Overheating 2018 35d

[Harv]

2018 F15 X5 35d 86,000 miles original owner.

Excellent maintenance and all recalls up to date including the egr cooler and hp fuel pump.

A few weeks ago I departed Cleveland for Asheville towing my 69 2002 on an aluminum trailer. Myself and this X5 are not new to towing, I also tow a 23’ Airstream. The night before I left the temp dropped to 38f and about 70 miles into the trip I got a low coolant level indication. Keeping an eye on the temp gauge I pressed on (bad idea I know) thinking the fluctuation of outdoor temp may have had something to do with it. About 120 miles later (and right by an exit) I got a high engine temp indication. I pulled off, let it cool, topped off the coolant level, burped the system the best I could and continued to Asheville without issue. When I got to “The Vintage” I dropped the X5 off at Asheville BMW for a look over. They reset the coolant level and vac bleed the system. No faults, no leaks, no codes of any kind. After the weekend I loaded up Sunday am and started for Cleveland. I made it up and over the mountains and down into TN. Stopped for fuel and back on the road again. 10 miles later it overheated again. Stopped immediately had it towed to a dealer about 30 miles away. They looked at it Monday and said it needs a thermostat and mechanical water pump. Sounds reasonable and correct. On my way Tuesday (had to wait for parts) and it happened again 120 miles away. Cooled, topped off, burped and I made it back to the dealer. They were embarrassed. Vac bleed the system again and all is normal. This time I made it 200(somewhat) miles away and it did it again. Got towed to Charleston WV where I stayed overnight. A buddy of mine drove down with his Sprinter Van. 2002 off the trailer and X5 on. I followed in the 2002 4 hours home.

I’m not coming up with any similar issues with all my searching. At best it’s something like the egr cooler (but no codes). After that it goes down hill fast head gasket, head, block? I seams to me air (boost?) is getting in the cooling system. Air bubble manifests in the pump and it overheats. Rad hoses are cool to Luke warm (they should burn you) the heater hoses go cold too.

Anything?

Buler?


John

[tlow98]

Have you used one of the head gasket gas detection devices? Cheap and easy to see If you’re in the clear…

Nice 2002!

[Harv]

Thanks.

At this point it’s at my local dealer. The shop head mechanic is on it. I believe that’s what is going on is they are waiting for coolant and oil analysis.

John

[shimmy23]

ugh just reading your op had me stressed out. being on the road/travel with car issues is for me.

keep us posted

[Harv]

Combustion in the coolant. At best it’s the head gasket. Then maybe the head. Then maybe the head and block.

This is not looking good.

At least VW bought half of it when I bought it.

John

[tlow98]

Dang! Well, I’m also happy to hear that VW bought half of it.

So does this end your diesel escapades?

Sorry to hear about the loss, tho, Ugh. But that is a very beautiful 2002!

[Harv]

I’m not giving up on it yet.

Just bummed about this whole thing.

Canceled camping trip this weekend isn’t helping.

John

[Harv]

Today may have been some good news.
At first look it may have just been the head gasket. The head may be ok.

More later as I find out more.

John

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Harv

Today may have been some good news.
At first look it may have just been the head gasket. The head may be ok.

More later as I find out more.

John

Good to hear. Hope you can make a go of it. Repaired at a dealer then? I can only imagine the bill they would serve up for something like that.

[Harv]

Yep at the dealer.
I’ve struggled with this but haven’t used a local indie for the X5 yet. Dealer has decent reputation. Shop lead working on it. It’s a complex car, or so I thought. 3 of the 4 classic cars I have (2002, 530i, 944) are down at the moment and this is more than I wanted to bite off.

John

[tlow98]

Hmmm, not as obvious as I’d have thought. So the black material has worn off and it’s allowing gas to pass into the cooling system?

I completely understand not wanting to tackle this…

[Clifton]

Harv - Thanks for sharing you experience, albeit unpleasant. I'm fascinated by this topic and had to go through similar pains with and E36 M3 at 114K miles.

Please keep sharing updates and pics along your journey.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by Clifton

Harv - Thanks for sharing you experience, albeit unpleasant. I'm fascinated by this topic and had to go through similar pains with and E36 M3 at 114K miles.

Please keep sharing updates and pics along your journey.

^^^ Seconded. Thanks for sharing.

Seeing as our 35d is @ 108k and we may need to start weighing keeping it. Starting to have all the emissions related failures (NOX sensors replaced, DPF sensor replaced, still has SCR inefficiency code). The E70 35d we sold @ 170k was still great, though also had to service all the SCR system components... but neither vehicle tows, so maybe that's the difference between your experience and ours?

[Harv]

I’ve towed with this car since the first week I got it. It’s been a spectacular tow vehicle. tlow98 the black is just residual soot. It’s the faint lines across the ring seal of the head gasket that’s the tell tail. Again, this is, from what I can figure, a rare failure of the N57. Yesterday my family and I drove over to Western PA for the Polo matches and back. The X5 performed perfectly. I keep checking the coolant level every time I stop! So far it hasn’t changed.

Will I keep it?

I think so at this point I will. I genuinely like the car and it’s truly the Swiss Army knife of vehicles. I looked at a Raptor, drove a T-Rex(childish) and did some online looking at the Defender. None of those would do what this X5 will do all around. And none for sure will get 19.6 mpg towing my 2002 on my trailer at 75mph in the mountains.

Today I cleaned and fed the leather, (mine has the leather dash and such) vacuumed and cleaned the interior and washed all the windows. I like it again.

[stocktree]

Did you have the timing chain changed? That seems to be a weak link with higher mileage.

[Harv]

No as the motor was not separated from the transmission. I could touch the guides and the wear was minimal. The later n57’s have an updated setup from what I can tell.

John

[mrrsharma@yahoo.com]

Have you looked at a ram 2500 Cummins 4 door?

X5d will be a collector car one day… last of the diesels.

[Harv]

No I haven’t.

I think for me I’d really like to avoid a pickup truck. I really hate the way they drive. Now in a perfect world, yes, I’d have some sort of truck just for towing. But for me my daily driver has to fill a lot of rolls. The X5 can hustle down a twisty road a lot better than it should. And dare I say better than a lot of other SUV’s.

Took this today.
Disregard the warning exclamation it’s for a pdc fault in my rear bumper that I haven’t bothered to fix.

John.

[jbfrancis3]

Thanks for sharing, especially the photos. With a virtually identical spec vehicle with 70k miles, your endeavor certainly has my attention and great to see resolution; even if it ate into other vehicle budgets.

[Harv]

I have no idea what to say.
I’m flippin depressed.

John

[Harv]

Intake manifold failed and caught fire.
Ever since I got it back it smelled more dieselie than it used to. I chalked it up to the ECU’s and other modules being reset and it was learning.

It coughed, sputtered and felt like it ran backwards for a second in rush hour traffic while my family and I all loaded up with suitcases on our way to the airport for vacation in Maine.
Flights missed, trip canceled.

My enthusiasm has left the building.

BMW customer care (good will) offered me a 1000 off a new BMW till December 31’st for the last issue. What a joke.

John

[mrrsharma@yahoo.com]

Let me know if you will be selling it!