[streborx]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

Let’s me relistic, 2mm allowance difference between front and rear is for sure misinformation. The nominal overall diameter of x5 is 30”, or 762mm. 2mm represents 0.2%, it is noise. Even if tire pressure is off by 1-2 psi, the change in diameter is that. Plus the front will always rotate faster than rest unless the car is going 100% straight, any slight bank on highway, the front will rotate faster by 0.2%. Different tire wear pattern cannot and should not be the cause of transfer case damage.

2mm is significant in the life of a tire. But I agree -- it should be round-off error to a properly functioning transfer case. When I read the TSB referenced in the OP's thread opening, I'm left with the impression that all BMW knows is that a greater than statistical expected number of failures is occurring, and dealers are being told to check a variety of conditions (tire wear being one of them) and try a couple of remedies. BMW quality control is still collecting data and trying to splice it all together to make some sense out of it. With all the possible contributing factors, tire wear could be one of them, but it seems unlikely it's totally at fault. But if checking my tread depth once a month keeps my car out of the service bay for 2 weeks, I'm in.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

That 2mm needs to be seen in writing by BMW and not some forum bubba!

Subaru has also done RWD biased AWD systems, which are also subsebtible to tire diameter, but they do not fail at 30K.

I don’t dispute the need to keep tires within certain diameter, but 2mm!! For reference, I just measure US penny thickness, it is 1.5mm. So please think if 2mm is reasonable and realistic. Also think what actual the transfer case is doing, it cannot use 0.2% as criteria to start engaging clutch, if so, clutch will be engaged when you make a turn, when you go in those freeway round about. …. Basically all the time when car isn’t doing dead straight.

[hotvee]

Originally Posted by streborx

I changed out my OEM runflats (275/40R22 front & 315/35R22 rear) and squared up with a set of 275/50R20's, which keeps front and back diameters identical and changes the diameter/circumference by only +0.3%
But if checking my tread depth once a month keeps my car out of the service bay for 2 weeks, I'm in.

Do you buy a brand new set of 4 tires every time you see more than 2mm difference on one of your wheels compared to the others or when you got a puncture? Because otherwise strict and frequent tread depth checks have not much sense.

Installing non-factory tires may cause you more problems, especially denying with warranty covered service.
https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1740387

[eelnoraa]

I would also add, thread depth is merely a approximation when the accuracy is in the unit is mm. Also need consider psi, temperature, load …. It is an unmeasurable quantity without some precision instrument. We are taking less than a thickness of an US penny, at the height of the car.

If bmw need that kind of tight toloraance in tires, these cars are too fragile, needs to be parked in garage and never been driven. And sure this will be my last and only xdrive car.

[streborx]

Originally Posted by hotvee

Do you buy a brand new set of 4 tires every time you see more than 2mm difference on one of your wheels compared to the others or when you got a puncture? Because otherwise strict and frequent tread depth checks have not much sense.

Installing non-factory tires may cause you more problems, especially denying with warranty covered service.
https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1740387

The answer is both yes and no. No: I've never experienced 2mm tread depth difference within a set of tires because (a) I research tires before buying, (b) I keep them properly inflated, (c) I balance and rotate every 5K miles, and (d) I monitor wear pattern, tread depth and handling. Yes: I did experience non-repairable damage to a tire on a set of Michelins that were at half life. Rather than mix one new 12/32" with three 6/32" tires, my tire dealer prorated all of them and sold me a new set of 4 at half price (that's twice what the one new tire cost).

Don't casually dismiss the importance of tire maintenance. TPMS is now mandated on all cars sold in the U.S. because most people would otherwise ignore their tire pressure, endangering themselves and others. Cruising down the expressway at 75 mph, remember your life is riding on 4 rubber donuts.

Warranty voiding as a consequence of non-OEM parts is pure B.S. See https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidanc...ctions-repairs

But I would agree that lifting your suspension, adding wheel spacers and mounting oversize wheels and tires can cause you warranty problems and possibly insurance problems.

[JCFans01]

UPDATE.

Oct 9
Canadian Thanksgiving so everyone was off.

Oct 10
Warranty replacement approved.

Oct 11
Transfer case part ordered.

Oct 12
Originally supposed to be shipped from Vancouver but they only had one and apparently it was already used for another client. So now they have to ship it direct from Germany and will take up to 2 weeks.

Oct 26-27
Expected time of transfer case replacement.

[F15_SGM]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

Maybe not as simple as you said. I think the xfer case is bolt to the transmission case. There are two drive shafts, to the front and to the rear. So first need take off the mounting bracket, which looks to be a steel cross member kind of things, then need to put in proper support, disconnect both drive shafts, the unbolt transfer case from transmission. From under carriage looks, I wonder if exhaust pipe is in the way, if so, may need to drop that as well. I think 2 day is for sure excessive, but 2 hours seems optimistic to me too

Yes not as simple as I thought as I just discovered my new transfer case that was installed from a bmw dealership 7 months ago is leaking DTF1 fluid from some seal. Either the output shaft seal or Longitudinal torque module seal.
Now I'm out of warranty. When the unit was replaced initially I had warranty still.

Part number 5 or 12-14 is what I suspect if it's not that there's something bigger defective on the new unit to leak.

[finn123]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

I would also add, thread depth is merely a approximation when the accuracy is in the unit is mm. Also need consider psi, temperature, load …. It is an unmeasurable quantity without some precision instrument. We are taking less than a thickness of an US penny, at the height of the car.

If bmw need that kind of tight toloraance in tires, these cars are too fragile, needs to be parked in garage and never been driven. And sure this will be my last and only xdrive car.

Did you hear about the issue when one replaced factory speakers and the driving assistant stopped working? How ridiculous is that?

Personally, I had heck a lot of problems with that car[1].. Here was the last point that I simply sold this piece of shit - https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...3#post29734283

[1] During my 30k KM (I bought the car new) dec.2020-jan.2023 -

1) H&K amp
2) entire gearbox unit
3) driver’s seat’s frame
4) A/C compressor
5) Driver’s door handle’ merino leather
6) Exhaust tips
7) Ambient light leds
8) something was changed inside the driver’s seat as ventilation failed
9) also had problems with creaks/noises/etc..

The car was at the dealer during my 2 years ownership about ~25 times. I'm not counting several visits when they replaced leather or fixed bumper alignment...as they have their hands growing from you know what place that is..

[mmm50i]

Originally Posted by finn123

Did you hear about the issue when one replaced factory speakers and the driving assistant stopped working? How ridiculous is that?

Personally, I had heck a lot of problems with that car[1].. Here was the last point that I simply sold this piece of shit - https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...3#post29734283

[1] During my 30k KM (I bought the car new) dec.2020-jan.2023 -

1) H&K amp
2) entire gearbox unit
3) driver’s seat’s frame
4) A/C compressor
5) Driver’s door handle’ merino leather
6) Exhaust tips
7) Ambient light leds
8) something was changed inside the driver’s seat as ventilation failed
9) also had problems with creaks/noises/etc..

The car was at the dealer during my 2 years ownership about ~25 times. I'm not counting several visits when they replaced leather or fixed bumper alignment...as they have their hands growing from you know what place that is..

Can you share what issue you had with the HK amp? During some songs (ie, Lonely by Justin Beiber), my speakers sound like they distort or buzz when it’s the slow quiet parts of the song. It never did this in the past

[finn123]

Originally Posted by mmm50i

Can you share what issue you had with the HK amp? During some songs (ie, Lonely by Justin Beiber), my speakers sound like they distort or buzz when it’s the slow quiet parts of the song. It never did this in the past

It stopped playing any bass at some point.

[fate9834]

Originally Posted by finn123

Did you hear about the issue when one replaced factory speakers and the driving assistant stopped working? How ridiculous is that?

Personally, I had heck a lot of problems with that car[1].. Here was the last point that I simply sold this piece of shit - https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...3#post29734283

[1] During my 30k KM (I bought the car new) dec.2020-jan.2023 -

1) H&K amp
2) entire gearbox unit
3) driver’s seat’s frame
4) A/C compressor
5) Driver’s door handle’ merino leather
6) Exhaust tips
7) Ambient light leds
8) something was changed inside the driver’s seat as ventilation failed
9) also had problems with creaks/noises/etc..

The car was at the dealer during my 2 years ownership about ~25 times. I'm not counting several visits when they replaced leather or fixed bumper alignment...as they have their hands growing from you know what place that is..

Jusr curious, what kind of leather problem is not considered normal wear and can be claim under warranty?

[KLCC]

Originally Posted by JCFans01

UPDATE.

Oct 9
Canadian Thanksgiving so everyone was off.

Oct 10
Warranty replacement approved.

Oct 11
Transfer case part ordered.

Oct 12
Originally supposed to be shipped from Vancouver but they only had one and apparently it was already used for another client. So now they have to ship it direct from Germany and will take up to 2 weeks.

Oct 26-27
Expected time of transfer case replacement.

----------------------------------
Oh, talk about timing! Just after seeing this post, my transfer case started acting up too. It threw a "Drivetrain malfunction". Now I'm stuck waiting for a whole transmission tear down, all because of some tiny $8 part (torque converter shaft seal). Thank god for the extended warranty!!!!, though. BMW's handling it without making me spend a dime.

This got me thinking, does this happen a lot? Also, I'm playing with the idea of getting another extended warranty, in case they don't fix it right and something else decides to bail on me.

[JCFans01]

Originally Posted by KLCC

—————————————————
Oh, talk about timing! Just after seeing this post, my transfer case started acting up too. It threw a "Drivetrain malfunction". Now I'm stuck waiting for a whole transmission tear down, all because of some tiny $8 part (torque converter shaft seal). Thank god for the extended warranty!!!!, though. BMW's handling it without making me spend a dime.

This got me thinking, does this happen a lot? Also, I'm playing with the idea of getting another extended warranty, in case they don't fix it right and something else decides to bail on me.

If BMW is replacing it, doesn’t the replaced part usually carry its own warranty? 2 years or something usually?

[finn123]

Originally Posted by fate9834

Jusr curious, what kind of leather problem is not considered normal wear and can be claim under warranty?

I had interior parts changed 3 times - 1st time in the very beginning of the ownership because the color of the leather on the driver’s door started to peel off. Another 2 times was because the dealer has their hands growing from their a**. One time they left a scratch on the arm rest and another time they broke the door panel right at the bottom. And they didn’t tell me about that it was when I got my car and thoroughly checked that.

I no longer own bmw because of that. Though, I had 740Le bought as a 1yo car. And my x5 was a brand new custom ordered car. Thanks to those unprofessional people, I no longer want bmw

[JCFans01]

UPDATE: Parts arrived from Germany. Repair has been completed to the tune of $12,000+ but covered under warranty. The parts also carry a warranty of 2 years.

Here’s the bill from BMW attached. Any thoughts?

[bloom]

This scares me to death

I get a slight shudder when I back into my driveway and I just pretend to ignore it... how rough is the shuddering? Mine is very faint. 70k on it

[JCFans01]

Originally Posted by bloom

This scares me to death

I get a slight shudder when I back into my driveway and I just pretend to ignore it... how rough is the shuddering? Mine is very faint. 70k on it

My shudder was very mild. To be honest I just brought it to the dealership because I have warranty for them to check it out. I never realized transfer case is a well-documented issue in X5s that require such a big repair. In the end even with warranty I had to pay $500 out of pocket: $195 diagnostic fee + $299 transfer case fluid change.

Do you have warranty?

[SKM348]

Sorry for potentially dumb question but is this issue only associated with ‘X’ Drive? I’m assuming the transfer case is for the AWD system, not the 2WD ‘S’ Drive.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by SKM348

Sorry for potentially dumb question but is this issue only associated with ‘X’ Drive? I’m assuming the transfer case is for the AWD system, not the 2WD ‘S’ Drive.

Yes. Rwd doesn’t have transfer case nor front differential.

[SKM348]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

Yes. Rwd doesn’t have transfer case nor front differential.

Thanks, EEL, that’s what I thought.

[elJames]

"I changed out my OEM runflats (275/40R22 front & 315/35R22 rear) and squared up with a set of 275/50R20's, which keeps front and back diameters identical and changes the diameter/circumference by only +0.3%. Most important, these Michelins are rated with 60K treadwear, and I can rotate the tires every 5K to even out the wear. Others might disagree, but I believe this is a better configuration than OEM as far as the transfer case health goes. I check the tread depth and wear every couple thousand miles, and monitor the pressure almost every time I drive."

This is something I'm trying to understand. The 275/40R22 & 315/35R22 are practically identical, aside from width. There is zero difference in diameter, sidewall, and circumference. Wouldn't this make xDrive safe from transfer case issues? I want to put these on my X5, but obviously the TC issues scare me. Although these sizes are more comparable in favor of transfer case health than the 275/35R22 & 315/30R22 my vehicle came with, which have differences in circumference, diameter, and sidewall. Seems like a no brainer to go with the 275/40 & 315/35, what am I missing?

[X3_Alaska]

12k is absolutely insane!