What did you do to / for your E53 today??

[Bottomfeeder]

Washed and cleaned both of the old gals today in preparation for a road trip from TX -> St. Louis tomorrow. Family photo time. :-)

Chris

[X5chemist]

Wow! Nice family!. I was worried about a 230 mile round trip from Austin to Waco. I met a fellow owner with a recent trade which included a 4.4i X5. He sold me a set of Weathertech mats and a set of xenon headlights. I'll post pics soon. His X5 is black. Hopefully he'll sign up for the site. He knows about our addiction. He discounted prices since I traveled to pick up parts. In return, I gave him a rear hatch button rubber seal. I had a spare. The 4.4i was missing the button cover. He also jumped when I opened my X5 upper hatch. It flew wide open. I showed him the helper springs. He'll order new struts and helper springs.

I had to teach myself how to use the cruise control. It's a rare feature I get to use. No problem cruising 75-80 MPH on I35. Oil change due in less than 300 miles.

The AUX has a Bluetooth adapter. I replaced a XM radio frequency module with a Bluetooth one. Sound is crisp and clear. No sound fade or radio station interference. One less wire too. A USB-C oord provides power and signal. I need a longer cable though to tuck it away and reach the glove box. The flashlight key on socket powers the unit. It connects automatically to AUX. Next, maybe new speakers.

Reached a top MPG of 23.4.

[Salty B.]

If you don't have AUX input, one of the numerous weirdly-named bluetooth cassette adapters from the same China factory sold on you know where has been working fine for two years. Small downside is when the little Mothra lady inside starts going "low battry!" it will shut off within a minute, but it will charge to 100% very quickly. It also works as hands-free for phone calls. There's a mic on the antenna wire that needs to stick out of the cassette slot.

[wpoll]

Removed the rear spoiler to replace the one-way valve in there for the rear washer...





Easy job and I'm glad to have the rear washer working again - it's the middle of winter down here and with the roads being gritted regularly, the rear window gets filthy on most trips...

[Salty B.]

Originally Posted by Salty B.

For me it's more a matter of "It's hotter than Satan's taint and humid and there's no breeze so this can wait" lately. So far nothing is urgent enough to change my opinion on that. If it turns out that I do need new O2 sensors I will gladly pay to have that job done.

Oddly, the SES light that keeps coming back that led me to think the O2 sensors were failing? It came back on a few days after I cleared the codes, and I left it on planning to take it to the shop next door so they could pull the codes too and give me an estimate, and today the SES light went off just after startup like it's supposed to do. Weird.

It's been a month, and the SES still hasn't returned.

However today on the highway the cruise control disengaged, and when this happens it usually means a SES is imminent, but nope, it came back once I pressed the I/O button. Weird. Gonna run a can of cat cleaner through shortly.

[andrewwynn]

Cruise interruption most often from an intermittent brake switch at the brake pedal. Next most often a wheel speed sensor.

[X5chemist]

I ordered a longer cable to power a Bluetooth XM module. I didn't check before ordering. A longer wire is USB-C, not a micro USB.

Instead, I rerouted the dash antenna and power wires. I snuck them behind the right side vent. The wires are long enough to reach into the glove box. The key power flash light port powers ups the XM module. The dash contour lines hide wires very well. Installation is complete.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

I ordered a longer cable to power a Bluetooth XM module. I didn't check before ordering. A longer wire is USB-C, not a micro USB.

Instead, I rerouted the dash antenna and power wires. I snuck them behind the right side vent. The wires are long enough to reach into the glove box. The key power flash light port powers ups the XM module. The dash contour lines hide wires very well. Installation is complete.

I started listening to Sirius radio in 2005, in my '04 Chevy 2500HD, due to having a 120+ mile round-trip commute each day (and oftentimes long drives to drag racing events on weekends), and I had long ago gotten tired of listening to all the ads on regular radio.

I installed a Sirius-ready receiver/adapter in the gloxebox of my truck, paired to the Pioneer head unit I installed just after I bought it used in 2005. It did all I wanted for many years of long drives, and I followed up by installing other adapters in my wife's daily driver ('92 Olds Achieva SC), and her truck ('98 GMC), so she could listen ad-free, too. That worked OK, until the Olds died, and we were back to two sirius radios.

In 2008, we bought her a '08 Cobalt SC, and a '09 HHR Panel for me; both came with XM radios pre-installed, so we were back to four satellite radios, again.

Then came 2012, when I'd already quit racing, and the wife was only making short drives, so I tried to talk Sirius XM into reducing the subscription prices we were paying (we were only using two vehicles at a time, but didn't want to rip out the adapters from either of our back-up vehicles, and still use them as back-ups, which we frequently did, either).

Despite having them say they'd reduce the price for the two back-up vehicles, they never did, and instead, one online salesperson derided me asking for a senior discount, or a customer-retention plan discount, and that made me so mad that I cancelled all, and never looked back (I got a similar response to a similar request from AT&T, so I switched our phones to Boost Infinite, 2.5 years ago, saving us $110 a month). I am too old for disrespect or active derision.

Since then, I've made several flashdrives, SD cards, and also keep further files in my tablet and phones, containing all my favorite tunes, old-time comedy/sci-fi/western/suspense shows (the main things I'd listen to on long drives, on satellite radio), always in my chosen vehicle, just in case I need entertainment on longer drives (though I haven't driven longer than a hour at a time, in several years). But I would never consider going back to SiriusXM, ever.

May you enjoy your subscription!

[X5chemist]

Three vehicles have XM. One factory radio. One with a factory radio upgraded for XM. The X5 is a transfer from an '08 Nitro. My wife had long commutes during our year of "ball and chain". She had it before me. I only started using after a subscription for my birthday (8/25). For three cars, I think the current rate is really good. We do have long distance trips and city traffic is bad. Locally, Latin stations are limited. Unless you listen to real banda music which I do not. I like have a variety of stations. From hair bands, 70's, 80's, 90's, 90's country, Latin, and oldies, driving is a lot more entertaining. Sports on Saturdays and Sundays is nice.

[EODguy]

I plan on trying this crazy German catalytic converter "cleaner" although this is the 1st time I've ever seen an I.V. set included for an engine!!

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