First 4 days with GF's New (to us) X3

[Onizukachan]

Thanks to reading many threads we were able to find a solid trouble free e83 for her, and just finished picking it up Wednesday.

It's not super loaded, just sport and premium package with heated seats, but it doesn't have xdrive or pano issues, and has a solid 2.5/steptronic driveline, and is amazing condition for an 04. Well maintained, well documented, even had all 6 or 7 manuals, original key fob color stickers, and the X3 CD-ROM (which we just watched together tonight)









Every night after work I've been taking care of the "niggles" for her.

Thursday night was cleaning all the greasy crap dealerships use to make used cars look "shiny" off. 3 hours and 1/3 roll of paper towel and a bit of simple green and elbow grease later, I was ready to apply actual protectants and condition the seats and steering wheel. Looked way better, felt better, smelled good too. The actual application of products we did together and It was fun to see the results.

Then fixing the ash tray lid (see other thread). And for now used a credit card to tuck the fabric on the a pillars back in.

Next up on the list was figuring out what was up with the sunroof, it worked fine but wouldn't "one-touch". Once I figured out I had to hold the button through the entire reset, problem resolved.

Then it was programming in the new key since it arrived; the gf kept the new one as #1. and I programmed the old key as #2 for convenience of keeping my seat settings.
I played around trying to figure out what was up with the (discovered to be non-existent in an 04 despite the original "passkey" paperwork) Bluetooth. Does have working BMW Assist though. Also purchased a cargo cover to replace the one some PO lost as a gift, and am waiting for that to arrive.

Last night was finishing off the remaining niggles:
We installed a new windscreen upper trim, disassembled the CD player to free some PO's stuck disc, and installed an aux input. She wanted it in the European location, aka rear ashtray, but the aux was about 6" too short. I cut it about 1/3 of the way from the end, and patched in about a foot of extra length just to be safe.

Got a few options I'd like to have coded in, and maybe change the TCU to a later model to add BT, but it's up to snuff now.

Been fun, kind of a let down to have nothing left to do!

[Sapphirexae]

Congrats on the new X3!! You'll love it. Just to clear up a couple of things for you:

Originally Posted by Onizukachan

doesn't have xdrive or pano issues.

Two things. These are "X-Drive" vehicles, BMW just didn't use that term quite yet. That is what the 'X' in X3 means. Also, Pano Issues can happen at any time but they are avoidable. Lubricate (high temp lithium grease) every-single moving part as well as the track. Slide it open and lubricate EVERYTHING. Then tilt the roof and lubricate (from the inside of the car) the tilting mechanisms! Doing this around every six months will keep everything working smoothly and will keep stress of the mechanism (which is what causes the known Pano issues).

Originally Posted by Onizukachan

non-existent Bluetooth. Does have working BMW Assist though.

If is has the 'BMW Assist' int he roof, it has Bluetooth. They came together as a package deal. That is why you have the PassKey information. Vehicles without Bluetooth did not come with the PassKey info. Do a google search for this, there have been a couple of known pairing issues and the answers to these issues can be found!

Originally Posted by Onizukachan

installed an aux input. She wanted it in the European location, aka rear ashtray.

That's not a "European location". That is the standard place for the OEM Aux Port, on vehicles that came standard with the Aux Cable. It has nothing to do with Euro vs. US spec vehicles. My X3 has it in the rear ashtray unit and mine is most certainly a US-Spec vehicle.

[Onizukachan]

I meant it has no xdrive issues, or pano issues, lol. I can see how you could mis-read that, sorry. Coming from e34 tourings with their hyper complex dual panel sunroofs, I am hyper aware of the "use it or lose it" nature of these. Good call on the lithium lube.

After the frustration of seeing numerous conflicting threads regarding 04 models, yes it does, no it doesn't, I tried everything that was indicated. Ours does not transmit BT during the first 60 seconds of turn on (or anytime for that matter). Apparently march -August 2004s were supposed to have it, but it isn't available in the TCU despite having the passkey info. "Supposedly" they were going to release a patch to enable it when the 05s came out, but instead did a complete new TCU for 05, and abandoned the 04 as is.
A simple TCU swap to a later model (if you can find one, lol) will allow us to keep BMW Assist and add BT for hands free calling (Not that bmw assist is worth a damn in this day and age). I even found a handy dandy reference guide which calls out which part numbers do and don't. (Already saved me from buying 2 modules on eBay that said they had BT, but really didn't.)
See attachment:

EDIT: I saw in the BT forum someone stating they were going to or had recoded the TCU to enable BT. Will try that first before tossing it, though the updated module still might be worth swapping to for other features and the variable passcode instead of fixed.


Interesting on your aux placement: The factory instructions for US vehicles call for glovebox mounted aux, and the aux cable isn't actually long enough to reach the rear. I had to extend ours 6 inches (I added 12 actually to be safe) to reach. The only people I saw with it there when Google searching were Euro spec or Euro delivery, so that's what I called it. I think it's the best location, hate having the ashtray open just to charge a phone or plug in a cable.

In any case, enjoyed doing research, learning something new, and glad to contribute something back to the community.