E70 35 D issues

[kt101]

Just wondering how many of you 35 d owners out there that have left your car stock. Does it live at the dealer or service place you take it? It seems like after 100.000km mine keeps going back to the dealer every month for a check engine light. Just wondering how many frustrated people are out there.

Thanks

[RL18]

Originally Posted by kt101

Just wondering how many of you 35 d owners out there that have left your car stock. Does it live at the dealer or service place you take it? It seems like after 100.000km mine keeps going back to the dealer every month for a check engine light. Just wondering how many frustrated people are out there.

Thanks

I bought my x5d at 89k, now I'm at 112k all stock except for xdelete & xhp trans tune and haven't had much issues at all.

What have you done for maintenance so far?

[sunny_j]

I'm at 169,300km and it's been reliable. Only keep up with routine maintenance!

[Thecastle]

My diesel was that way. Lived at the dealer due to service engine soon lights. It accumulated 10s of thousands in repairs covered by factory warranty, a puma case and bmw master mechanic flown in multiple times to diagnose (there are two in North America). It even ended up being a lemon buy back. The emissions specifically egr and cooler where a reliability nightmare. I tuned it and deleted and it was trouble free afterwards. Only the typical diesel problems then. Harmonic balancer, red boost pipe and etc. it’s living in Colorado now with hybrid turbos.

[kt101]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

My diesel was that way. Lived at the dealer due to service engine soon lights. It accumulated 10s of thousands in repairs covered by factory warranty, a puma case and bmw master mechanic flown in multiple times to diagnose (there are two in North America). It even ended up being a lemon buy back. The emissions specifically egr and cooler where a reliability nightmare. I tuned it and deleted and it was trouble free afterwards. Only the typical diesel problems then. Harmonic balancer, red boost pipe and etc. it’s living in Colorado now with hybrid turbos.

I am feeling the same way. I'm at my breaking point now thinking of selling just cause I'm tired of running back and forth. I'm not trying to rip on my dealer at all they have been great but now I think its time its gotta go. Unfortunately here in Canada we don't have lemon law so that is out of the question.

[kt101]

Originally Posted by RL18

I bought my x5d at 89k, now I'm at 112k all stock except for xdelete & xhp trans tune and haven't had much issues at all.

What have you done for maintenance so far?

I have done everything the dealer has told me to do. They have replaced almost the entire emission system dme,egr,scr,fuel pumps, o2 sensors I think next is the cats maybe. Only thing I didn't do at the dealer was my tires and brakes since I work at another dealer I got those done by my service department.

[Thecastle]

Yeah its unfortunate, but the un-reliability and expense of diesel emissions system is what has really killed them in the market. Heck its not like modern diesel pickups do any better in the reliability department. Some of the least reliable vehicles on the road are diesel pickups according to CR. But I loved my 335D, and miss it. But I can say that my 550i has been by far more reliable. The only significant repair on my 2016 550i has been an oil pan leak. It has 73K miles on it, I sold the D with 82K. The D needed a lot more to keep it on the road.

If you like the car and live in a state where emissions compliance isn't an issue, then I would tune and delete the car. If you live where you don't have that option, then its time to dump the diesel.

BTW my Power Stroke 7.3L pre-emissions diesel is still a reliability nightmare. In the last 3 months, I've spent $13,000 in repairs on that "reliable" powerstroke. A new fly wheel, new start motor, new oil cooler, 4 new injectors, new gas tank (old one developed rust flacks clogging the fuel system), new fuel pickup and a new transmission. The 3rd one on this truck (last about 170K)..... It has 332K miles on it. But it averages ~12K/yr in repairs on the diesel portion of the truck. Fix Or Repair Daily I suppose.

[branta]

some of you are saying Tune and deleted
i get the tune portion but what are we deleting
i just got a 2012 x5 Disel 60k on it

[Thecastle]

Search ABC delete

Essentially, people remove the most failure prone emissions componets when deleting.

The most failure prone parts possibly in order of failure rates are
1) Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) /EGR cooler. Reduces NOx emissions by reducing combustion temps
2) Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) metering device / Tank (heater fails). This is the adblue system. Reduces NOx emissions by reacting them in a catalysit with urea. Reduces SMOG haze
3) Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) (fairly rare failures). Captures Diesel Particulates (soot) in a filter for later burn off. Gets rid of smoky diesels
4) Diesel Oxidative Catalyst (DOC). Converts unburned hydrocarbons (fuel) into C02 and water. Gets rid of diesel stink.

Getting rid of the EGR system and cooler will fix the majority of issues, and the SCR next. Some folks do one at a time and remove each part as they fail. You can use cheap block of plates for the EGR and a tune. The SCR can be deactivated with a tune as well.

Emissions are an urban issue, when there is a large concentration of vehicles no one likes brown, smelly and unhealthy air. But exactly no one in the middle of Wyoming cares about a little pollution.

[Autofahrer17]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

Emissions are an urban issue, when there is a large concentration of vehicles no one likes brown, smelly and unhealthy air. But exactly no one in the middle of Wyoming cares about a little pollution.

Well, we do when in blows in from Salt Lake City!

[X5d35]

My 35d 2010 / 300.000km has got plenty of issues recently.
- Leaking EGR cooler (exhaust gases leak and find their way into the cabin).
- Clogged DPF
- Driver door wire harness fault (door switches inactive)
- Brake booster vacuum pump failure ...

[RL18]

Originally Posted by X5d35

My 35d 2010 / 300.000km has got plenty of issues recently.
- Leaking EGR cooler (exhaust gases leak and find their way into the cabin).
- Clogged DPF
- Driver door wire harness fault (door switches inactive)
- Brake booster vacuum pump failure ...

Definitely time to delete it

[crystalworks]

We bought our 2010 X5d with 133,000 miles on it. Just had trans failure at 166,000 miles. Almost done replacing it. I do all the work on our fleet. Never recommend someone buy a BMW unless they can turn a wrench and can use a computer (if buying newer than ~ MY 2000), or have a really good CPO warranty, or have large wads of cash they don't mind utilizing for maintenance/repairs at an indy or dealer. And that goes for all BMW's, not just diesels.

I don't think the diesels are anymore reliable or unreliable than their gasoline brethren. Had ~20 BMW's and every model has its own gotchas and things to watch out for. Our maintenance costs on the diesel are very comparable to our gas versions. Over 4 years, we have spent ~$3500 on maintenance/repairs on our 2010 X5d. I have replaced the glow plugs and module, engine partitions, rebuilt the active SCR tank, replaced both NOX sensors, complete cooling system, and now the transmission. <$1000/yr on maintenance/repairs is a great value proposition for the mileage and practicality of an X5, or any luxury vehicle. But that's only achieved of course, by doing your own work. Those same jobs done at an indy would have been $10000+ and probably double that at a dealer.

Edit: I should add that the trans failure has kept it off the road for 12 months while I was sourcing a viable low mileage unit that didn't cost a fortune. So that might lower the value prop a bit once you factor that in. Fortunately, our other 3 bimmers took up the duty while it's been down.

[One365thIrish]

Bought my 2011 X5 35D at 49K and as soon as it rolled over 100K I started having NoX failures, DEF failure, no start in 200 miles. Dealer replaced DEF unit and Nox sensors under warranty and no start problem still there. Deleted and tuned, good to go, but with a strange noise when decelerating, possibly the transfer case actuator motor gears.
Yeah, like many others say, problems will arise and you have to decide what path you want to go depending on $$$.
I love the car and will drive it til the wheels fall off. Fortunately for me it's not my daily driver so it can be down for a while til I repair it. My '07 Chevy silverado LBZ diesel is my daily driver with 160k on it and absolutely no problems with it.

[T-Dubbs]

i bought my e70 35d last summer, ive put about 6k into it since....

I did full fluids change, and fuel filter and stage 1 tune right away. A month later I got DPF clogging CEL. so i did the deletes... then wanted more sound, so i did the rear muffer delete from tunemyeuro.

The i started to get the injector #6 activation CEL fairly often, so i had it changed out. Then i got the injector #5 activation code, so i changed it out. I also replaced my cracked rain trays under the hood with OEM ones for water protection.
I still get the CEL from injector #6 activation..... but I think it might be from a water damged DME. Still yet to be tested.

its been a rough ride so far for me so far...... waiting to be able to enjoy it for a month or two without having another issue... UGH

[crystalworks]

Really, at this age and mileage, most of these trucks, regardless of fuel type, are going to need sizable repairs/maintenance. Complete front suspensions, complete cooling systems, and various other age related service.

I have a rule whenever I buy a "new to me" BMW. Budget $2000+/- for repairs immediately after purchase. Because the previous owners almost never maintained one of these things the way they should be to make them daily driver and road trip reliable the way I like our vehicles to be. If they can't show a binder full of service... it needs work, no matter how good they say it is.

[T-Dubbs]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

I have a rule whenever I buy a "new to me" BMW. Budget $2000+/- for repairs immediately after purchase. Because the previous owners almost never maintained one of these things the way they should be to make them daily driver and road trip reliable the way I like our vehicles to be. If they can't show a binder full of service... it needs work, no matter how good they say it is.

I'm at about $6500cdn including deletes in less than a year.

Mine also came with a binder of every receipt since new.

Mine will be going for sale, once I replace that injector AGAIN

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by T-Dubbs

I'm at about $6500cdn including deletes in less than a year.

Mine also came with a binder of every receipt since new.

Mine will be going for sale, once I replace that injector AGAIN

Things are probably a little different in the great white north. Our parts are easier to come by here and cheaper as well I think.

The binder must show recent maintenance. I don't know the particulars of your X, but the E70 chassis is at that age where major systems will need attention immediately, unless shown to have been replaced. I'm talking complete cooling systems, complete front suspension, transmission fluid service, etc.

Deleting emissions equipment is a whole other discussion, I hate sooty vehicles so can't/won't do it. But to each their own, certainly don't blame someone for wanting to delete because costs can get high if you don't know how to keep them down. So far I've done active SCR tank, glow plugs/module, and both NOX sensors. Having the DPF cleaned this week (as well as a lot of preventative maintenance while in there) as I am doing a transmission replacement on it even though the DPF was operating fine. In 4 years and 33,000 miles we've got $3500-4000 in repairs including the transmission. Not too bad.

I've found, the best person to buy any BMW from is a competent enthusiast. Someone who does their own work and cares about the vehicle. You'll pay at least $2000 more up front. But that usually saves a bunch later on.

And all of that is just IMO and what I employ to buy my BMW's (~20 so far, average 1 or 2 a year). Everyone has their way they buy cars. Sometimes luck plays a factor too and you just get a problem child. It happens. Shoot, sometimes I buy the problem child because I can get it so cheap and then put in the work to save the car. Hope yours gives you some peace after this injector replacement.

[T-Dubbs]

Originally Posted by T-Dubbs

I'm at about $6500cdn including deletes in less than a year.

Mine also came with a binder of every receipt since new.

Mine will be going for sale, once I replace that injector AGAIN

turns out to be leaky OEM rain treys that i just replaced... haha

first try it didn't leak, but they sure did the second time.


Here's a tip for everyone:

Seal the rain treys up 100% with something (used Butyl, but im sure caulking would work too), then do a leak test to verify the seal.
now I finally have mine sorted (4 months later)

[liam821]

I bought our 2011 X5 new and so far have put 158,000 miles on it. Very little has been done other than normal maintenance-type stuff (oil changes)...except at 120k the DPF needed replacing. I thought about going down the delete route, but in the end, my wife drives this most of the time and didn't want a stinky diesel x5. So I replaced the DPF at a cost of around $6k which included a new cat and both nox sensors. By the time I added new tires and brakes it was an expensive month. Figure the emissions system should be good for another 120k.

A few other things I can think of:

Front swaybar bushing went bad at around 105k
DEF system was replaced under warranty at 105k
Some emissions sensor went bad at 76k and again warranty took care of that
Turbo oil feed line started leaking at 85k
Replaced the brakes 3 times
I'm on my 5th set of tires (stock Dunlops lasted 12k, 3 sets of DWS06 which I didn't like, and finally I'm on Michelin AS3+ now)
Countless oil changes
Replaced the trans oil at 130k
Replaced both rear airbags at 120k

That's basically it. Everything else has been fine. Heck, it's even on the original battery!

But to answer OPs original question, I've left it stock the whole time. I tow a large enclosed race car trailer (~6000 pounds) with it and don't want any more stress on the trans/engine than it already has. And it's been dead nuts reliable and I'd like to keep it that way.

[JDAURIA]

What type of preventative maintenance have you been doing?

157k bone stock. Lots of maintenance but I wouldn't say any different than any other BMW. A lot of the diesel components are under 10 year / 120k mile warranty.

My previous 35d had 112k before being total and it was rock solid reliable, no real issues besides nOX sensor

Start to think ahead and replace parts before they fail and cause other issues

[T-Dubbs]

Originally Posted by JDNY516

What type of preventative maintenance have you been doing?

I would start here at the 100,000mile Restoration kit (from tunemyeuro.com):

https://www.tunemyeuro.com/100k-rest...mw-e70-x5-35d/