[freshwater]

My E70 X5 4.8i (81k) having some issues this week.

- Sign comes up for 4x4 and Transmission malfunction goes in a limp mode. Drive slowly to home and Stop the Car, then restart and everything looks good. Did notice that Date was gone and thought it might be the Battery or Alternator or Voltage Regulator . Did observe Battery was 11.5V so charge the Battery and it come to 12.5V and 14.6V with engine running.

- Same thing happens again and this time it took a while to start the Car again, so thought of Alternator/Battery again. Took to the Indy and he said he sees no issue with Battery (3 yr old) or alternator.

- Third time it happens again, this time I Drive the SAV to the Indy (3 mile) couldnt put the SAV in "P" so have to pull the Parking Break. While mechanic was looking at the Codes with his PC hookup smoke started coming from under the hood and saw Radiator fluid start leaking underneath the SAV.

I was told I have a Expansion Tank leak and a potential Water pump problem and may be more things and they still looking at it and will let me know on Monday. My question is why My AUX Fan was not running and why No Over Heat sign if its the Water Pump or Thermostat.?? I keep thinking its the Alternator since Date/Time keep going away every day.
So keeping my fingers crossed I hope its just the water pump and not the Engine. My Indy only put Genuine BMW parts and give same Warranty as Dealer do. So not sure how much will Expansion tank and Water pump/Thermostat will cost Plus Labor.

 

[ard]

water pump and expasnion tank are unrelated to the other faults.

There are a good number of posts on how much a water pump and tank should cost.

I do suspect something intermittant with your charging system....alt, regulator, etc

 

[edycol]

water pump and expasnion tank are unrelated to the other faults.

There are a good number of posts on how much a water pump and tank should cost.

I do suspect something intermittant with your charging system....alt, regulator, etc

^This.
Prices on water pump and thermostat are Google issue. It is ridiculous not to be able to find that. Then calculate 4-5hrs of labor.
Other codes are I would say charging issues. It could be as simple as alt. regulator.

 

[chatcher]

I just did my water pump, thermostat, exp tank and most of the related hoses. I got all the parts from ECS for about $800 (genuine BMW). I also replaced the belt and tensioner while I was in there ( another $200 ish) Plus I think since I took the tensioner off it gave me the ability to get the water pump off without taking the crank pulley off.

 

[freshwater]

I also thought of Voltage Regulator after reading many posts on the forum, but for some reason Indy dont believe is t Alternator / Voltage Regulator since he dont see any Codes thrown. He did keep the SAV for 2 Days and run tests on Battery and they all come clean. He did found the Battery slightly week and he charge it and it holds the load.. I Agree with you guys that its combination of Alternator and most probably Regulator.

I found prices of Expansion tank from $50-$100 and Water Pump $145-$500 from Google. Indy did Quote me $1350 to replace Alternator and using the BMW OE parts if the issue is Alternator.

I have a feeling I might end up changing both Alternator/Regulator and Waterpump/Thermostat. Is the Water pump on 4.8i is Mechanical or Electrical ? I think its Mechanical but not sure..

 

[ard]

1350 seems pricey for the alt.

$350 for a valeo... not sure what the labor is, in terms of hours, on a 2007 V8...

I wouldnt waste my money on a BMW part. JMHO

The problem (and there are multiple threads on this) is that the alternator can be intermittent- the car runs off the battery if the alt drops off... then the alt works, then it doesnt...voltages can be all over the place...then after a while it drops too low and some module glitches and you get your warning. You stop it, restart and all is fine again. Back at the shop there is no code for 'bad alt'... heck, you dont know WHAT codes they are seeing, if any, right? Just 'we tested the battery, we tested the alt'... did they attach a logging voltmeter to the car and drive it for a few days?

 

[freshwater]

Indy Quoted me ~$850 For the BMW OE Alternator (220 AMP). BMW sell Alternator with Voltage Regulator. I guess 4-5 hrs of Labor, I think he charges $125/hr.
I was able to find OEM Alternators for less then $550 (220 AMP are expensive due to 4-zone climate control).
He told me if he put Other OEM parts then he wont give me any Warranty but with OE parts I get the same Warranty as the one I gets from Dealer.
He gets his parts from a BMW Authorize distributor and I am sure they have Yearly Quota to get there end of the Year Margins..

Since X5 has 81k miles so may be a good idea to change Water pump also because it will go out sooner or later if it isn't gone out yet. Question will be if the Labor will be same for both Alternator and Water pump replacement.

I am on the side line if I sell this X5 for a (2014 X6 xDrive 35i M Performance CPO). But If I invest 2-3k on it I might keep it for few more Years. I am putting ~4k miles per year on this X5, just short distance driving..

Indy did drive the Car but was not able to create the problem.
I figure out how to create the problem. First the Date has to disappear on the dash board, then drive for few miles and once the Car hit a rough patch on the road then all those signs comes on of 4x4 DSc, Transmission...

 

[freshwater]

Got the Car Back. Indy run more tests from the Battery and testing the sensors and the wiring from the Battery to the alternator. He Concluded that its the Alternator.

So I end up changing the Alternator/Regulator, Expansion Tank, Cap, Water Pump, Thermostat, Hoses and Water Pipe, Coolant. Total Damage including Taxes= $2350. All parts used were BMW OE and not OEM. He also gave 3yr/ 36000 miles Warranty on Parts and Labor.

He asked me to Drive and see if Problems comes back or not. So far SAV is running very smooth. I did notice Low Engine Oil and Low Break fluid comes up on the NAV screen. Also came was Oil Sensor Malfunctioned on the NAV. I did see that Oil is Low on the NAV screen only shows 2 green Bars on the screen. May be the car lost Oil during these changes and they forget to Top it Off ? I will Call him tomorrow. I will check the Brake fluid too may be its just low and Top it off with DOT 4..

 

[ard]

Wow.

So why do you bother posting here?

 

[topfire3]

Is your aux fan working now? Because mine is not working and It overheats when I idle also I have not check engine light or any codes... let me know if replacing the alternator made your aux fan to work...

 

[freshwater]

Is your aux fan working now? Because mine is not working and It overheats when I idle also I have not check engine light or any codes... let me know if replacing the alternator made your aux fan to work...

I havent seen any Lights or codes for overheat so far. I did not notice AUX Fan running but for AUX fan to run the car need to get heated first. But I will try to listen if AUX fan kicks in or not.

One thing which do comes up is the "Oil sensor Malfunction code" and " High Battery discharge" code. They think it has some thing to do with Battery. They will run Battery sleep tests next week. They think something is draining the Battery. But the Car so far is running fine and Date/time not vanishing.

oelzustandssensor
Code: 002EA0
BSD message from intelligent battery sensor missing
Code: 002EB8
BSD message from the oil sensor is missing
Code: 002EBC
BSD-Nachricht vom Generator fehlt
Code: 002EBD

 

[freshwater]

Update on High Battery Drainage Issue.

Indy think the Drainage is coming from the CAS Module but the Module itself is not Bad. They seeing a very high drainage ( 5 Amp) They trying to see what subset Modules can cause this.
Like Door sensors, comfort Access, Seat Modules, TCU or IBS sensors or even some cable shorted..

 

[jason0]

Seems like the door handles go bad fairly often and cause high drain. Some report the handles feel warm to the touch.

 

[freshwater]

Mine is not Comfort Access where you can open the Door by touching the door handle but it do have Led lights under the Door Handles which comes up if unlock the Door by FOB..

 

[Doug Huffman]

Five amps times 12 VDC is 60 Watts, that's a decent sized soldering iron or light bulb, heck, a headlight. A five amp short circuit will melt insulation and cause a fire. A 5 amp load will drain a brand new fat battery in 20 hours.

 

[freshwater]

^^
Few weeks back My Driver side Top Brake light went out, I saw the Bulb was fried and the plastic was kind of cracked where the bulb goes. I bought a bulb and was able to replace it and light start working and light warning was gone. If its a short there then bulb will not work.
5 amp is a Big draw, I do have Heaters in the front seats which can draw lot of current or hope its not the Newly installed Alternator/Regulator.. Not sure how much a TCU can draw the unit sitting next to the Battery in the trunk.