New Owner Quick Questions

[Jagged1973]

I recently purchased my wife a 2002 X5. We got it for about 2K under KBB and the dealer offered to completely replace the windshield instead of fixing the stars which just sealed the deal for us.

We absolutely love it. It drives and rides amazing even though it does need a bit of a front alignment done. There is so much space and its so smooth down the road that were just so thrilled to have stumbled upon it on the lot.

I have been reading about the dead pixels in the below the speedo and tack and in the DIR. I have not found any definitive word on who does great work fixing the insturment cluster yet. I see some places online and would rather pay to have it fixed but dont want to send the cluster off and be without it for weeks and weeks regardless of what someone puts on their website.

Our X5 unfortunately didnt come with an owners manual so other than what we have been able to figure out on our own we are kind of in the dark on what does what. I am guessing that under the center arm rest, thats not an actual CD changer but just a place to put cds that you are not listening to????? What the devil does the button near the hvac with the snowflake on it do? Did this thing ever come with a package shelf or did it have a cover or was it just wide open.

Also, in looking at mine I noticed that the ac compressor seems to have a thin film of oil on it. I am guessing that something on the engine above the compressor is leaking down on it. Where is the first place I should look? Also, whats all this talk about rear upper control arms breaking/needing to be replaced?

I plan on doing the majority of my own wrench spinning on this thing short of dropping a transmission or rebuilding the diffs. Is there something that I should just go ahead and not bother with and take to the stealership no matter what the cost?

Thanks for your responses, I am looking forward to learning as much about this sweet sweet ride as I can.

[cncmastr]

Welcome!

Check out ebay for a used user manual - 2004 BMW X5 3.0i 4.4i 4.8is Owners Manual Case | eBay. You can also download the PDF of the manual. It will address most if not all of your questions: http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...13511067785042

[TerminatorX5]

welcome to the board... post pics of your ride...

the snowflake is probably the AC button... on older BMWs there was a snowflake by the gear selector for winter mode... on the X5 (body style is coded E53) it is the AC... in the rear, folks are talking about the shocks/struts, airbags for the air-ride equipped models and the bushings, that can take only so much abuse...

before going to a dealer or an indy mechanic, always check this site - chances are that someone already ran into your problem and had a solution posted...

you should be able to download manuals off the internet - do a search on this site for the manuals, the results may point you in the right direction...

Again, welcome to the board...

We want pictures!!!!

[JCL]

Welcome to the site!

When I look at the top of my screen on this site, I see a tab labelled Online References, just left of the FAQ and UserCP. That tab has all of the owner's manuals for each year. You can browse it there, or download it as a PDF. I think you can also get it on the BMWUSA site, under Owners, but I don't use that since we have different owner's manuals in Canada.

Correct, the centre armrest is just a holder for CDs.
The snowflake button is the air conditioning system. With it off, you have vent and heat. With it on, you have the compressor providing cooling.
No package shelf, but there is a retractable cover to hide valuables from prying eyes.
Suspension bushings wear out at different rates depending on the roads you drive on, and whether or not you have wide wheels/tires that put additional loads on the suspension.

Cheers

Jeff