to hold moisture.

I took off the door card and even the locking mechanism, nothing seems to be broken or out of order. Here are two photos of how the door handle stays when in rested position, it's bumped up a bit. If you push it rather harsh it gets semi-flush to the door, but it moves back when you stop pushing:

https://imgur.com/a/ZxvMqWP

And here's a video from inside the door itself with a flashlight, when pulling on the door handle. Nothing seems out of ordinary:

https://youtube.com/shorts/SVDXBNsigSE

Do I have to replace that inside carrier handle again? Really not looking forward to that

The problem is most likely in the door handle/carrier. It should be fairly obviuos when you start taking it off. You are there already so not much more work. Make sure you seal up the vapour barrier nicely when you put it back together or you will have problems with the lock mechanism itself freezing.

Well I took it all out of the door and everything looked a-okay to my (untrained) eyes. I had to drive the car back home last night from the garage so I have put it all back together, hoping perhaps it was a matter of properly fastening everything and adjusting some screws would fix the issue. Of course it did not. The door opens a little easier now, but definitely not like it should.

Don't they say “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”? Kinda feels like what I did last night :D

Is this the right part for the inside carrier to fix my problem?

https://www.koedbmw.com/nl-nl/product/51218243615

That should do the trick. When you said you had to replace the inside DHC before then you didn't mean that one ??

I have replaced it before on my previous X5 (3.0i), but the part was secondhand and didn't really solve the issue all that well. I still had to pull the doorhandle quite abruptly in order for it to even consider opening. Hence I'm afraid the same would happen now, so I'd rather just order a brand new carrier and install it then.

It's a terrible week for the X5 to be honest. Of course all of them are known E53 issues:
- Two PDC sensors have broken
- The passenger side window clip has broken (luckily still have one spare clip)
- The driverside door handle has broken on the inside

And a few weeks ago my entire window mechanism broke on the left side. All just in time for a cozy Christmas :D

Hope you have a nice warm place to work on the X this Christmas!

Luckily for me I have a garage where I can work on the car from time to time. With a diesel heater it's do-able :-)

- PDC sensors have been ordered, waiting on delivery to replace
- The passenger side window has completely broken. Sadly not just one of the clips I had laying around, but the plastic that mounts the cable to the clips. I'm afraid I have to order a whole new mechanism...
- Driverside door handle carrier replaced with new OEM piece. Not too bad at roughly 100euro
- Sadly now my steering rack started leaking. As in, literally dripping. One drip per ~4 seconds. Got myself a bottle of ATF fluid so I can always top it off while I figure out everything I have to do to fix this issue. Really not looking forward to having to take off everything to even get the rack out :-/
- For some reason the oil temperature no longer goes above 70 degrees (celcius) now, but two weeks ago it would get to operating temperature (90ish degrees celcius) just fine. What can this be? It's ~10 degrees celcius outside...


Tip: of course I broke some off the plastic door panel clips. The right OEM number for my pre-facelift car is 51418224768. Ordered 10 of them to be sure it hangs on properly.