Greydog

Looking at realoem the 3.0 and 4.4 have the same disc/caliper size and set up you need to go to the 4.6 or 4.8 to get bigger discs and calipers. You have 19" wheels which will fit fine with bigger setups but remember your spare is 17" (or should be) not a major issue until your miles from home and need it. 18" spare wheels come up fairly frequently on Ebay for not a lot of money.

I believe your right from what I have read it uses ambient and engine temperature to decide if it needs to fire up.

Dont panic it's BMW's way of checking your heart rate the warning lights are probably ABS and 4x4 drive forward and go lock to lock that normally resets those after battery change. The indicator is a fail safe in case you loose side lights. I would check the fuses and the side lamp bulb. I am not sure what you are seeing under the cover by the battery there should be the radio BM54 it will have a large square quadlock connector and the radio antenna the small unit with 3 connectors is (or should be) the PDC (park Distance Control) on the right of the battery should be the TV Video module with 2 antenna connections and 2 connectors 1 blue 1 white. The Sat Nav is in the left cubby with the CD changer the telephone/blue tooth if fitted is below these two I will try and take some pictures of mine tomorrow

Have a look on BMWvin.com last 7 digits of your vin that will tell you what was ordered The loom will be there but the connectors will be taped up if it wasn't fitted at build. The Telephone/Bluetooth unit will be under the left hand cubby floor. Lift out the floor panel on the left are 2 molded plastic floor supports held in place by plastic nuts, take them out and beneath you will find the loom if Telephone/Bluetooth was fitted you will see a large connector if it was never specified the connector is there but will be wrapped to the loom. BMW were not at the front of the queue with their Bluetooth technology many struggle to get modern phones to connect reliably and it never supported streaming. While the floor is out lift out the spare unbolt the air compressor and tip back and you will see an L shaped plastic cover around the battery 3 screws and take it out if you have a TV module it will be on the right hand side buried it has blue and white connectors if the unit isn't there the connectors will be taped up. somewhere. You will also find 2 antenatal leads taped up in the vicinity.

You could fit the Brakes as fitted to the 4.6is 4.8is models but remember these will require a minimum 18" wheel size to give clearance. The advantage is that all the fittings will be available either new or from a BMW specialist dismantler.

Leave the wife at home that will be the easiest fix !! Do your seats have a pull out knee support ? I believe these are comfort

Morning Regarding your Aux Heat on your screen check if it says Aux heat or Aux Vent all cars have Aux vent which can enable the fans in very hot conditions, For Aux heat check under the bonnet right hand side for the Webasto unit if it is there you may find it has been disabled for some reason. TV and Telephone again I would make a physical check for the units, telephone lift the top of the armrest you will either see a phone or phone holder or if it has bluetooth a tray with a voice symbol pairing button. In the boot left hand cubby lift the floor and undo the nuts holding down the plastic covers you should see the phone charging unit or bluetooth module below the Nav unit and CD changer. Strange that they are either not there or disabled?? With the software sometimes it cant see modules due to a poor connection at the module even if the module is working fine. Mine couldn't see my gearbox but I knew it was there and working fine as I went through all the connectors with contact cleaner and refitting hey presto gearbox appeared.

Morning I assume it is the 3.0i petrol the X5 is a heavy beast for the 6 to pull around I did now a lad in Worthing that had a tuned 3.0i it wasn't very economical though, not much to choose between his and mine in MPG. That might have had something to do with his right foot though. He had it converted to LPG as well, so if it's power you want trade it for a V8 or a Diesel the diesel responds well to tuning. If its economy trade it for the Diesel Hope this helps

I believe all the ibus controlled cars are interchangeable but I think they only did sport or comfort seats so choice is limited check on real oem

Morning Martin In the boot under the spare wheel you will find the Radio (BM54) and the TV module. Bit of a faff but you have to lift the spare out undo 3 bolts that hold the suspension compressor and tip it back. Then you will see an "L" shaped plastic cover 3 screws and lift it out and there will be the Radio unit parallel to the bumper and on the right hand side the TV module (blue and white connectors) it should be a digital unit on your model. If it isnt there they do come up on ebay but are silly money a cheaper option may be an analogue tuner then add a freeview box simple to do and works well. With my digital tuner it finds channels but doesn;t display them added a cheap free view box all good (though never used) but I am a bit OCD about stuff working.

I just checked BMWvin wow the site has changed since I last looked and not for the better in my opinion. It shows my car as having a sunroof which it has never had, in fact I looked hard for one without on purpose. So sorry matey looks like I steered you wrong there. Have fun with 1.4.0 it will find you jobs you didn't know existed, HaHa. On a serious note I like to know everything is working correctly and it really helps, most of the issues I have dealt with have come down to poor electrical contact. So a can of contact cleaner and some patience releasing connectors cleaning and re-connecting plus a steady hand with a fine soldering iron (drivers door heated mirror) and the old girl has a fault free pedigree, well so far.

I will have to log on and see what comes up it is about 6 years since I used it myself. Glad to see you chose a car in Estoril Blue by far the fastest colour. If you don't have a code reader enter a search on Ebay for BMW 1.4.0 I had an old laptop that I use in the garage but if you dont have an old machine set up a virtual machine on any laptop running windows. You will be able to read fault codes (in english) reset them and recode many operations, such as auto locking at move off, Key response drivers door one press all doors two presses.

Now to answer your question www.Realoem.com will give you the parts spec and part numbers available for your model at the time of manufacture including all options. Very useful for ensuring you have to replace items and need to know it will fit. Plus the assembly diagrams are a great help (well they have been to me) www.bmwvin.com same process enter the last 7 digits of your vin and it will show you the build sheet all the standard kit plus any options ordered at sale. Other than idle curiosity as to how extravagant or not the first owner was, and possibly indicating if something has been removed I find it little use. Most BMW X5's are pre-wired for just about all options so upgrading is pretty much plug and play with E53 Ibus cars later cars (E70 etc) items may need coding to the car to enable items to function. With the E53 the only one that's a faf would be converting from Business radio to factory wide screen Nav as this would require the fitting of a lot of kit in the boot and a dedicated loom to the front from the boot. Much simpler to fit an after market unit. Hope this helps

Morning and Welcome Which X5 do you have?

Welcome Dan The 3.0d is one of the worlds great engines not just BMW's and will easily outlive turbo's and gearboxes. You don't mention mileage but assuming its automatic it will have a ZF box BMW chose to treat the gearbox as "sealed for life" while ZF say it should be serviced at 80 to 100k km about 60k miles so many BMW maintained cars have box problems above a 100k miles just through poor maintenance. So the fact the box has been changed isnt unusual and if it changes smoothly up and down in all modes and is maintained should give many years service. Turbo's spin at ridiculous rpm's and get incredibly hot so they too are known to fail however if the turbo has been changed did they check the intercooler? Intercoolers can get loaded with oil as a turbo starts to fail then when a new turbo is fitted the extra boost push's oil into the engine the results can be Um interesting !! Voice of experience here. So providing it drives well should be smooth and tight no rattles or shakes and absolutely everything works as it should don't be put off. However you raise colour so it isnt quite the car for you, I would keep looking and get just what you want.

Morning Alan Your a boy with the spanners, top man, that must be a bl**dy heavy lump to heave about. OK simple stuff first, no chance a propshaft is loose? That would have slack at start but once moving the load would be constant. BMW ran 2 gearboxes GM and ZF I believe the GM box was in the early models ZF from late 2001 on (someone with more knowledge may correct me here) If the box is the same as the box removed and it is ZF then at 72k by ZF's own schedules it is due a fluid change which you have done but word of caution here make certain you have used the correct fluid. You can buy cheaper "compatible" fluids but it is a false economy. I would start with a drain and refill using the OEM fluid and filter as now you have run it you will have mixed it with whatever was in the torque converter so effectively a complete flush almost. Then if it persists I think it must be software related I know BMW/ZF had several software upgrades your car may be more advanced than the box or visa versa any good Autobx centre or garage with autolgic readers should be able to tell and update. Fingers crossed its simple Dave

Morning Philip How handy are you with a laptop? I use BMW 1.4.0 with my X5 and have used it on other peoples BMW's to read fault codes etc, if you down load the software you will need either an old laptop with Win 7 or earlier running (I had one) then just plug it into the OBD port on your car. Or there maybe a member near you who has it or similar who could help. I know there is a function in BMW 1.4.0 software for correction of mileage the car retains the date the correction was made so it can be queried if necessary in your case you will have MOT's etc to support the change Dave

Morning Alan You say you just had the gearbox changed is there any warranty with it? Is the replacement box faulty ? It could be something as simple as a software upgrade for the box or it could be a faulty box you need someone with Autologic to read the gearbox for fault codes. That would at least let you know where to begin looking.

Morning Mark Welcome Mark, as with any car purchase new or used I apply 3 rules 1. Condition, is it acceptable to you ? be fussy it's your money. (I recently went to look at an F Pace new in the showroom, the tailgate was open when I went to lift the floor the handle came away the sales staff just said "yes we know its broken we are waiting for spares?? I didnt stay if they are prepared to have that in the showroom what other issues are there) 2 A used cars history is key in particular check any recalls have been attended to Google your model for recalls then ask the seller to confirm they have been done. 3 Make certain everything works as it should, every switch every button every toy don't fall for the "oh thats a simple fix rubbish" if it is why hasn't it been done? Plus you don't want to be taking your new car back for repairs when you have just got it. If it all measure up and you buy your new car then the 2.0 diesel responds well to tuning good luck with the car and if you get it ENJOY

I believe the engine range is : 1.9 L M43 4-cyl1.8-2.0 L N42 4-cyl2.0 L N46 4-cyl2.0 L M47 4-cyl diesel2.0-2.8 L M52 6-cyl2.2-3.0 L M542.9-3.0 L M57 6-cyl diesel3.2 L S54 6-cyl4.0 L P60B40 8-cyl If you try www.realoem.com enter the last 7 digits of your VIN it will give you the spec for your car

There may be a friendly member on here who has a code reader (what area are you) that would put your mind at rest if it is stinky that sounds like un-burnt diesel. Your obviously a girl who enjoys her car and wants to understand it. you could download a program like Carly for BMW if you have an Android phone I think I am right in saying 2005 on you can use a Bluetooth dongle to connect to your phone or BMW 1,4,0 for a laptop, These will let you interrogate whats happening so that even if you need assistance from a garage you will know whats happening, Another thought talk to the Guys who did the remap it may just need tweaking to allow for the exhaust and de cat

Morning Lauren My diesel driving son is a tree surgeon with a Toyota Pick Up so most of his journey's a fairly short it was the Toyota garage who told him give a good run at least once a month. He just looked at your video and asked if the white smoke is constant at tick over or if it goes when the engine is up to temperature. His pick up had that issue last year caused by only having 1 glow plug working instead of 4 it still started first time everytime, just a thought

Glad you enjoyed that Trevor From what I have learned of modern Diseasel engines especially those with DPF technology they need to be given a good "Italian tune up" (my sons phrase) at least once a month to trigger the high exhaust temperatures needed to start a regeneration cycle saving the planet. Me I just trundle around in my petrol V8 safe in the knowledge I am encouraging others to plant trees so I help to save the planet that way.

Welcome Lauren Simple things first check the Crank Case ventilation system and its pipe work and breather it should be a Vortex type I believe, also check all the vacuum pipe work as they can get soft and swell cutting down efficiency also get the EGR cleaned then the simple stuff is done now give a good "italian tune up" to clear out any gunk. If you still have an issue I would start to check the turbo oil feed and return pipes. Hope this helps

I am sure the check system will only show simple stuff like bulbs, washer level etc. You need the codes read for the engine to give a clear steer towards the problem, I would guess at injector blocked/failed as the cause but codes will tell. It could also be a vacuum leak so I would check all the hoses