New to X5 ownership, 2001 3.0 with Stick

[shedtastic]

I gave up trying to find an E39 wagon in the spec I wanted and found an early X5 with sport option and stick shift instead.

Took a bit of a gamble and bought off eBay, sight unseen, and the car arrived this weekend. So far so good, seems to be as described, but of course there are always issues around the questions I didn't ask. Like, yes there are two keys, but actually only one plipper works. And yes, the central locking works, but I never asked if all the doors centrally unlock..

So a few things to tinker with, things to investigate and a few bits of trim to find before it gets pressed into daily use when my lease car goes back.

I shall be searching the forum for:

1) Why do my rear doors not unlock with the central locking, but do lock?
2) Why does my "sport" optioned car not have the sport seats?
3) How prehistoric is the DICE ipod adaptor fitted, and can it be updated to an Lightning cable *suspect not..


And I shall be trying to:

1) See how old all the cooling system is and whether it needs to be preventatively replaced like on my E39
2) find some missing 10c bits of trim cheaply that seem to cost a fortune online (rear wiper nut cover, $15!, AIRBAG door trim screw covers, $25 each!)
3) replace the sunroof seal that whistles
4) try and polish up the headlights that look like they have cataracts..
5) revive the second key

Still it was cheapish, looks nice, has new brakes, new front end suspension, the AC works, good tires.. And actually drives like a jacked up version of my 530i..

[O3X5]

jealous of the manual. check to see if the sunroof seal is pushed up, I had the same issue & saw the corner was pushed up so I pushed it back down, will see if it comes back out.

[shedtastic]

Well, it took a while to find a manual one with sport option, and hence it had to be bought unseen from 2,300 miles away.. :-/ I don't know what proportion were made with a stick, but it must have been tiny!

The seal was indeed pushed out, but it'll need to be replaced if I want to use the sunroof regularly..

[Joshdub]

Welcome to the club! These are pretty rare and move quick. I also had to scour the nation for one (especially with all the sport options)

The sport seats were an extra option from the sport package.

[shedtastic]

Originally Posted by Joshdub

The sport seats were an extra option from the sport package.

Doh. Has not realized that. Since the leather on my driver's seat is damaged, I might look into getting some used sport seats.. The standard ones don't seem very supportive..

Not going to spend that much on the car though until it passes the critical 'first month of daily driver use' test..

Discovered the cruise control doesn't work today.. Add that to the list..

[ylwjacket]

New brakes, tires, and front suspension is a good start. As you said, check your belts and pulleys.

Sounds like a fun ride.

[squidzilla]

I bought my 5tm site unseen as well. You kind of have to do it that way most of the time if you want an MT. E46 sport seats will bolt in since those guys are swapping them for e46 m3 seats. You will have a hard time finding e53 sport seats. Mine came with them so I got lucky.

[upallnight]

Here you go, they are out of a 4 door Sedan so they don't have the back release like coupe seats.

Bmw E46 sedan leather power sport seats

If I didn't just installed comfort seats in my X I might have jumped on these.

[shedtastic]

Thanks for that info, I see some new seats in my near
future!