This game sounds fun. "Put me in coach!"
Started the year at ~97600 miles after putting 6500 miles on it in the first 4 months of ownership. You buy em to drive em right?
Jan - Mar saw me preparing the X5 for our impending exodus to the east coast. A nice mix of mods and maintenance. Nothing too spectacular saving the opening of the permaseal headlights to upgrade the angel eyes.
Then in late March we took a 3 week trip all over Florida to visit my wife's sister who moved to Tallahassee and my Dad's side of the family in Melbourne and Miami. We packed the X to the roof as we also grabbed my wife's mother to go along with us as she was missing her daughter who has lived in Tallahassee for a few years now. It was very comfortable for all travelers.
My daughter got her first taste of the beach and the ocean. Like her father, she turned out to be quite the fish despite very chilly water. Had to be in the high 50's ish.
Really glad we made this trip so my Grandmother could meet her great granddaughter in person finally. Turned out to be the last opportunity though as she just passed on her birthday this month. She was 87. I was pretty close to my grand parents growing up and she will be missed as has been my Grandfather. I was so happy to have my daughter spend a few nights in the house that her aunt and I had spent so many summers growing up. It has since been sold, so it was another last opportunity. Funny my Grandfather's office still smelled like him (almost 10 years since he passed), as weird as that sounds, it always takes me back to my childhood.
Then on the way to Miami, the E53 Sword of Damocles ceased swinging... and dropped. Transfer case actuator gear went out on me... but fortunately my Uncle uses an indy there for his BMW's that knocked it out in a couple of hours for ~$230. Not too bad. Met my cousin's daughter who was born earlier in the year, and made it for her christening. Went to a few nice parties with family, and of course stayed on the beach, which the offspring unit really enjoyed.
Round trip we put ~3600 miles on the X and averaged about 18mpg over the course of the trip.
A few months later I took the trip to Las Vegas with my Mom over Mother's Day weekend for a nationals tennis qualifier. I thought she'd enjoy it (she loves Vegas) so I invited her to go with me. We had a ball, though the trip started off with a bit of a hiccup. E53 reputation strikes again! Leaving Las Cruces, NM I noticed the check arrows on the cluster. Mom was driving and of course had no idea what it said before the message disappeared. Turned out to be low coolant warning due to:
Cracked expansion tank. 6 phone calls, 1 rented Camry, 200 extra miles, ~$160, and 4 hours later I had the new tank in and the system bled. Returned the rental and headed back on the road to Vegas. LOL Mom took it pretty well... only briefly showing irritation when the Enterprise clerk was "taking too much time because she was flirting."
This was a nice double rainbow from the casino resort we stayed at.
Total for that trip was ~2400 miles through which the X averaged right around 19mpg.
Also took it for a few other short trips around TX, but nothing spectacular and no pics there.
Year summary:
Miles: 12840
Insurance: $1020
Maintenance (guesstimate): $1200
Mods (guesstimate): $2500
Fuel: $1703