New E70 owner, Pics and introduction.

[amrazem]

Hey guys, I picked up my first X5 the other day. Its a 2008 X5 4.8i, truck came in as a trade in at my job and from the time I saw it I had to have it.

It came across as being a steal as I got it for employee pricing, way below retail, and it was in good condition, just a bit dirty. Its black sapphire metallic with black dakota leather. Has iDrive, sport seats, pano roof, seems like 100% options. Also it has 62k miles and valve stem seals were done under CPO warranty two years ago.

Upon first sight


the inside wasnt too bad, I saw the potential


it gets better...


getting it detailed at work, engine bay power wash, no bueno but more on this later


coming along slowly..


not quite done


BOOM, see what a small detail can do!




The money shot!!


Took delivery of it and things went a bit downhill after two days, driving along and the truck gradually went dead with all engine malfunctions coming up on the HUD. Towed it to the workshop and it was the alternator, common issue so I threw a new alternator and AGM bmw 105amhr battery in there for good measure.


After a day in the workshop she was back out driving as smooth as ever.. Took the chance to do a few other things, did a coolant service, brake flush, trans pan was leaking so I did the gasket with the pan and reused the old fluid and did the belts.


Last but not least we finally hit here in the tri-state by snowstorm Jonas.


Thanks for reading, more updates to come

I also have an E92 335i thats parked for the remainder of the season. Pics of that in the post below.

[amrazem]

as promised, here is the toy. 07 335i, space gray, 6 speed manual, fbo and coral red interior.

[Socale39]

First of all, congrats and welcome!

Second, I love seeing people bring back a car from neglect. Looks like she is coming together well, keep up the good work.

[blue dragon]

Very nice. Sport steering wheel on your '08, so it has AD. (I can see the button just below the shifter). A lot of the LCI trucks don't have this. Comfort seats too.

[dalecan]

Great choice. Welcome to the fold.

[PAX5]

Originally Posted by amrazem

...
Towed it to the workshop and it was the alternator, common issue so I threw a new alternator and AGM bmw 105amhr battery in there for good measure.

After a day in the workshop she was back out driving as smooth as ever.. Took the chance to do a few other things, did a coolant service, brake flush, trans pan was leaking so I did the gasket with the pan and reused the old fluid and did the belts.

Congrats! The car has all of the desirable options... Great find.

I assume you are a tech at a BMW dealer ... so you have access to the latest and greatest.

Questions:

1. Why did you put in a 105 Ah battery?

AFAIK, the pre-LCI e70's all used the 92Ah battery, even some of the early 2012 LCI's did. Did you also upgrade the alternator? If you did, did you code the car to accept a higher capacity alternator? If not, your standard alternator will never be able to charge the 105 Ah battery fully, correct?

2. You said you did a trans pan and gasket, but re-used the old fluid ... Why?

3. What about the coolant? Did you reuse that too, if not, why not?

Did you use the BMW machine that does an auto flush? My understanding is that machine effectively only replaces 4 quarts of coolant (and is mixed with ordinary tap water, not distilled water), leaving 4 quarts of "old" coolant behind to mix with the 4 new quarts ...

Keep posting. Love having the "inside scoop" from guys who actually work on these machines, especially at a dealer.

[amrazem]

Heres one for you guys, found my window sticker, the truck came with two sets of owners manuals, one original and one cpo replacement.

[amrazem]

Originally Posted by PAX5

Congrats! The car has all of the desirable options... Great find.

I assume you are a tech at a BMW dealer ... so you have access to the latest and greatest.

Questions:

1. Why did you put in a 105 Ah battery?

AFAIK, the pre-LCI e70's all used the 92Ah battery, even some of the early 2012 LCI's did. Did you also upgrade the alternator? If you did, did you code the car to accept a higher capacity alternator? If not, your standard alternator will never be able to charge the 105 Ah battery fully, correct?

2. You said you did a trans pan and gasket, but re-used the old fluid ... Why?

3. What about the coolant? Did you reuse that too, if not, why not?

Did you use the BMW machine that does an auto flush? My understanding is that machine effectively only replaces 4 quarts of coolant (and is mixed with ordinary tap water, not distilled water), leaving 4 quarts of "old" coolant behind to mix with the 4 new quarts ...

Keep posting. Love having the "inside scoop" from guys who actually work on these machines, especially at a dealer.

Thanks for the positivity my friend.

The alternator that went into the SAV was the 220amp version as this e70 has the four zone climate control and physically the 105ah fits into the space in the truck so there was no reason to not use that battery for the high cca rating. When we installed the battery it was registered and the bsd was coded for the agm cell battery so no issues with battery drainage there.

On the part about the trans pan, alot of times with higher mileage cars where a trans flush was not done in the past the fluid inside the transmission contains wear particles that essentially keep the whole thing together so we refill with the old fluid plus 1liter of top off for good measure.

For coolant we just hook up to a shop machine and it flushes the system, it handles the dilution automatically, same for the brakes its just a matter of connecting a small hose to the bleeder and something to catch it.

and just to say, I work for BMW of Manhattan thats how I got the killer deal

Originally Posted by blue dragon

Very nice. Sport steering wheel on your '08, so it has AD. (I can see the button just below the shifter). A lot of the LCI trucks don't have this. Comfort seats too.

Yes sir, electronic damping suspension, just means the struts cost alot more . I love the front seats in this thing, im skinny and I dont get held into seats properly but these seats hold me like there were designed for me. The bladders inside the bolsters are right on the money.

[PAX5]

Originally Posted by amrazem

...

1. The alternator that went into the SAV was the 220amp version as this e70 has the four zone climate control and physically the 105ah fits into the space in the truck so there was no reason to not use that battery for the high cca rating. When we installed the battery it was registered and the bsd was coded for the agm cell battery so no issues with battery drainage there.

2. On the part about the trans pan, alot of times with higher mileage cars where a trans flush was not done in the past the fluid inside the transmission contains wear particles that essentially keep the whole thing together so we refill with the old fluid plus 1liter of top off for good measure.

3. For coolant we just hook up to a shop machine and it flushes the system, it handles the dilution automatically, same for the brakes its just a matter of connecting a small hose to the bleeder and something to catch it.

4. and just to say, I work for BMW of Manhattan thats how I got the killer deal

You got a really nice car according to the Window Sticker!

Hope you got it at a good price ...

Did you do the dreaded coolant pipe leak check yet?

As far as your responses above:

1. ... high CCA is irrelevant. Only Ah matters. But it sounds like the car has been coded for that battery, so you should be all set.

2. mmmm .... (do you charge the customer for 1+X liters as well? Don't answer that, you may get fired ...)

3. mmmm x2 ....

4. Remind me never to have my car serviced at BMW of Manhattan ... I've heard stories about that place. Now I know why.

But glad to hear that you got a killer deal.

[chatcher]

Nice ride! I just picked up an 08 4.8 as well love it. I don't want to come off the wrong way but I disagree with reusing transmission fluid. First 62k is not what I would consider high mileage and second there is no dirt in the fluid that is going to keep your transmission running. Also if your coolant is mixed with tap water get it out ASAP. Many think the crap in tap water has some bearing in the coolant pipe failure.

FWIW I have changed the transmission oil in all my cars foreign and domestic with new filters around 100k and all automatics I have still perform flawlessly. My old X5 was at 170k when I traded it in on the new E70, my Dodge is at 150k and my f350 is at 200k ( its ready for another trans filter and oil change as soon as it warms up).

Either way this is just my opinion and results Good Luck