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Visiting Host
I am new to BMW and this group with the purchase of a 2005 3.0 X5. The dealer has not yet given me all the manuals as we closed the deal late saturday night. I am wondering if someone can let me know if there is a lock on the steering wheel adjustment. I try the lever that is supposed to work but it does not tilt or telescope, maybe it is not working or maybe it has been locked with the seat adjustment, I am not sure and wanted to check. I tried looking at the manual online but did not figure it out. I will be seeing the dealer tomorrow but any help meanwhile is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Thanks so much!!
The dealer probably is suggesting that more services be done, and you may decide some of them are worth it - just keep in mind that upselling on scheduled maintenance is a big profit center for the dealer.
If there are optional skid plates for your car, I'd get 'em if you plan more offroad adventures.
Visiting Host
The engine oil level on my 2008 X5 4.8 is low and I've read that BMW prefers Castrol. A search in the BMW manual and online showed SAE grade 5W-30 is preferred and/or approved. But when I got to the auto shop the attendants said that 5W-30 may not be thin enough for 08 X5 and suggested 0W-40.
Which do I go with? There's 7928 miles on the car and I'll be adding another 800 miles or so with a trip to Northern California and I haven't yet taken the car in for service. The BMW sales guy told me the car would indicate when it needed service, but I'm skeptical about this too.
Any feedback appreciated, thanks!
But just to satisfy my curiosity still, which one: 5W-30 or 0W-40?
"Your BMW Sports Activity Vehicle Center will be happy to answer detailed questions on BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil or approved synthetic oils.
You can also call BMW of North America at 1-800-831-1117 or visit their website at www.bmwusa.com to obtain this information."
AND
"Viscosity grades
Viscosity is a measure of an oil's flow rating and is specified in SAE grades. The choice of right SAE grade is based on the climatic conditions in the region in which you normally drive your BMW.
Approved oils belong to the SAE grades 5W-40 and 5W-30.
These oils can be used for driving at all outside temperatures."
What a bit of reading turns up! No mention on 0 grade though.
I have a 2005 X5 w/ 27900 miles that will be going out of warranty due to age in Dec. 2008, All service records are present and have been done on schedule. Does anyone know what pricing is for the extended warranty for an extra 2 years and xxxxx miles??
Your advice is much appreciated,
Wayne
I noticed a couple of days ago that the gas comsumption has significantly gotten worse, as i was using up almost a quarter of a tank in a day (around 30-40 miles of driving) and usually i can get like 400-450 from a tank. (and it wasnt like i was flooring it the whole time either) Then, when i went to fill it up yesterday, i was expecting to see a range of about 480 for the car, as i had EMPTIED the tank, including the reserve that doesnt show up on the gas meter. Instead, it said 365. I usually put in plus, and think its dumb to put regular in a bmw (always telling my parents not to) but the price difference was almost 30 cents so i went for the regular. As soon as i began to drive, under acceleration the car would shudder and studder, and the engine was running very roughly, and maybe 10 seconds later the service engine soon light came on and was flashing. I pulled over for maybe 5 minutes, and then kept going and after that nothing has happened so far. I'm really worried about something being wrong because im pretty sure the regular gas didnt have anything to do with it, a mercedes dealer in our area puts regular in their cars and they run fine, just dont perform as well. Does anyone have any idea why that would have happened, and why the gas milage has dropped so badly? Do you think there could be a leak in the gas tank or in a gas line or something?
Thanks so muchh
I've settled on the X5 and the Land Rover LR3. (Please, no replies about how different the vehicles are. My only concerns are luxury and how much I like the vehicle as I live in the city and don't off-road or tow.) I had an '06 X5 that I loved and never had an issue with but, since the LR3 now has an electric steering wheel adjustment, I'm torn between which one I like better. I get a good deal from BMW because of my relationship with them but one of my best friends runs the LR store just a mile from my office and I know I can get a good deal from him too and if I do have problems, it would be closer than the BMW store, which is about 5 miles away.
I know everything about both vehicles as far as equipment, drive, capabilities, etc, however I haven't heard much about problems with the '08. I'm a 24 month leaser so I'm not really so worried about problems with 2 or 3 year old vehicles, just wondering if anyone out there has had initial problems, like I've had with my Commander since day one.
Thanks,
does not move up whenever enter the car any more. I can still adjust it with
the switch, but it is very annoying that it stops working after just few drives?
This seems to happen after a trip to the dealer to put on the leather/din-dan
protection. Is there any one who has any idea what could go wrong?
Thanks.
What I discovered was that someone (probably the dealership) changed a setting on either the seat or steering wheel and now the car is not sure it's you.
To fix it - I held the button on the seat that I had my setting stored into. In my case it was button "1" (there are two buttons, 1 and 2 - and a memory set button above them all). Once I did that - all was back to normal. I would assume that if you have not stored your settings in the memory - then if you set your steering wheel and then store it - it should start to work again.
That's my 2 cents!
but nothing changed. Then I tried to save the current positions into '1', but
still not work. I then tried to move the steering wheel up and down, adjust
the seat back and forth, etc., then save --- and then it finally works. It seems
that the memory was quite confused and all messed up. By the way,
after this was fixed, i then noticed that my blue tooth phone setting was
all gone!! I re-paired it over again, and finally everything seems to work....
Thanks again -- it saves me a trip to the dealership.
I hope you have4 found the solution to the above. If you have, would you be so kind to share your resolution.
I also found that each time after I jump start the car, the text display segments on instrument panel started to go out. The jump start may hurt the display control unit. Anyone knows what to do to correct the display problem?
I have the same issue when I accidentally refuel my X5 with regular unleaded and the engine running rough. So from that day, I am making sure that when I fill-up, it's the right gas. Also, don't forget to install the gas tank cap before to start the engine.
1. The brand new battery is fully charged, and it takes a while to drain all the charge. So the first dying event occurs after 1 month.
2. Since I do not drive much, even once 3-4 days, the battery can not be charged to full each time after driving.
3. I measured the battery current drain (with all interior lights off and engine shut off). First minute turning off the engine, it is ~2 Amps. After 1 minute and on, it is 1.2 Amps. At 1.2 A of standby current, it may be too much for the battery.
My question is that anyone knows is 1.2A current too much as standby current?
Thanks, //leo
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
I pulled out fuse #27 that shuts the interior lights off. I placed a meter between battery cable and the body chassis. After starting the car and let the battery to be charged for 10 minutes, I shut the engine off. I disconnected the battery connection to the body with the Amp meter intact. I then shut all doors. The current went down to 1.05A. After a minute, it went down to 0.52A. After 15 minutes, it went down to between 0.05-0.07A (flutuates) in sleep mode.
I then retored fuse #27, turn ignition key to 1, 2. then off. Shut all doors. The current behaves the same way.
Mysteriously, I do not see 1A sleep current anymore. All I did was (accidentally) disconnect and reconnect battery multiple times. All I can conclude is that something is not reliable, this problem may appear again someday.
//leo
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
While gas price was high a year ago, I started to use regular unleaded 87 gas. The light stays on, until I changed to premium gas 91. I wonder if the light turns on because the octane level was low in the gas?
Regards
H
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/61652-dash-board-text-displa- y-has-missing-columns.html#post618511
One jump also caused my added CD player to fail, another caused my added subwoofer amp to fail. Note that my previous post on the sleep mode 1.2A leakage that started the whole event!
My other thought is that the battery jump position is in the engine compartment, while the battery is in the rear trunk. The large surge current with the inductance of the wiring can cause the high voltage surge. I think the jump hook up should be to the battery in the rear trunk. A design issue!
Regarding the inductance of the long wire to the back is not it, I thought about that and I did the jump right at the battery.
Anyway, if someone had the solution please le us know
Thanks