A couple questions from a new X owner

[Lanomode]

Hello all. I've been reading here on Xoutpost for a few weeks and have owned my X5 for only about 2 weeks. I just have a few questions for anyone to answer for me.

The Car: I picked up a 2004 X5 4.4 Black/Tan with Cold weather pack and a Pano sunroof with 103000 miles. So far I love it. It's much nicer and faster than my previous 2000 Honda Cr-V, and also a lot worse on gas. But, oh well.

Getting to the questions: I must admit, after reading on here I am a bit nervous about the X. Seems like they tend to have a few issues to say the least. I'm sure I'll get answers like, "just search for it", but I'm asking these basically because I'm not entirely sure what to actually search for. My X only came with a Radio manual, Map book of BMW dealerships, and a few other things. No regular owners manual though.

1) Does anyone have any pics of a fully open Pano roof? Mine opens fine, as far as I know, (had to reinitialize a few days ago) but I haven't noticed the back portion tilting up or sliding back. I went to the car wash two days ago and I had a few drips on the glass dripping onto my seat.

2) I seem to have a coolant leak going on. Today is the first day the "Check Coolant level" warning came on, but I've noticed it for about a week now. At first I thought it was only due to being parked at an angle in my driveway. I didn't notice anything on the level surface of my garage floor. It's coming from the front of the engine. Does this dreaded "Blue Smoke" issue have coolant issues associated with it?

3) The last 7 of my VIN are LV08981. Can someone get the list of options my car has? Or tell me where to get it? Such as, bluetooth, I have a microphone, and talking symbol on the steering wheel, but can't seem to get anything to pair.

Thanks in advance. I'm sure I'll come up with more questions. I have to figure out how to edit my pictures before I can upload them.

[Qsilver7]

#3 - just click this link and type the last 7 digits of your VIN & answer the puzzle...then click the SUBMIT button. When the page refreshes, scroll down & you'll see you info: BMWVin.com

#1 - the rear pano panel should tilt upward when the sunroof button is pressed upward...and the front pano panel moves completely reward but the rear panel stays mostly in place (from what I can recall...I haven't opened mine enough to remember).

[Lanomode]

Here's a few Pictures of my X5 and of the coolant leak.

[Elvis 3.0]

i.m.o. the number one thing you could buy right now, used would be a Bentley manual for your make/year. others may suggest another but Bentley has done a good job for many on the forum. For $65 or so (used) you can't go wrong. For about $110 or so new, you can't go wrong either. One of the things that it will tell you that is important to you now is that you can ONLY use BMW coolant and it needs to be mixed 50/50 with distilled water. So head to the dealer and pick up a few gallons or, better yet, hit up one of the sponsors of this site and order from them. If you weren't aware of that it may have saved you the cost of the book right there. And if you, unfortunately, used some other coolant you may want to think about flushing as soon as you can.

[epdarks]

That looks like a lot of coolant on the ground. Driving around with low coolant is definitely a bad idea. If you are getting "coolant low" warnings I would seriously think about parking the car until you can top off the level.

Find a good independent BMW shop in your area, don't bother bringing it to a dealership. You'll likely need to overhaul the cooling system. Could be something easy like a cracked coolant hose.

[Elvis 3.0]

but you probably are. dogs and other animals are attracted to the smell and taste of a lot of coolants and tend to lick not knowing how deadly it could be. so if you have pets, or for other pet owners in the neighbor hood do a solid by giving that and any future spills a very very good saturation/cleaning with the intention of diluting its poisonous properties and avoiding unforeseen consequences.

[TerminatorX5]

Welcome to the Xoutpost dude!!!

nice ride... i see that you got a clear/white third brake light - cool...

there is a skidpad covering the bottom of the engine bay, so it is rather hard to pinpoint the leak by looking at where the leak is... however, looking at the leak on the right side, i would suspect that a hose cracked, or a neck of radiator is cracked, or the hose is loose from the radiator...

pop the hood, shine the light, when the engine is cold, see if you can touch hoses going to radiator and see if they are relatively snug...

the blue smoke is more of an oil burning, the white smoke is the coolant seeping into the engine - totally different nightmare... lol...

Bentley manual is good, there is also a section on DIY on this forum, and sometimes E38 and E39 forums have good pointers, considering that the E53 is largely based on the E36, E39 and E38 family... Also, you can download a user manual for the car from the BMW website - go to their main site, register for the owner circle - it does not give you much perks but still...

welcome

[Lanomode]

Ok, got the problem figured out. First off, if anyone thinks that these things aren't cold sensitive. They're wrong.

So, problem is the temp sensor in the bottom left (facing the X) hose going into the radiator. The sensor was leaking like crazy. I suspect the reason it just came about this week as apposed to last, is the cold. Here in Wisconsin, this week is ridiculous. It's -2 oF outside right now. Last week it was a balmy 40 degrees. So, here's hoping this is all it is.

Terminator: I guess I didn't even notice the color on anyone else's third brake light. I just thought thats how it was. (like I said, only owned it for 2 weeks).
Thanks again
Oh, and sorry for the MASSIVE pictures.

[epdarks]

I'm with you there. Drove mine today, -5 when I left work. It barely started.

Still, a coolant leak needs to be addressed ASAP.

[TerminatorX5]

i used my 4.6iS in Moscow, russia in -40 degrees... you have to make sure that the car has fluids that are DESIGNED for the temperature, even the windshield washer fluid, and still, the car needs a shelter for overnight parking - you can't prevent it from being parked outside when you are in a store, or a mall, or at work, but if you have a garage - use it... if not... gee... i don't even know what to suggest - check into Webasto core heaters - they usually are more common with diesels, but in euro models thay are available with the gas engines too - those heaters are warming up the engine's "juices" prior to start... not a 100% panacea but something - in some countries it is a requirement to install those, like in Astana, kazakhstan... in moscow it was an optional... i did not install it though...