'04 X5 100k miles in Panama

[hbrezzi]

Hello all,

I moved from the US to Panama in 2008 and I have an '04 X5 3.0i... I am about 6 hours away from the only BMW dealer in the country and I live in a pretty remote area (mostly unpaved roads, lots of dust in summer and tons of mud in winter). Most people I know here drive Toyotas Hilux and Nissan Patrols and at first I was seen as the "gringo" with a wannabe SUV. Well, I am happy to say that I proved them all wrong since my baby has performed remarkably well to the point of towing other SUV's out of 10-15 inch mud beds and climbing 30+ degree slopes on very wet conditions. I was truly surprised myself by how my SAV is really an SUV at heart!

To make a long story short, almost 30k miles of off-road driving are starting to be felt... My X is not as "tight" as it used to be... I feel like I owe her more than just gas and an oil change every 3k miles. She now has 99k miles and I would like to know what SPA treatmet you guys would suggest.

These are the most obvious symptoms:

- Light crackling sounds from the front left wheel when driving on an unpaved road with back to back "wave" bumps... (cv joint?)
- Doors are harder to open and sometimes a rear one gets stuck.
- Slow electric driver side window (something feels loose in it)
- Looong 3rd gear... Driving on paved roads at 60+ mph I often have to completely lift my foot from the gas pedal for it to shift to 4th gear

Additionally, I would appreciate a DIY checklist of what you guys would do on a 100k miles X5 that has lived under very harsh conditions. (I can order parts online).

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post...