Looking at an E83 X3 tomorrow with ABS/Brake/4x4 Lights On. What to look for?

[Corellian Corve]

Hey Folks!

Looking at a 2006 X3 tomorrow that I'm considering for my parents. I'm pretty familiar with the M54 Motors (I have an e39 530i and and e53 X5 3.0) but this would be my first E83.

Anyway, car has pretty low miles and looks well kept but the owner is disclosing that the 3 lights are on indicating a problem with the transfer case. Some internet research tells me that this is a pretty simple fix (perhaps very simple by spinning a gear) or at worst I'll need a transfer case motor which is no problem.

However - is there a telltale sign that the gear is the problem? Or can these lights be indicative of a bigger transfer case issue? I will have my LAUNCH scan tool which I'm also planning to plug in.

I have plenty of tools and a lift and like doing my own work, so I'm not afraid of a little DIY but I'm also not interested in changing out a transfer case

Thanks!

[jclausen]

You better have it diagnosed before buy the car, I would not buy the car until that question is answered

[Corellian Corve]

That's why I'm posting. What else (besides the gear) would cause the lights, and any ideas how to tell the difference?

[vinyldude]

There are many reasons for those lights to turn on, while the actuator gear is perhaps the most likely one. It could also be faulty wheel sensors (or bearings), electronics issues with the control module, etc.
If you have a laptop with INPA (or other software), it would be fairly trivial to scan the module and see what the error codes are. The error codes will generally give a pretty good idea what's wrong.

[Corellian Corve]

Thanks. Looked at the car. My launch said "actuator motor" - no other codes on the engine or trans and the thing drove strong. Pretty low miles too and the guy wanted it gone. So I bought it cheap

[vinyldude]

So I bought it cheap

Congrats! These are great cars...

[Corellian Corve]

Cool! I'm pretty familiar with BMW's of the era (own 2 e39's, an e38, 2 e53's) but this is my first X3. I'm actually getting it for my parents so I'm going to fix it up for them. It was so dirt cheap I couldn't pass it up.

[jclausen]

So why didn’t you look up for the faults in the in the first place and then make the post

[Corellian Corve]

Because I was *going* to see the car and asking the forum if there was anything else I should look for? I was a aware of the transfer case motor issue, but I wanted to see if there was anything else I should look at.

I didn't get much response before I went to look - and when I got there I scanned the car and saw the actuator motor code, so I felt more confident that was the problem.