[Jadar]

Long story short, my girlfriends 08 328xi started making a funny grunting noise, that she pointed out to me last week. Sounded like it was coming from the power steering pump, so naturally I figure she knows her car better than anyone I made an appointment to get it checked out.

Dealer calls us today, and tells us that the transfer case was going out, and theyre putting in a new one, we just owe $50 for the deductible.

Has anyone experienced or is there any other cases and issues with these x drive units. Just curious? Love the x drive in the winter, and I know BMW is fairly new to awd, Im sure tha they are still working out all the kinks. As far as I know its only been in their cars since e46 right?

Ill ask the dealer exactly what went wrong and post up the details. I dont think a PTU unit should fail at 50,400 miles. But its a car stuff happens.

[NorthernDancer]

No it should not go bad but I don't think there is a big problem with them. Lucky it was replaced under warranty. BMW's started AWD in 1986 in Europe and in 1988 here. I have a 1989 325iX AWD. I don't think they did AWD with the E36, approx 1992 to 1998.

[XMetal]

My '04 Xdrive X5 (the first model that Xdrive was introduced on) is still trouble free, although, with only about 86K miles on the clock. Even with the low mileage, I've already had to replaced the transfer case fluid twice as noted by the OBD.

What exactly failed on your car?

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by NoirthernDancer

No it should not go bad but I don't think there is a big problem with them. Lucky it was replaced under warranty. BMW's started AWD in 1986 in Europe and in 1988 here. I have a 1989 325iX AWD. I don't think they did AWD with the E36, approx 1992 to 1998.

Ah, I see. Wow since the 80's I had no clue. I wonder why they skipped over the E36 then. I know it was here in the U.S. since the e46 MY.

Originally Posted by XMetal

My '04 Xdrive X5 (the first model that Xdrive was introduced on) is still trouble free, although, with only about 86K miles on the clock. Even with the low mileage, I've already had to replaced the transfer case fluid twice as noted by the OBD.

What exactly failed on your car?

Im not exactly sure yet, Ill post up here tomorrow, the car is done but it was too late to go get it today. I was already planning on picking their brain and find out exactly what happened.

Its my girlfriends e90 it was a 08 CPO, so not sure if the fluid was ever changed. It was leased and bought at our dealership so they should have records. All I know is they left a voicemail saying the transfer case is being replaced at that very moment, and the car will be ready by the end of the day.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by dd1981

Ah, I see. Wow since the 80's I had no clue. I wonder why they skipped over the E36 then. I know it was here in the U.S. since the e46 MY.

Im not exactly sure yet, Ill post up here tomorrow, the car is done but it was too late to go get it today. I was already planning on picking their brain and find out exactly what happened.

Its my girlfriends e90 it was a 08 CPO, so not sure if the fluid was ever changed. It was leased and bought at our dealership so they should have records. All I know is they left a voicemail saying the transfer case is being replaced at that very moment, and the car will be ready by the end of the day.

UPDATE: Got the car back today. Dealer said the gearing inside the transfer case was going out. Not sure why. I asked how the oil was he said a little bit burned but not too bad. We caught it in time before a serious drivability issue. Not sure about how much it all cost it was covered under warranty.

So goes to show CPO might not be the best option. After the lease return who is to say the deler services the car if need be. Obviously the diff fluid was never changed, but they did not blame this for the failiure in their defense.

[XMetal]

Most xDrive owners will never service the transfer case fluids as there is nothing mentioned anywhere in the maintenance manual about it. Also, unless your dealer is diligent and hook up an OBD reader during normal maintenance, you will never know whether the fluid needs changing or not as there are no other reminder for it.

The drive shaft "teeth" connecting to the transfer case is the most common failure, at least for the X5. I'm wondering what "gearing" your dealer is referring to as the xDrive transfer case is mainly composed of a clutch pack and chain inside.

Glad to see that everything was covered under CPO

[Dovetonsils]

Lucky it was replaced under warranty. BMW's started AWD in 1986 in Europe and in 1988 here. I have a 1989 325iX AWD. I don't think they did AWD with the E36, approx 1992 to 1998.

[NorthernDancer]

Dovetonsils: do you have a 1989 325iX like me? or did you just borrow my post above?

[skylineguv]

If you head over to the xDrive section on E-90 post there's a fair bit of discussion regarding the failure of plastic gears relating to the T-case. Enough failures that they started a fund to hopefully initiate the development of a metal replacement.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by skylineguv

If you head over to the xDrive section on E-90 post there's a fair bit of discussion regarding the failure of plastic gears relating to the T-case. Enough failures that they started a fund to hopefully initiate the development of a metal replacement.

Will do. Thanks guys for all the info. I appreciate it.

[Dovetonsils]

The drive shaft "teeth" connecting to the transfer case is the most common failure, at least for the X5. I'm wondering what "gearing" your dealer is referring to as the xDrive transfer case is mainly composed of a clutch pack and chain inside.