spare tire
 

hi everyone..just a question...i have a 2005 x5 4.4...when lifting the rear load floor to access the spare tire...the owners manual shows a prop rod holding up the floor...my car only has a crappy elastic strap that is attached to the underside of the load floor and has a plastic hook on the other end. the plastic hook then is supposed to be attached to the top part of the frame of the car..when you open rear glass there is rubber moulding the hook is supposed to be attached to the upper metal lip that the moulding is attached to. for a 55k when new this system really sucks if it is supposed to be that way ...when i picked up the car that is what the salesman told me but..that elastic strap scares me because it holds the floor up but looks like it will break at any moment..any help..thanks rob

What page of the manual are you looking at?

Do you have the slide out load floor or the standard rear floor? If the standard, you'll remove the floor and set it to the side, the handle attached to the straps that go below the spare tire then fits into a slot in the top of the tailgate. There's a plastic prop rod that is used to hold the tailgate in the down position when you've pushed it down to lift the spare tire out of the well. I thought it was a fairly well designed system considering a small person might actually be able to get the tire out (as they are not light) via the use of leverage.

Some pics might help to see what you're talking about. It's possible the salesman didn't know what they were talking about :)

page 166 item 4 shows prop rod to the right in photo..and the wording states remove the support rod from the bracket..i have the standard floor..thanks rob

I believe that you have have a prop rod to hold up the sliding load floor... elastic band of the type used on briefs is you have the standard floor.

I believe the prop rod you're talking about is only with the sliding load floor. The standard floor doesn't have it. I have never had a problem with the strap myself, but if I have any extra weight on the rear floor I pull the side panels out about an inch or two on each side to hold it up.

I seem to recall that you secure floor panel to top of door frame using plastic arm that is attached to floor panel .the separate plastic arm is for holding open the lower tailgate when you have used lower tailgate to lift spare wheel otherwise spare falls back pulling tailgate with it. 2 rubber straps are designed so as to lay packages or breifcase on top and they should not slide under normal driving. they may also be used to secure for example a bottle of liquid by placing object under straps.this is how it works on 2002 X5.

The support rod in the description refers to the rectangular plastic part that locks the tailgate down. However, you are correct in that the photo shows some kind of prop rod. The same photo is present in older manuals as well with apparently no explanation. It definitely doesn't exist with the standard floor. It's item # 8 in the following schematic and see the photo. (BMW probably figured the rubber strap wasn't strong enough to hold the heavy load floor up)

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...59&hg=51&fg=65

Looking at the 2000 manual I found the description!

rear load floor
 

hi everyone..thanks for your help and explanations..this forum is great and everyone is so nice and helpful..i am happy to be a member..thanks rob

We're glad to have you. Are you happy enough to be a premier member? Entirely voluntary, but it helps support a non-profit site. Annual donations are what keep X5World running.