Post Your F15 Issues Here..........

[AngeloF15]

Update on 2015 F15 35i with 70k. Took a look around and found I have ofhg leak starting. Saw some accumulation on coolant hose from underneath. Had to remove splash guard to see. I also have some oxidation on the aluminum and decent rust on the driveshaft.

[AngeloF15]

Here are some pics of the oxidation...

[Incolumis]

Got a 2015 X5XDR50i. Want to fit a tow hitch but local BMW dealer says after market hitches don't work cos it screws up the diagnostics in the car. Was planning to get a hitch fitted by UHAUL. Anybody know of any problems, please or can recommend somebody other than UHAUL to go to. Based in SoCAL.

[FamilyMan]

Hey everyone,

I was hoping someone has some ideas on what the cause could be with my issue. My truck is '16 X5 35i with 53k miles.

From 0mph to about 25mph there is a distinct vibration but then when I get above 25mph it's completely gone.

I took it to the dealership about 5 months ago (while still under warranty) and they couldn't diagnose the problem. They kept it for about a week and decided to replace the transfer case. When I got the car back it was slightly better, but I could still feel it.

The service adviser and technician seem pretty good. The service adviser worked as a car porter since he was a kid and been at the dealership ever since (he's probably about 45 years old). The technician is a solid dude too, he's owned E46s and we had a good chat about my favorite; '72 2002 Tii.

But I'm at at a loss as to what to do... they mentioned that since the problem was identified prior to the warranty expiration, that BMW would more than likely honor 90% of the cost under "goodwill." But we just can't seem to pin down the issue.

I know this is not a lot of detail/info.... but if anyone has suggestions I would really appreciate the help!

[anon1000]

Originally Posted by Incolumis

Got a 2015 X5XDR50i. Want to fit a tow hitch but local BMW dealer says after market hitches don't work cos it screws up the diagnostics in the car. Was planning to get a hitch fitted by UHAUL. Anybody know of any problems, please or can recommend somebody other than UHAUL to go to. Based in SoCAL.

Is yours an M-Sport. Invisihitch is what I put on mine, completely invisible and pretty easy to install yourself. You do need to recode, plenty posts on this forum about the topic.

[F15GorDe]

Originally Posted by Incolumis

Got a 2015 X5XDR50i. Want to fit a tow hitch but local BMW dealer says after market hitches don't work cos it screws up the diagnostics in the car. Was planning to get a hitch fitted by UHAUL. Anybody know of any problems, please or can recommend somebody other than UHAUL to go to. Based in SoCAL.

I also chose the INVISIHITCH. No regrets AND no problems.

[TOPEC]

Originally Posted by Incolumis

Got a 2015 X5XDR50i. Want to fit a tow hitch but local BMW dealer says after market hitches don't work cos it screws up the diagnostics in the car. Was planning to get a hitch fitted by UHAUL. Anybody know of any problems, please or can recommend somebody other than UHAUL to go to. Based in SoCAL.

i have installed the uhaul hitch myself, no problems what so ever, quality is superb, very beefy. its a rebranded curt hitch, even says so in the install instructions from uhaul. y spend the money on more expensive hitches when this gets the same job done. only reason to go for other hitches is for the tow harness integration, but even then, u can adapt the harness urself.

[Krombacher]

Originally Posted by TOPEC

i have installed the uhaul hitch myself, no problems what so ever, quality is superb, very beefy. its a rebranded curt hitch, even says so in the install instructions from uhaul. y spend the money on more expensive hitches when this gets the same job done. only reason to go for other hitches is for the tow harness integration, but even then, u can adapt the harness urself.

Do you mind shooting a pic how it looks ?

[ComasF15]

Make sure you know what you want.

Invisihitch and Execuhitch offer a different way to connect the hitch.

A standard 2" receiver provides a flexible a sure towing experience. I've pulled 10's of thousands of miles. There is, however, slop front to back and side to side. The two hitches I've mentioned have nearly 0 front to back and side to side slop because they held are in place with an interference fit pin. If you put a 2" receiver on those hitches you've just put the slop back in them. A bicycle rack attach point has, on my rack, a threaded pin to take out the sleeve slop. If you have different size hitch balls then you simply buy the correct hitch size and height that works without slop. So besides the aesthetic of being out of sight they give a rattle and clunk free towing experience.

Worth the money IMHO.

[TOPEC]

Originally Posted by Krombacher

Do you mind shooting a pic how it looks ?

watch this video

[1norseman]

Originally Posted by ComasF15

Make sure you know what you want.

Invisihitch and Execuhitch offer a different way to connect the hitch.

A standard 2" receiver provides a flexible a sure towing experience. I've pulled 10's of thousands of miles. There is, however, slop front to back and side to side. The two hitches I've mentioned have nearly 0 front to back and side to side slop because they held are in place with an interference fit pin. If you put a 2" receiver on those hitches you've just put the slop back in them. A bicycle rack attach point has, on my rack, a threaded pin to take out the sleeve slop. If you have different size hitch balls then you simply buy the correct hitch size and height that works without slop. So besides the aesthetic of being out of sight they give a rattle and clunk free towing experience.

Worth the money IMHO.

You might want to mention Stealth Hitches instead...
Last I checked, Invisihitch was out of business and Stealth is the improved equivalent... (Execuhitch, was just selling the Invisihitch)
https://stealthhitches.com/collectio...2015-2016-2017

Also, plenty of separate threads on this subject (hitches) already...

[atomic80]

Originally Posted by anon1000

The tally at 56k miles on a 2014 X5 50i

- Idrive controller fixed twice before removing the dust ring from inside

Can you share more details about how to remove the dust ring? Mine has been replaced once and is again starting to stick sometimes.

[mermar]

Originally Posted by BMW_brenny

I am a 33 year old married medical practice manager living in a small alpine town in northern California. The practice I work for has me traveling frequently to our various office locations in California and Oregon, so I spend a lot of time in my vehicle. It snows heavily where we live so my husband and I wanted to invest in an all wheel drive, safe, reliable vehicle, with good fuel mileage, that would last us for many years to come. After months of research and careful consideration, my husband ended up purchasing a 2015 BMW X5 35d with the M Sport Package. It was a splurge for us to buy a BMW but after reading so much about BMW’s diesel motors, he was convinced this would be the best vehicle for us. I’ve always loved BMW’s - ever since I was a little girl. The X5 literally is my dream car. I love everything about it and I absolutely love driving it.

This last summer I noticed my X5’s temperature gage indicator started to reside slightly higher than where I was used to it hovering. I’m a very conscientious driver and an extremely detail oriented person, so this slight change was something that I noticed immediately and brought it to the attention of my husband. The indicator was now always just to the right of center, and higher when climbing a hill - when it used to always be just to the left of center, and just barely over the center line when climbing a hill. After talking to my husband about it, I started calling around asking different BMW service departments if this was something I should bring my vehicle in to have evaluated. The general consensus was that if my X5 was overheating or threatening any of the components, the highly sensitive computer system would alert me to there being a problem. I was asked over and over again if the temperature light ever came on or if the computer system ever warned me about my vehicle overheating, which it never did, so I was assured not to worry about it.

A few weeks later, while on a road trip with a girlfriend, my check engine light came on while I was in a very isolated area, over two hours to the closest BMW dealer. At this time I was a couple months past my 50,000 warranty expiration. My girlfriend suggested I try to check the fault using a generic reader you can use at the auto parts store but this reader, of course, couldn’t read the fault. I got on the phone to see if it was okay to continue on my trip or if I should have it towed. After calling around to more than one BMW dealer and the BMW roadside assistance hotline, I was given the same answer - if my X5 had any severe issues it would go into ‘limp mode’ which would not allow me to drive over a certain RPM or MPH. If this where to happen, I should stop immediately and have it towed, otherwise it was fine to drive it to the nearest BMW dealer. As my X5 wasn’t running any differently, I continued on my trip, with plans to detour to the closest BMW dealer. While driving, the check engine light went out. I was a bit perplexed. I again called around to different BMW service departments to get advise, as this seemed strange to me. I was told there was no need to bring it in if the light had gone out. I was reassured that if there was an issue, the light would come right back on. I was also told that the light coming on in the first place, could have been triggered by something as trivial as not putting my fuel cap on tight enough when I last fueled up. This made me feel much better about the whole situation.

When I got home from my trip, I noticed I was due for an oil change in approximately 1,000 miles, so still a little worried there might be some underlying issue going on, I called and scheduled my appointment a little early and asked them about these other concerns. They told me everything was fine and that diesel engines can vary in temperature over the course of their lifetime and to, again, trust my vehicle’s computer to tell me if there is a problem.

In October, my check engine light came on while I was working in Oregon. As there was a dealer close by, I drove it straight to the dealer to hopefully finally straighten all this out. Although, I was pretty stressed because I knew my warranty ended at 50,000 miles and my vehicle now had 73,000 miles on it. I realize 73,000 miles is a lot for a three year old vehicle but I commute for work and when we first purchased my X5 my two year old nephew was diagnosed with leukemia so we spent months traveling back and forth to the children’s hospital where he was getting treatment. Even with the high miles, my car was in perfect condition. I baby my X5 and keep meticulous care of it. Those 73,000 miles were almost exclusively cruise control freeway miles. I have always been on-time for all of my service appointments and always have the recommended service done per BMW’s recommendations.
The dealer plugged my X5 in and told me the check engine light was being triggered by a misfiring fuel injector but not to worry because BMW would cover the cost of the repair because all emissions related problems were actually covered up to 75,000 miles. I was so relieved, and then remembered this was actually something a repair advisor at another BMW dealer had told me in one of my many calls talking to different service departments about why my check engine light had gone off as mysteriously as it had come on a few months prior. The service advisor, who also happened to be the assistant manger of the service department, told me they didn’t have the parts in stock, so they would order them and we would make an appointment to come back. I reminded him that I live almost 100 miles away over high elevation summit passes. He said it would be fine to drive home and return in approximately a week when I was already planning on being their for work.
At the end of the following week, I dropped my X5 off, for what was supposed to be a one day job. Later that day I got a call saying they weren’t going to be done with my vehicle by the end of the day so they were going to set me up to take a loaner car home. This really stressed me out because my X5 was now going to be over 100 miles away, almost two hours away from my home, and in eight days I was set to go out of town for 10 days and had no plans of returning before then. I was pleasantly surprised to have them tell me not to worry about anything. I could take the loaner car home, and they would deliver my X5 to me when they were done and pick up the loaner car. WOW! I was so impressed with the over-and-above service they were offering me.
A week went by and I started to get nervous more might be wrong with my X5 than just the fuel injectors. Obviously it was costing them money having me drive their loaner car for so many days, so there must be something else going on. I worried all week until finally I got the call they were done with my X5. I spoke with the service advisor and he said it took so long because BMW wanted them to run tests on my fuel system that he described as ‘checking for metal flakes in my fuel lines because the error my vehicle was throwing can sometimes be a sign of a bigger problem’. Lucky for me, all these tests were negative so they just replaced all my fuel injectors (even though only one was misfiring) because replacing all of them was BMW’s recommendation. The entire job was warranted except for the replacement of my fuel filter, which I had previously agreed to pay for, as it was recommended routine maintenance that was easy to take care of while they were doing the warranty work. I was seriously in awe at the service they showed me and how well BMW took care of me. I was so proud to own a BMW and even bragged to my friends and family at how happy I was we bought my X5 and how great the dealer had treated me.

Fast forward about 45 days. My X5 literally just dies while driving it in Oregon while doing last minute Christmas shopping with my husband. We called the dealer, asking if they had any way of helping us tow it to them, as we were literally two blocks away. We were told we would have to call AAA. When the tow truck dropped my X5 off around 3PM on a Saturday, the service advisor told us they wouldn’t be able to run any diagnostic tests on my car until Monday, as they were having a Christmas party that night and wouldn’t have time. Talk about feeling stressed out. We live so far away and it was a week before Christmas. We asked if there was any way they could let us use a loaner car like they had before, as we had no way to get home and they agreed - what a relief! Although, I immediately became uneasy because as we were filling out the paperwork for the loaner car, the service adviser joked with us about having to buy a new car. He even brought a lady over to the desk asking if they had any X5 diesels on the lot, telling her we would probably be ‘in the market’. We left, feeling pretty stressed out, but hopeful it was nothing - just a false alarm. They promised us a call on Monday.
Lunchtime on Monday came around, nothing. I called the dealer and spoke with someone who took down my number and promised me she would have someone call me before they left for the night. Tuesday morning came around, still nothing. I emailed the assistant service manager, who I had dealt with before, and he emailed me back saying the service advisor who we dropped my vehicle off with would be calling me shortly. A few hrs went by, so I called again and was told my advisor was in a meeting about my vehicle but he should be calling me soon. Finally I got a call from the service advisor who explained that per the check engine light code that was triggered, BMW’s recommendation was to run a test that checked for metal flakes in my fuel system (weird, this sounded vaguely familiar). He proceeded to tell me that he unfortunately had some really bad news - the test was positive. Apparently the high pressure fuel pump had ‘grenaded’ contaminating everything with metal fragments and flakes - meaning the entire fuel system had to be replaced not just the broken part.
The worse news was that since my X5 now had 76,000 miles on it, it was not only out of the 50,000 miles warranty but also the extended emissions warranty, so I would be responsible for the entire $14,000+ bill.

Words could not explain my utter and complete shock! How could something like this happen? How could a three year old, $80,000 vehicle now just basically be a metal and rubber yard ornament, unless I dump almost $15,000 into it?!?! Basically he was telling me that in three years, 20% of my vehicle failed completely! So are BMW’s not made to last? Are they a disposable commodity? I was speechless. I was mortified. I asked myself, why would ANYONE buy a vehicle that this could happen to? How could we have been so stupid! There was no way we would be able to pay BMW almost $15,000 to fix my X5. How could anyone do that, for that matter? Even the doctor I work for, who owns an airplane and frequently has to spend thousands of dollars on it for repairs and maintenance, was in utter shock that my three year old highly esteemed vehicle could have such an insanely high dollar failure that had NOTHING to do with anything I did or could have done to prevent for that matter.

Still literally sick to my stomach with stress, I received another call from the dealer saying that they spoke with BMW North America and they agreed to cover all but about $6,500 of the job. As much of a blessing as that sounded like, I was still in shock. Even with BMW offering to pay for part of the job, this still seemed so unbelievably crazy to me, so I got online and started doing research. I quickly discovered several stories of people in my exact same situation. This is NOT at all an uncommon issue with BMW’s diesels or the BOSCH high pressure fuel pump that caused the issue. In fact further reading and research led me to discover that BMW was actually forced to extend their 5 series diesel engine emissions warranties to 125,000 miles because of this exact same issue happening. I asked the dealer to look into this, and they said they had already cross referenced my VIN in a database to see if my vehicle was part of that warranty extension, and it was not.

So I guess my question is, how could something that BMW knows is an issue NOT be something they stand behind and fix? I’ve read story after story online about people with X5 diesels with my same story, the biggest difference in my story than most of the others I’ve read about online, is that mine happened at 76,000 miles and not 12 miles, 27,000 miles, or 50,000 miles and because of that - I’m being forced to pay for the repair. Only a handful of these stories state that they were out of warranty and were forced to pay out of pocket. Those people who were forced to pay out of pocket are NOT happy, in fact, one of them is an attorney with my exact same vehicle, model, and year who I read is planning to file a class action lawsuit against BMW and Bosch for having this happen to her basically brand new X5. Crazy, that my situation isn’t an isolated incident - not that that fixes my vehicle - just crazy to wrap my head around.

I’m perplexed. I’m dumfounded. I’m heartbroken. This happening to us is literally life altering. I rely on my vehicle to get me to my job. I live in a rural town over an hour from my place of employment, so taking an Uber or asking a friend to take me to work is not an option. Also, my husband and I recently sold our house and are living in an apartment to save every penny we can to pay off a piece of land we purchased so we can build a house. We had plans of starting our build this year, but with this set back building our home will more than likely be put on hold. Like I mentioned before, my husband bought this vehicle for me because after all his research he decided it was the safest, most reliable, fuel efficient option for us to invest our hard earned money on. Both my husband and I work hard for everything we have. We went with a BMW diesel because they are built well and from everything we read would last us for years to come. Never in a million years would we ever imagine it would fail us so miserably.

This is inexcusable - period. A three year old vehicle should not have an internal part that ‘grenades’, ruining the entire vehicle, without the manufacturer standing behind it. This is a KNOWN issue. This Bosch high pressure fuel pump has failed in other diesel engine manufacturers as well - not just BMW diesels. Why is BMW not standing behind their vehicles when it comes to a faulty part they use in their diesels? Also, this brings a very important question to mind - why in the world would I pay $6,500 to have the same exact faulty part put back in my X5 with the risk of this exact same thing happening again in 2, 20, or 2,000 miles?

I get that warranties are set for a reason, nothing lasts forever - but I wholeheartedly feel like this is an outlying exception. Not only was my vehicle in the shop showing signs of this happening while it was under warranty, but BMW actually replaced parts that weren’t bad because they were worried it was happening. Also, the fact that BMW has extended the fuel emissions warranty on the 5 series diesels, goes to show that they are aware and have taken (at least partial) responsibility for this happening with these high pressure diesel fuel pumps.
I can only hope BMW continues to prove their outstanding service and pride they have in their vehicles, by stepping up to the plate and fixing all the damage done to my vehicle so I can continue to be a proud BMW owner for many years to come. I respectfully am pleading for any advise or help anyone can offer me. Thanks in advance!

I read about this sort of thing so often I am considering leaving the brand. A Premium priced product with sub-premium reliability is not ok. But BMw has created a cycle - people buy their product, are afraid of owning them out of warranty, so they trade them at 40-50k miles, but they trade them for another bmw... thereby rewarding BMW for creating the "It will break out of warranty and cost you $$$" fear. True for all of the German cars. Fun to drive but a bit of a headache to own.

[jimbojohnny]

I recently purchased a 2014 xDrive30d where the infotainment system's TV feature will not display the picture on the iDrive display. When driving, it will of course show the "picture disabled" message, but when parked it just shows a black screen. Audio is working fine.
Any ideas?

[-c-]

Well I was at the dealer and the service Forman told me to stay away from the new 2019 x5's for a while until they sort things out as their plagued with software and electrical problems right now. But hey their a new model right ! Lol. Jeez !

[THEX5BEAST]

We've had our 2017 X5 35D Xdrive for 1 and a half years now. DHP, ACC stop and go, HK, luxury seating, ventilated, cold weather package, 19" rims and a few other options. Had a bad start: Bad vibration bounce at all speeds, condensate water soaking both foot and accelerator pedal and a rattle in the rear gate. All are addressed. With almost 10,000 miles on it we now love it. Pulled our 22' powerboat very well on short trips. I've owned 12 BMW's with all but the last built in Germany. Never had issues like we had with the X5. Quality control seems lacking.

[kanvas]

Issues addressed since ownership (2014), currently at near 50k miles.

-Ignition coils replaced at around 30k miles (a bit early to do that).
-Air suspension bags replaced.
-Rear front control arms squeaking, will replace soon.
-Front control arms + bushings need replacement soon.

[Kshssh]

Hello ,

Im facing this issue with my 2017 x5 35d

[F15GorDe]

Originally Posted by Kshssh

Hello ,

Im facing this issue with my 2017 x5 35d

Not seeing what you’re inquiring about, your attachment failed.

[Kshssh]

Originally Posted by Kshssh

Hello ,

Im facing this issue with my 2017 x5 35d

https://cdn1.imggmi.com/uploads/2019...8bf4f-full.jpg

[Kshssh]

[Edwards944]

Picked up our X5 up at the Performance Center in December 2014 and I’m still using the original battery. A couple of questions:

1. How long should the original battery last?
2. What’s is the consensus on the best value replacement battery?

Thanks.