Wow, so much good advice, I was fearful there wouldn’t be as much information on the x5 as there is on e46’s, boy was I wrong, thank you all for the valuable info,

OldSkewel; I read about the TI auto pump, but FCP doesn’t carry it and I like supporting their cause. I will defiantly keep the old one as a spare, whines like a parrot caught in a blender, but it works.
The filter does have a regulator and I will be getting a Mann filter, it’s the only one available. (This is according to realOEM).
RE the sensors, yeah, it’s tough, I checked both and both seem to be working or in spec on my multimeter, it’s tricky to test because I drive and have my multimeter plugged in.
That being said, OBDFusion is reporting a constant 66c - 68c, which shows the t-stat is stuck open.

Andrew; from what I can see, there are no short, I removed most of the cable shielding and there are no open wires or breaks. So that’s good, (I did have new shielding on hand and have replaced it)
Yeah, I have noticed that the needle jumps as apposed to moving gradually with the engine temps.
I will replace the dual temp sensor and go from there.

Magister; fantastic! Thank you, 8 months is a good trial run haha.

Only reason I was skeptical about the pump is because I’ve had issues with my e46 and aftermarket pumps.

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Current Garage:
BMW 2001 325i 5spd manual
BMW 2006 X5 4.4l N62