My first post on this great forum of yours and unfortunately regarding a problem with my dad's X5 4.6is which BMW seem to have a problem fixing.
One of the belts (the one that drives the water pump and A/C) keeps on slipping off or something and basically causing a small mess. This has happened 3 times now, the car has around 50K km. All the work been done under warranty so far and BMW are helpful in terms of solving the problem, but they cannot find it.
Has anyone else had this problem? What do you think could be causing this? It always happens under hard acceleration, could my dad's driving style (which is rather moderate - he uses full power only during overtaking) be at fault (although I really highly doubt this)? Any ideas what to check and replace that might cause the problem?
We've set up a meeting with the BMW importer Vice-President to work on the problem and get some compensation. Basically we said that this BMW will be our last if the problem isn't solved - the next car will either be an Audi or Porsche (we do have two E46's - a 330d and 318i Touring). He seemed to want to fix it ASAP. Any ideas on what to fight for?
Thanks for all the feedback and cheers to your great cars - even though I drive an Audi which you prolly all consider a POS I love it, but I still dream for an M5 for the road, an M3 for fun and an X5 for the weekends with the wife.
The same thing happened to me 1 month ago on a long trip. X5 had to be towed to nearby dealership. They found nothing wrong, only the belt separated, the groves from the base, not even broken, but overheated the engine etc. etc. No explanation!!!! Its fine now, another 1500 miles no problem. Is driven hard, but this nonsense happened on an open road during speed limit drive. Is this some 4.6 specialty. Had only 12000 miles, and less than a year.
Wow did you register just to share that gem of knowledge with us? We had a 4.6iS for 55k kms, problem free. Was an absolute blast to have and having just gotten my drivers license back then, a blast to drive too
The new 645Ci that replaced it kind of makes an ever-dimmimg memory though. Hehe.
If you are in the market for an SUV with sex appeal, handling and power, the only way to go is the X5. Yes there are other that excel better in one category or the other, but none have the balance of the X5.
4.6 is an incredible car. I posted a problem 1.5 years ago and none since. Its 42000 miles now, almost 70000km and better every day. Last year I did cross America trip, about 7000 miles in 4 weeks, from temp of 115 to 20 in 1 day. I have buyers all the time as cars looks and sounds very serious with a few Dinan add-ons, but..... no sale for a long time I think. Probably a keeper!
4.6is problem
I love it, but I still dream for an M5 for the road, an M3 for fun and an X5 for the weekends with the wife. 
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