X3 owner for the first time.

[ngcreese]

Hi there! I'm a new X3 owner. Bought an '07 X3 3.0si Platinum Bronze with black leather interior, the Premium, Cold Weather Packages, Sirius Radio (previous owner must have forgotten to cancel it, or it must be some quartly subscription thing), Auto step-tron tranny, heated steering wheel, Xenon adaptive headlights, premium sound, tinted glass, Hill Descent Control, Parking Distance Sensors, Tire pressure sensors, electric fold-in mirrors and the panoramic moon roof. No navigation system in it. I was able to sync the bluetooth to my blackberry while waiting to finish signing the sales contract... lol!

It was a trade-in sitting at a Toyota dealership in Frederick, MD.
(Couldn't pass up the deal, as it's price was sitting very close to wholesale...)

So, first thing I did after buying it, was take it to the BMW dealership that works on my e30, for a full diagnostic.... Russel, BMW in Ellicot City, MD... and crossed my fingers.

They pulled it's service records to find that the car was very well maintained with very minor issues. (Yay!)

Tranny had not been a problem. My good old mechanic and service consultant, told me... my biggest concern would be getting a new set of brake pads, and that wouldn't be for a while.

Oil had 11K left on it. No dipstick... whoa.

Things done so far:
Changed a bunch of those plastic surfaces with the soft material on them. They seem to peal over time(?). I could have done them myself, being a seasoned e30 restorer... but I was new(er) car lazy and had the dealership do it. Wasn't too bad with a BMWCCA membership (30% discount).

Had the steering wheel plastic inserts, lower center console, driver's side window switch plate, rear heated seat switch plate, and both cup holders replaced. Bought a new set of floor mats ( when I bought the car, one was missing...).

Things todo:
Trailer Hitch...
My '07 X3 has the removable center flap on the rear bumper. From what I've read so far. It seems there would still need to be some cutting on the inside of the bumper. On the outside of the bumper, I can simply choose to leave the flap off, or trim it to fit nicely around the protruding receiver hitch, while hiding the electric plug(?). Anyone have pics of the trimmed flap and how it fits up?

Bike Rack...
I mountain bike (GT IDXC 1.0) and snowboard (Arbor Element). I use a Thule roof rack on my e30. I don't think I want to do the roof rack path on the X3. I didn't really enjoy lugging the rack onto and off of my car. I see that there's an internal bike rack or should I just get a hitch mounted one. Anyone out there have an opinion on this?

Navigation...
What's your opinion on the navi? Should I just keep it simple and get a big screen Garmin, or is the in-car system really worth it?

Ipod Connection...
I've read that there are adapter modules that connect the ipod to the stereo, via the cd changer connection. Also, I've heard that this connection is in the center console under the armrest. Is this true if you have the Sirrius module in the car? What's a good brand to go for? The car came with the aux input jack already installed.

Glad to be here. Looking forward to some opinions. I'll have to post pics later.