Bad thoughts

[dkl]

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.

I had saved up a long time for it and was finally able to order the X5 back in January 2004 to my exact liking - not much options, and no fluffs...only got 4 options (HID, Leather, moonroof, and Steptronic). I had some regrets about the latter 2 options ;-) Then started modifying it soon after that thanks to you guys, mostly from the original "toadfly" crowds, that became X5World and now Xoutpost. Added the expensive OE aluminum running boards, type 132 OE staggered wheels, Remus exhaust, JL Audio subwoofer, and too many little things to name. You guys costed me a lot more money than I had originally anticipated.

This was my first expensive, not necessarily luxury "do everything" car. Got roof rack to stow my snowboard to get me to the mountains in the winters. Got a non-OE hitch to haul my mountain bike in the summers - so much great memories with the car. I'm starting to use the car less and less as I am "retiring" from snowboarding and the mountain bike rides becomes less frequent. The X5 had lost it's gargage spot since we purchased a new car 4 years ago. It pains me to see it sit outside degrading in the sun as the X5 has be relegated to becoming our "spare" car. It is more of a sentimental thing now more than anything else.

Sell or Keep? Comments appreciated...

[Happy]

OEM car cover, problem solved.

[dkl]

Good and fair point. Although, I've read mixed reviews regarding car covers causing more damage (scratching, trapping moisture, etc) than help. Any truth to this?

[crystalworks]

The OEM Noah cover (made by covercraft I believe) is excellent and very easy on paint. I buy one for every BMW I can find one for. Wouldn't recommend it for snow (though I have no experience) but it handles rain just fine. Used to use one on my E30 everyday at work. 10 hour days in 100f+ days. They get my vote.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by dkl

Sell or Keep? Comments appreciated...

The solution is simple: Sell the M Coupe to me and solve the garage space problem.

I had the most fun I've ever had in a BMW in an M Coupe on the track in Spartanburg. That's saying something when you consider that I saw the 1st set of boobies ever in the passenger seat of my '75 2002.

[dkl]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

The OEM Noah cover (made by covercraft I believe) is excellent and very easy on paint. I buy one for every BMW I can find one for. Wouldn't recommend it for snow (though I have no experience) but it handles rain just fine. Used to use one on my E30 everyday at work. 10 hour days in 100f+ days. They get my vote.

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.

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

The solution is simple: Sell the M Coupe to me and solve the garage space problem.

I had the most fun I've ever had in a BMW in an M Coupe on the track in Spartanburg. That's saying something when you consider that I saw the 1st set of boobies ever in the passenger seat of my '75 2002.

Make me an offer that I can't refuse on the M Coupe and it's yours!

J/K - It would be even harder for me to part with the M Coupe. For you, the X5 is your road trip machine. For me, it is the M Coupe. Took it on so many adventures and made so many friends with the Raddrives club!
2014 - Mammoth, Devils Postpile, Yosemite Road Trip => https://raddrives.com/mammoth-devils...ite-road-trip/
2015 - Epic SouthWest Road Trip => https://raddrives.com/epic-road-trip-south-west/
2017 - Crater Lake Tour => https://raddrives.com/crater-lake-tour/
2017 - Valley of Fire Trip => https://raddrives.com/fire-tour/

[Happy]

Originally Posted by dkl

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.

I’ve been doing it for 12 years now. It’s not all that bad. My E53 has not been garaged for the entire time I’ve owned it. I’ll let the pic speak for itself.



It’s worth it if, you still want to keep it in the family. However, if it’s time to let it go, then maybe that’s a better solution for your situation.

To be honest though, the wife does find it a bit annoying to constantly fuss with the car cover. And, I do highly respect her opinions. But for me, well worth it to keep Ole’Girl shining! LoL..

+1 for the OEM E53 exterior protective cover.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by dkl

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.

[Happy]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

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..

Originally Posted by dkl

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.

Originally Posted by dkl

We all need help

Tell me about it! LoL….

Originally Posted by crystalworks

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.

Originally Posted by crystalworks

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

Originally Posted by crystalworks

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!

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by Happy

...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.