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  #11  
Old 07-21-2021, 11:24 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dkl View Post
Thank you for the input/suggestion. Putting on/taking off a car cover on the X5 won't be that fun. I would imaging it would probably be OK for a normal size car.
Fair point. I have it down to a science on the E53 and it takes only about 5 minutes. But the big caveat in my situ is that I am 6'8" tall and my X5 is lowered 2+ inches so the task is easier for me than most I'd imagine.

How long does it take you to wrap/unwrap your X Happy?

I only use the cover on a clean car. But if you wash the car and cover it, it will stay that way for a month or more. The cover blocks pretty much all normal dirt and only allows small dust in. After a week or two of sitting under the cover I take the cover off, dust the car with a "California Duster," and put the cover back on.

Understand your situ though. It's hard seeing a beautiful roadworthy vehicle sit unused out in the elements. If it's time to let go, it's time to let go.
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  #12  
Old 07-21-2021, 03:08 PM
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Originally Posted by PropellerHead View Post
You are making the decision much more difficult to let go of my E39's. I don't think the 530 has 50k miles and the SC'd 540 has just over 50k. They're garaged and covered, but still. They're too pretty to stay cooped up.
Dang Prop! You got it bad, in a good way! LoL..

Quote:
Originally Posted by dkl View Post
Do you only put the cover on if the car is completely clean? If I use the car once in a while, it will pick up some dirt and putting the car cover on will also cause it to pick up those dirt and eventually scratch it?
If the X5 becomes soiled in a manner that will pollute the inside of the cover I leave it off, and then do a quick wash the next day. For example, when or if you go to the coast. If you get a layer of as I call it, “sea air film”. Wash immediately anyways. The salt is no good for any vehicle, and you certainly don’t want it on the inside your cover. The same goes for any pollutants you might pick up while out operating your X5 as well.

But if you go out clean, and come back clean, then no worries put the cover back on, and all is well. Now I have a simple solution if I feel I picked up some debris on the paint. A California Duster. The dirtier they get the better! Mine has never scratched my paint, and I’ve had it for close to 30 years. I do a quick de-dust for any debris picked up, Slap the cover on, and I am good to go.

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Originally Posted by dkl View Post
We all need help
Tell me about it! LoL….

Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
Fair point. I have it down to a science on the E53 and it takes only about 5 minutes. But the big caveat in my situ is that I am 6'8" tall and my X5 is lowered 2+ inches so the task is easier for me than most I'd imagine.

How long does it take you to wrap/unwrap your X Happy?
Geez, I think I’ve got it down to about 2 minutes. I’ve got a method that works well for me. I flip the front and rear on top of the center, and then kind of make like an accordion making sure the inside is protected from contaminants. I quickly store it in the garage without losing the form I created. When I put it back on, I throw it on top of the roof in the same position that it came off, flip the front and rear back over the ends of the X5, and done deal!

There’s always those very few times though, where I am out there growling under my breath, “dang it, just go on already”! LoL… But, it’s a rarity. I think the sprits just have some fun with me sometimes. HeHe…

If there is dusting required, then that is a different situation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
I only use the cover on a clean car. But if you wash the car and cover it, it will stay that way for a month or more. The cover blocks pretty much all normal dirt and only allows small dust in. After a week or two of sitting under the cover I take the cover off, dust the car with a "California Duster," and put the cover back on.
+1000000

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Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
Understand your situ though. It's hard seeing a beautiful roadworthy vehicle sit unused out in the elements. If it's time to let go, it's time to let go.
This one of the main reasons, not the top, but main reasons owning Ole’Girl is difficult for me at times. The seasons that she has sat around rotting away. It’s like a chest pain that never goes away! LoL.. And I also agree, sometimes I feel it’s better to just let her go.

BUUUTTT….. After the cruise I had yesterday. It seems my chest pains amazingly subsided instantly!
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  #13  
Old 08-07-2021, 12:21 PM
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Got a quote from Carvana just for kicks and this is what they'd offered...lol. At that price, I would keep it until the wheels falls off. I just put in 3x what they offered into the X (new tires, battery, water pump, T-stats, expansion tank, hoses, transfer case fluids, etc...)
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  #14  
Old 08-07-2021, 02:02 PM
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I had bad thoughts, feelings, for many years before swapping cars

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Originally Posted by Happy View Post
...This one of the main reasons, not the top, but main reasons owning Ole’Girl is difficult for me at times. The seasons that she has sat around rotting away. It’s like a chest pain that never goes away! LoL.. And I also agree, sometimes I feel it’s better to just let her go. !ouch....
I just swapped my '66 Chevelle (427 c.i.,635 rwhp) for an '01 X5 (3.0L, considerably less rwhp), after 13 years of letting the "Big Galoot" Chevelle sit unused in the dust-filled garage, sharing space with my home-built 4x8 squareback trailer, and with lots of my wife's junk (unable to fit inside three large storage sheds).

Whenever I would go to the garage, I'd be sure to pat my old car, and would 1) regret stopping racing it, 2) regret not putting it back on the street, and 3) wishing I could be sure it would get a new "life", with another like-minded owner.

I knew I'd never get a quarter of the money back that I'd put into her, and certainly didn't want her parted-out for the high-dollar components (I previously had hung on to a '65 Chevy II shell, until I found someone who wasn't going to cut it up), so she sat in the garage, only being rolled-out every few years just to start the engine.

Eventually, I quit doing even that, and she sat. Couldn't even get interest from my millennial nephews (2 of my brother's sons, and 2 by marriage), because...they are millennials. Even for free, but with the promise that the car wouldn't be parted-out. No interest. But then, I turned to my 40-something next-door neighbor, that worked on his own cars & dirt-bikes.

After several years, I finally got his interest piqued in the Chevelle (which he had seen/heard running years before, in my driveway, and brought his kids over to see). At the time, I told him my wishes to keep it intact (mostly), and for it to return to racing or the street (I never entirely stripped out the necessary parts for that). He agreed, but with a modified plan to make it a pro-touring type street car, with less compression (from un-domed new pistons), Holley fuel injection instead of a honking big Holley carb (1053 cfm), and swapping in a 4L80E tranny for the trans-braked Powerglide (of course, the 5000 stall torque convertor and full-spool 4.88-geared 12-bolt rear would be changed out,too). Ladder bars would come off, as would the 5-gallon fuel cell (too small for streetability), but practically every non-critical racing part would be kept, and integrated into his plan. At least, it would be given a new life.

In exchange, for the Chevelle plus extra stock & racing parts I had stockpiled since '94, he would find me a 4WD Jeep, or similar from '96 (start of OBD2 on everything)-'04 (when I thought the hated TPMS was on everything), and make it as reliable as he could (he is an Electrical Engineer, rebuilds his cars engines, transmissions, etc. in his garage, and has the knowledge - and drive- that I used to have in my earlier days). He found what he thought might be two good prospects...an '01 BMW X5 (hi-mileage, but well-maintained), and a '91 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (rough shape, and not OBD2, but OBD1, and a Fuel Injection conversion possible? he thought).

While I always liked the Jeep Grand Wagoneers, it wasn't quite what I had in mind, but then, I really, really liked the first generation Bmw X5 (at least from minimal contact with one 15 years before), and had nearly bought a 2002 in the '70s, and wished I had for years thereafter. Maybe this was my (last) chance to have a BMW!

3+ years later, he hasn't started work on that Grand Wagoneer (he bought it anyway), but he deemed the BMW restored/repaired enough to meet my needs, i.e. "a back-up vehicle, with AWD or 4WD, able to transport 4 people (at times) in all weather, and on gravel/dirt roads if needed to pull my 2222 lb home-built trailer". I already have two 2WD trucks (not really good on ice/snow/mud), and two FWD vehicles (better in foul weather, but not on dirt), and only two (GMC truck and Cobalt coupe) can transport four people. Since most major systems on the X5 have been addressed, leaving minor fixes and personal touches for me to do (at 70, with bad back & knees, I don't like "major" projects much, anymore), the BMW X5 is just what I wanted/needed. I hope my old Chevelle will enjoy a new life.
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14 Lexus ES350,3.5L-U660E
09 HHR Panel,2.2L-4T45E
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69 & 75 C10s,350c.i.-TH350
86 S10,2.8L-700R4
73 Volvo 142,2.0L-MT4
72 & 73 VW SuperBeetles,1.6l-MT4
64 VW,1.2l-MT4
67 Dodge Monaco 500 2dr ht.,383c.i.-A727
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Last edited by workingonit; 08-07-2021 at 02:04 PM. Reason: misspelled word
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  #15  
Old 08-08-2021, 02:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dkl View Post
I've been thinking about letting my beloved X5 go recently, but having trouble writing a "For Sale" ad. I need some convincing either way.

...mostly from the original "toadfly" crowds, that became X5World and now Xoutpost.
Hi K,
I have read your OP a few times and the several posts in this thread.

I find myself in that 'Bad Thoughts' category to some degree:
Our 2001 E53 5 MT, Sport is nagging at me a bit, though my hurdles are similar but slightly different.

-Overcoming inertia, to go through the process of listing it for sale/dealing with that arm wrestle/saying goodbye to the 2nd best car I have owned in 57+ yrs of lots of different cars.

-As an 'occasional use car', but very trustworthy, varying from a few times a week daily driver, (mostly short trips), and 3 times a summer road trip car to see our adult Kidz in NJ, it is mostly a place holder in our 3 car garage, but very 'sentimental to me/us'.

-It is 20 yrs old in September, in very good shape and condition but a couple of niggling issues have arisen: gas gauge is stuck on empty, (v fixable at my sort of local Indie), and the bound to occur squeaky HVAC blower fan, which still works, but has been squeaking for a few years and is bound to fail.

That blower motor R&R, which looks like an autopsy on the pics and vids I have watched, is not something even my local Indie wants/'likes' to do and they won't guarantee no squeak/rattles upon the reinstall of all of the front dash components. Plus, it's a 6 hr+ job; pricey, though I am not on any kind of budget.

-If I offed the E53, I would pursue another car, as 'we like having 3 cars', but what the hell is out there in SUV land that will/would take the place of our old E53? New X5s leave me unsatisfied, (my CEO's '17 X1 is OK, but she likes it, so 'we like it'), and most of the 'medium sized' SUVs are so similar, all pricey and the fun looking models don't hold much, back trunk-wise.

I have the toy, '02 VetteVert, and chasing another sports car makes little sense, especially at 74 yrs old.

So, blathering on, I am trying to keep those 'bad thoughts' sublimated and just rolling along with a 20 yr old E53, that overall is good to very good for my needs, but will require that fix or those 'fixes' I mentioned.

Add in this ain't the time to buy a new car, inventory wise, and I just may sit out the conundrum for another year, or so...

Hope you have resolved your wonderment and I hope you and your Fam are all well!
Best Regards,
Ol'UncleMotor
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  #16  
Old 08-08-2021, 05:20 PM
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For fun, I filled in the Carvana crystal ball/low ball site...
Really?! Lmao...

I would bury it in my 3+ acre wooded 'yard' before I would sell it to Carvana for their 'offer'.

I realize Carvana's buy/sell mkt is not 20 year old 'odd cars'.

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Last edited by motordavid; 08-08-2021 at 09:16 PM.
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  #17  
Old 08-09-2021, 01:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by motordavid View Post
Hi K,
I have read your OP a few times and the several posts in this thread.

I find myself in that 'Bad Thoughts' category to some degree:
Our 2001 E53 5 MT, Sport is nagging at me a bit, though my hurdles are similar but slightly different.

-Overcoming inertia, to go through the process of listing it for sale/dealing with that arm wrestle/saying goodbye to the 2nd best car I have owned in 57+ yrs of lots of different cars.

-As an 'occasional use car', but very trustworthy, varying from a few times a week daily driver, (mostly short trips), and 3 times a summer road trip car to see our adult Kidz in NJ, it is mostly a place holder in our 3 car garage, but very 'sentimental to me/us'.

-It is 20 yrs old in September, in very good shape and condition but a couple of niggling issues have arisen: gas gauge is stuck on empty, (v fixable at my sort of local Indie), and the bound to occur squeaky HVAC blower fan, which still works, but has been squeaking for a few years and is bound to fail.

That blower motor R&R, which looks like an autopsy on the pics and vids I have watched, is not something even my local Indie wants/'likes' to do and they won't guarantee no squeak/rattles upon the reinstall of all of the front dash components. Plus, it's a 6 hr+ job; pricey, though I am not on any kind of budget.

-If I offed the E53, I would pursue another car, as 'we like having 3 cars', but what the hell is out there in SUV land that will/would take the place of our old E53? New X5s leave me unsatisfied, (my CEO's '17 X1 is OK, but she likes it, so 'we like it'), and most of the 'medium sized' SUVs are so similar, all pricey and the fun looking models don't hold much, back trunk-wise.

I have the toy, '02 VetteVert, and chasing another sports car makes little sense, especially at 74 yrs old.

So, blathering on, I am trying to keep those 'bad thoughts' sublimated and just rolling along with a 20 yr old E53, that overall is good to very good for my needs, but will require that fix or those 'fixes' I mentioned.

Add in this ain't the time to buy a new car, inventory wise, and I just may sit out the conundrum for another year, or so...

Hope you have resolved your wonderment and I hope you and your Fam are all well!
Best Regards,
Ol'UncleMotor

Good to hear from you mD! Great to hear you're doing well and enjoying retirement life.

Carvana low balling is right! The quote is at least $1.5K lower than KBB's trade in value!

If I have a 3rd spot in the garage, the thought of selling would not even come across my mind. Definitely agreed with you that the X5 is up there with one of my favorite car as I've owned it the longest of any cars. Like you, there's nothing in the market that piqued my interest at the moment...so the X5 won't get replace should I decide to sell it.

I had a similar stuck gas gauge a couple of years ago - someone on here suggested trying out Techron cleaner. I took that advice and did a couple of Techron Fuel System cleaner treatments with a couple of tank of Chevron Supreme gas and the problem hadn't come back.

I also have the blower fan chirp for a while, but it went away and haven't heard any noises in the past couple of years...so who knows how long the blower will continues to run.

Gave the ol' gal some TLC today and she still cleaned up nicely!
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  #18  
Old 08-09-2021, 09:07 PM
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K,
^ Looking fine!

I run Techron through all three cars/m'cycles a few times a year, and did the 'extra Techron + Chevron' try when the X5 gauge went to zero: no luck.

Had the same situ on my '02 VetteVert, (very common problem there), and all the Techron on the planet was not going to get that Vette gauge off empty. Sucked it up and had a Vette Indie near our EscapeWinterHouse in SW FL do the jet siphon tube and saddle tank crossover R&R. Has worked well for several years...

Thus, I will have my sort of local Asheville BMW Indie do the X tank fix.

As for the blower motor: mine may last another year or it may go kaboom next time I get in/turn on blower. WTFK?!

I drove a friend's Macan the other day: fun car, handles v well, but the ~ 18 cu ft rear trunk area is literally WTF? in terms of hauling a couple sets of clubs/soft luggage.

I like the X4, (same midgey trunk), but most of the current SUVs seem as Peggy Lee sang, "Is that all there is"...

I suspect we just keep on keeping on, and I am v emotionally attached to our E53, esp as it approaches 20 yrs old next month.

Nice house, nice stable, good to read you again!
BR, mD
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Last edited by motordavid; 08-10-2021 at 03:02 PM.
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  #19  
Old 08-09-2021, 09:08 PM
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K,
^ Looking fine!

I run Techron through all three cars/m'cycles a few times a year, and did the 'extra Techron + Chevron' try when the X5 gauge went to zero: no luck.

Had the same situ on my '02 VetteVert, (very common problem there), and all the Techron on the planet was not going to get that Vette gauge off empty. Sucked it up and had a Vette Indie near our EscapeWinterHouse in SW FL do the jet siphon tube and saddle tank crossover R&R. Has worked well for several years...

Thus, I will have my sort of local Asheville BMW Indie do the X tank fix.

As for the blower motor: mine may last another year or it may go kaboom next time I get in/turn on blower. WTFK?!

I drove a friend's Macan the other day: fun car, handles v well, but the ~ 18 cu ft rear trunk area is literally WTF? in terms of hauling a couple sets of clubs/soft luggage.

I like the X4, (same midgey trunk), but most of the current SUVs seem as Peggy Lee sang, "Is that all there is"...

I suspect we just keep on keeping on, and I am v emotionally attached to our E53, esp as it approaches 20 yrs old next month.

Nice house, nice stable, good to read you again!
BR, mD

PS: Woikin' on sublimating those occasional non-loving thoughts...
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Old 08-10-2021, 12:34 AM
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Clean, older, bimmers are a dime a dozen. And yours is looking pretty good. We are maybe beginning to approach the apex where the value may start to appreciate. I think a truck is necessary in every garage. No iDrive or reverse cam, but its a joy to drive and does everything it needs to well. I would never sell my one owner X for what are frankly egregious offers.
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