Five problems related to transfer case have been reported for the 2003 BMW X5. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
While driving, I stopped at an intersection. When I started to go, there was a loud grinding noise and the car would not move. I had to get the car pushed out of the intersection. I tried restarting the car and as soon as you put it in gear, you heard the grinding noise. I had it towed to my local mechanic, upon his inspection, the front drive shaft was broken and then discovered that the inside of the transfer case was also stripped. So now I'm stuck with no vehicle, thousands of dollars in repairs, and this is the second time this has happened to me, the first was in January 2017.
As I was driving my BMW X5 I stopped at a red light and once the light turned green I begin to press the accelerator to move it didn't move and it made a loud rowing noise. U was then stuck in the middle of the hwy with moving traffic. I took it to the mechanic shop and they said it was the transfer case. He then said he see alot of them like that being worked on because of this problem.
Stopped at red light and when resumed driving at green light, suddenly heard loud grinding noise in drive mode (d). Stopped car immediately. Tuned off engine and started again after few minutes and same grinding noise in drive mode as well as reverse mode. Not able to move the car when accelerate. Towed the car to my local BMW mechanic (he has his own service center not a dealer owned). During phone conversation, he suspected its something to do with transfercase/front drive shaft and upon physical inspection he confirmed its those two parts. The spline connection between drive shaft and transfer case went bad. The mechanic knew of this issue happening in several X5s but not at such low mileage (51k only). Ended up replacing the bad parts through him as I had no hopes dealer will fix this issue at their expense based on several readings online and feedback from other car owners. Total repai cost $4000 oem parts plus labor. Read in several BMW forums (bimmerforum, bimmerfest etc,) this is very common problem. Experts believe it is due to a design flaw in the connection between front drive shaft and transfer case (drive shaft being an inch short). There are custom front drive shaft available that are about 1inch longer than the oem part. Another factor that may be driving this issue could be related to ac condensate pipe location right above where the drive shaft and transfer case connects. I read this in another complain but unable to confirm as I'm not the mechanic. Based on the same issue reported so far (and many that are not reported just because not everyone is internet savvy to report), it is high time BMW needs to be pushed for repairing this issue in future and refund repair cost for those who already fixed it on their own.
Tl- the contact owns a 2003 BMW X5. The contact stated while traveling at any speed, the vehicle jerked violently without warning intermittently on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop who diagnosed that the transfer case needed to be repaired. The vehicle was to be repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 128,000. Dyd.
The contact owns a 2003 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to get the vehicle to their home and had a mechanic look at the vehicle. The mechanic stated that the drive shaft and transfer case had chipped. The failure mileage and current mileages were 189,000. Updated 06/12/lj.