XSeries-forum

Hi folks, look like I may have the dreaded transfer box problem, so looking for some advice. My car vibrates at low speed when on full lock, feels like the front wheels are fighting the rears. The car has only done 56k miles and drives superbly in all other circumstances. I suspect that the clutch in the transfer box isn’t releasing on full lock, like it’s supposed to.
Have any of you experienced this?

Any recommendations on a good garage to get it fixed , hopefully someone in South Wales Area?

D and D motors in Blackburn seem to have a good reputation on fixing transfer boxes, anyone had any dealings with them ?

Any other advice greatly appreciated.

Id check the front prop joint as well as its a known weak area on that year , 56k seems very low for transfer box problems

Thanks Leslie, I’ll book it into the dealers for a service and oil change on the transfer box. I’ve already spoken to them and they’ve said there’s a recall on the front prop, so see what happens.

Keep us posted

Also worth checking tyre tread depths are within around 1.5mm of each other. That has in the past caused issues with the transfer box, as have certain tyre types where these aren’t one of the ‘approved’ options. It doesn’t always happen, but still worth a check.

If you can get underneath to the front propshaft then it’s worth giving it a gentle check at each end by moving it at the universal joints. If there is a lot of movement then limit use of the car. The front shaft has snapped on some owners and if at ‘road speed’ may have a catastrophic effect on the bottom of the engine /sump. The problem is caused by a drain dripping onto the shaft causing corrosion and bearing failure. BMW should replace any shaft with too much play on it. Mine was done in 2013 so the recall has been around for a very long time. If it missed that one, it would be worth checking whether others covering security updates, wiring issues behind the dash etc have also been missed.

The car had 4 new tyres fitted a few hundred miles ago, didn’t make any difference!
Spoken to the dealer and there’s 2 recalls due, the front prop and the wiring, so will be going in shortly to have them done and a transfer box oil change. So see what happens after that

I have a 2009 e70 and mine started to show signs of transfer box issues

No low speed judder but under load I felt it slightly and from about 40 mph it had started to judder quite a bit.

Tyres were 5 years old and were showing wear on outer edge of fronts and inner edge in rears so changed all 4 for a very reasonable 850 quid, which made it slightly less noticeable and then did the transfer box oil today and it’s miles better than it was.

Darren Wood in Stockport did mine. Took about 50 mins and was about 80 quid including the adaptions.

Definitely worth doing.

Am going to do the gearbox and diffs next.

Hi All, thought I’d give you an update on my transfer box issue .
The car finally went into the main dealer two weeks ago for a full service and a transfer box flush, fresh oil and adaptions to the transfer box software. The dealer initially said it didn’t want doing, as it’s sealed for life, but they did eventually agree to do it. I also asked them to give me a sample of the old oil, which they thought was very odd, but they did do it for me.
Anyway after picking the car up, it immediately felt totally different we do sharp turns and not any vibration or bouncing from the transfer box, I’ve now done 300 miles and all good, so fingers crossed.
Being as I’m an engineer by profession and curious about mech problems, I sent the old oil sample away for analysis: Basically the oil was black as hell and had lost 50% of its viscosity!! Also there was a lot of fibre debris present but very little metallic debris. So this leads me to believe that my transfer box problem was down to the oil breaking down, which would cause excessive heat and wear on the transfer box clutch plates, hence the black colour of the oil.
Hope this may help other members as all the so called x drive specialists I spoke to, told me the transfer box was knackered!!

Sometimes the oil change is the only thing required, but many specialists will go for the worst case scenario without actually checking anything first.

BMW really don’t want to touch this, as to them ‘Sealed for Life’ actually means just 3-years, the ‘life’ of the warranty. The same way that a gearbox failure doesn’t mean a rebuild from them just a very expensive new box!

ZF actually state all fluids should be replaced at 8 years or 60k miles.

Well that's a good improvement but the large amount of material in the oil suggests it has a fair bit of wear inside but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

The oil analysis gives the results in ppm ( particles per million ) the fibre debris wasn’t excessive in my opinion. But there was 3 times the amount of fibre particles compared to the metallic one’s. Hopefully now with a flush and fresh oil , the car will behave it self for a good few miles.