Two problems related to brake fluid leak have been reported for the 2006 BMW X5. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Sudden loss of brake function and leaking brake fluid during normal weather ad road operations. After doing research there is a large group of similar year make and model with this same issue.
On August 8th 2013 while we were on vacation in northern NY, the vehicle braking system failed -¿ pedal to the floor with very minimal braking function. This is a huge concern in any area, but we were in a mountainous region of NY and this could have ended very very bad. Luckily it didn't. I called the closest BMW (keeler) dealer and spoke with a service representative. I noted the year and model and explained the symptoms. The service representative knew immediately what it was. He had me check under the driver's side of the vehicle for a brake line leak. Sure enough he was correct; brake fluid was dripping from the cover under the driver's floor. He made note that they see this very frequently in their service group. They had another X5 in the shop for the same problem and because that owner was a "local", keeler used their parts for our vehicle. Very concerning is the fact that a month earlier, we had a nys inspection and the corroded brake lines went unnoticed. When we returned home, I spoke to the BMW of rochester service guys about this. To my surprise, they confirmed that they to see this corroded brake line problem on a regular basis. I paid $2106. 57 for a problem that your service teams see on a regular basis, yet nothing has ever been mentioned to me and the vehicle passed the nys safety inspection a month earlier. I worked with BMW of rochester service and discussed my concerns regarding the brake failure. BMW extended a good faith offer of $2000. 00 towards a new vehicle. This appears to be a common problem that the BMW service shops see frequently. It rendered the vehicle unsafe to drive and should have been discovered with a proper safety inspection. Best regards.