2010 BMW X6 40d E71
Discussion
Jakg said:
Fas1975 said:
Love it. Had an E71 40d myself for 3 years. Chopped it in for an X6M F86 and regretted it almost immediately.
Interested to know what you didn't like about the M - I was originally after an E71 X6M but there was a big variation in prices.Just didn't feel right. 9mpg didn't help, but for me, it just didn't feel right, and I definitely had buyers remorse immediately. I even had a moment when the two were parked side by side on the dealer forecourt thinking, what am I doing, but the ULEZ extension and having family within that zone was the driver for change
Fas1975 said:
I keep scouring the ads for a petrol E71 with the right spec.
Petrol makes way more sense for my usage profile, but there were barely any for sale and at stupid prices.d_a_n1979 said:
Yeah, they're either leggy or really expensive. But searching is half the fun 
Keep us posted with yours, following the thread with interest
Keep us posted with yours, following the thread with interest
Fas1975 said:
Love it. Had an E71 40d myself for 3 years. Chopped it in for an X6M F86 and regretted it almost immediately.
Interested to know what you didn't like about the M - I was originally after an E71 X6M but there was a big variation in prices.Fas1975 said:
I keep scouring the ads for a petrol E71 with the right spec.
Petrol makes way more sense for my usage profile, but there were barely any for sale and at stupid prices.d_a_n1979 said:
You could always 're-case' the key so it stands out more: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204318687658?fits=Car+M...
Not sure that'll work, it's not keyless and there's a tight slot for the key to sit in. I did think about a cover for the key but decided against it for that reason.There's some animal stickers in the post right now...
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:31
Jakg said:
The drivers side of the engine has a thick coating of oil, tracked the source back to this boost hose. Common on M57 engines but not found much about the N57.
Unfortunately this was not the main problem - after swapping, even before I got it back on the road, there was visible oil on the bottom of the engine.The tell tale is oil leaks off and onto the exhaust flexi, which burns off when hot causing smoke (and obviously an unpleasant smell).
The rocker cover gasket is a common problem on the N57, but also so is the rocker cover itself - it's made of plastic sections, glued together from the factory which can crack or warp.
I watched some videos on replacement and read TIS but it seemed like a lot of work, inlet manifold and scuttle trims needed removing etc. When I started I got even more confused - the TIS instructions didn't map to the car, and it seems like there's lots of variants of ancillaries on N57 cars, changing what needs to be removed etc so I just ended up guessing most of it.
Airbox, inlet piping, injectors, pipework and fuel rail removed
The injectors came out very easily (I got the engine hot in advance), which was good as they are known for being problematic.
The injectors were looking a bit of a state however
There's a receipt a couple of years ago for a new rocker gasket and injector seals, someone's definitely been in here before.
I've removed injectors on an M47 before and just put them back in many times without issue, but this time I thought I'd do it "properly" - injector bores cleaned, seats recut etc
Cleaned the injectors up and gave them an ultrasonic bath as well, they still aren't pretty but much cleaner. New copper washers and leak off o-rings.
When I removed the injector clamp bolts (which go through the valve cover) they were all covered in oil, which isn't right
Quite a bit of fighting later and the cover was off
There's a wiring loom that circles around 3/4 of the engine, and then all the pressure converters with it's vacuum lines on the other side. So you need to disconnect a lot of stuff to get slack to free it up. But all done without removing inlet or scuttle panel.
Old vs new cover
It's an aftermarket part and although advertised for my car, the N57 had two different variations of cover - the later one is a slightly different design, which is what this actually is, and I had the earlier one. Different shape gasket (not an issue now obviously) and has a separate part to mount the engine cover is, which wasn't included annoyingly so I've ordered one separately.
Closer inspection and the old rocker cover looked ok, but the gasket (which is 6 years old) looks like it's melted
Cleaned up the mating faces and put it all back together - I was a bit worried with all the cleaning I'd contaminated the oil with fluids etc so I gave it a change as well, and fitted a magnetic sump plug.
Because the fuel system was drained down, I bled it on ISTA before starting - it would've started eventually, but this apparently makes things easier on the high-pressure fuel pump.
All back together and... nothings exploded. Which is good going, as this was one of the more complex jobs I've tackled. Whether it's fixed the leak, we'll see!
Edited by Jakg on Saturday 18th May 00:24
Edited by Jakg on Monday 17th June 23:07
Edited by Jakg on Tuesday 23 July 00:20
Edited by Jakg on Tuesday 23 July 00:21
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:31
The X6 came with CIC iDrive, USB & Bluetooth, but in early CIC fashion you can't stream music over bluetooth and USB is for USB drives, not phones.
I tried to fit a USB 3.5mm Bluetooth adapter as a temporary measure, but something was broken internally in the 3.5mm socket so I replaced that.
I also fitted a USB C power supply for faster charging. Not the neatest install, but fairly hidden in the armrest.
I tried to fit a USB 3.5mm Bluetooth adapter as a temporary measure, but something was broken internally in the 3.5mm socket so I replaced that.
I also fitted a USB C power supply for faster charging. Not the neatest install, but fairly hidden in the armrest.
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:31
Jakg said:
The X6 came with CIC iDrive, USB & Bluetooth, but in early CIC fashion you can't stream music over bluetooth and USB is for USB drives, not phones.
The solution to these problems is a Combox - BMW speak for an optional multimedia interface found on slightly later CIC iDrive installations.I have one in my 335d and it works well, but it came already retrofitted. To get one installed is >£400 so I thought this would just sit on the back burner for a bit.
I typed the part number into eBay expecting to have to wait and instead there were loads, and £50 later I had one to work out how to fit.
The car came with TCU & MULF modules, which the Combox replaces.
The TCU is on the wheel arch in the boot, and the combox goes here.
The MULF module is under the rear seats on an X6 - on an X5 it's next to the TCU, which would've been much easier.
Removed the seats and pulled all the wiring back.
The combox uses a different connector, but requires the connections from both the TCU & MULF.
Luckily I already had a TCU -> Combox adaptor spare
I just needed to connect the MULF connections into the combox plug as well.
Unfortunately because the MULF was further away, the connections weren't long enough to get back to the combox, so they had to be extended. I tried soldersticks for the first time over crimps, mostly so that when terminated it wouldn't be too bulky so could rewrap the loom.
On the combox end I bought the proper MQS terminals so that it *should* just clip in like factory... unfortunately, it didn't.
In hindsight, I should've got the genuine BMW connections with a loom on the end and used those as the extensions, and wired it up without the adaptor as well into a new single connector.
Combox fitted with some slight modifications to the aerial connection.
All together and looks fairly neat thanks to lots of loom tape...
Coding was fairly straightforward:
- Write the VIN to the combox (note - it's the VIN the car is coded with, not the actual VIN - theres no check digit on the one on the car!)
- Update the VO codes to remove the TCU+MULF stuff and add the combox stuff, write back to the car
- Default-code some of the modules so they reconfigure themselves around the new VO
- Code out the TCU SOS warning as I couldn't get it to go away otherwise
After all that, USB phone connectivity, with album art
I was getting poor audio quality (popping, crackling etc) and it was suggested it might be a MOST issue - the TCU, MULF, amp etc all sit on the MOST fibre optic loop, so if you remove one (e.g. like I have with MULF gone) you have to bridge the cable to keep the loop connected.
I tried a different bypass loop but that didn't work at all, I found that the MOST loops seem to all go via a junction box which happens to be next to the combox etc - I could remove the whole redundant MOST leg that went to the MULF and move the connections over like it was never there, which is much neater.
Removed MOST cabling vs bypass
Back together and works fine now, and the whole retrofit has been less than £60, so I'm happy, plus I learnt quite a bit.
Finally, updated the 14 year outdated maps
Edited by Jakg on Wednesday 29th May 22:29
Edited by Jakg on Monday 17th June 23:09
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:32
Nice work on it. The combox is a must have for CIC installations now, and how funny in the location of the MULF. My E91 has had a combox fitted, the prices of some of the bits are wild. Like the plugs. I have BMW apps working now and the only one that is worth it is Spotify. Most other apps have stopped working now, and are useless. Spotify still allows searching and other good stuff, although the logo has gone funny…
The wing mirrors are auto-dimming, but one of the seals has failed causing one of the mirrors to go yellow.
Tricky finding dimming glass that isn't £££ but eventually got some from AliExpress.
Now it's on the road proper, parking in the garage is a real faff - the garage is only about 30mm (not cm!) longer than the car, so while possible, you need to park, get out, check, creep forward several times etc.
I made a little stepped ramp out of wood at the exact right position - you just drive in (slowly!) and the car will stop in the perfect spot, it won't creep up the ramp. Makes parking very easy and only slightly nerve-racking.
It's braced off the wall because I didn't want to attach it to the floor:
Tricky finding dimming glass that isn't £££ but eventually got some from AliExpress.
Now it's on the road proper, parking in the garage is a real faff - the garage is only about 30mm (not cm!) longer than the car, so while possible, you need to park, get out, check, creep forward several times etc.
I made a little stepped ramp out of wood at the exact right position - you just drive in (slowly!) and the car will stop in the perfect spot, it won't creep up the ramp. Makes parking very easy and only slightly nerve-racking.
It's braced off the wall because I didn't want to attach it to the floor:
- it's easily moveable - you just pick it up if you want a different car
- I was worried any holes in the floor would fill with water and freezing might crack the slab
Edited by Jakg on Monday 17th June 23:11
Edited by Jakg on Monday 17th June 23:12
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:32
Cleaned it - still not really a looker
Got frustrated that everything in the boot goes everywhere in the corners.
There's no hooks for a cargo net, and the boot liner is super slippy
Bit annoying as the E70 X5 has the hooks as standard, and my 335d has the extended storage pack so loads of hooks etc.
When new, you could (and should!) have spent ~£200 on the extended storage pack - which gives a storage net, bag hooks and storage rails.
The rails replace the trims either side of the boot floor, with hooks that can be moved along the rails to give flexible storage etc. As they are X6-specific and an optional extra, they aren't plentiful second hand - these came from a European X6M so at least I get bragging points for //M parts.
Quite a lot of the boot trim overlaps, so the floor, side trims, part of the rear trim and the C pillar trims all have to come off. The car has the threads in the chassis from factory.
The unit came without bolts, but I couldn't stomach 8 bolts at £3.50 each from BMW. Instead spent £3.50 on some cap heads on eBay (12.9 grade no less!) and sprayed the washers black.
Need a bigger cargo net but you can see it's much more practical all back together
Extended storage also gave you some little fold down hooks in the side trims - luckily these are used on loads of other cars (e.g. E91, E61 etc) but still tricky to find a set second hand.
The trims are premarked, so you just cut them out - I used a junior hacksaw blade, as the plastic is too recessed to use a dremel properly, but hard enough you need a proper tool.
WIP:
Pops in
Fitted
And opened
There's one on each side.
There's some other extended storage parts still missing but I'm not so fussed about those, and they are all X6 specific so I'll probably never find them separately.
Got frustrated that everything in the boot goes everywhere in the corners.
There's no hooks for a cargo net, and the boot liner is super slippy
Bit annoying as the E70 X5 has the hooks as standard, and my 335d has the extended storage pack so loads of hooks etc.
When new, you could (and should!) have spent ~£200 on the extended storage pack - which gives a storage net, bag hooks and storage rails.
The rails replace the trims either side of the boot floor, with hooks that can be moved along the rails to give flexible storage etc. As they are X6-specific and an optional extra, they aren't plentiful second hand - these came from a European X6M so at least I get bragging points for //M parts.
Quite a lot of the boot trim overlaps, so the floor, side trims, part of the rear trim and the C pillar trims all have to come off. The car has the threads in the chassis from factory.
The unit came without bolts, but I couldn't stomach 8 bolts at £3.50 each from BMW. Instead spent £3.50 on some cap heads on eBay (12.9 grade no less!) and sprayed the washers black.
Need a bigger cargo net but you can see it's much more practical all back together
Extended storage also gave you some little fold down hooks in the side trims - luckily these are used on loads of other cars (e.g. E91, E61 etc) but still tricky to find a set second hand.
The trims are premarked, so you just cut them out - I used a junior hacksaw blade, as the plastic is too recessed to use a dremel properly, but hard enough you need a proper tool.
WIP:
Pops in
Fitted
And opened
There's one on each side.
There's some other extended storage parts still missing but I'm not so fussed about those, and they are all X6 specific so I'll probably never find them separately.
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:32
When reversing out of the garage after being parked up, getting an annoying squeal from the rear brakes.
Google suggests its a "characteristic".
"//M" calipers, apparently
New sliders, bushes and pads all cleaned up and lubed.
Made no difference so maybe it is a characteristic after all!
Google suggests its a "characteristic".
"//M" calipers, apparently
New sliders, bushes and pads all cleaned up and lubed.
Made no difference so maybe it is a characteristic after all!
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:32
On my 335d, I changed the suspension arms for the M3 ones which use stiffer bushes and gives better geometry etc.
I wanted to do the same here, the EPC said only the wishbone and tension strut was different between X5/X6 & X5M/X6M (besides shocks/springs, obviously)
The tension struts are easy enough to buy pattern parts for, but the wishbones are BMW-only and £300, each.
Not much info online about the differences so this was a bit of a gamble.
I found an X6M being broken for spares, got the wishbones for £35. Second hand isn't ideal, but they are newer and have done half the miles so not terrible.
Further research shows the wheel alignment settings between X5/X6 & X5M/X6M are identical - i.e. the geometry is the same after all. It's the same scenario on F15 X5 vs F85 X5M, but there's more online about these parts and there the arms are the same dimensionally but stiffer bushes, so I guessed it was the same here.
Still, I've got them now, so it'd be rude not to... plus now should be a straight swap.
The wishbone is only held on with three bolts, so should be easy enough?
Ball joint was a pain to remove, had to split the pinch bolt section with a chisel and hammer the ball joint from below a lot to get it out (eventually)
Next are the bolts holding the wishbone to the body - the bolts come into the wheel well, but foul on the spring, so the BMW workflow is to drop the strut to get clearance. With some messing about with spring compressors/jack you can get the spring in the right position to clear the bolt and get it out.
Arms removed and they are a different part number, but otherwise identical. I'd guess the metal wishbone is the same casting, with different bushes.
The passenger side was even less fun - the wishbone-body bolts have nuts on the other side of the strut towers, except ones hidden behind the coolant reservoir (ok), the other is underneath the ECU tub (errrr!).
Some messing about later and apparently you have to get the passenger side rear nut from below - if you remove the wheel arch trim and then the arch liner, you can remove the bottom of the compartment that the ECU box sits in.
You can just about see the end of the bolt next to my finger...
For a big car, that's quite constrained packaging!
The first wishbone took about 2½ hours, fighting the ball joint. The second took the same, as while I flew everything apart in no time, getting to the rear nut was a real pain!
Helpfully, this allows the scuttle drain to be cleared as well - which was good as was full of soil.
All back together and it does actually feel better to drive. You can feel the fronts a bit stiffer and more direct, at the expense of a little compliance.
I wanted to do the same here, the EPC said only the wishbone and tension strut was different between X5/X6 & X5M/X6M (besides shocks/springs, obviously)
The tension struts are easy enough to buy pattern parts for, but the wishbones are BMW-only and £300, each.
Not much info online about the differences so this was a bit of a gamble.
I found an X6M being broken for spares, got the wishbones for £35. Second hand isn't ideal, but they are newer and have done half the miles so not terrible.
Further research shows the wheel alignment settings between X5/X6 & X5M/X6M are identical - i.e. the geometry is the same after all. It's the same scenario on F15 X5 vs F85 X5M, but there's more online about these parts and there the arms are the same dimensionally but stiffer bushes, so I guessed it was the same here.
Still, I've got them now, so it'd be rude not to... plus now should be a straight swap.
The wishbone is only held on with three bolts, so should be easy enough?
Ball joint was a pain to remove, had to split the pinch bolt section with a chisel and hammer the ball joint from below a lot to get it out (eventually)
Next are the bolts holding the wishbone to the body - the bolts come into the wheel well, but foul on the spring, so the BMW workflow is to drop the strut to get clearance. With some messing about with spring compressors/jack you can get the spring in the right position to clear the bolt and get it out.
Arms removed and they are a different part number, but otherwise identical. I'd guess the metal wishbone is the same casting, with different bushes.
The passenger side was even less fun - the wishbone-body bolts have nuts on the other side of the strut towers, except ones hidden behind the coolant reservoir (ok), the other is underneath the ECU tub (errrr!).
Some messing about later and apparently you have to get the passenger side rear nut from below - if you remove the wheel arch trim and then the arch liner, you can remove the bottom of the compartment that the ECU box sits in.
You can just about see the end of the bolt next to my finger...
For a big car, that's quite constrained packaging!
The first wishbone took about 2½ hours, fighting the ball joint. The second took the same, as while I flew everything apart in no time, getting to the rear nut was a real pain!
Helpfully, this allows the scuttle drain to be cleared as well - which was good as was full of soil.
All back together and it does actually feel better to drive. You can feel the fronts a bit stiffer and more direct, at the expense of a little compliance.
Edited by Jakg on Wednesday 16th October 11:52
There was an annoying noise in the car, like a loose screw rolling around on a flat surface - but only audible under light braking / acceleration.
Stripped the interior down and found a tiny cylindrical metal object was in the ventilation ducting in the centre console - obviously at some point someone's put it down the rear vent and then it's just rolled and rolled.
Barely visible
A lot of the interior had to come out to find it
I then struggled to get it back together - the rear air vent just wouldn't sit flush with the ductwork back in place.
Eventually realised the ducting was all too far forward, and after freeing the centre console, could slide the whole unit back to reveal it'd come lose inside the dash causing it not to fully seat and throwing the whole alignment out.
A quick rejig and everything went back together properly
A frustrating job, but very rewarding to find the culprit!
Stripped the interior down and found a tiny cylindrical metal object was in the ventilation ducting in the centre console - obviously at some point someone's put it down the rear vent and then it's just rolled and rolled.
Barely visible
A lot of the interior had to come out to find it
I then struggled to get it back together - the rear air vent just wouldn't sit flush with the ductwork back in place.
Eventually realised the ducting was all too far forward, and after freeing the centre console, could slide the whole unit back to reveal it'd come lose inside the dash causing it not to fully seat and throwing the whole alignment out.
A quick rejig and everything went back together properly
A frustrating job, but very rewarding to find the culprit!
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:32
JakeT said:
Nice work on it. The combox is a must have for CIC installations now, and how funny in the location of the MULF. My E91 has had a combox fitted, the prices of some of the bits are wild. Like the plugs. I have BMW apps working now and the only one that is worth it is Spotify. Most other apps have stopped working now, and are useless. Spotify still allows searching and other good stuff, although the logo has gone funny…
Good work on this, impressed that you found a combox for such a low price, I always thought the E series units were quite expensive used, whereas the F series are plentiful and therefore cheap. I don't have a combox in my E91 335i as whilst it's an LCI with CIC it predates the era of combox being fitted as part of the pro nav kit. I've thought about retrofitting but as I've fitted CarPlay I barely use the factory CIC system other than for radio and car info etc. Is there any other advantage to the combox given that my phone connects wirelessly to the car and I can play music via voice commands etc using either Spotify or Apple Music?
pmorg4 said:
Good work on this, impressed that you found a combox for such a low price, I always thought the E series units were quite expensive used, whereas the F series are plentiful and therefore cheap.
I've had a quick look and there's one on eBay now for £51, that looks to be cross compatible with the part number I fitted (9257161). Probably others cheaper. Obviously double check compatibility first.I was surprised too, but I guess there's plenty of late E-chassis BMW's getting stripped for spares these days.
pmorg4 said:
I don't have a combox in my E91 335i as whilst it's an LCI with CIC it predates the era of combox being fitted as part of the pro nav kit. I've thought about retrofitting but as I've fitted CarPlay I barely use the factory CIC system other than for radio and car info etc. Is there any other advantage to the combox given that my phone connects wirelessly to the car and I can play music via voice commands etc using either Spotify or Apple Music?
I think the combox offers additional telematic functionality, but this no longer works. So probably not.Weight saving?
Edited by Jakg on Sunday 9th June 23:58
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:35
Replaced the start/stop button with a cheap Chinese "crystal" one as mine was worn, goes well with the piano black trim.
Swapped the front mid speakers from the base hifi (S676) to logic 7 (S677) units. I'll do more as/when they come up for a decent price.
Removing the door card was much less painful than expected.
To try to avoid every picture being of it in bits:
As mentioned before, it's a special colour. Not the best BMW individual colour (probably the worst!) but it's a nice pearl in between silver and white.
Swapped the front mid speakers from the base hifi (S676) to logic 7 (S677) units. I'll do more as/when they come up for a decent price.
Removing the door card was much less painful than expected.
Jakg said:
While working on the car I also noticed both disc backplates were loose - some penny washers later and secured
In hindsight, that was stupid - the penny washers are thick, and the bolts are tiny. Not enough thread engagement meant one fell out and got stuck against the disk... luckily no damage, just a nasty noise. The threaded section on the hub is deep so no idea why the bolts are tiny, but I swapped them all over.To try to avoid every picture being of it in bits:
As mentioned before, it's a special colour. Not the best BMW individual colour (probably the worst!) but it's a nice pearl in between silver and white.
Edited by Jakg on Tuesday 23 July 00:27
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:35
Jakg said:
Solenoids - https://www.autodoc.co.uk/zf-getriebe/15816662 - for reference, I paid £260 - the prices change daily so if it's expensive today, try again tomorrow
Seal kit - https://www.sussexautos.com/products/8hp45-8hp70-m...
Clutch B seal - https://www.ic24.uk/products/f826a2-automatic-gear... - took about 2 weeks to arrive from Poland, but can't argue less than a fiver delivered
Hi JakeSeal kit - https://www.sussexautos.com/products/8hp45-8hp70-m...
Clutch B seal - https://www.ic24.uk/products/f826a2-automatic-gear... - took about 2 weeks to arrive from Poland, but can't argue less than a fiver delivered
Sorry to go back to your gearbox service but when removing the mechatronic unit do you remove all the screws from the unit or only some of them (I'm thinking some must be to keep the unit together rather than bolted to the gearbox) and is it obvious when you get under there? I'm planning doing mine soon and do want to do those seals as well
Watchthis said:
Sorry to go back to your gearbox service but when removing the mechatronic unit do you remove all the screws from the unit or only some of them (I'm thinking some must be to keep the unit together rather than bolted to the gearbox) and is it obvious when you get under there? I'm planning doing mine soon and do want to do those seals as well
From memory they are different sizes - I think T20 vs T27 maybe?T27 is used on the solenoids for sure as it's an awkward size I didn't have a deep socket for.
The Sonax ZIP kit instructions are pretty helpful (they sell lots of transmission parts in the US) - https://d2q1ebiag300ih.cloudfront.net/uploads/part... - see "Valve Body Removal from Case"
Here's valve body removed from the car, and then the mechatronic unit removed as well so some extra bolts removed as well, but you can see plenty stay in there:
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:35
Perfect! Thanks for the very helpful info. I'm noticing it's taking an age (1 or 2 secs but feels looong) for my car to go between reverse and drive or wherever pulling away on a steep hill it seems to take a bit before it fully engaged. Figured if I'm changing the fluids I mights as well do everything when I'm in there
Had a little rust on the bottom of the door
Sanded back but luckily only surface rust
Then repainted
The paint was a rubbish match (why didn't I test it first!) so no closeups, but it's not noticable and no more rust.
Fixed some broken trim
New front diff oil
N57 oil filter housings are known for leaky gaskets, so replaced
Old gasket had compressed a bit but difficult to tell if it was leaking, as when you remove it oil and water get *everywhere*
Sanded back but luckily only surface rust
Then repainted
The paint was a rubbish match (why didn't I test it first!) so no closeups, but it's not noticable and no more rust.
Fixed some broken trim
New front diff oil
N57 oil filter housings are known for leaky gaskets, so replaced
Old gasket had compressed a bit but difficult to tell if it was leaking, as when you remove it oil and water get *everywhere*
Edited by Jakg on Monday 14th October 14:36
Edited by Jakg on Wednesday 16th October 11:54
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