Maintenance questions and Door Seal Clips...brown and grey, what's the difference?

[diddy0071]

Hey everyone! Don't worry, I have no more headaches for you guys () although, I have a few headaches with some of the maintenance of this beautiful vehicle, but I digress.

So question 1: What is the difference between the grey and the brown seal clips?

for example these: BMW E53 x5 3 0i 4 4i 4 6IS 4 8IS Brown Front Rear Door Seal Clip Set of 4 | eBay

and these: New BMW E53 x5 3 0i 4 4i 4 6IS 4 8IS Gray Door Seal Clip Front Rear Set of 8 | eBay

I need to fix the rear seal on the passenger side (it's falling off and it is ugly as fuck hangout out the door!) but I noticed that there are like 15 grey ones, and the last two at the bottom are brown. Can I just replace them all with the grey ones?

As for other maintenance items, I decided to finally try to fix the window regulator clips that hold the glass to the regulator, which have failed and is causing my passenger front window to get stuck when rolled all the way down. I replaced the clip which was worn down, but that isn't the problem. Apparently the guide rail frame has chipped away and broken off causing the cylinder that is attached to the metal cord to fall out, which is causing the issue I have. I looked around to see if anyone sold them (surprise suprise, BMW doesn't sell them separately, they sell the whole regulator only) and I came upon this on ebay:
BMW x5 Window Regulator Repair Clip Bracket Front Pair | eBay

Just what I needed! I ordered that and will be fixing that shortly.

Other items on my shit list include the rear door lock actuator which has all but failed and won't move the lock up nor down, meaning the door is permanently unlocked. Seeing as how that is a security issue and not a immediate issue, I have put that on the backburner as I await my next paycheck to finally get around to doing that lovely and oh so time consuming thermostat (which I haven't gotten around to because this last paycheck was used to buy the fuel hose that I had to special order). Seeing as how I am going to crack some knuckles on that thermostat, I just want to keep some peeps updated. The X5 is riding somewhat strong, although it is getting 12 mpg at the moment due to that fuel hose not being replaced yet (I just got it in Friday night) and it is leaking fuel.

I love my vehicle and even though it has probably given me more gray hairs than I am used to, I find it to be a really reliable car when it is working 100%. Unfortunately that 100% is a rare occurance. Then again, no vehicle will ever be 100% once driven off the car lot, so I don't mind it one bit that I have to spend some time on weekends working on it.

[Russianblue]

don't wait too long on the thermostat. important that the engine run at the correct operating temp...temp needle at high noon. my broken thermostat led to additional CCV gunk which can cause serous problems. the only truly hard part about the thermostat is the clutch fan. but that's definitely doable. you will figure it out.

[diddy0071]

Originally Posted by Russianblue

don't wait too long on the thermostat. important that the engine run at the correct operating temp...temp needle at high noon. my broken thermostat led to additional CCV gunk which can cause serous problems. the only truly hard part about the thermostat is the clutch fan. but that's definitely doable. you will figure it out.

Definitely on my list for a couple of weeks now. 2 weeks away from doing the job.