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Ownership Verified: Dirty Diesel, Bought Dirt Cheap - 2008 M57 X5

Exactly. It will have to be fixed before its next annual inspection in April, regardless.

My XR6 is due for its inspection and registration in March, so it just makes sense to do it now, and not have to be concerned, or rushed.

Dad has always had a philosophy of “let it develop”, and only replace or repair something when it’s completely stuffed. This usually causes inconvenience and unnecessary expense. (He said if he was wrong he’d pay for repairs), but that’s not the point, at all.
 
Checked in with the local workshop, who do not have the tool to replace the boot, and would just replace the half-shaft instead.
So I’ve bought a new tool.
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Already have a new stretch boot and the locking ring replacement.
Looks like rain all weekend, so replacement will have to wait until next week.
 
My goodness. :oops:

That's not even a combined pleasure/torture device, it can only be a torture device. It's obviously air powered, what pressure do you... use it at?
 
Matt2000 said:
My goodness. :oops:

That's not even a combined pleasure/torture device, it can only be a torture device. It's obviously air powered, what pressure do you... use it at?
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I mean, no kink shaming, there's likely someone, somewhere that's tried it...and possibly liked it.

The brass knob button I believe regulates the air pressure, so I'll have to try a few settings before giving it a good grease and stretching anything out with it...
 
Also arrived is the rear vent trim, and some CANbus compatible LEDs for the interior, as I finally gave up on the blinking error laden ones.

However, the XR6 isn't as fussy, so it now has 400% more illumination, as I changed out some of the incandescent bulbs for the no longer required LEDs.
It's made SUCH a difference. Can't believe it's taken me this long. It feels like an entirely different car on the inside now.
 
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Changed the rear AC vent trim today.
No thanks to one of the GDPOs who had jammed in the now broken one, and made everything wonky in the process.
Took longer than it should have, and I had to pull the vents out entirely to fix it, but it's all working as intended now.
I didn't have my phone near me while working on it, then when I finished Dad was ready to go, so I'll photograph my completed handywork later.
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Dad offered to drive home (he's got his licence re-approved for car only), so that I could sit in the back and enjoy the AC from it. I declined his generous offer.
 
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CV boot replaced.
Split the boot that came with the torture device, and the other boot I had bought didn't work with it (kept sliding off).

After much swearing and consternation, two of my workmates figured it out while I was out sourcing a new stretch boot.
Came back with the boot, expecting to find everything as I'd left it, and was greeted by the car back on all four wheels, and the boys at the lunch table. :cautious:

So, there are no photos, and I have no idea how they managed it, other than it's not cut, or I'd have flipped my shit. As it is, I'm somewhat annoyed I didn't get a "Hey, don't worry about the new boot" call, and so drove out of my way to get it, and back for nothing.
 
Suddenly found myself without heat or demisting capabilities a few weeks ago. Scanned for codes and found nothing related to anything relevant.
Some quick Google-fu, I discovered that the resistor on the back of the blower motor is a common failure point, and would give the exact symptoms I had found - and no fault codes!
So, I ordered one from a place in Melbourne, and then procrastinated on changing it for the next few weeks. The lack of airflow in the cabin, during all the recent rain we've had, was starting to become more aggravating, than the foggy windows and cold leather.

So, today I changed it. Not hard, just awkward. Refitting was a pain in the ass. But it's done, it works, and I don't have any parts left over.

Next up for replacement is the roller blind thing on the cup holders in the console, as the front one has perished, and it's just messy and untidy. But that's a full console out job to do...
 
Flashbacks to changing the resistor pack on my dad's old Rover as the same thing had happened. A dumb electrical issue caused by them being cheap rather than using proper speed controls. Or the blower in the Smart that worked on every speed but full, or the blower in Keely that would intermittently cut out and you had to smack the dash. I hate electrics. :p

Glad that everything else is working though after all the work you've put in.
 
There's sometimes a reason why the resistor packs fail. Or the speed controller in this case since it probably isn't just four manual speeds. And that's that the fan motor bearings are going.

Obviously you're in a hotter climate than I am but in my neck of the woods heater motors fail left and right on all makes and models. Usually during the winter months. And if the heater motor starts running slow, it draws more amps which over time fries the resistor.
 
Funny how similar this car story is to the Merc.

Just at some point the owner thought fuck it and decided not to service it anymore. Then things start breaking.

Injector borked.
Possibly unrelated, but then glow plugs borked.
Because of that, DPF and exhaust starts getting borked.
Then sensors start getting borked.
Heater blower motor borked - why is this a thing? Just clean the damn thing. I don't understand how people don't change their fucking air filters...

Then you as the new owner start chasing faults.
 
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frankiess said:
Heater blower motor borked - why is this a thing? Just clean the damn thing. I don't understand how people don't change their fucking air filters...
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I hardly think it's a lack of maintenance. It's just that heater motors have a limited life, much more so in cold climates and when the car has a webasto heater in it. In my case the car clocked over 113337 :cool: km the other week but the heater motor probably has more like the equivalent of a quarter of a million on it since it spins for half an hour every morning and evening while the car is parked.
 
frankiess said:
Funny how similar this car story is to the Merc.

Just at some point the owner thought fuck it and decided not to service it anymore. Then things start breaking.

Injector borked.
Possibly unrelated, but then glow plugs borked.
Because of that, DPF and exhaust starts getting borked.
Then sensors start getting borked.
Heater blower motor borked - why is this a thing? Just clean the damn thing. I don't understand how people don't change their fucking air filters...

Then you as the new owner start chasing faults.
Click to expand...

I was actually reading your thread, thinking 'this sounds so familiar'.
I guess it's somewhat to be expected among this group. We tend towards the "fixer-uppers", and then find the previous owners have screwed things up by cutting corners, or just ignoring things completely.

Perc said:
There's sometimes a reason why the resistor packs fail. Or the speed controller in this case since it probably isn't just four manual speeds. And that's that the fan motor bearings are going.

Obviously you're in a hotter climate than I am but in my neck of the woods heater motors fail left and right on all makes and models. Usually during the winter months. And if the heater motor starts running slow, it draws more amps which over time fries the resistor.
Click to expand...

While I had the unit out, I did some cleaning of the veins and oiling of the shaft. It was in pretty decent condition, spun freely, no play in the shaft, no questionable noises.
I also pulled out the plastic filter, and that was cleaned, blown out and sprayed with a disinfectant.
 
Perc said:
I hardly think it's a lack of maintenance. It's just that heater motors have a limited life, much more so in cold climates and when the car has a webasto heater in it. In my case the car clocked over 113337 :cool: km the other week but the heater motor probably has more like the equivalent of a quarter of a million on it since it spins for half an hour every morning and evening while the car is parked.
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I mean, we're talking about Australia.

But fair enough, it's the one part that does get used A LOT, regardless of weather. A noisy blower motor may be just an annoyance not worth fixing for most people.

In Misrabelle's case it sounds like a blown resistor though (or blown control board) so that's kinda nice, don't need a new blower maybe.

Mine is making such a racket that I just got a new one. And surprisingly, they're not that expensive or difficult to replace either.
 
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The thing that annoys me about the auto-climate control, is that it's always set to ON when the car is started. I don't always want it on - Dad prefers the window open.
But there's no way to have it set to remain off. So I have to manually turn it off EVERY time I start the car. I cannot find anything in iDrive to allow me to change the setting.
 
You just have to accept that ze Germans know better than you.
 
Misrabelle said:
The thing that annoys me about the auto-climate control, is that it's always set to ON when the car is started. I don't always want it on - Dad prefers the window open.
But there's no way to have it set to remain off. So I have to manually turn it off EVERY time I start the car. I cannot find anything in iDrive to allow me to change the setting.
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You have to have the proper start sequence, like in a 40s Cadillac:

Ignition on.
Wait for glow plug.
Cycle ignition off and on again to make sure high pressure fuel pump is primed.
Start car.
Turn off auto clima
Turn off automatic start/stop
Turn off ESP
Set navigation
Set music
etc
etc
etc

Seriously though - I'm getting the feeling these cars almost require one of those high tech scanners that can reprogram stuff under the hood. Not just for stupid maintenance things, but changing stuff like hard coded auto-clima.
 
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