X5 D lack of power

[Suchy1977]

Hi all,

I recently bought a 2003 X5 Diesel, its got fsh and has been looked after. When I drive it around just at a steady pace all is fine but when it comes to putting foot down to over take anything the engine revs like mad BUT there is NO power what so ever it takes ages to over take anything. There is no smoke out the back to suggest a blown turbo BUT the serious lack of power suggests to me that the turbo isnt working. Ive had it plugged in to a snap-on solus pro and thats saying no faults? Also the waste gate is operational am told by the scanner guy. The guy I bought the car off says these X5 are really rubbish acceleration and thats just how they are. Any help would be much appreciated 

[Greydog]

Morning Shane 

I don't know where/who you brought your X5 from (Trade I hope) but the 184hp 3.0 Diesel produces over 400 nm of torque most of it low down the rev range and they are no slouches, torque is what accelerates the car. Also what are you comparing it too? As an example I have the 4.6is X5 which has been breathed on and has close to 400hp and enough go in any gear to embarrass a lot of much newer sports cars but not much more torque than yours, yet compared with my wifes Subaru Outback (Perrin 3.0 twin turbo engine upgrade) it feels slow. The Subaru has more power and weighs less, a lot less so is really quick, Your car should reach 60 from rest in about 8.5 secs with strong mid range on kick down.

By your description that "the engine revs like mad but no go" are you sure it isn't the gearbox at fault, have you tried the gearbox in all 3 modes? Lock up clutches in the torque converter would be my thought, you need a gearbox specialist with Autologic software to check the box for faults, As you say it's a recent purchase I would be talking to the seller to see if they will help with cost, or fix it, even give your money back. A full gearbox refurb I would think will be in the region of £2500 minimum so not cheap. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news I hope I am wrong.

Good Luck

Dave

 

[Suchy1977]

Hi when saying its slow its even hard to get it upto 60mph of a downwards slope onto a motorway! A few ppl have said to get the auto gbox checked which is my next step it has recently had a gbox service am told? Im going to take it to a bmw specialist near me for a check over. Thanks for the reply i will keep you updated as to what the problem was. Ps it was a private sale and he insists that x5 are just crap acceleration 🤯

[Suchy1977]

Hi greydog,

I had a good look to see if i could see anything obvious and found 2 pipes not connected to anything! Plz see pics one go's into the top of the gearbox and the other seems to come from the front axle? Could either of these be the problem?

Thanks for the reply aswell 

[Greydog]

Morning

I don't have a diesel but I think these will be breather pipes check www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will bring up your model then search gearbox and front diff to see where the breather pipes are.

Sadly I think whoever you brought it from was telling massive porkies to get rid of the car. A 184hp 3.0d in standard form could reach 60 from rest in around 8.5sec, 50 to 80 should be around 7 secs so as I said no slouch if you have the 218hp engine obviously things will be quicker. Both engines can be ecu tuned to give quite large increases in power and torque.

If who ever you brought it from did a service themselves and used the wrong fluid the box could be toast I am afraid, If they didn't follow the correct filling procedure and the box is low on fluid or overfilled damage can occur. My suspicion would be he was having gearbox issues and rather than get it fixed he did a fluid change hoping it would somehow magically fix things?? 

Unfortunately you are now in the difficult position of deciding what to do, do you spend money on a gearbox refurb? do you try to sell as is to recover some money?  I would talk to citizens advice to get some legal advice about where you stand with this.

Good Luck

Dave

[teknix]

Hi i had a similar problem my recently purchased x5 3L diesel sport seemed very 

sluggish on inspection i found under the engine front cover a vacuum pipe had 

worn away on the underside and had a hole in it. it comes from the servo vacuum

pump pipe to a vacuum tank on the drivers side then to the turbo boost valve.

i replaced the pipe and wow what a change in performance amazing from

such a little pipe.