Bad news - think I'm done...
 

Took the X in for oil change and oil level sensor replacement the other day. Indy called me a little later and said that he has some bad news - front transfer case and drive shaft were in bad shape. I had been hearing the typical "clank" when shifting into D and R, but was unaware of this being a sign of something going wrong. With those repairs and few others needing to be done, I am looking at a total bill of around $6k. Wife and I had decided previously that the next time a major service came up that we would probably have to say goodbye to the X.

X is still driveable, but he said it is on borrowed time - just rolled 213K miles. Purchased a 2010 Grand Cherokee last year so I would not have to tow with the X anymore, so I guess that will become my daily driver because the wife wants a car that gets good gas mileage. Unfortunately with all of the issues we have had with the X and the cost of repairs, she is hesitant to buy another BMW.

Anyway, looks like the days are numbered for X5Dawg...

That sucks, but at least you got your money worth with > 200kmiles.
And to make things worse, new BMW is really expensive now.

New BMW was expensive when we bought ours, that is why we bought it when it was 2.5 years old. Only paid $27K for it and it was still in warranty. Of course the $12K in repairs a few years ago wasn't fun - that is what made this an easier decision.

Its funny how the repair bills add up. Sometimes im like its only 2k here not bad...then i think about my total and im near 15K and im like fuck thats a new car right there with no problems lol.....and now ive spent 4-5K in tracing a freakin vibration/ shake and if this last repair isnt gonna take care of it then im done....its been great for the last 8yrs but ive always looked at it this way as long as my yearly repair bill isnt over 3k then its ok since it equals a leased vehicle price of around 200-300 a month. so now its actually going over that and if its not fixable then i have to stop. i know the feeling its hard to step away but you have to look at the overall picture.....

It is worth investigating whether you actually need a new transfer case. Many have repaired theirs with a new front driveshaft output yoke. Racemalibu (a member here) was providing them, not sure if he still is. It would be a lot cheaper than replacing the transfer case. Also, reposition the AC drain so that it doesn't drip on the driveshaft in the future and contribute to the corrosion issues in the coupling.

Do a search on front driveshaft or racemalibu for all the details.

just when he thought he was out, you keep pulling him back in!

Thats what JCL is great at. Always knows how to fix the X!

If you do choose to let it go... It atleast lived a good, long life.

My tranny is getting into a shuddery mood in 2nd and 3rd.. Hope that it doesn't get worse.

Sad fact about these cars is when the repair eventaully tops the cars value :(

Hey, I sold my E53 in 2007, and I'm still here. He can still be in even if he does sell it. But there is no reason to put a new transfer case in a vehicle with that mileage IMO. :thumbup:

Fixed it for you.