Help. my 2013 X5 stuck in park on a car carrier!!

Originally Posted by katanaplanet

I will keep them!

That one that got flooded is toast. You're going to spend a fortune to get it up and running again. Maybe you got my X5 which was flooded during Sandy? I know that one for sure is toast.

It's not yours I am oretty sure. Both are zero mile never been sold or driven cars. The water was below dash so I should be able to revive them with your help!

I have to open the glove box. After taking the passenger side instrument panel off, I dont see a loop to manually release it as described in one of the posts. Did they change the location on 2013 E70? Need to get shop manual pretty soon. Any ideas?

Cool.

What is bad with the fuse box?

I am concerned you had a tech give you a 'throw away', "yeah, those fuse boxes are bad" and you've ordered parts that dont need replacing.... what are the current symptoms, what have you checked/replaced?

I'd make an inventory of modules, sensors and connectors that were in salt water. Then figure out which you can clean, and which may need more attention...

A

PS $25k and 17k? You can replace a lot of parts for that....

I dont think this can be cleaned up. I am not powering anything till I replace both the fuse panels and new fuses. In the mean time I will look for any damaged modules. Everything else looks clean to me.

PS $25k and 17k? You can replace a lot of parts for that....
I didnt get it?

Originally Posted by katanaplanet

It's not yours I am oretty sure. Both are zero mile never been sold or driven cars. The water was below dash so I should be able to revive them with your help!

It was a joke.

anybody with some input about glove box? also front fuse box I removed the green srcrew and it slants at an angle. Do I just yank it to remove or there is something holding it from behind?

Originally Posted by tribecaX5

Agree with Ard here. I would not touch it.

But for other occasions, just lift the cup holders rubber then on the left cup holder you have this big plastic screw cap. Remove it then you will see this square hole. Go back in the trunk, take the emergency release tool (like a T-shaped plastic with a square end, red color). Stick it in the hole, push down and turn to the left(?) I think. It will only turn one way so whichever way it is. It will stay locked in the position, forcing the transmission into neutral.
I learnt this the hard way when mine was flooded during Sandy and needed to get it out of the garage. Getting another 35d tomorrow.

That won't work with the 8 speed transmission. There is a bolt under the car that has to be loosened. I learned this the hard way when the computer failed in my 2011 X5.

Originally Posted by katanaplanet

It's not yours I am oretty sure. Both are zero mile never been sold or driven cars. The water was below dash so I should be able to revive them with your help!

There are a lot of expensive electronics in the trunk. If the water was up to the tailgate, the car will need some very expensive repairs.

katanaplanet, how much experience do you have with BMW's?

For example, you say you changed all the fluids, but I know that BMW uses a specific coolant for example.

And if you changed the oil, I hope you used Mobil 1 0w40.

yup 0w-40 Mobil one. I use this on my E350 and Landrover and ML350 etc.

The expensive electronics on the left side rear are higher than the water level and look good so far. will know exactly when i power it up after changing the fuse boxes. also the fluids actually came out clean without any contamination from water. Even the windshield washer fluid!!

Originally Posted by katanaplanet

PS $25k and 17k? You can replace a lot of parts for that....
I didnt get it?

It looked like those were the prices you paid. For the difference between that and the price a salvage title but running is worth you can buy a lot of parts.


OP knows little about modern cars and nothing about BMWs. There is no "shop manual" published for these cars.... you can purchase online access to the BMW system.

I cannot tell from the picture of the fuse box, but the critical issue is simple: what it LOOKS like is secondary (or tertiary) to how it FUNCTIONS. If traces are burned/melted, then you have a problem. If the If those relays are fouled internally, corroded, then you have a problem.

One major issue would be "did a short circuit at a location below the water line cause a malfunction in a module that was elsewhere?" Without a BMW programming system and access to the BMW schematics, this will be one heck of a challenge.

There is a very good reason these cars sell for so cheap- yes, there is the obvious 'title says flood' issue...but there is the very real issue of "i cannot get it working".

Sometimes it is advantageous to be absolutely clueless as to the difficulty or danger of an undertaking- sometimes.

GL

A

PS Do you know how the BMW used the various 'busses' for communication? i-bus, k-bus, etc? And how, if these are damaged somewhere on the vehicle, or corrosion gradually causes the signal to degrade, the communication of data will be corrupted...and things wont work...and all the test tools in the world will be useless, becuase they all assume the bus works and you are looking for a defective module. Couple that with a bad module or two, and you have a brick. Like I said, sometimes better not to know.

Now I am starting to get scared. I have no clue about i-bus, k-bus etc!!
Lets tackle one issue at a time. Right now task at hand is replace damaged stuff and then see what happens.

Considering your a doc,

I`ll give you some free advise. Your on the right diagnostic path. However your faced with task of Herculean proportions, and you seem to be slightly ill equipped (understandable since your not a full time BMW mechanic).

This project sounds fun, but if you look at it, you have two patients who both require extensive organ transplants, and you have no guarantee that the transplants will be accepted by the body, and allow it to maintain normal function levels.

1) Figure a way to access someone who has the access to the BMW system diagnostic software. Im pretty sure, if you try to purchase access, your looking at alot of money.
2) Your water level damage is quite significant, and since the electronics are usually located near the floor of the vehicle your looking at a alot of money to either replace, recode, or even diagnose the issues at hand. If your warranty, which doesn't apply anymore, was available, the dealer would simply order every single module, wiring harness, and connector. Their estimate would be significant.


I don`t want to come off as harsh, but I wanted to assist you in determining whether this project is a financial gain or loss. In medicine, the H oath you take, is to always care for your patient. However sometimes you come to a point, where it simply isn`t humanly and as satisfactory diagnostician possible to do that. This is one of those times.

Finally, I STRONGLY WANT TO SAY, My words, opinion, suggestions, and anything I have said, is my opinion.

Its is always your choice to ignore, or take my advise. For all you know, I maybe

a) Cautionary idiot
b) Realistic Well-wisher

WHO KNOWSS....G luck!

BTW maruti 800, HM ambassdor, maruti omni, any indian car (MM, Tata) are soo easy to work with. Their powertrains are archaic, but simple and solid.

Guys,
Once I have these obvious things under control, I have a BMW mechanic who will help me in this project. With toasted power distribution panels and other prelim things, I have to take care of those and then will tackle one issue at a time. With X5 I have taken a good look at most of the stuff and only visible damage is to the front fuse panel and some deposition at the seat motors( I took them out).

And Indian cars was just a general comment. Since then there were Land Rovers, victory, HD, Mercedes etc I have worked on. BMW is a different beast all together though!!

As I was trying to point out, modern cars are very different than cars 15-20 years ago. BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, Infiniti, Nissan, Toyota... all very simple 20 years ago...all very complex today. All remarkably similar in architecture. (Afterall, these systems have become industrial standards, and all OEMs make modules for all OEs...) Different marques have different names and conventions for all this stuff, but very similar.

The increasing use of power and communication buses, with 'intelligent' modules hanging on the bus ready to wake up, respond, send power, do things with other modules, makes the old trouble shooting techniques of 'just check for power and ground at the connector' a thing of the past.

Id try and get a harness diagram and electrical schematic. Find every module that was under water, open every connector that was under water. Clean every connection. If a module was under water, determine what it does. Open it. See if there are any open contacts they were damaged or obvious shorts... consider replacing it.

All before putting in a new battery/powering anything.

I'd also think about powering up things in a limited way- HOWEVER, without a really good knowledge of the BMW software and access to the programming computer, you may find that this will create errors and maybe lock some things down. As I understand it, the Kbus needs to be 100%, the ibus in optional (entertainment, etc) and you can run without things working there.

Here is the question: When will you apply power to the whole car? The proverbial 'give it a whirl'? Best case, the car fires up with zero issues. Second best case, it doesnt start because you missed something dead. One possible bad case: you fry the EWS/DME/Key reader as soon as the key hits position 1, and there goes $6500.....


Having said all that, it sure will be sweet if you replace the fuse box and thats all it ever needs!



A

It will be sweet but I highly doubt that! I will keep you guys updated.