I hear you on expenses man - just dropped $500 that is not in the budget on the car. :rolleyes:

One other thing you can try. Put the car to sleep by disconnecting the battery - negative cable first. After disconnecting it completely, give it about 20 - 30 seconds then touch the two terminals together - WHILE DISCONNECTED FROM THE BATTERY!!! - to completely drain the car of all electric current.

Leave the car overnight. Rec-connect the battery and then start her up. If the ABS lights are off and it takes about 5 miles to come back on and your speedo and such as still in-op, then it's a good chance it's the module.

Well oiled machine...
 

Wow...at least I know the OUTSIDE of the engine is well-oiled :)
I haven't touched the ABS wires yet...that's how it was when I removed the headlight.

Battery
 

If I disconnect the battery, will the factory stereo ask me for a code? I only ask because 1) I don't know the code, and 2) most of the pixels are dead...I just learned how to use all the buttons, and thank God for the dash display and steering wheel audio controls. :dunno:

The radio did not ask me for a code on my E38, E39 or the X5 when I disconnected the battery. Mine is a 2003 model.

Bentley manual
 

Hey do you guys know what the going rate is for the X5 Bentley manual? I just found one at PartsGeek.com for $75. My E39 manual was $50 but I can't remember where I got it.

To be honest, I didn't think I would own this X long enough to need the Bentley, but things have not panned out with the lottery, so I'm stuck with it for a while :)

I've always dreamt of owning a new car with a warranty, but student loans and child support have thwarted that dream for a long time to come.

That's not a bad price for the Bentley - they used to cost over$100.

Bentley is about $120 retail so $75 is a great deal!

Glad you are back. I will monitor the thread more closely now.

Be careful taking the battery cables off and on. The "T" bolts are stainless steel as are the nuts, so the threads can gall. Use some copper anti seize and you'll be good to go. How do I know this? Well, I broke mine and got to go googling until I found replacements for ~$15 each! :yikes: And they are VW parts to add insult to injury!

Good luck on your fix it project. Join the local chapter of the BMW club and you'll likely meet people local to you that can help too!

Check Amazon, I picked mine up for $70 there about 3 yrs ago.

Clueless...
 

So the ABS trifecta of lights has been completely random. Yesterday I drove with no lights on whatsoever. This morning, they are back. My bigger concern the past few days is that my idle when in gear is getting increasingly rougher, and sporadic. There is also a new noise coming from the engine when just idling...a low growl. I would say exhaust leak, but I'm leaning more towards a vacuum leak of some kind. I plan on having the local specialist do a smoke test on Wednesday (my day off) but I'd really like some tips on common vacuum leaks and things I can check myself without removing the intake manifold (don't have that kind of time).

I've read a lot of forum entries here that discuss the rear intake manifold cover problem with a little check valve nipple that is prone to breaking, and the oil separator on the back of the engine going bad. I do have an oil leak that seems to be coming from front-and-center, which I'm guessing is a main seal. The funny thing is, according to my garage floor, it's a pretty significant leak. However, I check the dipstick daily, running and not running, and it's always at the "full" mark. I know the valve covers are leaking pretty bad as well, but I've never known that to affect engine idle/performance.

Once I get moving above 1,000 rpm, the X runs strong and fast, except for the vibration at around 2,000 rpm that has been there since I've owned it. The idle just now in the driveway was way below the first tick mark on the tack...like 300 rpm and sounded like it wanted to die...whole car was shaking pretty bad.

FTR: New Bosch spark plugs and air filter about 3 months ago. Can't get over 91 octane here in Kansas, and have never used any kind of octane booster or fuel injector cleaner on this vehicle. High outside temperature today was about 35 I think, so she obviously does NOT like cold weather. I do park in the garage every night, which isn't temperature controlled, but stays fairly warm because the water heater and washer/dryer are in there. Our Winters will get down to 5 to 10 degrees below ZERO, so I need to get this figured out pretty quick.

Please add the year and model in your signature--helps a bunch when responding rather than searching the thread.

A significant oil leak depending on the source, like valve covers, can pool in a spark plug hole and short out the plug with a resulting misfire---rough and sporadic idle.

Vacuum leaks are not uncommon. Again, depending on the source they can cause misfires and other problems. I put the smoke test among the first troubleshooting tests to find core cause of an engine issue. Good that you are having that done.

The list of potential sources of vacuum leaks is long and sometimes depends on what engine you have. I suggest waiting for the results of the smoke test. Vacuum leaks generate a lot of different sounds, I haven't heard any I would call a growl but definitions and what we hear widely varies. There are also a wide range of other causes for a growl sound. Does the engine rev normally?

I would clean anywhere you can see oil on the engine and by the time you get the smoke test it could help to verify where it is leaking--good time to check for both.

It is a good practice to use a quality brand of fuel with a cleaning agent. As an example, I alway buy gas that has Techron and in addition periodically add a bottle of Techron to a full tank of gas.

Is the vibration at 2000rpms when moving or when revving the engine?