[CreativeOne]

Hey everyone!

Car is 2013 F11 530xd.

Before I start I want to say that I have searched a lot for the issue that I am having, and I have found one exact topic with the same error codes in some forum, but the guy who had the issues did not tell if and how he fixed it

The issue - xdrive is not working. No lights on the dash, no nothing, just when I have wheelspin for more than a second or two the traction control error message pops up, for which you have to wait like 5 seconds and then it disappears and you can drive like you did before. And it drives in RWD basically.
There is no jerky drive when turning or in slow speeds, nothing weird, you could not tell that something is not working if not trying to lose traction.

I have changed the Transfer Case oil. Twice. One 400ml change, then after a small drive again another 400ml (as without taking the transfer case off, one can only get around 400ml out, just FYI for some)
Today I even removed the actuator, which I hoped was with gears, but is an electromagnet - as I hoped it was something similar with the older models, where the gear would just wear out - but no gears here. I can add a picture too if someone wants to see how it looks.
I have also checked wheel speed sensors and their directions - all show accurate speed and direction.

I have connected LAUNCH to see what hidden error codes are stored, and I found out these:
449192 Transfer box (VTG): Oil Wear (cant remove, probably need ISTA, thought that re-calibration would help, but didnt, I guess it self-learning)
440117 Transfer Box (VTG): All-Wheel Drive Transfer Box Temporarily Shut Down - Clutch Protection
48068C Transfer Box: Temporary Fault, Temperature

And thats it.
Last year it worked great. I have nice winters where I live, and I really enjoyed xdrive, at least while it lasted.
So yeah - It did work a year ago and during the whole winter I had it - had it since start of January last year. Was driving till end of spring, when I just switched to my motorcycle and on rare occasion - the other car I have.
Restarted driving at the end of summer, when I also first noticed that something was off - I could lose traction on asphalt, with an AWD vehicle - of course, just rear, but not so that I could get an error, because it regained traction fast enough. I couldnt even do that on a straight road with my 535d (sadly stolen from me) which had only RWD.
Then in autumn, when driving on some mud in the countryside, noticed that it actually is just the rear end doing all the work.

If anyone has any idea, please do tell, as I am lost.
Right now I would think it could be the transfer case clutch, but I would expect an error in that case.
I can also freely turn the front prop shaft with my hands when all wheels are on ground (I have a spot where I can do that, but didnt try 360 degree turn)

EDIT: While writing the last sentence I had a wild thought - no way it could be a Front diff issue? I would still expect noise coming from it or something then..

[DementedF10]

if you can turn the front drive shaft by hand then there has to be a front diff issue.

[CreativeOne]

Yeah, it appears to be the front diff issue.
Did a test today - asked my brother to drive the car while I am under it (car on a platform), and saw that the drive shaft was being engaged, so Transfer Case is ok.
Also did a 360 degree turn on the drive shaft with all the wheel down, then also with one wheel in the air - the wheel did not turn.
Also, of course, was spinning one wheel which was in the air, which should turn the drive shaft, but it did not turn.

So something bad has happened within the front diff - who knows what.
I also checked front axle-shafts to see if maybe for some reason one would have come out and thus there would be no connection, but they were also ok.

While I did not get any info from the forum besides DementedF10 comment (still useful), I hope some others will find this write-up and my discovery useful, alongside the error codes.
I might update the post with what was actually wrong within the front diff once I remove it. Probably this week or next week. I have changed a couple of subframes for the F10/F11 series, so that knowledge will come in handy when removing the diff.

[DementedF10]

Ill bet there is some carnage to find in the diff. Im surprised it didnt make any odd noises.

[CreativeOne]

To be honest - totally not what I expected.

While I was about to start removing all the parts to get to the diff, my brother had a quick look and saw that actually one of the axle shafts were turning when turning the drive shaft, just not the wheel itself.
Which meant that the diff was not the issue - the issue was at the very end of the axle - I honestly don't know how its called in English, but you will see the picture of it and understand.
What had happened was that probably some time ago, when I did some other maintenance work on the car, I had twisted the end/boot of the axle shaft too much and a few ball bearing fell out of place - making the whole shaft be in place and not vibrate, but also not engage properly.
I cleaned the whole thing, inspected for damage (no damage) and re-assembled with bearing grease - and now works like charm, have my xdrive working again!
The diff I had bought I will be sending back and getting a refund.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by CreativeOne

To be honest - totally not what I expected.

While I was about to start removing all the parts to get to the diff, my brother had a quick look and saw that actually one of the axle shafts were turning when turning the drive shaft, just not the wheel itself.
Which meant that the diff was not the issue - the issue was at the very end of the axle - I honestly don't know how its called in English, but you will see the picture of it and understand.
What had happened was that probably some time ago, when I did some other maintenance work on the car, I had twisted the end/boot of the axle shaft too much and a few ball bearing fell out of place - making the whole shaft be in place and not vibrate, but also not engage properly.
I cleaned the whole thing, inspected for damage (no damage) and re-assembled with bearing grease - and now works like charm, have my xdrive working again!
The diff I had bought I will be sending back and getting a refund.

Similar issue on a Chrysler minivan...

[CreativeOne]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Similar issue on a Chrysler minivan...

Yeah, basically the same thing, just that for me it made no noise whatsoever, and didn't explode the insides of it.