[KC831]

Hi, hoping someone can give me some info/advice for my faulty X3.

Due to lockdown it's been sat on the driveway with very little use for 4-6 weeks. Last week it threw out loads of error messages, took it to BMW, some errors cleared but I'm left with '48068C' Transfer Box fault!

BMW want £3600 + labour to replace the box. They can't tell me what is actually at fault, is it a mechanical failure within the unit or something to do with electronic modules.

Wondering if anyone has had similar and what the fix was (BMW flushed the t/b out, this hasn't helped), they also disconnected the t/b and this cleared the fault to prove it was a t/b box failure.

Does the F25 t/b have the same actuator/motor as the E83?

Does anyone know if the t/b can be repaired by a transmission specialist, I've called a couple of garages but they seemed a bit hesitant because of the electronics.

Read through lots of threads and sites to try and find some common fixes but struggling.

Any advice or info greatly appreciated! Cheers

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by KC831

Hi, hoping someone can give me some info/advice for my faulty X3.

Due to lockdown it's been sat on the driveway with very little use for 4-6 weeks. Last week it threw out loads of error messages, took it to BMW, some errors cleared but I'm left with '48068C' Transfer Box fault!

BMW want £3600 + labour to replace the box. They can't tell me what is actually at fault, is it a mechanical failure within the unit or something to do with electronic modules.

Wondering if anyone has had similar and what the fix was (BMW flushed the t/b out, this hasn't helped), they also disconnected the t/b and this cleared the fault to prove it was a t/b box failure.

Does the F25 t/b have the same actuator/motor as the E83?

Does anyone know if the t/b can be repaired by a transmission specialist, I've called a couple of garages but they seemed a bit hesitant because of the electronics.

Read through lots of threads and sites to try and find some common fixes but struggling.

Any advice or info greatly appreciated! Cheers

Ugh - before the lockdown, were you driving it every day without a T/B issue? When you are just nearly at a stop, like coming to a red light or stop sign do you feel any vibration/shudder a second before the complete stop? If you are in a carpark and you turn the steering wheel full clockwise as far as it will go and are at carpark speeds driving in a circle, like 5mph or less, do you feel vibrations coming up from the floor, same goes for a complete counter clockwise turn? How many miles have you driven since BMW replaced the T/B oil?

[383vett]

I would fully charge the battery, clear the codes and give it another try.

[evilchargerfan]

"sat on driveway"

what if its as simple as the battery? as 383vett said, try charging the batt and see what happens

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by 383vett

I would fully charge the battery, clear the codes and give it another try.

I was thinking about it being the battery until they said they had the car at the BMW garage, geez, I would certainly think the dealer would have sorted out any battery issues before telling him to fork over 3,600 pounds. (Which by the way is the going rate for the Xfer box from a dealer). None the less, take the easy route and get your battery fully charged like 383vett and evilchargerfan said. Reset your OBD codes and take the car on a nice drive afterwards.

[Sandy5454]

You should be able to find BMW independet dealers who could replace the Transfer box, if that is what is really required. Do the easy option first- charge the battery to 100% and go for a drive.

[KC831]

Originally Posted by Marty in NY

Ugh - before the lockdown, were you driving it every day without a T/B issue? When you are just nearly at a stop, like coming to a red light or stop sign do you feel any vibration/shudder a second before the complete stop? If you are in a carpark and you turn the steering wheel full clockwise as far as it will go and are at carpark speeds driving in a circle, like 5mph or less, do you feel vibrations coming up from the floor, same goes for a complete counter clockwise turn? How many miles have you driven since BMW replaced the T/B oil?

Hi, thanks for the reply!

Yes, driving everyday with no issues. Not really noticing any shuddering or vibrations when driving, only notice physical aspects when I first start the car, can feel the diff / T/B struggling with wheels locking up and the car hesitates and vibrates. Especially if having to put full lock on to set off, or do a 3 point turn.

There was also an error code for the front N/S wheel sensor but BMW cleaned this and cleared the code.

Drove about 5 miles since the T/B oil change.

[KC831]

Thanks everyone for the battery info. BMW did some form of fast charge on the battery as it showed an error for low voltage. They then cleared this from the diagnosis.

I did a voltage test on the battery and only got 12.2 after having it on charge for a day. So did wonder if this could be the cause but haven't tried anything since as BMW say it's OK.

I'll stick it on charge again and do another voltage test and go for another long drive (have avoided using it as didn't want to make anything worse).

[6MT_Addict]

Yeah it could be as simple as a battery issue.

You can get rebuild kits for the TC but I'm not sure that would be cheaper than straight up replacing it unless you got a great deal on the labour.

You could source a used TC from a wrecker, that would be the cheapest way to get a working one.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-Genuine-...sAAOSw26ZfGPXY

[Razel]

Originally Posted by KC831

Thanks everyone for the battery info. BMW did some form of fast charge on the battery as it showed an error for low voltage. They then cleared this from the diagnosis.

I did a voltage test on the battery and only got 12.2 after having it on charge for a day. So did wonder if this could be the cause but haven't tried anything since as BMW say it's OK.

I'll stick it on charge again and do another voltage test and go for another long drive (have avoided using it as didn't want to make anything worse).

This from the way-back machine:
http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498221

TL;DR: Transfer case replacement or low battery

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by KC831

Hi, thanks for the reply!

Yes, driving everyday with no issues. Not really noticing any shuddering or vibrations when driving, only notice physical aspects when I first start the car, can feel the diff / T/B struggling with wheels locking up and the car hesitates and vibrates. Especially if having to put full lock on to set off, or do a 3 point turn.

There was also an error code for the front N/S wheel sensor but BMW cleaned this and cleared the code.

Drove about 5 miles since the T/B oil change.

Interesting...you said you had an error code for the front N/S wheel sensor, while I don't know what N/S means, I do know that if you have a bad or faulty ABS wheel sensor, you will get the sort of issues you have described, such as..."wheels locking up and the car hesitates and vibrates." You said BMW removed and cleaned one...just one?

If one or more of your ABS wheel sensors is faulty, your cars puter cannot determine such things as wheel slippage, speed or direction. This can cause all sorts of weird things to happen but usually will throw error msg's onto your LCD screen and the little display in your instrument cluster. If you have an outright failure of one or more of the sensors, your car will go into limp mode and it will reduce your power steering thereby making it harder to turn the wheel, it will reduce the power from the engine, you will lose the ABS functionality and your cruise control will no longer work. Do you have any of these symptoms? I have also seen where at the point of failure, the car will tend to want to lock up the brakes on you, forcing you to stop and while doing so, it will pulse the brakes very rapidly and pronounced.
If you have a hard failure of one or more of the sensors, these things will happen but if you have a soft or intermittent failure such as a dirty sensor, intermittent wiring, etc, you may experience a much lighter version of the above.

So, if i were you, aside from replacing the battery which if you are only getting 12.2 volts when the car is off, you need to do, I would get under each wheel, pull each sensor out. They are only held in by one screw each but you will most likely need a flashlight and small mirror to really see inside the hole they go into and its much easier to do if you remove the wheel first. Clean off each sensor, check the cleanliness of each hole and clear them if needed, using your flashlight and mirror check the cleanliness of the part of the hub that the sensor is sensing and make sure it too is clean, rotate the wheel to see all 360 degrees of it and check the wiring integrity of each sensor.

They plug into their corresponding sockets, the rears are easy to get to, the fronts need you to remove a few fasteners in the wheel well, pull back the lining to expose their connector. You could have a break in the wiring, clean it off with a wet rag and inspect them. I'm not sure how to electrically test them once they are off the car, maybe someone else does. You could simply replace them all, I think they are around $50-60 each.

[KC831]

Hi All

thanks for the further replies and advice.

so i have now fitted a brand new battery, exact same spec as the original (95ah, 900CCA)

i checked the voltage on the new battery before i fitted it and it read 12.7v. so maybe not fully charged. but fitted anyway. taken for a drive, all fault warning lights still there.

maybe i need to fully charge it first and refit??

but do i need to go get the fault codes cleared again?

[KC831]

Originally Posted by 6MT_Addict

Yeah it could be as simple as a battery issue.

You can get rebuild kits for the TC but I'm not sure that would be cheaper than straight up replacing it unless you got a great deal on the labour.

You could source a used TC from a wrecker, that would be the cheapest way to get a working one.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-Genuine-...sAAOSw26ZfGPXY

Thanks mate, unfortunately im in the UK and am struggling to find any transmission specialists willing to work on the X3 due to the complex nature of the electronics!

and dont like the idea of buying a used one, as the issue may not clear and then i will never know if its a faulty 2nd hand unit or if its something else

cheers

[KC831]

Originally Posted by Razel

This from the way-back machine:
http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498221

TL;DR: Transfer case replacement or low battery

Thanks Razel, had a read through and still inconclusive

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by KC831

Hi All

thanks for the further replies and advice.

so i have now fitted a brand new battery, exact same spec as the original (95ah, 900CCA)

i checked the voltage on the new battery before i fitted it and it read 12.7v. so maybe not fully charged. but fitted anyway. taken for a drive, all fault warning lights still there.

maybe i need to fully charge it first and refit??

but do i need to go get the fault codes cleared again?

That new battery is still a little low put it on a trickle charger for a couple of days, you need to get it to the point where you have around 14v, measured at the battery with the car completely off. How did the drive go? I mean aside from the warning lights, did it drive any better?
Yes, you will need to clear your codes again but after the battery is fully charged and then see if they come back. While its charging, you can spend the time looking after the ABS sensors per my earlier post, even if you find them ok, at least then you can rule that out.

[KC831]

Originally Posted by Marty in NY

Interesting...you said you had an error code for the front N/S wheel sensor, while I don't know what N/S means, I do know that if you have a bad or faulty ABS wheel sensor, you will get the sort of issues you have described, such as..."wheels locking up and the car hesitates and vibrates." You said BMW removed and cleaned one...just one?

If one or more of your ABS wheel sensors is faulty, your cars puter cannot determine such things as wheel slippage, speed or direction. This can cause all sorts of weird things to happen but usually will throw error msg's onto your LCD screen and the little display in your instrument cluster. If you have an outright failure of one or more of the sensors, your car will go into limp mode and it will reduce your power steering thereby making it harder to turn the wheel, it will reduce the power from the engine, you will lose the ABS functionality and your cruise control will no longer work. Do you have any of these symptoms? I have also seen where at the point of failure, the car will tend to want to lock up the brakes on you, forcing you to stop and while doing so, it will pulse the brakes very rapidly and pronounced.
If you have a hard failure of one or more of the sensors, these things will happen but if you have a soft or intermittent failure such as a dirty sensor, intermittent wiring, etc, you may experience a much lighter version of the above.

So, if i were you, aside from replacing the battery which if you are only getting 12.2 volts when the car is off, you need to do, I would get under each wheel, pull each sensor out. They are only held in by one screw each but you will most likely need a flashlight and small mirror to really see inside the hole they go into and its much easier to do if you remove the wheel first. Clean off each sensor, check the cleanliness of each hole and clear them if needed, using your flashlight and mirror check the cleanliness of the part of the hub that the sensor is sensing and make sure it too is clean, rotate the wheel to see all 360 degrees of it and check the wiring integrity of each sensor.

They plug into their corresponding sockets, the rears are easy to get to, the fronts need you to remove a few fasteners in the wheel well, pull back the lining to expose their connector. You could have a break in the wiring, clean it off with a wet rag and inspect them. I'm not sure how to electrically test them once they are off the car, maybe someone else does. You could simply replace them all, I think they are around $50-60 each.

Thanks Marty!

N/S - Near Side (ie Kerb side/passenger side)

Yes the error code was only for the front passenger side ABS/Wheel speed sensor, so they cleaned that up and then it cleared that particular fault code.

but we had 2 fault codes on the car, wheel speed sensor & Transfer case.


yes I do seem to get those faults,

faults only seem to occur when the car is first started until you set off and go over 10-15mph. ie wheels seems to lock and feels jerky/juddering at slow speed on full lock when doing a 3 point turn or reversing out from a parking space etc.

not had any issues with loss of power, doesnt seem to go into limp home mode.

i have not tested Cruise Control, but will check this tomorrow

also yes. the steering does feel heavy now!


sound, i will try and inspect the wheel speed sensors and clean them all.

regarding replacing them, are the cheaper 3rd party brands acceptable to use? or does it have to be genuine BMW part? as they are like £120 each over here (guessing approx $150!)


Thanks again for the help!

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by KC831

Thanks Marty!

N/S - Near Side (ie Kerb side/passenger side)

Yes the error code was only for the front passenger side ABS/Wheel speed sensor, so they cleaned that up and then it cleared that particular fault code.

but we had 2 fault codes on the car, wheel speed sensor & Transfer case.


yes I do seem to get those faults,

faults only seem to occur when the car is first started until you set off and go over 10-15mph. ie wheels seems to lock and feels jerky/juddering at slow speed on full lock when doing a 3 point turn or reversing out from a parking space etc.

not had any issues with loss of power, doesnt seem to go into limp home mode.

i have not tested Cruise Control, but will check this tomorrow

also yes. the steering does feel heavy now!


sound, i will try and inspect the wheel speed sensors and clean them all.

regarding replacing them, are the cheaper 3rd party brands acceptable to use? or does it have to be genuine BMW part? as they are like £120 each over here (guessing approx $150!)


Thanks again for the help!

As far as the transfer case goes, I had what appears to be a similar issue as you, meaning when my steering wheel was fully turned in either direction, as in a parking lot situation, I would get a mild vibration coming up from the bottom of the seat. If when turning in circles I would rotate the steering wheel away from a lock position, the vibration would go away. It also vibrated a little just before coming to a dead stop, like at a red light. My car was still under warranty so I took it to BMW, their shop foreman and I went in circles in their parking lot at around 5mph and we both felt it, he commented that it was not right. He brought it into the shop and changed the transfer box fluid and its been perfect ever since, that was around 40,000 miles ago

As far as the wheel speed sensors go, I had two of them fail at the same time and when it happened, the car reacted by slamming on the brakes in a very hard shuddering motion, brought the car to a complete stop but I was only going about 10mph at the time. I suppose the ABS unit freaked out when it lost the wheel sensor signals and that was its fail safe mode.
I got three or four error warnings on the display, the steering became almost like it had no power steering and the engine power was reduced, so I was now in limp home mode. I took it to the BMW dealer as I was in another state at the time on vacation, they said all four ABS wheel sensors had failed and wanted $1,500 to replace them. I looked at the guy and said, now you tell me how all four could have failed at the same time...he only repeated what he said the tech found. I told him that I found the diagnosis hard to believe and for $1,500 I was not going to have them do the repair, now get this, he then offered a 20% discount which only pissed me off so I took the car and left.

I took the car back to where I was staying and started swapping sensors, wheel by wheel, clearing the codes in-between swaps via my bluetooth OBD reader, drove the car around the block and watched the error msg change from front right to front left, etc, etc till I had swapped them all. Once done, I knew I had two bad wheel sensors. I ordered them online, installed them and it cleared up all the error msgs and all the weird performance issues (steering, power, cruise control, etc) and the car has been performing great ever since.

No, you do not have to buy genuine BMW wheel sensors, I didn't. I bought ATE brand sensors which are also OEM to BMW, they were $50 each. Here is a link to the ones that go in the rear where I bought them, you can try finding them in the UK.... the fronts are different than the rear if I remember correctly in that the mounting is a bit different.. .. https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/AT-34526869293

The error messages these two sensors caused to display on my center LCD screen and the little display in the instrument cluster were. ..

1. Chassis stabilization - drive moderately, avoid hard braking
2. Parking brake reduced - not sure why because the parking brake is controlled by their own motors
3. Passenger restraint system - Fault in passenger restraint system affecting airbag, belt tensioner or belt force limiter
4. ABS light came on meaning they were disabled
5. Airbag light came on - not quite sure what this meant
6. Traction control light came on, meaning it was disabled

So, you can see all sorts of strange warnings popped up and in addition to them, I later found the I had no cruise control. Once the two wheel speed sensors were replaced, I reset all warnings, went for a drive and all was and still is well. Here is a pic of the instrument cluster showing the idiot lights and one of the small display warnings. It was hard to believe that the wheel speed sensors causes all these warning till you really think about all the functions that depend on knowing what your wheel speed and direction of rotation are. Still, the passenger restraint one is perplexing but even that went away.

[reillyrocks]

i had the dreaded transfer case stuttering and my dealer described as 'then engine cutting out', threw no codes according to my mechanic but he said BMW finally acknowledged the problem but a new cost $5400, so we installed a used one from a parts shop and the difference is dramatic, i had no idea when i bought the car that the transfer case was that bad at all as i had no point of reference, i just thought it was traction control engaging at high demands but as it became more frequent and more intense i realized that its not normal. $800 later i guess its possible that i'll be the occasional buyer of a transfer case or two from now on? My mechanic however suggested that if this used one is good then it could stay intact and operational, he reminded me that not 'all' of them go bad so i'm satisfied with used transfer case thus far. Wow, the acceleration is so smooth and linear now. This is on a 2015 X3 35i msport with only 10k miles on it 18months ago when i bought it, now replaced at 26k miles.

[Captain Hook]

Howdy! Late to this thread but I hope one of y'all might still be around to help. My 2011 X3 started showing those alerts Marty in NY mentioned: Chassis stabilization drive moderately, parking brake disabled, passenger stabilization system, ABS... no other symptoms when they first came on so stupidly I kept driving it around for a few weeks. Then the wheels just froze up. I could idle and go in reverse, but the second my foot touched the accelerator the wheels would grab and jerk like mad. Really a violent reaction. A private Euro auto mechanic said the transfer case had to be replaced - a $6500 job for parts and labor. Didn't specify just what in the TC went bad. I haven't had anything done since. I've seen A LOT of videos and read some forums that refer to the plastic actuator gear going bad and it being an easy DIY fix but none of the videos cite such violent symptoms in the wheels. Plus all those videos say their explanations are valid only for X3's up to 2010. (Does my 2011 still use actuator gears like that? Should I try to disassemble it?? But I digress...) Marty in NY now has me thinking the main problem could be the wheel speed sensors and not the transfer case at all!! I don't want to fork out 6.5 grand for nothing. Any suggestions?? Thanks!

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by Captain Hook

Howdy! Late to this thread but I hope one of y'all might still be around to help. My 2011 X3 started showing those alerts Marty in NY mentioned: Chassis stabilization drive moderately, parking brake disabled, passenger stabilization system, ABS... no other symptoms when they first came on so stupidly I kept driving it around for a few weeks. Then the wheels just froze up. I could idle and go in reverse, but the second my foot touched the accelerator the wheels would grab and jerk like mad. Really a violent reaction. A private Euro auto mechanic said the transfer case had to be replaced - a $6500 job for parts and labor. Didn't specify just what in the TC went bad. I haven't had anything done since. I've seen A LOT of videos and read some forums that refer to the plastic actuator gear going bad and it being an easy DIY fix but none of the videos cite such violent symptoms in the wheels. Plus all those videos say their explanations are valid only for X3's up to 2010. (Does my 2011 still use actuator gears like that? Should I try to disassemble it?? But I digress...) Marty in NY now has me thinking the main problem could be the wheel speed sensors and not the transfer case at all!! I don't want to fork out 6.5 grand for nothing. Any suggestions?? Thanks!

Hi Captain_Hook, sorry to hear you're having those symptoms, so what OBD codes is your CPU throwing at you?

[frisbeeguy]

Originally Posted by Captain Hook

Howdy! Late to this thread but I hope one of y'all might still be around to help. My 2011 X3 started showing those alerts Marty in NY mentioned: Chassis stabilization drive moderately, parking brake disabled, passenger stabilization system, ABS... no other symptoms when they first came on so stupidly I kept driving it around for a few weeks. Then the wheels just froze up. I could idle and go in reverse, but the second my foot touched the accelerator the wheels would grab and jerk like mad. Really a violent reaction. A private Euro auto mechanic said the transfer case had to be replaced - a $6500 job for parts and labor. Didn't specify just what in the TC went bad. I haven't had anything done since. I've seen A LOT of videos and read some forums that refer to the plastic actuator gear going bad and it being an easy DIY fix but none of the videos cite such violent symptoms in the wheels. Plus all those videos say their explanations are valid only for X3's up to 2010. (Does my 2011 still use actuator gears like that? Should I try to disassemble it?? But I digress...) Marty in NY now has me thinking the main problem could be the wheel speed sensors and not the transfer case at all!! I don't want to fork out 6.5 grand for nothing. Any suggestions?? Thanks!

Way too much $$.
Either car-part.com for a salvage t-case...I saw some in FL for ~$975
or https://www.tcbmwx5.com/
issue is you have to take care of installation....as both options are often unsupported by mechanics...especially salvage parts due to no warranty.

[Captain Hook]

Thanks frisbeeguy. We did get a refurbished TC the other day and cleaned it up nicely. We also found an independent mechanic who isn't thrilled about putting it in but said he'd do what we ask. We haven't moved on that yet though.

Marty in NY: Here are the codes the mechanic gave us before he unplugged the transfer case so that the vehicle is at least driveable (though X-drive and the speedometer don't work after he disconnected it...)

Dynamic Stability Control, 2 faults
480A90 DSC: Roller brake tester mode active
48068C Transfer box: Temporary fault, temperature

Integrated Chassis Management, 1 fault
(ICMQL) (ICM_25)
D02C67 DSC interface (status, DSC stabilisation, 47.1.2): signal invalid

Digital Engine Electronics, 1 fault
(Motor) (MSV90)
CD9304 BSD data bus Communications fault

Transfer Box (LMV) (LMV_01), 1 fault
440117 Transfer box (VTG): All-wheel drive transfer box temporarily shut down - clutch protection