Just Bought an X5

[Bianca98]

Day 2: Truck started today. It was a noticeably long start, 2-3.5 sec. but it did not start hard. Momentary power steering whine at start up. Temp read 9* on the dash.

Had the car scanned last night at the parts store. Had codes for O2 sensors and misfire due to low fuel. I had them cleared and put on about 40 miles and they did not return. I forgot to buy coolant so I'm still rolling no heat for a bit.

Came home to find the switch panel and door lock had both arrived. switch panel looked easy enough, not sure what I am doing with the door lock yet. I need to find some better DIY pages or videos.

Drove the car to work today with only the SRS and brake light indicators on. That's a pretty big improvement. I'm developing a hatred of "comfort" seats though. Looking forward to replacing them with E46 sport seats with heat.

[Riggodeaux]

Man, that northern weather is tough on vehicles, esp. if not garaged. Like the 'prowler' in "Fargo,' ehh?

[Bianca98]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

...Like the 'prowler' in "Fargo,' ehh?

I have no idea what that means. But yes, winter temps, salt, and road conditions are a constant wear on our vehicles. That's why we like to get our cars from else where. They tend to be "easier" miles even if they are the same miles.

[Riggodeaux]

Sorry, its a weak reference to a scene in the movie "Fargo", for those Coen Brothers movie fans out there . I bought an F350 7.3L diesel truck up that way a few years ago - fortunately, it had been garaged and used by the owner only for occasional RV hauling, in good weather, so it was in great shape. Sold it last year when our need for a big truck ended. Reading about X5 cold weather issues for our Canadian friends and you guys in the upper midwest this winter has me shivering .....

[Bianca98]

Updates: Truck started fine today, temps in the teens. Door lock was frozen though. I locked it into place but was then unable to get out! I freaked out for most of the morning thinking about having to rip off he door panel or something. When I got back from my morning appointment I tried the door and it worked normally again. I took the truck into our service department and the boys filled all my tires (most were between 24-26lbs). Hopefully that will make for a nice smooth ride home. I replace the hood catch release assembly with the new handle. needed a T27 torx bit and a good ratchet to break it free. take down and install was under 5 minutes for the 2 bolts. They also were kind enough to top off my coolant. Hopefully I will get some heat and I wont find any unknown leaks. Fingers crossed! Contemplating when I can tackle the lock cylinder next.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Bianca98

Updates: Truck started fine today, temps in the teens. Door lock was frozen though. I locked it into place but was then unable to get out! I freaked out for most of the morning thinking about having to rip off he door panel or something. When I got back from my morning appointment I tried the door and it worked normally again. I took the truck into our service department and the boys filled all my tires (most were between 24-26lbs). Hopefully that will make for a nice smooth ride home. I replace the hood catch release assembly with the new handle. needed a T27 torx bit and a good ratchet to break it free. take down and install was under 5 minutes for the 2 bolts. They also were kind enough to top off my coolant. Hopefully I will get some heat and I wont find any unknown leaks. Fingers crossed! Contemplating when I can tackle the lock cylinder next.

Hope they top it off with BMW coolant and not that cheap Generic crap at the Chevy dealers.

[Bianca98]

Originally Posted by upallnight

Hope they top it off with BMW coolant and not that cheap Generic crap at the Chevy dealers.

Yea, they have a whole room filled with BMW coolant....

Sarcasm aside, the PO was a cheap-ass. I intend to do a full coolant flush along with my other maintenance in the Spring. Trans, diff, transfer case fluids. I haven't mentioned it yet but I have an aFe intake. but it needs a new cabin filter BAD! Fuel filter and plugs if they look old. same old, same old.

[upallnight]

Glad that they had a room full of BMW coolant because mixing coolant could be bad for the BM Trouble U.

Here's a couple of links:

Mixing antifreeze...

BMW antifreeze - E46Fanatics

[Bianca98]

lol, both those links say mixing coolants doesn't matter so long as they are both similar "ingredients". My X was low enough that we could not tell what was in it. Looked green to me though. That said, we put in phosphate free green. It will be drained in all of about 8 weeks though. We had a nice thaw out today. Looking forward to more.

[Ricky Bobby]

Is your afe intake the dry filter or the oiled one? I give my filter a yearly cleaning with the afe cleaning kit, easily bought for 10 bucks on eBay (I have the pro dry s non oiled filter)