Quote:
Originally Posted by f15_ride
What did you hear about the transfer case? I just got a 2014 bmw x5 drive 50i and dealer is telling me that i need new transfer case . Car has been maintained by previous owner, always at bmw.
|
What mileage? Not a widespread issue, but I can kill TC (transfer case) in 15 min doing Jimhana style burnouts in 5300lbs SAV. Really depends on previous owner. Lease owners are worst lol - they don't care and abuse it. Basically, if it's CPO and you just got it - that's a dealers mistake, should have caught a bad TC (transfer case), especially considering they should do a 100+ point inspection before selling a CPO. Should, but often they just skip it. Not the first dealer, not the last. They should replace for free IMHO. If it's a private sale - then previous owner killed it. Sorry for this kind of bad news. Also, easy to kill TC using wrong size tires - TC will be toast in 5 min.
TC in x5 is not 50i specific AFAIK (could be wrong). It's a ATC45L unit (with minimal changes) that was used on previous generation of x5 too on both 35i and 50i. AFAIK BMW puts it in other models too, not only x5. It needs timely oil changes, probably every 50k miles or even earlier if you drive hard. Clutch in it can overheat due to lack of oil - basically if you neglect it and abuse the car (which who knows what previous owner did, I can bet TC oil was never changed due to low mileage) and often drive in stop and go traffic - it will heat up and eventually might fail. This was known since E70 x5 if you read E70 forum.
However, this is NOT a common issue. Just realize that it's not hard to kill TC in x5 if you drive like you stole it - you can imagine what stress TC experiences. We don't know what previous owner did: burnouts in 50i, numerous 0-60 drag starts - and then he returned it to a dealer (or sold it to you if it was private sale) and the car was sold CPO as in "pristine condition, cared and washed everyday lol"
This is why I hate buying second hand. Also, keep in mind that "serviced in dealership" means bad news when it comes to buying 3-4 years CPO cars, lease return etc - as BMW (dealers) have abysmal/long oil change intervals. Their "lifetime" fluids are also infamous. So IMHO after you get it fixed - just change fluids in your x5 in timely manner and NOT as per BMW lol.