Hydraulic lift mechanism for trunk floor on 2010's
 

Have any of you checked if you have the hydraulic shock which holds the trunk floor elevated when opened?

Here's where this is coming from... A while back there was a thread about the fact that some folks noticed that the mechanism was missing from their cars on delivery. After further checking apparently it came on some cars and it didn't on others, no rime or reason was determined. This was few months ago if I am not mistaken (sorry have not bothered to try and find the thread again), so I assume this was on new 2009 X5s... Now come the 2010s... aaaand remembering this issue I have asked my sales guy to check the car for this since I am picking it up tomorrow and wanted to have this resolved if it became an issue. Well... he says that he checked the car and it doesn't have the mechanism. There are mounting points for it just as the folks reported in the past, but no shock. He also checked 10 other X5s he happened to have on the lot and says that none of the 2010s have that. X6s he says do, but not X5s. He went as far as to check w/Service and Parts to see if there is a bulletin or something on this but apparently there isn't. Parts dept is still checking for the parts since the part itself was, as I remember from the thread, in the $60 range and I want to get it done one way or another.

Question to any of you w/2010s received - have you checked if you have this mechanism and if not could you?

Thanks!

spacey :D

I check upon delivery and our 2010 didn't have it. I guess it is just one of BMW's cost saving measures.

Yes, It does look like that. My sales guy said that Service told him that BMW stopped installing those on 2010s. I just want to make sure that they aren't selective about it ;) ... because if they were I could have an argument for them to cover the cost.

spacey :D

hummm, that's interesting...

does not having it make a real difference? does it fall back on you?

i have an 08 with it and really like the idea of having it stay up while i go back and forth getting tools and stuff...

not a major pain in the rear but a nice to have...

i am also trading her in for a 2010 model...

hummm, maybe i can "transfer" it to the other vehicle ;)

Actually here are the part #s and prices along w/site you can get them from (Tischer BMW in MD). Or your dealer can get them but the total list is $73 and change I think.

51-47-9-149-120 strut $37.86
51-47-9-138-212 plate $6.12
07-12-9-903-027 screws $0.96
----------------------------------
TOTAL $44.94

You can look them up here: http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=searchCatalogOEM&siteid=214672

spacey :D

How quickly they forget. :banghead:

Don't worry your pretty little head a moment longer. Funf Dreisig AG has a Special Edition Carbon Fiber ///M model of our "must have" X5 Cargo Bay Prop for Dummies with your name on it. :rolleyes:

Funf Dreisig AG

p.s. Funf Dreisig AG is working feverishly to develop a medication for Alzheimer in BMW owners. But we are mildly concerned about their ability to remember to take their meds and seriously concerned about them remembering to pay their bills.

My parts got here today, best $50 I've spent yet! Since I keep all my trailer stuff, including spare bulbs, in the trunk(?) this was a must have. Installation time: 5 minutes if you go slow.

BTW, you need 4 screws but I wouldn't get the BMW ones unless your a purist and have the right size torx driver, which I did but couldn't find 3 more screws locally. I went to Lowes and bought 4 x M6-1.00x16 hex (as in allen not hex heads) screws and washers from the hardware isle and called it good.

Also did mudflaps today but don't want to derail the thread.

Tim

Tim,

Can you post pics of where it went? I have a third row, and think my "trunk floor" is a bit smaller than yours...but still want to see if those parts would fit mine as well.

Tim

Here ya go:

Thanks! Mine is about half that size, so that wouldn't work.

How do you like the grocery grippers? My wife was thinking of getting them...

Tim

A bit of a disappointment as you have to lean WAY in to get to them. If your wife is petite she may not even reach them. I'm 5'8" and it's an uncomfortable stretch. I don't regret installing them (drilling required) just not as practical as I had initially thought.

Tim

Tim,

I got the parts the other day as well and would have installed it in like you said 5 min if you go slow... but... the spring / pressurized gas strut I got seems to be stuck! It doesn't want to go in/out at all... Is there something you need to press, turn or do to make the telescoping action start working? I don't want to apply too much force because I am afraid it's going to break, even though it does look pretty sturdy. How did your shock behave when you got it, did it telescope in/out w/no problem?

spacey :D

Not by hand but once I installed it all was well.

Tim

Ok, I thought that might be the case as well, but the thing is too short for me to install w/the floor elevated which is obviously required unless I become the spare wheel... So... you didn't have to move the strut out at all and it was long/extended enough that you were able to install w/the floor up?

One other thing... there is an arrow on the strut and it say's "Front" to where it points... I noticed from you picture that you had it actually pointing back - to the rear of the car... how did you interpret the "Front" arrow? I thought for a while and decided that "Front" must mean the front of the car... but I am not sure it would matter.

spacey :confused:

Mine was not collapsed when I got it, you might want to send that one back.

Ya, I struggled with the front arrow and was too lazy to look for pictures online. Maybe someone will chime in and tell us which way it goes.

Tim

Here it is, number 14 - your guess is as good as mine :dunno:

Does it have something to do with the spare tire option, ie. If you get the spare, you get the mechanism to keep it open. But if you do not get the spare, there is no real reason to keep it open for a long amount of time (to change a spare, you need a few more seconds to get the spare out...)

Just a thought....don't know if this was discussed yet.

I have the mechanism, and a spare.

I've got the spare and no mechanism.

October production.


When was yours produced? Common thought is that its removal is a cost reduction and that they simply stopped installing them after a certain date.

Kyzr

Which way is your strut installed? Chrome shaft pointing towards the front of the vehicle or back?

Thx

Tim

I was built week of Oct 23............with spare....without lift...........

July 2007.

um...echem...you mean KYZRSOSE? :stickpoke :D

See pic for installation from the factory.

I got the spare and no lift strut on a new 2010 I picked up 11/21. Was told by my sales guy who checked all the other 5 or 10 2010s he said he had on the lot and none of them had the strut. Service according to him, after some checking said that it came on 2008s, not sure about 2009s and it does come on X6s now too.

spacey :confused:

Thanks for the factory install pics, they unquestionably show which way the strut should be put in. I guess the arrow does really mean the front of the car.

And BTW, my strut is definitely messed up, I did manage to put it in w/the bracket attached by a single screw and when tried lifiting the gate a bit higher to see if that will uncompress it, it broke the ball joint seat on the strut clean off in half. That part is plastic w/a metal compression piece to hold the ball joint in place. The guy I bought it from (Tischer) suggested I go to a local dealer and warranty the part (he says BMW has 2yrs warranty on all the parts). Geez... I wonder how many backflips I am going to have to do to make that happen... since I didn't pay them $500 to install it.

spacey :confused:

Yes, that was what I meant :D

Thanks for the pics, gonna go swap mine.

Tim

Ok, the whole $50 / 5 min thing is turning out to be a multi hour effort for me. I got a local dealer to warranty the part, were very nice about it actually, but of course they didn't have it in stock, so they had to order it, and then I am going to have to go in again to pick it up or pay $12 for shipping... man...! Should have paid $75 or so for the selling dealer to just install it.

What you get for cheaping out some times...

spacey :rolleyes:

Glad to hear they didn't give you a hard time. You'll be glad when it's done, it's really worth the time/effort.

Tim

Hi Tim-atl, do the screws screw into something in the lid or do they go through the other side and under the carpet?

Thanks for taking the time to provide the details on this. I have an 09 X5 and it is frustrating to not have it in there. I honestly can't believe that BMW would choose to remove it from a cargo floor lid! Makes no sense at all.

The holes (on my vehicle at least) were already there on the underside of the lid.

Tim

:iagree:The bolts that attach the rear bracket fit into captured nuts embedded in the underside of the cargo bay floor board. On our 2009 35d these 4 'holes' were circled with a white maker. You can't miss them.

Funf Dreisig

Hello forum friends,

I am wondeirng if anyone reading this lives near Tischer BMW. I got pricing from them and although they used to ship to Canada, BMW USA will not allow them to any longer. Wondering if I could ask one of you to get the parts I need from them and ship to me US Post. It would have to be someone local to that dealership, otherwise multiple shipping points will not make sense. I will pay up front of course.

Evan was the guy I was dealing with at getbmwparts.com

hydraulic lift
 

mine arrived today and it has the hydraulic lift (european 2010 model)

I have a call into BMW Canada. I am going to find out what the heck is going on with this. It is a cargo area with a lid and it requires that part. It seems that only in North America is this an issue. I suggest all forum members that think this is wrong, call BMW and raise the issue.

I can't imagine trying to load the rear of the X is the rear hatch didn't stay open, or filling the washer fluid if the hood didn't stay up - this issue is no different.

If we want the part, then we will have to make a stink about it.

Good comparison... even on the cheap cars that do not have gas cylinders for the hood, they at least provide a prop rod. If BMW wanted to save money, they should have simply replaced the gas cylinder with at least a prop rod.

Here is what I have so far:

Dear XXXX,

Thank you very much for contacting BMW Canada.

Certainly we can discuss your concerns with our Product Planning Department and would then be more then glad to have a conversation with you. If you could provide the best number to contact you, it would truly be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Matthew
Customer Interaction Specialist
BMW Canada Inc

Good job, Kirkinner,
Keep us posted. I will complain to them as well as soon as I find a free moment

I just asked the service manager how they expected me to hold up the panel and loosen/pull out the spare tire at the same time and they quickly installed one.... :D Plus they still had a stripped down base diesel that had the shock so they really couldn't argue.

Just wanted to share how my story ended w/the broken GP strut for the lift. As you may recall/re-read some messages back in this thread, my strut was messed up and when I installed it and attempted to move the flap/deck it popped / broke half of one of the plastic ends of the strut which seemed stuck/too hard to move. Went to the dealer (BMW of Fairfax) on thursday explained the story and they said they will warranty the part and ordered it. For the record, the part was purchased mail order from Tischer BMW in MD. So... I was pleased, even though I had to go in and wasted couple of hours the experience was OK and I was getting somewhere. The part was suppose to come in on Sat or Mon. So far so good, I could wait. There was stipulation that the part release order/paperwork will have to come from as service advisor to the parts dept because according to the "rules" the part has to be on the car/installed by service but there were no overt signs of peril. Things looked good.

Monday AM, I get a call that the part is in and I can come in whenever to get it. Ok, I am going in... I get there and go to parts saying that I am here and ask what do we need to do so they can give me the part. Parts guy says go talk to the service advisor to send him the paperwork ok'ing the part release. Ok, I go to the advisor, say hello and tell her the situation. She says ok, give me few min I'll need to gen the paperwork and will grab you when its all done... fair enough I go drink some cappucinos and sit in a 328i convertible and browse accessories and parts catalogs to kill time... 30 min later I go back to see her and jog memory that I am still around... I am sent waiting for few mor min ... fine I go back to play w/the 3... 5 min later she comes back and says she is very sorry but her manager is refusing to ok the part release... I am speachless... and mumble something pissed under my nose and walk off... upon reaching the car I decide that I have nothing to loose and go back and ask to see the mgr... fine, the mngr comes and says that she spoke w/the parts manager who says the part is not warratable... I am boiling at this point but try to remain civil to see how far I will get... I ask for the parts manager... after 15 min the parts manager comes out to talk to me and says that the part is not warrantable beacuse its broken and not on the car... I tell him that the part broke when installed in the car and I took it off to bring it in and show. I can put it back on the car if he'd like. Then he says that it still won't be warrantied because the plastic is broken. I look at him and am not sure if the man is joking or serious... but he appears to be maintaining a straight face ... ok I proceed to acknowledge that indeed it is and that is precisely why I would like it warrantied...

This conversation continued for about 20 min in a similar manner. All angles were explored and then some, including that how does he know if BMW did not intentially stop installing the parts on 2010s because loading is different and they may have started having problems and so on and so forth... also whether I have the correct car... how come it doesn't come w/the car etc... finally I think I have exhaused all of the the man's avenues of avoidance... or simply tired him out... but he was very resilient and had great self control even when making completely contradicting ridiculously idiotic statements and never cracked a smile... he did look away few times when it seemed he said something particularly stupid but that's as far as I was able to get him to crack...

As I said finally after about 20 min or so they guy just says hold on, takes the broken part and walks off into his office around the corner... comes back out 15 min later and hands me the new part and says ok ... I will try to get BMW to warranty it. I thank the man and walk away not sure what just happened...

So... total time wasted on warrantying a $44,- part w/BMW of Fairfax? about 5 hrs. This times $(insert your hourly rate here) minus $44,- will give you the actual cost you'd pay for dealing w/those people. And that does not include my nerves and disappointment resulting from unfulfilled fantasy of having that man tied down to a desk and pulling his nose hairs one by one w/tweezers for several hours.

Lets see ... if they call me w/a satisfaction survey about my most recent service experience I don't think I'll be showering them w/5s... but somehow I don't think I will get the call this one time...

The service experience roughly matches my experience when I attempted to give them my business/buy the X from them. Really tried, talked to several people... nope... they just did everything to screw it up.

You know... I am really not a mean person. I don't wish anyone to loose their job/go out of business or just anything bad in general... but in their case... I just don't know how the hell they exist... the area must be more loaded than I thought and people must just come by and drop cash on them not caring how much they are overpaying for bad service.

spacey :yikes:

BUT.... on a positive note, the strut and my newly enabled trunk floor rock now! As everyone else said, it REALLY makes a difference. :D

Wow, sorry to hear about the stress, happy to hear it's in and you're happy.

This almost sounds like something that would happen to me ;-) I think my karma is on the upswing though, I took my other car (a non BMW) in to the dealer early this week with a laundry list of stuff to take care of before the warranty expires in 7k miles and they fixed everything.

Tim

I suspect you might have had an easier experience if you had bought the part from them.

Update from BMW:

Dear Mr. XXXX,

Thank you very much for your response.

Our Product Planning team is looking into your concerns and should have us some information shortly. As soon as we hear back we will be in contact with you immediately.

Sincerely,
Matthew
Customer Interaction Specialist
BMW Canada Inc.

The ball is still in motion, however I suggest that all of you who are annoyed by the deletion of this important component, get on the phone or email BMW. The more noise we make may help in a speedy, satisfactory resolution for all.

You forgot to add the $$ value of the satisfaction you got when you defeated the evil empire! Good for you! show us a picture of the set up. I need one of these. It's impossible for one person to lift the floor and put heavy stuff in it while holding the floor up.

Your perseverance gives me renewed determination to get them to cover my iPod cable.

Armand - thanks for the support! Please see the first few pages of this thread, there are some good pictures posted.

standart (inclusive) in all European spec cars ever since E70, or at least 2008 :)

Update - the ball is still in play and I am awaiting a word back from BMW Corporate (Canada). They advised me yesterday that this matter is now before their Product Planning Department.

Again, I urge any of you that care about this, to email or call BMW Corporate and be heard.

We have established (or so it seems anyway), that only North American destined vehicles are not getting the cargo door lift.

Update - Spoke to Matthew at BMW Canada, and he advised me that the strut to hold the cargo door open was deleted because improvements have been made elsewhere on the vehicle. HUH?!?!?

They will not cover the part and suggested that I buy it. I asked why is the part removed on North American X5's and all other countries will still have it. He didn't know.

He is going to contact the dealership and see if they will cover the part and install it.

It baffles me as to why it was removed in the first place!

Again, if you want this part, contact BMW and let them know!

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays everyone.

I bought the bracket from my local dealer and got the gas strut from a local auto parts store for $13.99 so in all the mod that should have been on there from the jump cost me $28.00

Excellent! If I can't get a resolution, I will do it your way. What is the part number of the strut you bought and which store please?

I still think BMW owner's should make a fuss about this.

Local store was AutoZone not too sure if they have one in Canada, but I will get the part number tonight for you. The strut is a little longer than the BMW one but it works perfect. (A buddy had a 07 X5 that had the strut in place, that what I used to match it up with at the auto parts store.

Fantastic - thank you!

If you have a picture of it installed, that would be helpful as well.

Thanks

Yes, please provide part number. Likely much cheaper to just buy bracket.

-jr

Update - BMW Corporate is unwilling to do anything. I suppose if they did, they would be admitting that it was a dumb idea to remove it. I am disappointed in BMW.

I suggest taking it up with your saleperson and seeing what can be done. I am working on it and hope that the dealership will hep me out with this.

Merry Christmas!

Sorry about how long it took to get the pics up its been raining like crazy!

Any ways the AutoZone Part # is 4554 for the gas strut cost me $13.99

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7418/img0180du.jpg

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/3521/img0181cr.jpg

Thank you very much for taking the time to get us the info!

Merry Christmas

Cargo Cover Spare Tire Cover Lift
 

If anyone's interested, I'm selling lift support kits for the X5 spare tire cover/cargo storage cover. Some folks on the thread located here 2011 x5 35d Cargo cover lift shock installation - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums report the 4554 they got at Autozone is too long at 18+" extended.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=200632398078

https://picasaweb.google.com/1017742...eat=directlink