Xoutpost.com - Help! 2008 BMW x5 4.8 Engine Failure

Xoutpost.com (https://xoutpost.com/forums.php)

- X5 (E70) Forum (https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e70-forum/)

- - Help! 2008 BMW x5 4.8 Engine Failure (https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e70-forum/100640-help-2008-bmw-x5-4-8-engine-failure.html)

But if the error was serious, even though it was cleared, it would have returned. You can clear CEL's all day long, they will keep coming back until the problem is fixed. So he went a mile and it cam on, he goes back, they clear it and it didn't come back did it? So correlating the CEL to the engine failure cannot be done either without knowing what the error code actually was.

OP, when you took it back for the CEL, how long did BMW have the vehicle before returning it to you and saying it was nothing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lanbrown (Post 1037985)

Perhaps ten minutes.

I forgot to mention that the CEL came back on when the engine started knocking.

To me it seems as though it has been the same problem almost from the time I purchased the car.

If that is the case, he has a case against the warranty company to pay to fix the engine issue, not BMW. BMW was fixing symptoms but the real cause was an engine that was going to fail. Coincidence or not in that the engine failed after 2000 miles but yet the vehicle was fine when it was sold? Probably not, it had that issue and the previous owner dumped it.

For all we know, the damage was from a spun bearing. It could be anything.

Here is a picture of a sheet the BMW dealer in Madison gave me of some of the fault codes in the computer.

What I want to know is what the mileage means, because the numbers under it are the wrong miles for my car.
What is going on there?

Any ideas?

Quote:

Originally Posted by trader4 (Post 1037982)

The theory that metal *might* have been present two months and 2K miles earlier is purely and highly speculative. We don't even know what specific failure the metal is from. Some failures are gradual
and might have produced metal for some time. Or the metal could be from one that was more sudden. But to prevail on that, he's have to prove that they didn't change the filter *and* that metal would have been present. Good luck with either of those. Without MB admitting they didn't change it, he has virtually nothing that shows they didn't, except for BMW saying they think it "looked old" and "cheap aftermarket". It was Hengst. Did you think it looked old?

Agreed it is a long shot, that was what I said. But it is an opportunity to try and determine if there were any symptoms earlier on. And the dealer involved is the one that made a profit selling the vehicle (and, presumably, the warranty).

I think I said I didn't think anything looked wrong with the filter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trader4 (Post 1037982)

"Two weeks later on the way into work I suddenly lose power and the car goes into limp mode the idrive says ENGINE MALFUNCTION, AWD MALFUNCTION, DSC MALFUNCTION, BRAKE MALFUNCTION. I pull over to the side of the road and turn the car off. I then turn the car back on and it runs perfectly. It runs just fine for the next week, then does the same thing again but this time dies in the middle of traffic. "

That sounds very much like the same, continuing problem.

What is your diagnosis for the AWD/DSC/Brake malfunction? Perhaps a low voltage that caused all of the warnings to light up?

Quote:

Originally Posted by trader4 (Post 1037982)

And even failing that, without regard to the warranty, it's almost certain that the problem already existed when he took it back to BMW the last time for repair, and again when he returned with the CEL on just 1 mile later. BTW, you didn't answer the question:

Agreed, the problem was likely there the last time he went in to the dealer. But that doesn't matter for the claim against the BMW dealer, because it was already out of warranty.

The point on the CEL and other codes is that without them, everything is a guess. For you to suggest that someone else's ideas are highly speculative is strange, when the whole web diagnosis is highly speculative.

I don't think we need the personal attacks. It is just as correct to say that some people think the world (or perhaps just any of the three parties involved in declining an out of warranty claim) owes them something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emden (Post 1038023)

What I want to know is what the mileage means, because the numbers under it are the wrong miles for my car.

Do you have approximately 74649 miles on your odometer (you stated that you have around 70K in the first post)? For whatever strange reasons ISTA/D outputs millage in kilometers. Don't know what 524280K mileage means though. Some of the codes you have (VTG, Steering Angle, DSC) have been the same for my 2008 X5 4.8i when battery was going bad (disappeared after the new battery was installed and programmed). Some of the other codes looks like there was an issue with power supply (see SINE - alarm, voltage supply tampering). When battery starts going bad, you can see quite a variety of weird codes (errors) popping up in this car. How old is the battery? Clearly it doesn't explain grinding noise but if you power supply is bad, only BMW gods know what can go bad with this car considering amount of gizmos and electrical current driven devices and one of the codes you have is for Valvetronic. Just curious, did you seek a second opinion?

OMG, the oil filter looks crushed! Iv'e seen a similar issue when a quick lube added Gear Oil to an engine. Long story short, the engine bearings were destroyed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trader4 (Post 1038057)

How do you know that BMW was competent in their diagnosis of
the problem? According to Emden, BMW told him that the tires
were ruined in his very limited amount of driving by MB having rotated
them. He says he came back with a CEL on, they reset it, told
him it was nothing, sent him on his way again. He says they told
him that the oil filter looked old, it was a "cheap aftermarket" one.
It's Hengst. That doesn't sound particularly competent to me.
In a case like this, you proceed against everyone that you could
make a case against and in my book, the BMW dealer is at the top
of that list.

I agree there is a good chance the vehicle had the problem before
it was sold/traded in. Can the BMW dealer see what work was
done on it, if it was taken to another BMW dealer just prior to
being sold by the previous owner? If by some miracle he could
find a service ticket somewhere that shows it was diagnosed and
the owner knew this car was about to blow up, that would be a
whole new angle.

Was the MB dealer competent? Was the OP competent? Are you competent? is anyone competent that has posted in this thread?

Given that you don't even know that a BMW dealer can see information about the car...yes, the dealer has access to information that could show if the previous owner knew there was an issue. The BMW dealer does not need to release that information and BMW NA has strict "policies" on that information. The previous owner could have used an independent shop to get it services outside of the warranty and that would not show in any service record.

I also disagree with the whole new angle bit. The OP bought a used vehicle and many states, a used car is sold AS IS. In most states the lemon law does not apply on used vehicles. There are some exceptions though and a used vehicle that comes with a warranty might be able to use the lemon law. The OP did say it was in the shop quite a bit. Was it 30 days of that 60-day period? If so, I'd probably push to try to get it covered under the lemon law. Once again though, an attorney will be required as this is a used vehicle and the law might make it quite clear that warranty or not, it was a used a vehicle and cannot be claimed under the lemon law.