transfer case oil leak?

[katesbmw]

i have a 2010 x3 with 116,000 miles, i noticed something leaking from under front passenger side. substance was oily and somewhat clear. next day the abs,4x4,and some other lights turn on!!! the lights went away but its makes a weird sound when i accelerate...dont know what it is please help.

[Pelican Parts]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Did the check engine light come on as well? I would recommend pulling the codes to see what comes up - this will give you a good place to start troubleshooting.

[bmwdirtracer]

Welcome to the forum, Kate.

It's unlikely that the fluid and the warning lights are related. However, you need to take the warnings very seriously. In order to know what the problem is, the car needs to be connected to a BMW specific diagnostic computer. If you don't already have a good BMW specialist shop that you like....now is the time.

At 8 years old, and 116k miles, the car likely needs some serious maintenance and repairs, if it hasn't been faithfully maintained by a BMW tech.

I'd recommend that you make an appointment for a full inspection of your car, including a scan of all the computers, and a list of what work it needs.

Several different computers can make those lights trigger, and there are probably a hundred different inputs to those computers, and several hundreds of different issues which might be the cause. You need to know which it is, and you need to know what else might be getting ready to give trouble.

Certainly, you can buy a very good BMW scan tool, for ~$200, from ECS Tuning. To save another $50, you can buy the same tool from EBay and the like....but you lose the support built in to the ECS transaction.

This forum will be happy to assist you in understanding the codes from your computers . Have the shop print you a sheet, with the code descriptions, in actual words (not just numbers - good computers speak English.)

With modern BMW's it's quite important to have someone experienced look the car over, on a regular basis.

You know that your transfer case, transmission, and differentials need oil changes, too, I hope? Brake fluid? Coolant?

All the best,