Preventive Maintenance

[bcb1]

Or just drive it around town for 20 minutes or so before you change the trans fluid. That's what I've always done.

[Essam Khafagi]

I have 66k miles now ... would I change the water pump now or wait for a while? .. everyone here suggests changing it at 75-80 k miles.

My car will go to the workshop today for normal service (oil, spark plugs, ... etc) and I was thinking to do the water pump.

[X5 Meister]

Wait. Check all your hoses.

[Essam Khafagi]

I replaced most of the hoses ... they get dry quickly here because of the very hot weather.

I think I will wait till the next service.

Do I need to replace the Thermostat as well? or only the water pump?

[x5turtle]

Can you be more detail about hoses? I've open up the hood and there is ton of hoses. How many exactly are there and how many of them you replaced??

[daway]

Hi,
Good idea for a thread! I have a couple of ideas/tips and question...

My X5 3.0i w/ 91,2++ miles on her

Oil sep. replacement: My '01 3.0i just went out (clogged) a week before X-mas (great). The SES light turned on and my wife spelt the oil in the cabin. I bought my X5 from the local bimmer dealer (no warn.) and i decided to bring it into them to check the code (checkers auto had OBDII but broken and my business partner, parting out old Land Rovers did not get his in the mail, backed up in x-mas mail..lol). By afternoon the dealer called and said it was the oil sep. went out but BMW NA said they would pay for the job, minus $100 (saved $1,000 plus) and it was not recalled (should be) but a good will jester (had a fancy name for it..lol). This covered the oil sep, re-location dip stick, engine cleaning, hose and some other parts... I could post all the parts that they used to help out others here (which parts to buy). I would call the dealer to see if they would cover the upgrade. I had my O2 univer. sensor (can not think of name) went out but paid for that...

Tranny fluid/filter change: Like a couple people said, get a temp gun and if you drive the X to get it up to normal temp then the ATF will drain better. I use Hylomar on my gaskets and threads on my Rovers and it would be good to give the gasket around the pan a good coating (i think they have a rubber gasket in the kits for the pan, new to the bimmer world). Also in the Rovers or almost all cars they will only drain the Qts from the pan and there will be left overs in the torque and etc that will not come out. ex in my 93 range rover i would drain 5 qts out of the pan but the tranny holds about 10qts or so. I would drain out the ATF (5qts or so) then fill it up (still has the dip stick) and then w/in 1,000 mile i would drain the pan again and add new ATF to it (this would get the oil ATF out).

I got lucky that the PO (i am the 2nd owner) took her in for everything (to the dealer) and all fluid changes on time, brake fluid, coolant, and etc... I had the key read and the service guy printed me out everything that was done by that dealer. I found out that the brakes were just done, tires only have 50k miles (she bought new ones), the H2O pump went out which caused the belt to come off and wreched the fans and etc (got a belt and fan out of it to, glad it did not happen right after i bought it) when it was on the lot, 3 month before i bought so the dealer paid for it...lol That was one thing that worried me about buying a car w/ 86K miles but i got really lucky w/ the H2O pump.

H2O pump: Also if you see some coolant dripping around that area get it looked at ASAP. The pump could fail then this will cause the belt to stop which could wrech the fan, rad, and etc.... I have seen rad's go bad ($$$$) w/ the fan going right into it.


This summer i am going to do the following on my own (preventive Maints):

Tranny filter/Fluid change.
Fuel filter change
Diff's fluid change
TC fluid change
Ignition coil change (thinking about this and they say every 100k). Does anyone know what all needs to be changed on them. ex... boot covers,...
I am use to the spark plugs w/ wires, cap and rotor. 1st time w/ the ignition coil which seems a lot easier to deal with! No cutting up my hands trying to get at the plugs

One other thing. Join the BMW CCA and you will save so much money! I have already saved over $100 or more and joined in July of '08! I now buy all my parts from the dealer (live 5 miles away) do to the matrix % savings on parts. Yesterday i bought some clips to hold the door seals together... normal price ~$2.00 each but w/ the Club discount it was around 70 cents each (bought 10 clips and some brake fluid and the tap was under $12.00 and no shipping!!!). Also the dealer here (i had the work done) will give you 10% off labor...

cheers,

[4 Wheels of Fun]

what is CCA BMW?

[daway]

Originally Posted by 4 Wheels of Fun

what is CCA BMW?

I typed to fast, BMW CCA
Here is the link http://www.bmwcca.org/
lots of great deals and only $40 a year!!

[X5 Meister]

I'm not sure about lots of great deals. I was a member for years and frankly I thought it was a waste of money. I could find information far better on the net and the discount was minimal compared to buying parts online from BMW dealers. The discount is 10% off parts and nothing off of service. It's relatively easy to get 15%-25% off BMW parts these days. The magazine was interesting, but by the time the articles came out the information was already 2+ months old.

[daway]

Originally Posted by mgruber

I'm not sure about lots of great deals. I was a member for years and frankly I thought it was a waste of money. I could find information far better on the net and the discount was minimal compared to buying parts online.

Everyone has their thought about it.... I live really close to the dealer and have checked out prices online and the cost of shipping the part(s) to the discount i get at the dealer and i still save money on not shipping. Like when i need a oil filter kit and only pay ~$7.50 (w/o discount at dealer $9.99) at the dealer w/ discount compared to buying the filter and then having to pay shipping and wait for it to get here...or just some clips to hold onto the door mud seals....i really like the monthly mag (Roundel) too.