You can usually confirm those way;

Drive down the middle of a road so you're on the top of the crown. Eg: center of three lanes freeway.

Then make very gentle s curve a foot or two back and forth you can stay in your lane. Hold the wheel gently and right as you past 12:00 dead center the steering wheel will wobble 2-3x.

I've never had anything but the tension strut reproduce this wobble it's very district. I've never had a bad tension strut not cause this wobble.

Have somebody drive the car forward and creep speed no throttle and after 4-5 feet hit the brakes hard enough to stop immediately. When tension struts are shot the wheels will get pushed back as much as 3/4"

Last: drive about 50 mph and gentle brake from 50 to 45 then 45 to 40.

If you get distinct steering wobble vs. Is almost surely three TS.

You can get the wobble on gentle curves from the crown etc but over had that happen from lose steering rack internals. That's harder to diagnose until the rest of the suspension is tight.

Limiting access to my '04 E53 with lock cylinder
 

Well here I am. First, Happy Thanksgiving to all those helpers here that are afflicted with the E53 syndrome.

When I picked up the '04 in 2018 from Ziggy the buyer and then seller of locally traded in vehicles he wouldn't go with me on my test drive. Later, shortly after purchase, I figured out why. The passenger door didn't open. My better half nearly crowned me king of idiots for now having me lean over to open the passenger door or lower the window and have her reach in everytime we went somewhere.

Fast forward three years or so and the drivers door now fails to open. I know I need to replace the door handle carriers and have the FCPeuro new parts on hand. Since the driver door handle failure I happily used the remote to lower the windows and reached in.

Lately my original key stopped working mostly and now stopped altogether. I had a new key that I purchased when the car was new to me. Programmed this new key and it worked. I would use it every few months to keep it charged and it still worked. Well life gets in the way and hadn't used it lately so now that doesn't work now. The last few days have been using it so the new spare key should now be fully charged.

Anyway let me get to the point of this long winded essay. Fear now I used either key to lower the windows with the driver door lock cylinder. I had used this method a few times over the years as necessary and it works great.

Until today.

Now turning the drive door lock cylinder does nothing.

I have left the window open enough to reach in but its not a great solution as I cannot lock the door.

I have attempted to re-program the new spare key without success.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and for any help.

And I will end with this...

I was in 7-11 today and saw an attractive young lady. I said to her you look like my second wife. She asked how many times I've been married. I said once.

Da Tah...

Yep, time to start replacing stuff! I did the driver's door handle, door lock actuator, rebuilt the key cylinder, and replaced the FZV module (the wireless receiver for the keyless entry, only one of several ways the keyless entry system fails) in the past 12 months. The only thing I haven't had to do is replace any diamond fobs, miraculously. I am terrified of the same thing happening. I suggest you start getting things replaced and make sure the entry means is reliable!

Thanks for chiming in.

The stealership wants $200 for a new cylinder for the drivers door. A friend of a friend said he can make the replacement and repair for $150. Sounds like a good deal.

Now that the original fob is basically kaput and my spare I was finally able to program. I am feeling a little better about the whole thing.

Same guy said he can make a new key for $120. And I am considering getting it as the stealership is asking $300.

Brad

The kit to repair the door cylinder is about $10. My fob stopped working and I could only get in with the key so I kept a kit in my glove box since mine would fail every 6-8 months. It's got a very thin piece of pot metal that basically acts like a fuse.

X AUTOHAUX Barrel Door Lock Cylinder Repair Kit for BMW X5 E53 2000-2006 https://a.co/d/bPq6ZIh

Takes about 30-40 minutes.

Rolled out the X5 after a coolant refresh update. Took me two months. Mostly waiting on new parts or short on time. A few more checks so it's ready for winter duty.

Brad, if you have any handy bone in your body, and can spare a couple of hours, buy the rebuild kit off eBay for $10. I did this too about a year ago.

Wow that looks like a steal for the price of both vs the JBL box plus sub. Thanks for sharing!


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Still running good?



I finally got my third car running - once I drive it for a few weeks and make sure it's reliable I will be putting the X under the knife to install that spacer and a handful of other things. Also, I splurged and bought a brand new OEM e-brake boot to match the brand new shift lever boot I bought earlier this year.

I try to keep my X5 is great shape and then some moron comes along and ruins the day - contractor's ladder fell on my car as they were cleaning the gutters:(. Caught on camera. What should I do now? File claim on their car insurance or what?