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Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Mon May 04, 2026 11:20 pm
by integrale_evo
I’m really starting to lose patience with the x5
I still have a horrendous vibration under power, slight at 18mph, really bad between 30 and 35mph and worse the more throttle you give it.
I thought it might be the transfer box not liking the worn front tyres. Had some fresh ones put on on Saturday. Zero difference, didn’t alter the speed it happens in the slightest.
Today I removed the front propshaft, making it rwd only. The facelift x5 like mine always drives the rear wheels, with a chain and electronically controlled clutch sending power to the front when needed. With the prop removed there’s basically zero load or drag on the clutches.
Still vibrating just as badly.
I’ve been under it a few times and just can’t feel any unwanted movement or feel any play anywhere. Changed the rear differential oil the other week and all looked fine, no burnt smell, no chunks, no metal paste.
Unfortunately it’s at the age where nearly everything is old or worn but probably hasn’t been replaced yet.
It was still there to a degree with the winter wheels, but definitely worse with the fat 20s. Makes me wonder if it could even be a rear damper struggling at a certain resonant frequency. It’s so big and heavy a standard push down bounce test doesn’t do anything at all!
I’m trying not to scattergun parts at it and only replace parts I know are more worn than it like, and I don’t have an infinite pot of money (or time!)
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 8:34 am
by V8Granite
As a fellow planet killing owner.....
Engine mounts, fluid filled ones can hold the weight but then go hard against the broken mount under load.
Subframe fully tight? I think you did the rear bushes but is the front all tight, needs fully jacking up on the body for this as it's a pain to check. Mine felt tight and couldn't move it at all, new front bushes solved it.
How is your gearbox and transfer box supported ? Can you lift them together and see if the bushes are loose ? Again the weight of it all can be hard to move when load is applied on the ground.
Propshaft phasing ? On the Defender I had under load vibration when I'd not clocked the UJs correctly, I assumed the front and rear were the same and didn't check.
Cost and hassle chart, this is very time hungry so will be a £20 part
Dave!
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 8:52 am
by mik
integrale_evo wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 11:20 pm
I’m really starting to lose patience with the x5
I still have a horrendous vibration under power, slight at 18mph, really bad between 30 and 35mph and worse the more throttle you give it.
Any point trying to fling a go-pro underneath it to try and see what’s vibrating?
If it’s a damper then it might be visible from another car following / alongside?
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 11:20 am
by Mito Man
I’d still think driveshaft, maybe a bush or even an axle? You’d think it would have to be a component that rotates.
Speaking of X5s I ordered a set of TRW front control arms for it from Germany (they made the originals). They were only £80 a side and I ordered separately to get over the stupid import duty. Anyway I see they’re now made in Malaysia. BMW markings ground off so it is the real deal. Lemforder sold the new nuts and bolts for it which were also made in Malaysia.
Looking online this is a common complaint and appears that the factories moved 2 years ago and parts are not as good.
Merkel really fucked Germany didn’t she?
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 1:05 pm
by Jimexpl
integrale_evo wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 11:20 pm
I’m really starting to lose patience with the x5
I still have a horrendous vibration under power, slight at 18mph, really bad between 30 and 35mph and worse the more throttle you give it.
I thought it might be the transfer box not liking the worn front tyres. Had some fresh ones put on on Saturday. Zero difference, didn’t alter the speed it happens in the slightest.
Today I removed the front propshaft, making it rwd only. The facelift x5 like mine always drives the rear wheels, with a chain and electronically controlled clutch sending power to the front when needed. With the prop removed there’s basically zero load or drag on the clutches.
Still vibrating just as badly.
I’ve been under it a few times and just can’t feel any unwanted movement or feel any play anywhere. Changed the rear differential oil the other week and all looked fine, no burnt smell, no chunks, no metal paste.
Unfortunately it’s at the age where nearly everything is old or worn but probably hasn’t been replaced yet.
It was still there to a degree with the winter wheels, but definitely worse with the fat 20s. Makes me wonder if it could even be a rear damper struggling at a certain resonant frequency. It’s so big and heavy a standard push down bounce test doesn’t do anything at all!
I’m trying not to scattergun parts at it and only replace parts I know are more worn than it like, and I don’t have an infinite pot of money (or time!)
Soon after I bought our E70 X5 it had a vibration that increased with speed. Got it looked at by a BMW specialist and had the only wheel bearing that noticable play in it (a front one) replaced and it was still there. Convinced myself it was the front diff, so bought a replacement and geve the car to my trusted mechanic in Leicester to swap out. He ignored me and checked the bearings again - the other front one had no play, but was ever so slightly rough to turn with the wheel removed. Swapped the inner and outer bearing and everything was ok with the world again.
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 1:14 pm
by scotta
Jimexpl wrote: Tue May 05, 2026 1:05 pm
integrale_evo wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 11:20 pm
I’m really starting to lose patience with the x5
I still have a horrendous vibration under power, slight at 18mph, really bad between 30 and 35mph and worse the more throttle you give it.
I thought it might be the transfer box not liking the worn front tyres. Had some fresh ones put on on Saturday. Zero difference, didn’t alter the speed it happens in the slightest.
Today I removed the front propshaft, making it rwd only. The facelift x5 like mine always drives the rear wheels, with a chain and electronically controlled clutch sending power to the front when needed. With the prop removed there’s basically zero load or drag on the clutches.
Still vibrating just as badly.
I’ve been under it a few times and just can’t feel any unwanted movement or feel any play anywhere. Changed the rear differential oil the other week and all looked fine, no burnt smell, no chunks, no metal paste.
Unfortunately it’s at the age where nearly everything is old or worn but probably hasn’t been replaced yet.
It was still there to a degree with the winter wheels, but definitely worse with the fat 20s. Makes me wonder if it could even be a rear damper struggling at a certain resonant frequency. It’s so big and heavy a standard push down bounce test doesn’t do anything at all!
I’m trying not to scattergun parts at it and only replace parts I know are more worn than it like, and I don’t have an infinite pot of money (or time!)
Soon after I bought our E70 X5 it had a vibration that increased with speed. Got it looked at by a BMW specialist and had the only wheel bearing that noticable play in it (a front one) replaced and it was still there. Convinced myself it was the front diff, so bought a replacement and geve the car to my trusted mechanic in Leicester to swap out. He ignored me and checked the bearings again - the other front one had no play, but was ever so slightly rough to turn with the wheel removed. Swapped the inner and outer bearing and everything was ok with the world again.
This is why I now have a 128ti. Mine did EXACLTY this. it spent 3 months with BMW and they could not fix it. Brand new wheels helped but it was still there. They tried many different things. Bushes, Arms, gearbox flush. still the same.
In the end I got so fucked off with it I traded it.
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 1:24 pm
by Mito Man
Good point with the bearings. I think cars with ball bearings behave very differently when the bearings fail vs the older taper bearings. I've never had play or noise changing with direction on a bad bearing but they did all increase in noise/vibration with speed.
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 3:55 pm
by Delphi
Comb flap actuator for the HVAC has a vacuum leak which meant the flap kept rising up then falling as it gained and lost vacuum, making a repetitive banging noise as it did so . As replacement requires removal of the centre console, I've applied a temporary fix which involved disconnecting it from the vacuum manifold that's buried deep in the centre console and plugging the outlet with a bung. It now means I have no more vacuum leaks and everything else works perfectly.
It's in for a service at Strasse on Thursday as well as the coolant temp sensor replacing as the fans run continuously. Checked the resistance of the sensor and it read 370 ohms which indicates a coolant temp of roughly 400 degrees.
Off to Ireland for a road trip a week on Friday, so just want everything to be just so.
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Tue May 05, 2026 7:59 pm
by integrale_evo
It had a new front differential soon after I bought it, followed by a transfer box as the siezed differential had killed it.
That’s why initially I was suspecting the transfer box, the one I put in was of unknown vintage.
You don’t feel it at all through the steering, but hard to tell where from the middle to the back it might be originating from. Definitely speed based, not rpm, changing gear while it does it makes no difference.
Changed the ns engine mount recently as there were signs of exhaust movement, had to drop the subframe to do it, everything definitely tight, rear subframe bushes just done, was motd last week by a genuine and honest place, they would have told me if any of the bushes or joints were worn.
I’m tempted to buy a driveshaft, they’re only £70 and the same both sides so I can stick the new one in, if it makes no difference, swap the one I took out with the other side.
Will see how much of a pain diff bushes are to do, it’s a 21 year old 2.4T lump that’s done nearly 150k miles.
Annoying, as it sound great, I think it looks good, and love driving it. Just not between 30 & 35 mph
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Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 9:39 am
by Sundayjumper
integrale_evo wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 11:20 pm
I thought it might be the transfer box not liking the worn front tyres. Had some fresh ones put on on Saturday. Zero difference, didn’t alter the speed it happens in the slightest.
So that makes sense, because:
The facelift x5 like mine always drives the rear wheels, with a chain and electronically controlled clutch sending power to the front when needed.
The transfer box isn't really doing anything.
The change of wheels, though:
integrale_evo wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 11:20 pm
It was still there to a degree with the winter wheels, but definitely worse with the fat 20s.
If the wheels make a significant difference, can you try running winters on the front / 20s on the back, and vice-versa, to maybe narrow down whether it's coming from the front or rear ? With the front prop removed if necessary. I suppose you might get an ABS error if there's a big difference in diameter but you can ignore that for the sake of testing this.
Wheel bearings seem possible. And at this age / mileage they are definitely going to be past their best. Have you noticed if the vibration changes at all when cornering ? Shifting the load form side to side.
For your next BMW project I recommend an N63 / S63 with leaky valve seals. An utter fcuking engine-out mission and I want someone else to suffer too.
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Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 11:05 am
by V8Granite
Any Hot V engine is an absolute twat of an engineering move.
Heat soak like crazy and cooks everything, I cannot see any logic in it at all.
Dave!
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 11:15 am
by Sundayjumper
V8Granite wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 11:05 am
Any Hot V engine is an absolute twat of an engineering move.
Heat soak like crazy and cooks everything, I cannot see any logic in it at all.
Dave!
The logic is cross-bank turbocharging:
https://www.autozine.org/technical_scho ... ion_4.html
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 11:31 am
by Gavster
Sundayjumper wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 9:39 am
For your next BMW project I recommend an N63 / S63 with leaky valve seals. An utter fcuking engine-out mission and I want someone else to suffer too.
IMG_8298.jpeg
That photo is the height of understatement knowing what you’ve been through to get to that one tiny part
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 11:53 am
by mik
Packaging / heat management issues aside - that’s a very interesting article. Cheers.
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 1:10 pm
by IanF
mik wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 11:53 am
Packaging / heat management issues aside - that’s a very interesting article. Cheers.
Interesting website that.. thanks for the link. I always thought MB (well AMG) did the hot V first
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 2:31 pm
by V8Granite
Which works lovely, till it goes in a vehicle, things cooking away after any run.
Such extreme heat cycles will always be bad. Ventilation is important.
Dave!
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 7:04 pm
by Jobbo
Heat rises, it’ll be fine
Boring update. M5 did 32.2mpg on the nearly 530 miles to Ullapool. I thought that was going to have been flattered by the 40-ish miles of EV running from starting fully charged but no, I filled up just north of Perth and with very little charge left it coincidentally averaged 32.2mpg from the fuel stop to our destination. Range is about 420 miles on a 60l tank.
And the adaptive cruise with lane keeping worked really well and meant my pulse barely raised all journey. I did use it properly for a few overtakes in the sections which weren’t average speed camera limited of course.
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 10:08 pm
by Jimexpl
Sundayjumper wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 9:39 am
For your next BMW project I recommend an N63 / S63 with leaky valve seals. An utter fcuking engine-out mission and I want someone else to suffer too.
This exactly why I'll continue to run our E70 4.8i for as long as we need a 7 seat SUV, as paying an extra £25-30k for the same car with a few superficial updates and potential major engine issues doesn't appeal!
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 11:11 pm
by mik
Jobbo wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 7:04 pm
Heat rises, it’ll be fine
I know that you know that heat doesn’t rise, whereas hot air does, but…..welll….. I couldn’t let it lie.
Re: Your fleet running reports
Posted: Thu May 07, 2026 6:47 am
by Jobbo
mik wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 11:11 pm
Jobbo wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 7:04 pm
Heat rises, it’ll be fine
I know that you know that heat doesn’t rise, whereas hot air does, but…..welll….. I couldn’t let it lie.
Well yes, I assume radiation rather than convection is the major heat transfer method in a hot vee. But maybe they need a hole in the bonnet and a fan to increase convective heat transfer.
