Time for a proactive checkup

[PropellerHead]

Many who visit the boards often know I like to be on top of anything I can be with the E53. After 14 years at the wheel of one X5 or another, this means I stop in for a checkup about twice a year. These are also a few months prior to a road trip and so again, we head to South Florida for December, 2015. I dropped it off for a look see about two weeks ago. It went ab like this:

"Hey. Uhhhh, yeah. We took a look and, uhhhh... Tires? If the trip is in December, get some tires before. "

"Oh, and one of the PS hoses we did in 2013 is leaking. We'll replace that under warranty when you get the tires mounted. "

To which I replied, quite out of habit... Zero $? You do know this is the E53, not the E46, right? And so I got bz thinking about the little things I wanted to fix. Fresh/Circulate button on IHKA, kinda loosey goosey on the e-brake, I lost an emblem on one of my wheels somewhere in New Mexico.

• CNCMASTER's Diamaris showed up so I stopped in on Friday. They fixed the button, tightened the ebrake, and replaced the wheel emblem. It looked so good that I wanted 3 more for the others.

• And that got me looking at the wheels I'd refinished nearly 5 years ago. A chip here, a mark there... Hrmmm... Maybe it's time to get them refreshed?

And so, like so many other times I take advantage of being gone for a week, I will again drop the X5 off tomorrow. I've asked about a stock silver powder coat with a coat of clear as well. Mostly, I cant want to see those sparkly inner barrels. They'll put the new decals on the remaining 3 and I should be good to go.

Unless my buddy who owns a detail shop gets to it before I get home. Anyone here use OptiCoat? I love the look. But my buddy knows that I must have solid paint prep. And I've been on at least 4 road trips since I polished the paint this Spring. I am considering calling in the big guns for this round.

So my "Zero $?" conversation looks a lot more like...

• Tires? $1,100
• Wheel Powdercoat. What, $800?
• Little things like ebrake, IHKA, and unecessarily pretty wheel emblems. $200

I LOoove the E53! Even when you don't have to spend $2,000 it still lets you find a way! Pics of the wheels when I get back. Helllo, Ohio!

[Ricky Bobby]

I like your style with the twice a year checkup.

OptiCoat is great, and Optimum as a brand is amazing, is your buddy an authorized dealer? If so I highly recommend Opti Coat Pro, it carries a 5 year warranty. If you like to DIY, Optimum's Gloss Coat (formerly OC 2.0) has about a 2+ year durability or so, and is very easy to apply and looks great. Again, as long as you polish the paint prior and give the whole thing an IPA wipe down, you'll be good to go.

Alternatively your buddy can always do OC Pro on your paint and when your wheels come in from powdercoat you can do Gloss Coat on them at home. You'll need the 10cc syringe for the wheels, 20cc syringe for the paint if you are using Gloss Coat