2007 X5 Leak
 

Woke up this morning and noticed there's a puddle of dark fluid under the middle of my 2007 X5 3.0. It's CPO with about 55,000+ miles. I have not driven it for about the past 9 days (front brakes are due in only 180 more miles). Will have brakes done tomorrow (not by dealer but certified repair shop, $300 cheaper)...

Any ideas of what this leak is? The fluid is dark, not real oily, but slightly, no odor. The weather has recently changed from highs in the 80's last week, to the low's in the 50's this week (if that even matters). Could it be some type of sensor malfunction? Transmission fluid? Brake fluid?? I started it this morning to see if a service message would pop up, it didn't and when I checked, all systems were green, except the front brakes of course:D

I'm sure the repair shop can identify the source of the leak on tomorrow. I guess if it's something major, it would stilll be covered by the dealer under the CPO warranty up to $100,000 miles/6 years?

Thanks in advance!

Over 100 views but not even 1 guess????

Well, the dealership finally diagnosed and called me today... The leak was transmission fluid...the transmission sleeve is leaking.

Now, what in the heck is a transmission sleeve?!?!? YAY, the repair is covered under CPO warranty though, my deductible is $50.

It's really hard to guess at which fluids are leaking and why--could be anything really. But, bottom line it's covered by CPO.

Common leak from the mechatronic sleeve in the transmission case.

STILL LEAKING!!!
 

I guess I was too vague in my question and should have asked about common leaks.

Picked up the truck yesterday, paperwork says they replaced the sealing sleeve, pan gasket, and plug, refilled to proper level.

:wow:Well low and behold, when I backed out today, there's more leaked fluid!!!

I'm headed back to the dealership first thing in the morning. :(

Sorry to hear.

They may give you the "Oh, that is just residual fluid still dripping"...if they do, say "I want it logged in on a new work order with a written request to clean the engine and transmission so the residual fluid will not continue to leak."

I did see the initial post, but the 'not really oily' comment threw me off. ATF is oily, and should have some smell.

Keep us posted.

A

Thanks so much for the reply...The work order also states "cleaned the engine, test drove, no more leaks at this time"

So should I ask them to clean it again, if they say it's just residual fluid?

Well, the work order kind of traps them a bit...if they say it is residual, then they really didn't clean the engine, did they?

How much is leaking?

I mean you need to bring it back of course.... stress with them that you understand sometimes this kind of thing happens, but having to return a car that was purportedly just repaired and tested is really unacceptable. You'll chalk this up to bad luck, but the issue really MUST be addressed completely and totally- and they should keep the car as long as they need to ensure that happens- with you in a nice loaner too.

GL

A

Back from delearship. The service guy was in disbelief that there was still a leak, but he really couldn't say much more after I showed him the pictures I took and actually a video showing two drops of fluid falling within about 8 seconds of each other.

They gave me another 2011 328i loaner. As I was driving back home, the service guy called back saying the shop guy asked questions about possible air conditioning condensation being mixed with residual fluid. I stressed that was not possible. I referred back to my video and told him how I let one of the drops drip in my hand, it was pure oily fluid, not mixed with water. He replied "we'll fix it". We'll see

I'll update once I know more.....

I had a similar problem with our X5 a month ago..initially I suspected it was the transmission leaked but turned out to be a faulty PCV valve which caused abnormally high internal pressures forcing oil past gaskets and seals.

hope this helps.

Is it possible that the any drips now are coming from the frame or residual areas holding fluid from the original leak? The description above sounds like where a dip stick tube may go into the tranny. That should be fixable unless maybe the tube itself is warped and doesn't fit its area well.... Just a guess though...

I haven't seen any new leaks since picking it up yesterday afternoon. They said the pan should have been replaced when the pan gasket, sleeve and plug were replaced, but due to restrictions with the CPO warranty, they couldn't do it until after I discovered there was still a leak.

So hopefully it's fully repaired now.... If not, I'll keep you posted

Thanks for all the input!

What is a certified repair shop? Where did you find it?

Good to hear.

But let me comment.... :D... If they truly thought the pan 'should have been replaced' they ABSOLUTELY should have stated it was leaking or otherwise stated evidence that would support it's replacement.

GOOD SAs do this ALL THE TIME. You'll see "customer states wipers smearing" when you never said that- they do this to force BMWNA to do the warranty repair.

In this case they could have said- (this would be stupid) "replaced the seal, still leaking, needed to replace the pan". Smart SAs and Techs will simply do the job once and figure out how to justify it for BMWNA...

IMO, they just blew it, either technically or in how their 'warranty agent' managed your repair (Many dealers have one person who's sole job is to babysit all warranty claims...the SA and tech do the work, the claims guy makes sure someone is paying and/or gets what hey need to pay the claim.)

Part of a dealer's job is to protect you from the nonsense of BMW and claims- like making sausage, you don't want to see what goes into it, just want the car back fixed. At the end of the day, the smart dealer recognizes it is zero skin off their nose- BMW picks up the tab- and it makes them look great in your eyes. Heck, they pick BMWs pocket a bit (within reason) and give it to you- and you give them 5s, rave about your SA and buy new BMWs when you need a new car.

A dealer blaming "BMW Corp and the CPO warranty" is just passing the buck to someone who cannot defend themselves, and most customers are more than willing to beleive they are evil/incompetent.

Just my 3 cents

A

I TOTALLY agree A, and I let my service rep know how ridiculous that sounded and how dissatisfied I am. Also when I went to the other shop for the brakes (I found them from a link on this site), they told me that I didn't have a key for my tires. I have had 1 tire replaced under my tire warranty thru the delearship, so I told the service rep during this visit that maybe my key wasn't replaced and I need one now.

Now I didn't know anything about a key for the tires, so I don't if it was in the toolbox when I bought the truck or not. I feel that it should have been since the truck is CPO. The service guy said I had to order a new one because neither of know if it was there or not.

Again, I stressed my dissatisfaction (knowing he's expecting a good survey review), but he tried to say my sales rep should cover the cost of a new key (again placing blame). The guy at the parts desk even tried to get him to just ask the shop for key instead of ordering one. He finally had the guy order the part stating he would get the sales rep to cover the cost. It's only $20, but it's the principal....

He called back later that day saying he ordered me 4 new locks (I'm missing 2 because the shop that did the brakes destroyed them) and a new key, no charge, and since he's taking care of me, I should take care of him on the survey.

I haven't noticed anymore leaks, but there's a strong smell when I get out of the truck. Smells like burning oil or something....Should I be concerned or is this some residual effect? I'm planning a roadtrip to VA on Sunday.

Probably just residual stuff from the leak or from the cleaning...should burn off.

I had an oil disaster on another car (don't ask) and it was weeks before it cleared up.

I was going to say, they can get the locks off with just hammering an old socket onto them...heck, most tire stores do this all the time.

I do assume you looked in every nook and cranny for the key, right? Glove box, etc, etc?

Sounds like you're back on track...

A

Ok, I'll just keep monitoring the odor...

The shop that did the brakes actually hammered an old socket on the locks to get them off, but they also had to chisel down some of it in order for the socket to attach and stay on... that's what I meant by saying "they destroyed 2 of them"..... During this process they destroyed my passenger side front rim :(

I called them today and they state it can be repaired, although I don't see how, (but what do I know). The good thing is they have acknowledged the problem and agreed to have it repaired.

Yep, we looked everywhere for the lock...no dice...

If you are in the northern Atlanta area, I would recommend either German Car Repair or Harrison Motorsports, both in the Roswell/Alpharetta area, for all your needs. BTW, which dealer did you take your X5 to?

Thanks for the referrals.

I used Bavarian Imports for the brakes...

Global Imports/Atlanta BMW delearship

I just had this issue as well. If you do a google seach for "Mechatronic sealing sleeve" there are tons of threads about this including at BMW / ZF service bulletin. Apparently BMW nor ZF are capable of producing quality. (for search purposes AKA as "valve body" or "valve bodies")

Mine has 52k on it, was parked during thanksgiving week came out to a 4 inch in diameter puddle of fluid on the ground. Brownish tint but fairly clear, no noticable odor. Took it in today they replace the sleeve and noticed the oil filter housing had some seepage as well.

Warranty work I signed off on was $561 covered under a $50 deductible. All in all the I'm very pleased by the dealerships service, I'm skeptical about owning a BMW w/o a warranty though. Seals should not fail in 4 years or 52k, especially to the magnitude of what BMW and ZF have experienced. It appears that EVERY model that uses a ZF transmission has this problem. That's a manufacturing DEFECT and should be covered regardless of warranty up to a certain threshold of time/mileage. The only fluid my 9 year old Nissan dropped was when I did a lousy job dropping the oil filter and did a lazy job cleaning up the suspension cross member where it would pool.

Steps off soap box!!!