My Repair Experience - 2001 X5 3.0i

[ewebby]

BMW X5 3.0 (M54 engine, E53 model) 146,000 miles

My Repair Experience
Items that WILL FAIL that should not, ranked in order. (plastic and rubber items wear out 20% faster in Arizona heat and dryness). Tried to put down around the mileage these went bad for me.

1. Window Regulators. - Replace Every 4 years - Found unit with 2 year warranty at 1aauto.com
2. Oil Separator and hoses - car will run rough, misfire when it goes. Most likely not O2 sensors, but codes with be P0340 etc - 120k
3. Oil Filter Housing Gasket - 120k
4. Driver's Door handle carriage mechanism - spring loaded device
5. Coolant Expansion tank - Replace with water pump
6. DISA Valve - 120k
7. Tail Light case electrical points - arching on brake light contact points burns through metal - solder fixes it - 70k
8. Cam position sensors - intake and exhaust cams - 60k
9. Hood cable broke at 145k, under-dash lever, unless you take it apart each year and oil the cable with bicycle TriFlow oil etc.

Typical for any car over 8 years old.
10. Power steering fluid resevoir and hoses - 110k
11. Upper Control arms, bushings, joints - 110k
12. Front CV Joints 80k - both
13 . Cooling system - water pump - just replace every 4 years along with coolant, expansion tank, hoses, thermostat
14. Button on climate control (auto) popped off
15. Radiator may give you issues, but mine was ok
16. Belts - Replace every 3 years, 2 years if you live in Southwest
17. Battery - only buy top of the line Exide battery, only two companies make batteries, Exide and Johnson Controls. Exide top of the line battery will last 5 years in warm climate.


Care Tips
18. Wax your vehicle every 4 months
19. Rotate/balance/check pressure your tires every 5,000 miles, including spare
20. Change your oil every 8,000 miles, just use Mobil 1 - need to get the dirt out, lubrication will still be ok, you can run an oil analysis if you want, many online.
21. Spark Plugs - the OEM spark plugs are much better built than regular platinum plugs, but $20 each, probably best for 100k. Testing non OEM now


Anyone else have any regular issues I am missing?