New X5 4.8is Owner!

[kconner5]

Hi everyone!

We just bought a 2005 4.8is with just about 100,000 miles! Very exciting time as this is one of those special cars that has been on my "bucket list to own" for a while now. We will pick up the car sometime in the next week or so, but I'll post up a photo or two that the current owner sent to us. Once we get the car, I'll compound and polish where needed and detail the rest of it. We are going to replace the resonator with an X pipe (or is an H pipe better? Not sure where to buy a H pipe for the 4.8is?), upgrade the angel eyes to a bright white color, add the towing hitch and wiring harness, and preform some maintenance.

For the maintenance, do you all think this is a good approach?...

Change engine oil as we won't know exactly when it was changed last (and then keep changing every 5k miles after... That's what I do with my MINI and my mom's 3er)

Transmission fluid flush

Coolant flush

Brake fluid flush

How hard and how often is it to change the fluid in the differentials and transfer case?

Any suggestions are welcome!

Some questions for you owners:
We made sure that the car doesn't blow any blue smoke at idle, the air suspension was replaced (the airbags presumably) last year, the car shifts smoothly, and there aren't any CEL codes.

What do you recommend on letting the car warm up in the mornings? Usually I start a car up, let it idle for 30 seconds to a minute and am very easy on the car until it gets to operating temp. I know that the 4.8is isn't your average vehicle though so is it best to wait for one of the yellow lights to go off on the tach before driving? Or just continue with the method I've always used?

Do these engines generally have a lot of carbon build up at high milages? Not sure if it is worth taking it to get walnut shell blasted or anything. Taking my MINI in for carbon cleaning soon (only 40k miles on the odometer but it can't hurt)

Any suggestions for other mods, tips, or advice would be more than appreciated!

Thanks and glad to be here!
Kyle

P.S. is there any place to look up the exact service history of our beast?