Thinking out loud: It'll stop when I sell it!

[giodog2000]

Originally Posted by Doru

When I purchased my X, I knew I had to fix stuff. Test driving and looking at it didn't reveal anything. No papers either, and the dealer told me it had "all the necessary maintenance done" without going into details, or willing to pass me the info, even I told them to black out the P.O. info.

As timed passed, lots of things were wrong. The car was not maintained to my standards (and probably to many other people standards), but I was OK with that. I knew in what I was heading into. A few things were fixed, more are waiting to be fixed. Once it's done, it will be an allright vehicle for many months to come. What's made by man, can be fixed by man.

I've been reading a lot about the 4.8 in the past few weeks because of the problems I'm experiencing with it and some parts will inevitably fail in a near future ( for my X vs mileage). I'm still figuring out what I'm willing to do myself and what will need to be done by a shop (either Indy or dealer). I accept these things will have to be done to have peace of mind (Valley pan, chain guide etc) and like you , I also accept to invest the money and my labor.
After everything is done, I'm asking the question to everyone:

Will you ever trust this car again to go on road trips with wife, kids, dog etc ????
Lets hear the post war dream speech!!!!!

[upallnight]

Whenever we go on vacation we just rent a SUV or Minivan from Hertz or Avis. I figure if it breaks down, I will just call them to tell them where their car is and ask them when they can get another car to me. Last summer we had a 2013 Toyota Rav 4 with just 280 miles on it. The saving in regular cheap gas versus premium and lousy mileage almost made up for the difference in rent vs using the X.

[giodog2000]

I bought my X to enjoy it not to rent a car for vacation and frankly I don't have the money to rent out cars and suv's to go on vacation. Maybe that's the difference between some of us. I'm happy for the ones who can travel this way but it's just not my case. When My X fails , I miss work days or I need to re-schedule to go pick up my daughter at school ....

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by upallnight

Whenever we go on vacation we just rent a SUV or Minivan from Hertz or Avis. I figure if it breaks down, I will just call them to tell them where their car is and ask them when they can get another car to me. Last summer we had a 2013 Toyota Rav 4 with just 280 miles on it. The saving in regular cheap gas versus premium and lousy mileage almost made up for the difference in rent vs using the X.

We do the same thing only because I hate racking up the miles and worrying about finding a safe place to park. It usually works out to at least a cost wash and I always return with a greater appreciation of a X5.

[StephenVA]

Originally Posted by Brandon002

I have owned my share of BMW's and while there have been issues with some, they are the same issues that 99% of other cars have. They are just a lot more expensive to fix if you can't find your way around a tool box or are afraid to get your hands dirty. Parts can be had for similar prices to any other car thanks to the internet, most jobs can be performed yourself as well thanks to the internet if you have any technical knowledge or can follow directions.

If you bought a 10 year old car, thinking it was going to drive for years without normal wear and tear items finding their way to the grave you should just buy a new car, with a warranty. Any used car is going to eventually need repair, if you can't fix the car yourself I'd suggest buying something that you can afford to pay a mechanic to repair for you.

It's a car that was 70 grand when new 10 years ago (or there abouts), they are worth around 10k now... there is a reason for that and that reason is maintenance costs if you are relying on a mechanic.

Totally

[srmmmm]

I found my 2002 X5 3.0 on eBay after carefully searching for about three months. I wanted the six cylinder, with the premium and cold weather options. Additionally, it had to be a southern, but non-hurricane impacted vehicle if possible. I was fortunate to find a lease return from North Carolina with 53,000 miles on it. All the service records were intact with BMW and there were no instances of flooding in the county it was registered in or in the CARFAX records either. I picked it up in Houston from the broker who accepted my bid of $23,800. It was almost eight grand under book at the time, but the broker didn't have much invested since the lessee paid a hefty premium for racking up an extra 5000 miles on his contract.

In the first ten thousand miles, I replaced both front axles, and all pads and rotors going to Akebono pads and Brembo rotors. There's more than 180,000 miles on those rotors now with no measurable wear. The FSR, and expansion tank, and alternator were replaced during the next 50,000 miles along with two window regulators. Then the fun started!

The front driveshaft splines and transfer case went out at 136,000 miles. It was $4200 repair, employing a used transfer case, and pretty much took me to the point as if I had paid book for the vehicle when I bought it in 2006. But still, I figured I had just netted out and now had a vehicle with a solid drive train.

I've replaced the other two window regulators since then, the driver's door handle carrier and lock cylinder, another FSR, another expansion tank, and the thermostat. Everything else has been routine such as belts and hoses.

In the end, the annual repair costs have been less than half the cost of what my payments were, so I'll bank the difference as a down payment, and run this one until the wheels fall off! I do have some concern that I'll lose the front driveshaft again, but nothing else drives like it!

2002 X5 3.0 248,353 miles
2004 325i 110,000 miles

[Ricky Bobby]

For what it's worth I believe that there is a member on here who machines a longer driveshaft stub which if done preventatively might make one able to catch the drivetrain before a failure at the transfer case, stripping the splines. I'd have to dig up the post but honestly with the age of our cars it should be a sticky.

[srmmmm]

I figure when it goes, it will be time for a transfer case rebuild anyway, so I'll go with the aftermarket shaft with the extended splines and a $995 remanufactured transfer case and continue to drive the heck out of it with my original transmission fluid still intact! I might even spring for recovering the driver's seat since that's the only part of the vehicle that seems to actually show any wear, and my butt is plainly responsible for that!

2002 X5 3.0 248,476 miles as of this evening
2004 325i 110,000 miles

[Ricky Bobby]

QUOTED FROM A THREAD IN 2009, THIS IS NOT ME!


Here are some pictures of the new shaft repair components.
These are the new one piece blanks I had made.


This will give you a good idea of what the damaged shaft looks like and the amount of good spline that gets used.


The press fit step is machined to fit the i.d. of each shaft repaired. Runout is checked as it's being machined as well as when it is being welded in.


Here is the first finished shaft.


I haven't ordered any more blanks yet to keep in stock, but if you need one done they're only 4 days for me to get, so I can have them by the time I receive your core. If I get enough interest in these I plan on having some finished shafts in stock. If your interested in having one done please call me at 262-749-0689 or e-mail me at [email protected]. Thanks again, Tom Gottschalk.




^^^That is the info from the guy on the forums who remanufactures the driveshafts for us with a longer stub. Hope that helps!

[srmmmm]

Thanks Ricky! Watch that weather. Looks like there's plenty more time this year for CCV woes.

2002 X5 3.0 248,502 miles
2004 325i 110,000 miles