Greydog

Welcome As Trevor says if you can't DIY then garage ASAP, Brakes, Steering and Suspension are what keep us alive. My guess (always difficult to diagnose things remotely) would be Pads are way beyond their service life and from your description metal to metal on at least one hopefully the disc isn't damaged. Due to the wear on the pads the brake fluid is in the pistons not the reservoir leading to warning lights on the dash. Don't wait it wont get better but it will get very much more expensive to fix

On the X5 all negative/Earth connections are Brown. I would run a single fused live to each running light and pick up a local earth connection to save running tow cables. When i did my angel eyes as running lights I used the headlamp earth wire to tap into. Hope that helps

The E53 X5's suffered from condensation/damp in the switch/actuator mechanism that caused them to fail. The only real cure was/is to replace the lock actuator I have had to do both X5's I have owned.

You could try Quarry Motors they are specialist BMW breakers I have used them for trim parts for the X5

I think there may be a clue at the bottom of your post, BMW's are sensitive to low voltages. It is common for them to throw spurious fault codes when the battery is on the way-out or alternator is not charging correctly just the cars way of testing the condition of your heart and wallet. If your car is not going into sleep mode then there is a parasitic drain over night or when its parked for a length of time causing a low voltage hissy fit. Once the engine has been running for a while and you reset the codes it runs without fault. Try disconnecting the battery and fully charging it overnight then in the morning re-connect and start the car if there are no issues it will be a strong indication of what the issue is. The difficult bit is finding the cause of the drain, pulling system fuses one at a time until it stops is one way? Is the car standard or have there been any accessories fitted? Always a good starting point. You can open the bonnet sorry hood lock the car and leave it for 15mins or so then measure any drain at the engine bay jump points then its isolate systems and repeat till you find it GOOD LUCK.

BMW quote the boxes as sealed for life, however ZF (who make the box in my X5) say it should be serviced at 80k to 100k Km around 50 to 60k miles. Many owners will change engine oil and filters at short time/distance to lengthen engine life but the poor old gearbox (manual or auto) and diffs often never see a spanner unless there is an issue. I would find a good Auto Box specialist who can read the codes in the gearbox and give an accurate diagnosis, plus you may be pleasantly surprised at the cost of a service.

By your description the issue could be caused by a number of faults, easy ones first. Old dirty fluids, Low transmission fluids (leak somewhere), failing Torque converter, Valve body issues. My guess is that as you have been having the issues for some time box has internal damage and will require a rebuild, sorry. You really need to find an Auto Transmission Specialist in your area (sorry I am in Sussex) who will be able to investigate the problem by reading the Transmission codes. I have seen rebuild costs as low as £1200 and as high as £2000+ (BMW will try a new trans at £4k+) My belief is the Transmissions are rarely serviced yet the manufacturers (Mine is ZF) advise Fluid changes at 80 to 100k KM about 60k miles, don't know how many miles yours has covered but probably more than that?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the MK4 units are easily damaged they are known for not liking non original software. What colour screen do you have? If it is blue I fear your nav is not functioning at all and you are running on the video channel of the TV unit. Simple things first is the red power light on on the Nav unit in the boot? Check the fuses in the cubby on the other side? If you have power to the unit eject the map disc and if you have one put your software CD in to see if it will re-boot. There may be a member near you who has one you can borrow, I have one somewhere if you get stuck. If your Nav computer is bricked replacement/repair is silly money for such an old system you may find a Dynavin, Xtrons or Eonon unit worth considering as selling the BMW parts will cover most of the cost.

Morning Niall Have you looked at www.realoem.com for part numbers, if you put in the last 7 digits of your VIN and your cars spec will come up. Then if you don't have one a good workshop manual download one. I changed the evaporator on a Volvo V70 then took it to Kwik Fit they had a deal on recharging at the time. They have an automatic machine that vacuum's out the system then holds it under vacuum to check for leaks then recharges the system with the correct charge and amount of lubrication.

You have tempted fate now !!! Like you my wife and I have owned a large number cars over the years and it has surprised me how a "Premium" car maker like BMW can produce such a fragile car. I took it up with senior BMW manager who responded "well you have to expect wear and tear it is a 2 ton car" well so are many others that I have owned and none have needed the constant fettling X's seem to require. Still the performance in the 4.6 is addictive if expensive luckily I can do a great deal myself (or by remote controlled son's)

Rear rose/ball joints creak you may see increased camber and tyre wear on the inside edges. Changing them is a DIY job, did mine last year I brought a kit of Ebay and refurbed the whole back end the difference is massive. You need a tool to remove the Rose/Ball joint I made my own with a couple of bits of tube and some threaded studding. There is a how to on youtube 5 series but the same set up.

If you look on www.realoem.com enter the site put in the last 7 numbers of your Vin and then select "rear axel" then "self leveling suspension" you will see it has 2 level sensors under the car make sure they are free and the plug is connected a bit of contact cleaner wouldn't go amiss. Also in the boot is the suspension control unit again check and make sure its clean dry and connector seated correctly. You can remove the fuses then release the air manually then tighten the connectors and replace the fuses to see if that cklears the problem. Jet washes and modern car electrics don't mix very well so take care when cleaning particularly in the boot where the X5 has a lot of unprotected electrics.

Don't panic the message is one of BMW & your X5's ways of testing your heart rate. While you were working on your rear lights with the ignition on the battery voltage has dropped and triggered the warning, once the battery is fully charged the warning will clear. Check how old your battery is and its condition if its 5 or older you could have a failing battery. Changed mine last year it was the original 11 years old !! but died quickly when it started to go.

Several on Ebay at the moment

I had a replacement key last year due to the main key I use everyday being just plain worn out and knackered. Ordered from BMW (all they need is your Vin or your key they can read it} £120 including VAT and they coded it to the car as well, it took 2 days to arrive. I know there are lots of adds for keys but beware I think the engine ECU/immobilizer needs to read a chip and the alarm central locking are coded to the Fob. I don't know what BM you have I would talk to the Dealers

Wow sounds like a brown trouser event, not nice at all. Did you get anywhere with BMW? When researching to buy my X5 it was the sun roof issue's (failure to operate) that steered me away from sunroof equipped cars. My E53 4.6 has no sun roof neither did the previous X5.

Woo Hoo well done Matey perseverance pays off At least you know just about everything under the bonnet is good, now enjoy your X

From this and your previous posts I would change your garage. 1st They disconnect your radio for no reason then tell you its to dangerous to lift the LPG tank to put right their error !!!!!!! Well they lifted it to change the battery and unplug your radio?? 2nd They cant change the FSR ? it's a 20 minute job for goodness sake (search you tube) the only tool needed is a cross head screw driver to remove trim, the FSR clips in and out. A failed FSR can cause all sorts of issues including unexplained Battery drain (just Google it) As for charging the posts under the bonnet are the correct place but it will take up to 24hrs to fully re-charge the battery with a decent charger Ctek or similar a quick 1/2hr burst wont do it. If the Battery has failed it should be under warranty so should be a free exchange, assuming your original garage fitted the correct rated battery? If not there may be some cost.

Having problems replying for some reason??? Do you have a code reader? I use BMW 1.4.0 cheap and cheerful but works really well for me give fault descriptions in English not just numbers. The MAF is it the right one for the engine or is faulty (if its second hand it maybe? even new not unheard of) The emissions pump is under the air filter housing mine runs for about 2 mins or so on cold start.The vacuum control is on the back of the inlet manifold if its US then it can cause all sorts of issues. Just spoke with the guy who services mine (ex BMW Tech) and he said have a look at www.meeknet.co.uk then click Tim's BMW loads of stuff on the V8's (I just looked wish he had told me about it sooner) I also use www.realoem.com a lot for drawings and part numbers

Morning Alan Have you read the OBD for codes? I know originally you said you had a Cam sensor Fault. From the symptoms my instinct says the fault is on the inlet side somewhere. Just a re-run of what you have done fuel pump, Filter, MAF. Coils and plugs That leaves the vacuum system and emission control. Vacuum system, on the back of the inlet manifold is the vacuum control valve that can cause issues if the diaphragm is split or sticking or any of the vacuum hoses are collapsed internally. It is linked to the oil separator but this is a votex type and don't normally give to many problems themselves. However the vacuum system can upset its operation. Remember the cats will be free when cold but not when up to temp Fingers crossed Dave

Check www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your VIN number in and it will bring up your car check the interior it may show part numbers. Or checkout good old fleabay there is normally several on there, just be aware the drivers seat bolster is a high wear item. Any model up to 2006 should be OK.

Yay, result, really happy for you Mike. An X5 with all the bells and whistles can draw up to 60 amps without the engine running !!!

When you say it wont start is it turning over quickly? Or struggling? My guess would be battery or starter motor. Battery top of the list low voltage + X5 = lots of scary messages my 4.4 threw Trans Fail Safe, ABS/SRS Suspension Inactive lights for a few weeks new battery cured it all. I have also read that a failing starter will draw massive current which causes all the scary lights to come on.

Hi you don't say which set up you have ? Do you have the Business radio or the the full Navigation package? I take it you have checked the obvious fuses connectors etc ? I would also say that mine with Nav has fuses in the boot and in the main fuse board under the glove box.