XSeries-forum

I picked my new 4.8 up a couple of days ago and to be honest whilst this was once a pampered a car and I think its last owner only spent a minimal amount of money on it.  Anyway its an amazing car and love it, so its off to the garage next week to get it sorted, but  would be good to have a heads up as what I might expect.

First problem, getting a tapping/slapping noise from the engine at about 20 to 40 mph, taking a guess from reading it might be the drivetrain thing, cannot find any receipts that it has been changed, so might get it done regardless as its done 88k .  You can only hear it in the car not outside,

Next is the steering wheel judder, at 60mph plus it quite bad, it gets slightly better as you go faster, but there its definatly not right.  Previous owners claims  the tracking had been done, but the only receipt I can find for a full 4 x 4 track was back in 2011 when it had 20 inch wheels, it now has 22” which are going.  It also has two cheap tyres on it, £161 for two 285 35 22 so they are budget, but feel it is more than the cheap wheels and big wheels, but hopefully not.

The display, I know this is a big problem, on the 4.8, it has 5 boxes, first one seems ok things light up on that when they are on.  The next is the service indicator, which I saw very faintly when we where in a multi storey today, cannot see it in normal day light.  Next is the longer one than should have warnings etc, that is completely blank, which is a little worrying  as that is where the warning symbols pop up.  Then the next have the gears, they appear ok but a little faint, but the mileage should be underneath and that does not appear, end one that has fog and cruise etc seems ok and lights up when things are turned on.
The guy I bought it off  said the mileage came up when it warmed up but that was a bit of an untruth, I am a little worried as how can he ever have known any errors popped up and how did it get the mileage on the MOT when you cannot see it, is there another way to read the mileage via the big computer?

I am sure I am going to find a few more issues but think these are the  major ones.

I live Northwest Leicester and am planning to use an BMW specialist in Coalville, anyone ever used them or can anyone recommend anyone around this neck of the woods.

Is there anywhere again around the east midlands that can fix my display, haven’t rang the coalville guy yet, but could do with someone that does this a lot.

Unsure on the tapping noise without hearing it.

The wheel wobble sounds like balancing tbh. This is the usual symptom when they are not balanced correctly. Could or course even be a wheel is buckled slightly or something as being 22's they don't have much tyre to help absor the pot holes.

Without seeing the display how did you know it has 88k miles? It sounds like the bulbs at the bottom of the cluster have possibly blown. Not a big job to change as the first step to take and probably the cheapest. There is the button at the end of the stalk which rotates through the fuel consumption, timers, etc and one of them is a blank display. Try hitting the button to see if anything comes up in the middle larger panel.

It's booked in next for the local specialist to give it a good going over.  The noise could just be the wheels  but prepared for the worse just sold my Honda and put a chunk of that aside :blink:

He doesn't do dashes.  I have no idea re the mileage.  I have the mot which was done two weeks ago  and it has 87k ish on there so mot station got it from somewhere.

Will have a play and press a few buttons and see what I can see on the dash.  Is there a how to for bulb changing on the dash?  Otherwise need to find someone to fix.

parking sensors went nuts this morning  this car will drive me crazy.

Hope its not too serious, violet. The judder sounds just like Raj said - wheels.  Best thing you could ever do for the car is get rid of the cheapie 22" tyres you described and go back to 20"OEM wheels on a decent tyre - makes the world of difference drive quality wise.

There is a BMW specialist down the road a bit from Coalville, in Burton, although I haven't used them for anything major. My own indy in Burton owned an X5 for a long time and may be able to help out with various problems - he is very reasonably priced and will not take on anything he feels he is not capable of doing. Message me if you need details.

Your key also holds info as to mileage and fuel left, so this can be checked on one of the dealer key checkers if ever ata main dealers for a diagnostic or something. 
Parking sensors often go wild at the first hint of a bit of moisture -lots of how tos to get to those and replace them if needed. 

Hope none of it is too serious.  Pity sellers can't be honest!

I am hoping its not too bad either, but have a feeling a have a sizeable bill on the way.  Just posted another issue, not had it a week yet.  I think the seller hid a few things and was a little lean with the truth, but as they say buyer beware.

I think there is a good car in there, its just not been looked after over the last two years, but hasnt done too much mileage, so think it just needs some love and attention.

Its in at a bmw indy in Coalville next Tuesday,  had a good chat with him and seems to get where i am coming from and knows i dont have a unlimited budget, but want to get it sorted.  I will see how i get on with him, but i will drop you a pm Condor if i need somewhere else to go.  Burton is fine for me.

Sorry you're having all these hassles violet, feel free to contact me - my 4.8is has had its fair share of problems so I might have some useful info for you and there are a few other 4.8is owners on here, notably Raj, who know the car really well and have well set up workshops /software who will be prepared to help.
The problem with these £80k+ special editions is that subsequent owners can tend to not maintain them properly and even if they do, expensive things can go wrong - mine is a prime example of proper maintenance but still having mega expensive faults.   

You seem to be quite savvy re the potentially expensive needs of this model - hope you or your wallet do not give up and that you get to the beauty of the amazing engine functioning perfectly for you sometime soon!

This was my poor car today after over heating issue.  Found a local garage where the owner loves bmws and his wife drives a 4.4.  They haven't found the problem yet so Monday will be my first bill. :'(

[emoji27]Sorry its poorly violet, hope its not too expensive. Keep us posted!