New X5 E53 Owner introduction and What service to do?

[Redraptor141]

Evening all,

Just thought I’d introduce myself. I’ve just bought a 2005 X5 3.0D Sport in the south west of the UK. Loved the X5 for years and I’ve owned a E61 535d lci for years before this as well. That’s the Euro 282hp one..... well it was when I bought it.... it had 396hp by the time it left my ownership. I also owned and restored a P38 Range Rover two years ago.

It’s got 119,000 miles on it. I’ll be using her as a motorway machine to get me from Cornwall to Portsmouth twice a week! She’s black with tinted windows and on 20 inch BMW alloys.

She is in really good Nick all around with just a few faults. One being a diff PDC sensor on the rear and one of the rear handles is broken on the outside (both parts are in the mail to me) and pulled the three miles of old subwoofer cable out of it as i won’t be using it!

But before I start putting some serious miles on her I’d like some advice on what to do to give her a major service before I start. She was serviced 5000 miles ago but by a random garage and by a local BMW independent specialist before that every 10,000 to near new where it was BMW history

I was thinking

Engine oil + Filter
Air filter
Fuel filter
Pollen filters (which ones for A/C as there are two one activated carbon and one plain)
Coolant
Dif oil (both ends 75w90 right? Also may sound stupid but are they LSDs?)
X Drive transfer box oil (on order from my local dealer as I know it’s the friction modifier stuff)
And the ZF transmission oil change.

Crankcase breather?? I had a 535d e61 a few years ago and that had the newer vortex style breather and I vaguely remember someone saying the X5 engines were changed in 2004 during the LCi? Is this true? As that saves me a job


Brake fluid was done 500 miles ago by the garage I bought it off and so where the front pads and disks for ATE branded items

Anything else you guys recommend I should do as a matter of course/good practise?

Cheers for the assist guys, I’m all for forums and I love getting involved as much as I can as I’m an engineer by trade I do all the work on my cars myself so I’m always read to give anything and up to a body lift on the drive a go!

Cheers,
Billy