X6 Problems and Solutions

[dmlgc]

I noticed that problems and their solutions are scattered over several threads I thought I would start a thread just for problems and solutions. I think this may help when you have an issue and need to take it to the dealer to get it diagnosed and hopefully fixed.

It seems cars are spending a lot of time at the dealers to get simple problems (ok my opinion) diagnosed, if we post here when you have to go in maybe you can suggest things for them to check.

My most recent experience involved a check engine light and "appears" the solution is to replace the battery. My car had been in multiple times for this issue, first time replacing the dmtl pump(gas tank pressure thingy) and second time a sensor.

In each case the check engine light would stay off for a while then come back on, here is my most recent post (as of today):

Well car has been at dealers for 3 days now.

First day I was told that they wrangled with BMW about fault codes and at end of the day received approval to reprogram car.

Second day they reprogrammed car but wanted to do some drive cycles (drive for x mile stop drive another x miles) to make sure it fixed the problem.

Third day after doing some drive cycles they say the battery is bad and will have to be replaced. Good news they have the battery in stock ..... but ( you knew this was coming) replacing the battery will require the car to be reprogrammed again.

I am suppose to get it back tomorrow afternoon sometime, We are going down the coast to Carmel/Monterey for our anniversary starting early Saturday morning ( having some work done on the house and can't be there for at least 3 days).

This already has cost me a trip to Socal at Christmas time to visit family.

Saying this is a "new" model and this is to be expected is crap. The engine is new,most everything else other than DPC is from X5 line. About now a MB AMG is looking good. BMW makes an $80k car that takes three days to figure out it has a bad battery, you know I can't ever think of a new car I had that came with a bad battery.

At this point my wife doesn't think she will replace her 330 with another BMW.

[Deda]

cool thread!

[shenard]

My X6 is at the dealer going on its third day to try and fix my steering issue for the third time. Wheels gets stuck in its current position many times after acceleration. Has happened a few times around some turns and was a little scary to say the least. BMWNA has gotten involved and been great to work with so far and hopefully we will get to the bottom of problem this time because when I took it in on Wednesday, I drove with an engineer and I felt the problem occur twice.

[MeEmZ]

My car will be at the dealer starting tomorrow for the same issues i listen so many times before and adding to that the accident repair which shouldn't take too long my guess 10-15 days at best ~_~

my next car is defiantly not going to be a BMW

[dmlgc]

Originally Posted by shenard

My X6 is at the dealer going on its third day to try and fix my steering issue for the third time. Wheels gets stuck in its current position many times after acceleration. Has happened a few times around some turns and was a little scary to say the least. BMWNA has gotten involved and been great to work with so far and hopefully we will get to the bottom of problem this time because when I took it in on Wednesday, I drove with an engineer and I felt the problem occur twice.

shenard,
WOW that would freak me out, I don't mind electronics but if all else fails I want to be able to steer and stop.

Keep us updated, it must be scary for you and the rest of us definitely need to know if our steering could lock up in the middle of a turn.

On a lighter note maybe next years model will come with a parachute option.

add: just remembered this I think chuck92103 or cheaptrick had a steering issue hopefully we'll get a post.

[dmlgc]

Problem: check engine light on
Solution(s) tried: replaced dmtl pump, replaced sensor
Final Solution: reprogrammed car and replaced battery (the type that was in car was wrong type battery)
Trips to dealer: 3
Total days at dealer: 9
Solution happiness (1-5, 5 being best): 4
Comments: I just returned from trip to Carmel and check engine light has stayed off. Not sure if it was the reprogramming or the battery replacement (apparently there are two batteries) that fixed the problem , my guess is the reprogramming.

Correction on the two batteries , turns out there is only one ( older 7 series had two) and it's a gel type.

[archwerks]

Originally Posted by dmlgc

Problem: check engine light on
Solution(s) tried: replaced dmtl pump, replaced sensor
Final Solution: reprogrammed car and replaced battery
Trips to dealer: 3
Total days at dealer: 9
Solution happiness (1-5, 5 being best): 4
Comments: I just returned from trip to Carmel and check engine light has stayed off. Not sure if it was the reprogramming or the battery replacement (apparently there are two batteries) that fixed the problem , my guess is the reprogramming.

Are there 2 batteries in the 50i?
Please confirm , as i've had lack of power issues in 35i which has 1 battery.

[dmlgc]

Originally Posted by archwerks

Are there 2 batteries in the 50i?
Please confirm , as i've had lack of power issues in 35i which has 1 battery.

Shop foreman told me there is two, a lead acid and a gel pack.
Don't know if this is true or not but I do know that some of my settings were retained and some were not . That would suggest that there is two , as I would think if there was only one all of my settings would have been reset. Perhaps "one of the experts" can chime in ( how's that for a challenge).

[archwerks]

Called dealer service dept. Said older 7 series had 2 batteries, but 35i & 50i has only 1 Absorbent Glass Mat (waterless)type w/900c.c.amp.
Can anyone confirm info?

[dmlgc]

Originally Posted by archwerks

Called dealer service dept. Said older 7 series had 2 batteries, but 35i & 50i has only 1 Absorbent Glass Mat (waterless)type w/900c.c.amp.
Can anyone confirm info?

I can confirm that my paperwork does show the replaced battery as being a type AGM (gel).

[xDrive50i]

Originally Posted by dmlgc

I can confirm that my paperwork does show the replaced battery as being a type AGM (gel).

AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) is a Lead Acid Battery. Almost all new cars these days use AGM batteries as they are safer (e.g. during an accident, the battery will not leak) than the older flooded type Lead Acid Batteries. The other advantage is that you can mount these batteries in pretty much any orientation.

In regards to a second battery, I do not know if he X6 has or does not have a second battery, however if the processor would only use RAM (static or dynamic) for storing your settings, the processor WOULD require a second battery to bridge the time the main battery would either be disconnected or the batteries capacity is too low to sustain a proper operating voltage for the processor, until such time that the main battery can either be recharged or be replaced.

I would however assume that the engineers would have been smart enough to either use EEPROMs or FlashROMs to have at least one backup copy of all your settings inside the main processor module.

Your key fob for example uses an EEPROM to store your settings for seat and mirror position, temperature, unit preference (mph or km/h, degF or degC, etc) as well as radio stations, distance traveled, error messages, basic diagnostic info, etc...

[dmlgc]

Originally Posted by xDrive50i

....................
Your key fob for example uses an EEPROM to store your settings for seat and mirror position, temperature, unit preference (mph or km/h, degF or degC, etc) as well as radio stations, distance traveled, error messages, basic diagnostic info, etc...

One of the things that didn't get saved was my radio stations, wonder what that means.

[archwerks]

All these electronic/power glitches we are xperiencing, reminds me of Italian sports cars in the late 70s & '80s. Wonderful & fabulous when all the carburator mechanics are working. To do that u need to have a mechanic in the passenger seat most of the time.

[dmlgc]

Originally Posted by archwerks

All these electronic/power glitches we are xperiencing, reminds me of Italian sports cars in the late 70s & '80s. Wonderful & fabulous when all the carburator mechanics are working. To do that u need to have a mechanic in the passenger seat most of the time.

Everything is electronics these days from cars to refrigerators, just have to live with it. Down side is when they have bugs you can't pull out a wrench to fix it, up side less moving parts so less to wear out.
Every technology has it's pros and cons, when planes don't work they fall out of the sky (or land on water) but that doesn't happen very often and it beats crossing the country in a covered wagon.

[archwerks]

Read article in Car & Driver Long Term update on X6 5.0i:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...ad_test_update


They had battery/resetting clock issues that turned out to be the wrong batteryright from the factory! Accordingly, they had it replaced.
As i (& many of u also) have had this issue, I've taken my
x6 35i into my dealer to have them check 2 c that the proper battery is in the car.
Sure enuf, the wrong part is in the battery compartment!. They had the proper battery, which has higher cranking amperage installed, so frequent starts do not deplete the battery, causing the save power mode to come on, cutting power to the clock( resetting it to 0).
Hope that is the end of my problems.
If u guys have electronic issues, i urge you to get your dealer to check n c if the proper battery was installed from the factory, b 4 doing anything else
Ironic that an $80,000 car needs to follow the same basic rule as an $8 toy car on Christmas morning
"Put in new batteries (not included), + end to + terminal, - end to - terminal" Priceless!

[dmlgc]

Archwerks,
glad it worked out. You were smart and didn't wait for the issues to pop up (clock resets, settings not retained,etc). I would urge everyone to have the battery checked when you take it in for service or be proactive like Archwerks and just go in and have it checked. They just check the part number and they know in about a minute if it's the wrong one.

[dmlgc]

Originally Posted by archwerks

Read article in Car & Driver Long Term update on X6 5.0i:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...ad_test_update

good article !
I always love the "we want to hate it people" falling in love with it. This is truly one car/truck/4x4 thingy that you have to drive to really understand how amazing it is.

[shenard]

Thought I would give eveyone an update. BMWNA has decided to replace my X6 and bought back my current one and we just finalized everything today. They could not fix my steering issue and the dealer claims they were unable to duplicate the steering issue the second two times it was in repair after detecting it the first time. It is one of those intermittent problems that you can't just make happen but it happens quite frequently. I have probably felt it happen at least 10 times in the past week. I decided to change to Alpine White and have ordered the following specs below. Hopefully the car could start being built as early as beginning of next week and possibly delivered the end of the following week or beginning of week after that.

Options are following:

'09 xDrive 50i
Alpine White
Dark Bamboo trim
Sand Beige Nappa Seat with Leather Dash
Cold Weather Package
Premium Package
Premium Sound Package
Rear Climate Package
Sport Package
Space-saver spare tire
Comfort Access
Running Boards
20" wheel upgrade
Rear-view Camera
Head-Up Display
HD Radio
Sat Radio

Can't wait to post pics!

[JeffCBH]

Congrats...my v8 is now at the dealer and they cannot figure out what is wrong with it...they replaced the battery, some pump, and still same faults...check engine light...not the same as what some of you guys have experienced after all...they don't know how long they will have it now...it has been with them yesterday and today, now all weekend...and back to it on Monday...I am losing faith...these guys don't seem to have a clue about this car...really weak...they have had a bunch of guys working on it, and have had to call HQ...lame...

[Nezo86]

Originally Posted by shenard

Thought I would give eveyone an update. BMWNA has decided to replace my X6 and bought back my current one and we just finalized everything today. They could not fix my steering issue and the dealer claims they were unable to duplicate the steering issue the second two times it was in repair after detecting it the first time. It is one of those intermittent problems that you can't just make happen but it happens quite frequently. I have probably felt it happen at least 10 times in the past week. I decided to change to Alpine White and have ordered the following specs below. Hopefully the car could start being built as early as beginning of next week and possibly delivered the end of the following week or beginning of week after that.

Options are following:

'09 xDrive 50i
Alpine White
Dark Bamboo trim
Sand Beige Nappa Seat with Leather Dash
Cold Weather Package
Premium Package
Premium Sound Package
Rear Climate Package
Sport Package
Space-saver spare tire
Comfort Access
Running Boards
20" wheel upgrade
Rear-view Camera
Head-Up Display
HD Radio
Sat Radio

Can't wait to post pics!

congrats bro!

[freedevil]

Originally Posted by MeEmZ

My car will be at the dealer starting tomorrow for the same issues i listen so many times before and adding to that the accident repair which shouldn't take too long my guess 10-15 days at best ~_~

my next car is defiantly not going to be a BMW

Would love to see pictures of your interior with White. How do you like it?

[shenard]

Originally Posted by JeffCBH

Congrats...my v8 is now at the dealer and they cannot figure out what is wrong with it...they replaced the battery, some pump, and still same faults...check engine light...not the same as what some of you guys have experienced after all...they don't know how long they will have it now...it has been with them yesterday and today, now all weekend...and back to it on Monday...I am losing faith...these guys don't seem to have a clue about this car...really weak...they have had a bunch of guys working on it, and have had to call HQ...lame...

I feel your pain. First time I was in service for 15 days, second time 14 days and third time 9 days because such a new car and I was first to experience problems. Guess that is common with such a new car that is limited production.