New to me jobs? Advice 2005 diesel

[JerseyX5]

Hi,

Thank you for letting me join. And from my experience with my old range rover so glad these types of forum exist!

I have just bought a 2005 3.0l diesel with 95000 miles on to replace my even older p38 range rover. (Just changed the fuel injection pump and now the dual mass flywheel needs doing so decided time to change plus the wife wanted the rr gone and really likes the X5).

The car is wanted to carry us around Europe with all the camping kit in etc.

Jobs I have identified:

Both front door handles (2× meyle frames ordered)
Front left cv boot torn. Trying to decide on full new drive shaft with all bits or buy a more expensive cv joint and boot and change just that with inner boots and probably rhs cv.

Been stood for 6 months and battery was flat, have charged but still a bit slow starting so thinking about changing battery. Suggestion for a durable make? Would rather buy quality parts and hope they last. Hoping to get ten years out of car then I guess it will be electric, if I am still driving......

New battery in one of the keyfobs.

Then thinking of preventative maintainance:
Rear airbags (only on rear for self levelling). Thinking of getting Arnott bags at £100 each?
Alternator or at least brushes/regulator?
Not sure about starter motor (depends if new battery makes a difference?
Coolant flush and refill (after looking at the auxiliary heater)

Other jobs? Suggestions?

Thank you, have a good day.

[Titan4.8iS]

Turbo manifolds crack, there are better cast replacements that don't fail
Stage one remaps make a great difference
Service auto trans
If it has a sunroof make sure drains aren't clogged if it's been sitting for months, water ingress kills the lcm easily
Front control arm bushes chew out easily and give driveline vibrations

Otherwise yeah, standard e53 stuffs...

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

[andrewwynn]

Get a current read on starter to determine if it's worn out. They will pull up to double normal when they wear out. You can get a load test on the battery to get a sense of it's shot but if it was dead flat from non use I would replace it. AGM if you drive on bumpy terrain.

I did just outer CV joint when the boot failed because i could get OEM outer for a steal.

My rear air springs lasted over 200k mi (330 km), no need to preemptively replace. Wife had one fail at 78,000mi and I only replaced the one side.

Find my awr-fix (search title) on the door handle carrier (dhc). There is a way to make them more robust.

If you have a valeo alternator, look into the brushes/slip ring kit it was $20 on eBay else just the brushes and find my thread on how to reverse the polarity on the brushes because only one slip ring gets the majority of the wear.

Both mine and wife alternator brushes lasted about 160k mi.

Fuel pump siphon jet has a design flaw from a 30¢ part and will eventually cause fuel starvation at ¹/₄ tank of gas: search title for awr-fix on the topic. The o-ring fails very easy fix for pennies vs. replace entire sender unit like dealer will do.

Nice low odometer model. Maintain well you should get 6-8 years out of that car maybe more.

It's highly unlikely the fob battery is the issue more often than not the solder joints or the button switches are the problem. Used to be a guy that would refurbish for $60 (he would replace battery also included).

There is a way to measure the battery voltage with a couple pins I'm not sure if I tagged with awr-fix in the title but i have a write up where exactly to poke pins through the button rubber to measure the voltage and confirm the battery is ok and even if the fob is transmitting (as vBat will drop when button is pressed). Often if the fob isn't working the battery just needs charging by being in the ignition switch for a few hours (eg drive with the flat key for a week). Then re-sync both keys.

[JerseyX5]

Thanks for the replies, Titans4.8is and Andrewwynn. I will follow up the suggestions you have made. The gearbox is the most confusing as it changes so smoothly so feel best left alone? Is there a service manual any where? And what do I need in the way of obd2 readers? Thanks

[andrewwynn]

I drove my e53 to 205k mi. Never serviced TC or trans. Was going to change fluid in the trans but instead I changed the whole car to e70.

People that use Windows will often get the software suite for working on BMW. The software I think is technically pirated but easy enough to obtain. F to A ratings from people getting it running so your mileage may vary.

I hate windows and 30 yr old software that is largely German so I instead bought foxwell NT-510 and it's always done what I needed. The key is it both can access the BMW modules and is bi-directional.