So.. she's under the knife (sorta)

[Naz24]

Originally Posted by bigwave2255

how come you only do such low mileage, no disrespect intended , but wouldn't you get better value for your money if you did some more miles on it.

i have 141,000 km on my 2005 X5 and its performing faultlessly, i suspect that half the problems with these cars is due to lack of use.

my advice is to get out and use "the ultimate driving machine" hehehehe

he bought it with those low miles recently, if i'm correct, i believe he has been putting normal amounts of miles on it since he bought it..

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by Naz24

he bought it with those low miles recently, if i'm correct, i believe he has been putting normal amounts of miles on it since he bought it..

Bought it with 11,600 in March of last year. ~25K now. I work from home or am on the road, so I don't drive it as much as I did my previous '04. Sold with ~98K on it last year.

That and I can choose what to drive. The X5, the SC'ed E39 540, or the 1975 2002.

[bigwave2255]

gotcha,

[mgbmwx5]

25K miles is way too low to have any issues.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by mgbmwx5

25K miles is way too low to have any issues.

Exactly. I had none. I seek to maintain it according to both mileage/use *and* time. 8 years is a long time to ignore fluids. I don't know what was done in the 7 years before I had it, but I now have my baseline.

Next fluid changes will be done according to recommended intervals of time and use. Except where BMW says 'Lifetime' fluids. Transmission and dif changes will come around again at 70-75K. Most others at 2 yrs.

I am hoping to steer clear of any future big ticket items. I drove my last '04 for 7 years. At this rate, this one will go to my daughter in 8 years. That's if she doesn't choose the '02 330.

[Ricky Bobby]

so jealous of your basically new vehicle at 25k. i thought i was lucky when i bought my X with 58k on it, i'm sure she will be like new when she is back!

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

so jealous of your basically new vehicle at 25k. i thought i was lucky when i bought my X with 58k on it, i'm sure she will be like new when she is back!

Last year when I bought it with 12K on it was the time for jealous! It feels like a member of the family, now!

I'm a little late for this year's spring detail. I will see if I can rally support from a friend or if I'll just send it to a trusted shop for the work. But it's time. Especially after the 'love tap' in the street and new paint on the rear bumper, I NEED a polish to wake up the paint! I NEEED it!

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

I trust him and I take care of him as I do a brother. I am confident he does the same for me.

Well... like all family, disagreements happen. As I was working with the body shop to secure the painted bumper, I checked in with the mechanic to see about the progress on the list. It's been two weeks, after all, rt? Well, I found Thursday that they'd not yet picked up the new exhaust tip. Not a huge deal- I just picked it up for them on the way to the body shop to get the newly painted bumper. The bumper looked AWESOME when I picked it up, but it's always difficult to know how it will look on the car.

Friday as I was arranging pick up, my friend told me that they'd forgotten to do the freakin transmission service. Two reasons this irked me a bit:

When I checked on the car last week, I received a stern communication that everything was screwed up and I needed to act like a real customer with a real repair order- not the brother-like fashion I'd done via text message. Fine. I wasn't in town, so I sent an email with the list above.

The transmission service was the MAIN REASON they had the car. All of the other stuff was just ornamental. While they had the car for it, I figured they could remove the bumper, do the tips, and all of the other fluids. Easy Peasy. That they 'forgot' the main reason I left it there after I followed his request for a formal RO caught me a bit sideways.

But, in true brotherly fashion, I offered him a fairly well deserved taste of sh!t sandwich via text and we moved on. He'll take the car back on Monday to service the transmission before the holiday. Family is family after all.

So, what was done and how much? Welll....

Bumper R/R and exhaust tip R/R
Fuel Filter
Dif and transfer case fluids
SS brake lines and fluid
R/R Lft Tie Rod. Alignment.
Wipers, charcoal filters (though I expressly wrote asking NOT to do this)
---------
Total $1350.

Not so bad. The bumper looks EVEN better when ON the car! The paint match is spot on. I prefer getting work like this done on parts when they are off the car and to keep the car out of the body shop. It cuts down on over spray and rail dust from the shop. In this case, the car was never even near the shop. I do sublet work for the body shop guy (also a long time friend) so the work didn't cost me any *real* money. It looks SO nice. I'm very happy.

As above, I return Monday for the transmission and coolant service. This will be the first service- not a full flush and fill- just a drain and fill with filter. To cycle the fluid from the TQ converter, the next fluid change will be at 30K miles. Then a filter and fluid at 35K miles. Then we're in till 85K or so.

Here's hoping that keeping this low mileage find in tip top shape will prevent any *major* service items. This will be a nice test to see what old school maintenance does to a fairly fresh 8 year old car. Will the practice stand the test of time and wear? Stay tuned!

[SlickGT1]

If they have a GT1/DIS when doing trans service, make sure they reset adaptations. And if they have that computer, do the X-drive fluid. You only need a quart of the magic oil. With the computer they can reset adaptations for both. I replaced the drain and plug bolts, and new copper washers also. The new ones were OE and came with magnets in them.

[PropellerHead]

We're back in for the second verse. Just dropped it off this AM:

• Radiator flush/fill (missed earlier)
  • Also, change related pressure hoses and pre-emptive change of expansion tank. 8 Years is a long time for these plastic bits.
• Power Steering flush/fill (thanks E53inLA)
• Transmission flush/fill/filter (missed earlier)
• Check dirty/oily part on back/top rt of motor. Is that a leak? Doesn't look huge, but worth a spy anyway.
  • Does anyone know what this part is?

I'm driving the SC'ed E39. Man, is it fun! But I'm hoping to pick up the E53 later today. I'll keep you guys posted.