[smovva]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

I think you are doing it right. newer BMW transfer case only has one plug, the fill plug. If you do it at dealer, they use a pump to suck out the fluid, whatever they can, and refill. That's it, not a full fluid change. But this should mitigate the binding. for DIYer, I would do what you do, multiple run to make sure most of the fluid is changed.

BMW's life time fluid is life of the the component. Transmission, transfer case, diff, radiator ...... They just need to make sure the life time is longer than the warranty.

Dealer uses ISTA to allow both oil chambers to connect by moving the oil bulkhead (page 4 of ATC13-1 functional description) so most all of the fluid can be changed. Without ISTA you get what you get out of the one chamber only. Procedure is documented in the attachments I posted above.

[fstezaws]

Just brought in my 22 X5 M50i for the same issue: low-speed sharp steering angle binding/stuttering. It seems obvious its a transfer case issue. Did some searching and found this thread.

The issue started immediately after driving in the first rain of the summer (southern AZ monsoons). I didn't drive off-road and just on a major road that had 3-5" of water in some areas due to the intense rain.

I dropped it off at my only local BMW service center and they indicated that there is water in the transfer case and that BMW is not going to cover this under warranty. This seems ridiculous as the X5 is rated to drive in up to 20" of water.

Has anyone experienced similar problems related to water?

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by fstezaws

Just brought in my 22 X5 M50i for the same issue: low-speed sharp steering angle binding/stuttering. It seems obvious its a transfer case issue. Did some searching and found this thread.

The issue started immediately after driving in the first rain of the summer (southern AZ monsoons). I didn't drive off-road and just on a major road that had 3-5" of water in some areas due to the intense rain.

I dropped it off at my only local BMW service center and they indicated that there is water in the transfer case and that BMW is not going to cover this under warranty. This seems ridiculous as the X5 is rated to drive in up to 20" of water.

Has anyone experienced similar problems related to water?

Wait, the Xfer case is under the car, it's made to get wet like anything else under the car and it's a sealed unit, how would water get in? I think you need a diff dealer or push them

[eelnoraa]

+1

Transfer case housing is water tight. Water won’t get in, fluid won’t come out. If they claim water in transfer cases, how and where? the very fact water can get in should be cover under warranty.

[smovva]

Originally Posted by fstezaws

Just brought in my 22 X5 M50i for the same issue: low-speed sharp steering angle binding/stuttering. It seems obvious its a transfer case issue. Did some searching and found this thread.

The issue started immediately after driving in the first rain of the summer (southern AZ monsoons). I didn't drive off-road and just on a major road that had 3-5" of water in some areas due to the intense rain.

I dropped it off at my only local BMW service center and they indicated that there is water in the transfer case and that BMW is not going to cover this under warranty. This seems ridiculous as the X5 is rated to drive in up to 20" of water.

Has anyone experienced similar problems related to water?

I drive in that much rain/standing water practically every day here in South Florida. Never had an issue of water getting into a watertight transfer case! Me thinks the dealer is trying to pull a fast one on you.

[smovva]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

+1

Transfer case housing is water tight. Water won’t get in, fluid won’t come out. If they claim water in transfer cases, how and where? the very fact water can get in should be cover under warranty.

^^ This!

[fstezaws]

Here is an update.

The dealer has been very, very slow to do anything as their shop foreman has been in/out for personal reasons (per their claim). The only thing my service advisor keeps telling me to o is I just need to call my insurance...like WTF? Why the heck do I need someone else to pay for this? And why are they assuming the entire transfer case is bad? The car drive just fine except at low speeds and sharp turning angles...that's actually a sign that the clutch plates are actually locking! Anyways...

After 2 weeks in the shop they hadn't even done a fluid change. They were just making sure BMW was going to pay for it. So I called and spoke with the service manager directly after taking this long with no meaningful progress and thankfully he was more empathetic to my issue. He even told me that he was driving in the same monsoon storm I was driving in when this issue popped up and he knew how bad it was. Because they found other debris in the under carriage (sticks, twigs, you know...the kind of stuff that gets on the road during a rain storm) that this is why BMW is denying the claim.

He said that per the owners manual (which I had also checked on), if you're in standing water you can't drive more than 3mph (but this is up to 19.6" of water). I reminded him I was driving down a major road when the torrential downpour started (google monsoons in SoAZ if you're curious how "hurricane-like" these can be). I told him it would have been incredibly unsafe to slow down to 3mph on a busy road in the middle of the day for only 4-6 inches of water. He agreed.

I complained that it didn't feel like anyone really cared about going to bat for me with BMW. He said he will try and escalate the issue for me with BMW again because I think this issue is absolutely ridiculous.

I told him that they should at least just try doing a basic fluid change and he agreed they would. He reported this morning that the issue didn't go away after the fluid change and recalibration and I pointed them to the SIB 27 02 20 bulletin.

From what I've read in a few other posts with similar transfer case issues maybe it needs to be driven a bit and then do another fluid change. The SIB even states that the stuttering can linger for up to 125 miles before it smooths out. Why it takes that long doesn't make a ton of sense to me but, it's definitely a cheaper experiment than an $8k service to replace the transfer case which is what I was quoted yesterday.

If BMW doesn't cover this, I will completely reconsider my relationship with the brand. I've had (2) M5s and was even considering upgrading the X5 to an X7 for more passenger space...but not if they're going to leave me hanging like this.

I'll share any updates as they come.

[TurtleBoy]

Good luck and hopefully they cover everything.

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by fstezaws

Here is an update.

After 2 weeks in the shop they hadn't even done a fluid change.

I told him that they should at least just try doing a basic fluid change and he agreed they would. He reported this morning that the issue didn't go away after the fluid change and recalibration and I pointed them to the SIB 27 02 20 bulletin.


If BMW doesn't cover this, I will completely reconsider my relationship with the brand. I've had (2) M5s and was even considering upgrading the X5 to an X7 for more passenger space...but not if they're going to leave me hanging like this.

I'll share any updates as they come.

Thanks for your update. You saying they spent two weeks waiting for a reply from BMW and did nothing???? Shame, shame. Do you know if they put the same type oil in as the factory did? Were they not aware of the SIB till you gave it to them? I think you really need to start a case with BMW on this issue, what you're going through is nonsense no matter who pays for it.

[fstezaws]

I got a call from my service manager on Monday. He said that BMW is still not going to cover this and the best they can do is cover 50% of the cost ($7-8k). I told them that this is completely unacceptable. Service manager was empathetic and suggested I call BMW corporate and talk with Customer Care.

I called Customer Care, and they listened to my issue to start a case. They said it would be up to 5 days to assign a case manager to start the investigation on this. All seemed good at that point.

I get a call yesterday (Friday, start of week 3 now) from a corporate BMW person and she took my story down of what is going on and what the service center has done. She was pretty frank with me and said that this issue was caused by an "outside influence" and that there probably isn't going to be much that she can offer as its something I should be taking up with insurance.

She said she will continue the investigation but she was trying to prepare me for a decision that I may not like. I'm pretty flabbergasted by the news.

Sorry to hijack this thread.

[smovva]

Originally Posted by smovva

The X5 (G05) uses the same transfer case, ATC13-1 as the X3 (G01).
See the attachments and information I found on the G01 forums. Link below: https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1989918

These were the parts changed out for the transfer case replacement on May 2019 build X5 xdrive40i.

27-10-7-889-033 RP Transfer Box:271010 Qty 1
22-32-6-860-533 Transmission bearing set:221011 Qty 1
27-10-7-599-326 O-Ring:889520 Qty 1
26-11-7-527-475 Hex Bolt:889520 Qty 3
26-11-7-523-708 Hex Bolt:889520 Qty 3
26-12-7-536-563 Self Locking Hex Nut:889520 Qty 3
26-20-8-657-705 O-Ring:889520 Qty 1
26-11-9-454-792 Screw with Locktite:889520 Qty 4
33-11-7-525-064 Screw Plug with O-Ring:889520 Qty 1
18-30-8-623-284 Muffler Clamp:183013 Qty 1
18-32-8-612-537 Screw Clamp:183013 Qty 1
07-11-9-906-089 Collar Nut:889520 Qty 2
07-11-9-906-938 Hexagon Screw with Flange:071000 Qty 6
26-12-7-521-853 Hex Bolt with Washer:889520 Qty 2
51-61-9-908-657 Hex Bolt:889520 Qty 6
07-11-9-904-024 Hex Nut:889520 Qty 3
22-32-6-865-849 ASA-Bolt:889520 Qty 3