My X5
 

Hello,

I just bought my first car, 2000 4.4l X5 and had it shipped to Georgia, that where i live.
For first 2-3 days car was driving like a beast, but...After that in morning I noticed that it had some problems starting, had to put in N to start. then i noticed the rain was coming in from drivers side, propobly from sunroof. after driving for few hours i got messige 'trans. failsafe prog.' besides that when car is off for a while left side goes down and throws up 'self level ...' and at all times ABS is on, DSC light is on (don't know if that means that it's on) and Service Engine Soon light is on as well.
Alot of problems a start. plus because this is my first car i don't know that much about cars. I dropped it in BMW store yesterday and have to pick it up today.
Hope I'ts not transmission...
what you guys think?

Sorry to hear about your issues. This is a shot in the dark but I've seen many posts where people had numerous issues that ultimately were traced back to a weak battery. You may want to consider checking it. Like I said a shot in the dark but an easy thing to check.

Good luck.

I think you better have gotten a warranty.

I'm sure you really wanted an X5 but you got the 1st year of the model and the most problematic engine of the two. And I'm sure your mileage is pretty high. For a 1st car an older X5 needs to be have taken care of by the previous owner for it to really be a sound choice in purchasing. Hopefully you can get it fixed and don't have any major problems.

I don't know if it's just me but the first thing I thought was did you see and test drive the car in person? If not, did you get a CARFAX from where you bought it from? To have that many things happen after buying it, would concern me.

Sounds like someone simply wiped the codes before shipping it to you. You can search for "self leveling suspension" and you'll get a ton of posts related to it. Other than that, you'll need to get codes pulled from a GT1 and I'm sure someone on the board can shed some light on them. Since you dropped it off at a BMW dealership, you should ask them for the paperwork from the GT1

Oh yeah....

:xoutpost:

Thanks,

Well the battery is nearly dead, had to jump start it the other day. I'll be fixing that soon. Other then that i picked it up today and they told me some sad news; they told me that tranny has some problems, plus they told me that 3 sensors (one i remembered was Catalyc sensor) have to replaced, also that my engine is acting weird and that my board computer has some issues... I don't even know what to start with.
I think starting with some electric parts and then going to tranny. because it's 1000$ just to find out what parts are broken. I guess I'll follow little by little.

thanks guys for your help.

and bwt i don't know what GT1 means.

EDIT: In the Reverse it drives pretty good :bustingup:bustingup

Yeah anytime there seems to be any issues with the tranny reverse just seems to always function lol

Sorry to hear it. I think your wallet is going to be in pain for a while.

a GT1 is a scanner that diagnoses BMW codes.

It's also a Volkswagon I believe.

I think it's a GTI, no?

Until the battery is replaced I wouldn't worry about the other issues. These vehicles are highly electronic and without a solid power source all kinds of issues can arise. I'm not saying the battery is the only issue but other problems may be related to a weak battery. Replace it and some (or all) of the other issues could disappear. I would also recommend an OEM battery.

Ok. I'm going to install a new battery today, and then will see the differences. thanks guys, and i'll keep you updated.

Welcome.

Tell us you had an indepenant inspection done by a respected company before you pulled the trigger. Was it a private or dealer sale? Like the Meister said 'did you get a warranty'.

With a set of wheels that old, even an aftermarket warranty is a good option, if not for now for current situ but certainly for what's down the track. Give it some thought, well worth the $s my friend.

I really do hope that a new battery solves all probs, but something tells me maybe not. GL.

Get this mans X an exorcism. how many miles BTW? that was probably one of the first x's built

yeap, 11/1999. but counted as 2000 in the title. as for warranty i don't have it.
inspection was done by BMW Georgia. they are dealers over here. the milage is 123k miles.
One interesting things is that yesterday night it was raining so i took my X. after riding i stopped for about 20 mins. when I started the car, the failsafe error dissapeard and it started riding perfectly well. I was so glad I drove for 4 hours, but in Manual:))
but then again in the morning it still did some wierd things. so then I again checked the car and now i know for sure that my tranny needs to be fixed. they told me about 1k$ for fixing. I guess i'ts a normal price. Still it needs few other things changed as well as oil, but i'll do everything at once, starting on 15th :)

thanks guys. Once It's fixed I will post.

Nick

@ Nik Sorry to here about your X5. Any car you get you should really have an indy mech check it out before you buy. Where in GA are you? I think you need to find a good Indy BMW service. Up my way in Gwinnett I take my X5 to Black Forest BMW service...they are pretty good and honest.

No, I live in Republic of Georgia, not in the state. :) thanks
but could it be that sometimes it's working and sometimes not? I mean it's kind of weird

Hi Nik, truly sorry to hear about your troubles and hope the best for you.
Also to make you feel better - what a newer model would save on maintenannce costs,
You would have saved on the purchased price.
Take care

Hi Nik, truly sorry to hear about your troubles and hope the best for you.
Also to make you feel better - what a newer model would save on maintenannce costs,
You would have saved on the purchased price.
Take care

ah, Thanks alot guys. I know it's an old post, but I feel I need to come back and update.
All is fixed now, as some of you know I even did a mate black Trim mode:)
I did tranny repair,
Air suspenstion air bags change,
ABS Module repair,
The drains were colgged, I did it by myself.
Fixed timings.
All the damn lights are gone now. Looked like a Christmas tree :)
just got a Cold weather idle problem everyone seems to have. (that's just minor)
What I got lucky with was that I payed cents for labor as it is very cheap here :)
Cheers, Nick