amesser325

Last week I got the 4x4! message as well as the usual ABS, DSC, EBV messages. I was of course, 300 miles from home so I drove easy but still 300 miles, assuming it was the actuator. Since it was time for new fluids anyway I drained all the fluids, including the transfer case. I noticed that very little seemed to come out and when it did it was black and reeked of burned metal. There are no signs of fluid leak. I originally thought it was the worm drive gear in the actuator but after taking it apart and seeing nothing out of the ordinary I started to think it was the clutch pack that had given up the ghost. I installed a new actuator to test. Keeping in mind the transfer case is empty currently with the car on jack stands, I fired up the engine today to see if it would do it's diagnosis and find everything is copacetic.
No joy. Still get the 4x4 and other warnings. At this point, from that, I assume it's a dead transfer case but was wondering if I could just need to fill the case first. I'm just a little hesitant since the BMW fluid is $50/qt and I'd rather not just throw the fluid away as a test if I have to get a new transfer case.

Bone stock car - 2007 530xiT 6MT with ~142k. I bought it at 95k and immediately serviced all fluids, and have done very conservative maintenance on it otherwise (including oil sampling at every change).

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Andy
07 530xiT 6MT
former 01 525iT

BostonJon

did you make sure to clear the codes before starting the car again? it seems some codes will turn off automatically if the problem resolves itself, but others have to be reset

jtbgonesailing

+1 on BostonJon comment. Also if I am not mistaken, the transfer case calls for an adaptation reset after the fluid change.

amesser325

Good thought - no I haven't. The lights didn't come on at key on (only), it was only after startup after replacing the actuator. I assumed since it did the check on startup or key on, it didn't need reset. I can see particles in the fluid residue so that with the burned metal smell makes me think it's TU but I'd not be properly troubleshooting it if I didn't try the reset.

I saw a few other forums talk about having to register fluid changes, and since I didn't do that at the previous fluid change (~95k) I wonder if it slowly lost it's calibration and ended up slipping the clutches excessively to the point of failure.

Side note: Last night I noticed the transfer case halves was sealed with RTV (grey), and I'm not sure BMW would use that as a seal. I know the car had a new clutch @ 30k (damned SAC) so I wonder if it also had some transfer case work done at some point, and maybe not put back together correctly.

Thanks for the thought - I'll reset codes and see what happens. If nothing less this is a good impetus to reinstall INPA to see if I can fix the German only menus (tried the usual suggestions from the forums to go to English).

Andy
07 530xiT 6MT

BostonJon

that is correct. i just saw that option in ISTA this week as i was diagnosing a DSC error due to a steering angle sensor issue.

BostonJon

i've found ISTA to be a little more user-friendly and i know the TC options were in there too

amesser325

Thanks for the tip - I was feeling a bit overwhelmed after searching for ISTA and not seeing much in the way of 'ease of installation' but after not seeing adaptation reset capability in INPA I guess I'll have to redouble efforts to get ISTA up and running. I'm on an older netbook that might be resource limited.
FWIW, I cleared the errors but one keeps popping up even after clearing - 54C8 - classification resistor error. Given I just replaced the transfer case and actuator motor, I'm venturing a guess it's not the problem. I'l have to see if I can chase wiring more to see if it's not getting voltage. Based on the other faults I wonder if the wiring has broken and it lost control of where it was, tried to over compensate, and eventually failed the clutch pack. Still plenty of diagnosis to do but not gonna drive it until I get it sorted. I guess, actually, I'll back it out of the garage but that's about it (need the room to do brakes on GF's '13 335i - rears are at about 2mm thickness).

thanks,
Andy
07 530x(ish)iT 6MT

amesser325

Thanks for the help and suggestions, guys. I was able to get an instance of ISTA/D running that allowed me to reset the adaption values.
Turns out the 54C8 fault was active because the controller was still expecting the old resistor value. After telling it I installed new hardware it relearned everything and didn't light any faults. Drove into work today (40 miles) without issue.

Thanks,

Andy
07 530xiT 6MT

Woptech

Hi amesser325,
First I want to say I am new to forum and don't know how everything works, so please forgive me if I make mistakes.

I have a 07 525xi that was giving me problems with the TC actuator motor like yours, I replaced the motor with a used one, but I reuse the resistor that was on my burned motor cause the one I installed didn't have one, now seems that the ABS, the DSC and the AWD are working, BUT....... the DSC and the 4x4 warning lights are on, the car drives ok except when I push on the gas that start to shake, seem to have no power and the engine light comes on, but goes away if I stop and restart the engine, I scan it with a cheap tool Autel AL419 and gives me only a cyl6 misfire, but nothing else especially on the transmission, my question is..... do I have to change the resistor? do I have to delete the value on the one I have? How did you do yours? What's that ISTA/D? where do I get one? Is there any other way to reset that value?

Hope I made sense with my description, hang help would be much appreciated and thanks to everyone

Woptech

Please one at a time!!!!!!!!
I didn't know one can find so much help like this in forums,
Thanks to everyone, I really appreciate that everyone Of you took the time to answer my question.
God bless everyone!!!!!!