2012 X5 Overheating message?

[aakrusen]

Today we picked up a 2012 X5 35i with 39k miles. We live about 25 miles from the dealership and the whole way home it sounded like an additional cooling fan kept kicking on and off. It was loud enough to hear it over the radio and blasting A/C (it was 95 degrees today). Less than a mile from our home I got a message stating something about the engine is getting too warm and to "drive moderately". As I was pulling into my driveway the amber message turns to red and said the car has overheated and to stop immediately. Thankfully I was home so I didn't even pull into the garage, I just stopped the car and turned it off. The fan was very loud for about 10 seconds after I turned the car off.
I sat there for a minute and restarted the car. No lights, no problems, no loud fan sound. Hmm?

About an hour later I took the car for a drive to see if I could replicate the issue. The only thing that was the same was that fan turning off and on throughout the drive. It was about 10 degrees cooler during this drive and I only drove about 1/2 as far as I did earlier, but I could not get it to do it again.

I'm reading about faulty thermostats and water pumps. Does this sound like what it could be?

The car came with a 30 day, nearly unlimited warranty, and an additional 5 days to decide if we want to keep the car. I called the service center and they said to bring it in tomorrow and they'll give me a loaner. But they need to recreate the issue before they can fix anything. My biggest concern is that it's a tempermental issue and we won't see it again until later this summer during our planned vacation (need the car for the trip).

What are my options? What do you guys think? What do I need to tell the service department tomorrow?

[mitch808]

Check coolant level first. Top off with distilled water.

I just recently had my radiator replaced and expansion tank. This caused me to loose coolant and get warning lights on the dash. All fixed under warranty.

Basically you need to call and setup an appt to fix it or you're returning the car. Tell them exactly what is happening, that you're overheating, getting a yellow warning light that turns to red to stop the car immediately.

[-c-]

Originally Posted by aakrusen

Today we picked up a 2012 X5 35i with 39k miles. We live about 25 miles from the dealership and the whole way home it sounded like an additional cooling fan kept kicking on and off. It was loud enough to hear it over the radio and blasting A/C (it was 95 degrees today). Less than a mile from our home I got a message stating something about the engine is getting too warm and to "drive moderately". As I was pulling into my driveway the amber message turns to red and said the car has overheated and to stop immediately. Thankfully I was home so I didn't even pull into the garage, I just stopped the car and turned it off. The fan was very loud for about 10 seconds after I turned the car off.
I sat there for a minute and restarted the car. No lights, no problems, no loud fan sound. Hmm?

About an hour later I took the car for a drive to see if I could replicate the issue. The only thing that was the same was that fan turning off and on throughout the drive. It was about 10 degrees cooler during this drive and I only drove about 1/2 as far as I did earlier, but I could not get it to do it again.

I'm reading about faulty thermostats and water pumps. Does this sound like what it could be?

The car came with a 30 day, nearly unlimited warranty, and an additional 5 days to decide if we want to keep the car. I called the service center and they said to bring it in tomorrow and they'll give me a loaner. But they need to recreate the issue before they can fix anything. My biggest concern is that it's a tempermental issue and we won't see it again until later this summer during our planned vacation (need the car for the trip).

What are my options? What do you guys think? What do I need to tell the service department tomorrow?

It's a good idea to get your phone out and record it. The dealers use this as evidence and have had intermittent issues fixed this way, without the phone evidence they would not have anything to go on. Not every issue will throw a code. It's possible it logged the overheat though. You never know.

When the AC is on the fan will continuously run however that I think is normal.

It's also possible your low on coolant or need a flush.

[lknbimmers]

Have the water pump checked, sounds like its on its way out.

[aakrusen]

Dropped the car off this morning. I explained what I observed to their mechanic (he used to work at BMW) and he was familiar with symptoms I explained. Hopefully they'll be able to recreate the situation so it can be quickly diagnosed and fixed.

[aakrusen]

Update: They determined it was the Water Pump that is going bad. They also said that the fan turning on and off repeatedly was due to the Water Pump not working correctly. They guesstimated about 3.5 hours to do the work, but it's all covered anyway. Should have the car back tomorrow evening.

[mkrugger]

I had same issue with my 2012 X5 60k Miles, water pump failure. Found a great BMW mechanic in Jackson NJ TYSpeed, had it fixed withing a day at a reasonable price