Weird Stuff Happening
 

I purchased a 2001 X5 3.0 (love it). When I bought it, the auto express down on the windows, the automatic door locks when exceeding 5kms, and the rear wiper motor and washer did not work. I bought an aftermarket extended warranty that covered pretty much everything. I also before purchasing took the x5 to BMW where they charged me $250 to go through the vehicle completely to see what condition it was in overall. They claimed the wiper motor was bad, there was a blown fuse that they apperantly replaced and charged me for, and suggested not buying the x5. Instead, I should buy the 2001 x5 they had on their lot for over $15000 more that what I would have paid for the one I was looking at originally. Aside from the above mentioned, I bought the vehicle that I originally brought to them. After some time, I contacted the local BMW dealer and this is what they said. (I got the impression from the start that their lack of interest was because I didn't buy the x5 from them.) anyway one service guy told me the x5 needed reprograming to make the auto express down work as well the door locks. It would cost $175 for them to hook it up to their computer. I happen to be at the dealer and spoke to another service adviser who told me the above would cost about $100.00. Not interested in paying even that, I drove the vehicle as it was. So yesterday, thru the warranty, I receive the new rear wiper motor with a new arm and blade. I installed it myself and I have to say I was completely blown away. It didn't work. Well the fuse (slot 41) that BMW replaced were no good. It looked like it was 20 years old and taken out of a wreck. Anyway, I replaced it. You'll never guess what happened. Everything worked!!! The auto express down, the auto doorlocks when driving, they rear wiper and pump etc. all worked with out the reprogram. Can someone explain this to me Thanks. It's all good.

The electronics in the E53 sometimes have a mind of their own. Personally, this is why I like the iDrive cars because I can 'program' this stuff myself (in my 545 it is like this) in the X however, you have to rely on a dealer to do..whatever it is...they do.

The scary part to electrical gremlins is you don't know where or when they will pop up again, I would much rather has a consistent issue then a miracle fix.

Here is a question, did you disconnect the battery when you changed the wiper motor? If so, this probably reset your settings and 'fixed' your issues.

Thanks for the replies. I did not disconnect the battery. The whole thing took like 10 minutes. We'll see if it changes down the road. Thanks