2005 X5 3.0 M/T not moving very well (solved)
 

Hello

I bought a 2005 BMW X5 with a manual transmission a few months ago. It has about 160,000 miles on it and has been running fine until about 2 weeks ago. I drove to work in the morning and everything was fine. When I got into it to go to lunch that afternoon it would move forward a little bit and then nothing. The engine would just rev up and the car would not go anywhere.

Had it towed to my mechanics shop and he threw it on the lift with me in it to manipulate the clutch and get the tires spinning while he looked at the drive train. He didn't see anything wrong on the exterior and lowered it to the ground. It then started to run fine for no reason at all. We did not do anything at all to it. He told me to drive it like normal and see if ti happens again. Three days later it happened again. Same scenario to a T. Driving to work in the morning it was fine. Trying to leave for lunch it would not move.

There is no grinding noise and there were not warning signs that anything was going to fail. Just stopped moving. You can get it to sort of move by keep engaging the clutch, but then it will kick like it will catch for a second. The clutch was replaced by the previous owner in April of this year. Any help would be appreciated.

Did you check to see if your axle popped out of the diff?

what about the slave cylinder?(how does the clutch feel, spongey or normal ?)

^I was thinking something trans system related as well like the slave. Thought clutch originally, but if it runs fine sometimes... not the clutch.

The axle seems like a good thing to check as well. That doesn't make any noise when that happens though? I am assuming either a cog or splined shaft gets stripped? Or is it just a locking pin or something holding the shaft in the diff?

Oh just read that the PO replaced the clutch... perhaps the throwout bearing was not replaced or not installed properly? That sound like a possibility to anyone?

Edit: Seems throw out bearing failure is usually accompanied with noise of some sort. Whining or grinding depending on severity. Probably not your problem.

Ask the previous owner who replaced the clutch and if there is a warranty on the replacement clutch. Sound like the clutch is stuck and is not engaging when you let it out.

Thank you for all the responses guys.

Ricky Bobby- We checked the axles, and, drive shafts while it was on the lift the first time and all seem okay.

puddinboo- The clutch feels normal. Not spongey from what I can tell.

crystalworks- My mechanic originally thought maybe the mechanic who changed the clutch did not change the flywheel, but I contacted him and the flywheel was indeed replaced.

upallnight- There is a warranty on the clutch. It was a Luc clutch kit that was installed along with Luc flywheel. The mechanic that did the work said he would warranty the parts and labor if it turns out to be a clutch issue.

A little update. We unplugged the transfer case actuator to see if we could maybe get it to go without the xdrive system but it was a no go. It was actually worse than before. Car didn't even try to move like it had before. My mechanic is leaning toward a transfer case issue and is looking for a used one on LKQ.

Forgot to update this after my last post. Turns out Ricky Bobby's diagnosis was right about the rear axles coming out of the diff. When it was on the lift they were not really noticeable, but when you set it down and drove it for a while they would work themselves out. My mechanic used a hammer and socket extension to pop them back in place. Been over a week now and they haven't popped out again. I'm glad it wasn't the transfer case like we originally thought. Thank you for all the help. I really like this site.

Thanks for posting the FIX. Many owners come to this site and post about the problems they are having with their X but very few post the fix.

A reason for them to pop loose: worn suspension components, especially the ball joints.

I wrote a DIY for E39 rear overhaul, you can see it below, E53 is very similar:

DIY: 1998 BMW 528i Complete REAR Suspension Overhaul - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

Glad to see you got this worked out. My output shaft popped out and won't go back in, so fortunately you had the easiest solution.