New member

[Adsh]

Good morning,

I am a new BMW owner, I have just bought an X5 2004. Lovely car to drive however it needs a bit of work. Sadly some of it is electrical so a bit of a nightmare as I  have anything with wires!

I am based in Dorset

[Bimmer Owners Club]

Hi Adam....welcome to the Forum

Sounds like you have a bit of a project to contend with....Dave (GreyDog) is the expert on X5's so I'm sure he can guide you in the right direction.

But throw a few problems out there and we may know some of the answers

Good to have you onboard

Cheers,  Trevor

 

[Greydog]

Morning Adam

Welcome to the Forum, congratulations on your new (to you) X5. Mechanically most jobs can be carried out by a reasonably competent home mechanic, get yourself some diagnostic kit if you don't have it already. Something BMW specific as it will help greatly, I use BMW 1.4.0 cheap to buy and works well but you will need a laptop to run it. There is also INPA, Carly (which will run on a mobile phone)  Is yours a Petrol or Diesel model?

I also use www.realoem.com a BMW specif parts list it will give simple exploded drawings and OEM part numbers useful when buying bits from other sources. 

The X5 is a power hungry beast and battery's suffer if they have been parked up or used for short journey's. I would check the age of the battery (there is a label on the battery) a bit of a faff as it is buried in the boot under the spare and suspension compressor. A lot of electrical gremlins are as a result of a low charge or dying battery. I use a Ctek battery charger a few times a year on the regen setting to keep the battery in good health.

Good Luck and Enjoy the X5

Dave

[Adsh]

Thanks for the replies and apologies for not replying sooner. I have a diesel 3.0

I have a list of jobs for the car off the top of my head:

Sort in car DVD player, it came with two headrest TV's 1 is working and the DVD player does not appear to have power.

Source a new CD/DVD Sat nav as the original one has a damaged screen

Same as above for the aircon unit, seems to be a common problem

today I am doing an oil change, replacing the entire rear wiper as it does not touch the window, polishing up the headlights as they are cloudy, new brake lights and 2 new badges assuming the tape arrives today. It is also booked in with my mechanic to give it a once over he also owns an X5 so it seemed like a logical idea to have him check it all over

 

[Bimmer Owners Club]

Plenty of work to keep you busy today then!

Let us know how it all goes

[Greydog]

Assuming (dangerous I know) that your headunit is OEM then it is just the headunit you need or if you can source one just the screen they can be changed and there are how too's on You tube etc.

Aircon is another issue BMW have made the system in my opinion is horribly over complicated, simple thing first try getting it vac down and tested for leaks then re-gassed.  If it is  gassed and not running it could be one of the sensors or the pusher fan on the front of the rad or the control panel in the dash. If it is the whole aircon/heating system not working look at the FSR (final stage resistor) 

Hope this helps

Dave

[Adsh]

A rather successful weekend of getting things done, changed out a few consumables (air filter, oil, oil filter, wipers and coolant) the car does not really have a history so I don't know if its all required but no harm in doing it. Mechanic looked at the car and all it needs is a new tyre and some rear pads, which the garage I brought it from are doing anyway.

Replaced the front badge which was a bit of a pain as the one I bought was not a perfect fit, but its in and thats what matters!

Still, have all the electrical bits to do firstly I think replacing the head unit. I am leaning towards an android double din (I have an android phone so the mirror link would be handy) though none of the brands are reputable and I am worried they are substandard ones, would also like to get a reversing camera got quoted £250 just to fit a head unit!

the air con has a broken screen its not a massive issue but it would be handy to see what settings are there so I guess I need a replacement display?

All in all loving the car, getting far more MPG than I thought 

[Greydog]

Yay well done Adam glad you got so much done as it was  rubbish weekend weather wise here. If you have the OEM Navigation setup screen up front nav CD etc in the rear side cubby BM54 under the floor then changing over will need a 5m extension lead to run from the boot to the front. I did this on my 4.4 I brought a Dynavin headunit and extension lead (then about £500) fitting was straight forward if a bit fiddly. Before running the extension lead I added a radio aerial extension and a GPS antenna extension then fed it through the passenger side at floor level, not difficult just take your time. Remove the head unit (how too's on the net) and fitted the dynavin designed to look OEM. Connect the Quadlock in the boot and the two antenna leads and switch on great unit and I recovered the cost by selling my headunit Nav, CD and blue tooth units on the well known auction site. 

Dave

[Adsh]

It was ok Friday, work in engineering so work is done by 12 usually. Dorset was a nightmare sat and sun though!

I am not confident with electronics which is why I might have to pay for it, I like it all to look neat and hidden 😞

I was thinking of trying to clear out the cubby holes for other bits and pieces so removing the DVD would be ideal 

[Bimmer Owners Club]

Adsh   I assume when you mean Dorset was a nightmare....you mean the Spur Road congestion? 
Absolute nightmare trying to get anywhere nowadays!

[Greydog]

Running the cable from the rear is a surprisingly simple job just a case of taking it easy so you don't damage any trim, it is then plug and play. There is a route already for the loom along the sill beneath the doors then under the passenger seat at the carpet join under the centre console and up to the back of the headunit. It took me a morning with plenty of tea and biscuit breaks all hidden and looks like OEM. I used a wireless camera powered by a single wire from the reverse light this was the fiddliest bit to feed through then a wireless receiver attached to the headunit all worked really well. 

The new Dynavin units are android so you will get all you want and you should get a good chunk back selling the old stuff the space you gain in the cubby is quite surprising 

[Adsh]

16 hours ago, Bimmer Owners Club said:

Adsh   I assume when you mean Dorset was a nightmare....you mean the Spur Road congestion? 
Absolute nightmare trying to get anywhere nowadays!

I stay far far away from that area! I live in Wareham so luckily I get to avoid all of that the only problem is the roadworks on Holes Bay Road and people not knowing what lane to be in! Luckily I commute on a motorbike so most of it is negated

 

I am not sure what head unit to get just yet I don't want to spend too much and prob will be on the back burner until January. I keep checking eBay for second-hand pioneer etc might get lucky! 

[Bimmer Owners Club]

On 12/4/2018 at 8:19 AM, Adsh said:

I stay far far away from that area! I live in Wareham so luckily I get to avoid all of that the only problem is the roadworks on Holes Bay Road and people not knowing what lane to be in! Luckily I commute on a motorbike so most of it is negated

 

Unfortunately, I'm subjected to the Spur Road for my daily commute to Bournemouth but also ride a motorbike to jump the horrendous queues 🙂

[Adsh]

Apologies for the late reply been doing festive things with the kids so not had a chance to do anything car related :(

My next mission is to sort out the headlights they are in a right state, I need to get the orbital out and hopefully a good polish will sort them out! I need to replace all the bulbs in them as well as they are weak and nearly useless! 

Something new I have noticed though is pressing the DSC button gives me the 4x4 warning light I am doing some digging today to find out what it could be, does anyone here know what it could be?

[Bimmer Owners Club]

It's definitely that time of year again...:-)

Upgraded bulbs are always a positive modification...Philips do a good range of enhanced lighting

Not sure if I'm understanding you correctly but if you press the DSC light it should invoke the 4 wheel drive to ensure stability is maintained but not taking full control of the vehicle...e.g if going off-road for example, where you wouldn't want the DSC taking over?

Good luck with the work on the X5 in this chilly weather

[Adsh]

Attached is the light that comes on, I had read it was an error? Or is it just telling me 4x4 is on lol 🙂

[Bimmer Owners Club]

I think its just informing you of the change in drive status

[Adsh]

that's good news! Serves me right for relying on Google I suppose :)

When I picked the car up the light was on for a few days then went off so I thought it was a problem!

[Greydog]

Not sure what you are asking here Adam? Does the light come on and go off with pushes of the DSC button? When the light is on your 4 wheel drive system is compromised a bit like traction control off on a 2 wheel drive car.

The light on can be caused by a lot of things unfortunately, ABS fault, Transfer case issue, Steering angle sensor to name a few. You need the codes read to be sure of exactly what the issue is or in fact if there is one at all.

Dave

[Adsh]

It only comes on when DSC is pushed. Previously it was on all the time but i changed a tyre and the rear pads and its gone away, unless DSC is pressed

Also, I am wondering if anyone can help me with EGR delete? I found a kit Link is it worth doing? watched a quick video and it seems simple enough to do though I am wondering if it will require a remap

[Bimmer Owners Club]

I have blanked off EGR valves before and never had the need to remap the ECU.

However, try to look for a blanking plate with a small hole in the middle which lets through enough gas to keep the engine management happy and trigger the light.