Road Trip to St Louis

[Baby Unicorn Taco]

Originally Posted by divinchi

Hey Guys,



I am doing a road trip this weekend to St Louis to visit my childhood best friend who is dying of cancer. I was going to take a flight out there but decided to take the road trip in order to clear my head before seeing him as this is painful for me.



From where I am (Bronx NY) it's a 15 Hour drive. So I am seeking information from those of you who have traveled far in our cars (X5) and tell me what should I take with me, what preventive maintenance I should do to the car. I will be leaving Friday 11pm. The most I've ever driven is 9 hours, so I know I will need to stop a few times.



Any information will be amazing...



Thank you in advance

I might be a little overkill but I will carry a quart of oil, tire plug kit, air pump, some coolant or distilled water, some tools, a jack, and a spare ignition coil. Then before I go I check tires, hoses, belts, and fluid levels. Have a safe trip to see your friend.


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[divinchi]

Originally Posted by Baby Unicorn Taco

I might be a little overkill but I will carry a quart of oil, tire plug kit, air pump, some coolant or distilled water, some tools, a jack, and a spare ignition coil. Then before I go I check tires, hoses, belts, and fluid levels. Have a safe trip to see your friend.


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That's great info, thanks so much... I will buy a tire plug kit for sure since I don't have a spare due to the tires being run flats.

[byaru1]

Originally Posted by divinchi

That's great info, thanks so much... I will buy a tire plug kit for sure since I don't have a spare due to the tires being run flats.

That tyre kit works very well. Has bailed me out many times on a trip.

It's part 71102333674



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[spyro235]

Originally Posted by divinchi

Working on the iPod playlist, I read don't play slow music...lol
I listen to every kind of music so any music road trip music suggestions would be great..

Thanks for all the great info guys, much appreciated

If music is your thing, and you can vibe with electronic music, I highly recommend giving Porter Robinson a try. Album I'd suggest is "worlds"
Again electronic, but The Glitch Mob's "Drink the Sea" Album.
In another vein of music, I present one of my favorite artists- St Paul and the Broken Bones. This is modern jazz, but with some old school soul vibes thrown in. GREAT singer, and amazing band. Talented musicians all around.

On spotify, my discover weekly this week introduced me to Five Man Electrical Band, and they've got a 60's, maybe a bit more of a 70's vibe. Kind of gives off a Monkees vibe. I've been jamming to them this week. Looked them up just now, turns out they’re from the 70’s! I’m a fan.

If you're looking for good folk-ey music, I highly suggest Twiddle. A vermont band by location, they're gaining popularity. They also just contribute to good causes and are pretty cool guys, according to my buddy that knows the guitarist..

Also, just listen to the soundtrack to the guardians of the galaxy movies. GREAT music.

Edit: also- beef jerky if you like it. High protein, salt, good things for driving stamina. I’m always munching on jerky while driving long distance.

[divinchi]

Originally Posted by spyro235

If music is your thing, and you can vibe with electronic music, I highly recommend giving Porter Robinson a try. Album I'd suggest is "worlds"
Again electronic, but The Glitch Mob's "Drink the Sea" Album.
In another vein of music, I present one of my favorite artists- St Paul and the Broken Bones. This is modern jazz, but with some old school soul vibes thrown in. GREAT singer, and amazing band. Talented musicians all around.

On spotify, my discover weekly this week introduced me to Five Man Electrical Band, and they've got a 60's, maybe a bit more of a 70's vibe. Kind of gives off a Monkees vibe. I've been jamming to them this week. Looked them up just now, turns out they’re from the 70’s! I’m a fan.

If you're looking for good folk-ey music, I highly suggest Twiddle. A vermont band by location, they're gaining popularity. They also just contribute to good causes and are pretty cool guys, according to my buddy that knows the guitarist..

Also, just listen to the soundtrack to the guardians of the galaxy movies. GREAT music.

Edit: also- beef jerky if you like it. High protein, salt, good things for driving stamina. I’m always munching on jerky while driving long distance.

That's great information, I listen to everything so I will indeed check out your recommendations for sure. I'm mixing it up on the playlist so this will be an exciting listen too for sure. I have Pearl jam, jay-z, red hot chili peppers, Metallica, Coltrane, Davis, Diplo, some Latin, Marley, Todd Terry, stone temple pilots, nine inch nails, and others..

I also bought the tire repair kit from BMW in White plains which for some reason had it as listed as discontinued and I paid $49 for the entire kit including the air pump. They have 4 left in stock for anyone who wants to by one.

My next question, they were out of windshield wipers, and by the time they get it in stock it will be too late for me, any other brands that work well. I've read stories of others not working well.

I also bought a 2 gallon Jimmy can, a flash light and other items.

[spyro235]

Originally Posted by divinchi

That's great information, I listen to everything so I will indeed check out your recommendations for sure. I'm mixing it up on the playlist so this will be an exciting listen too for sure. I have Pearl jam, jay-z, red hot chili peppers, Metallica, Coltrane, Davis, Diplo, some Latin, Marley, Todd Terry, stone temple pilots, nine inch nails, and others..

I also bought the tire repair kit from BMW in White plains which for some reason had it as listed as discontinued and I paid $49 for the entire kit including the air pump. They have 4 left in stock for anyone who wants to by one.

My next question, they were out of windshield wipers, and by the time they get it in stock it will be too late for me, any other brands that work well. I've read stories of others not working well.

I also bought a 2 gallon Jimmy can, a flash light and other items.

Oe is bosch for wipers. For rain in general, I highly suggest waxing/ treating your windshield. Wax doesn't want to stick to my windshield, so I'm currently about to experiment with a second dose of an amzon glass coating. Worked really well, wore off from wipers at around 3 months in. For the cost, like $25, I can live with that. I'm going to continue trying different coatings though.
Flashlight and tire kits are good to have in your car alll the time. And a jerry can is great if you're going to be pushing the limits in rural parts of america but form NYC to St louis is a pretty heavily trafficked route. It's peace of mind but personally I'd probably forgo it out of annooyance of the smell in the cabin.

Hasn't been mentioned yet, but what motor is in your X5? Mine's a diesel which gives me a very comfortabel 550 mile range, and if I keep it at 75, I can get 650 mile range. I'm like... never worried about running out of fuel!
AFter spring mods, I'm looking forward to seeing my first 700 mile tank!

[divinchi]

Originally Posted by spyro235

Oe is bosch for wipers. For rain in general, I highly suggest waxing/ treating your windshield. Wax doesn't want to stick to my windshield, so I'm currently about to experiment with a second dose of an amzon glass coating. Worked really well, wore off from wipers at around 3 months in. For the cost, like $25, I can live with that. I'm going to continue trying different coatings though.
Flashlight and tire kits are good to have in your car alll the time. And a jerry can is great if you're going to be pushing the limits in rural parts of america but form NYC to St louis is a pretty heavily trafficked route. It's peace of mind but personally I'd probably forgo it out of annooyance of the smell in the cabin.

Hasn't been mentioned yet, but what motor is in your X5? Mine's a diesel which gives me a very comfortabel 550 mile range, and if I keep it at 75, I can get 650 mile range. I'm like... never worried about running out of fuel!
AFter spring mods, I'm looking forward to seeing my first 700 mile tank!

Wow that's great gas mileage. I have a 3.0.. so I'm hoping to get decent mpg. I was thinking the same thing about the gas thank, I guess I wanted to be safe than sorry but it's true, there will be plenty of options to get gas. I will look into those wipers for sure

[divinchi]

Hey guys, I made it and returned without issue.. but man that was a long drive... For some reason it was easier going than coming back. Coming back I had to stop and sleep at a rest stop. But the car handled it. The only code that came up was for an O2 sensor. But the car drove really nice... The only weird thing was the car used more gas going than coming back. Going, I maybe got 360 miles per full tank and then coming back home 432 per full tank. Thank God the gas was cheap over there, I went to one gas station in Minneapolis where the premium gas was 249 per gallon... I was really happy about that. Also, I've never seen so many broke down cars in the highway ever... It honestly scared me because the same cars that were left on the side of the highway were the same cars there when I can back down...

So, I'm going to treat the car to a nice deep cleaning for making it without issue...

So, anything I should do now after a long trip? Oil change? Tires rotated? Anything that I should check out?

Thanks for all the info guys

[spyro235]

Glad to hear the drive went alright.

As far as things to do, it's actually best case for a vehicle to just sit on the highway like that. Usually really goo for it. I'd clear the o2 code and see if it returns. otherwise, don't worry about it. Other stuff only needs to be done as scheduled, rotating tires with the next oil change, changing the oil at the next normal interval. Nothing that should specifically need to be done unless it's a result of something you noticed or a problem you ran into.

I've got to ask, did you listen to any of the music I threw out there? Like any of it?

How many gallons were you putting in at each fill? I'm curious as to your MPG's. It's possible you were trucking into / with the wind, on the way down/back up. that could affect the mileage a lot. Other things would be elevation, cruise speed, etc.

Just throwing it out there, I use the gasbuddy app to find the cheapest gas around. It's invaluable, and has saved me hundreds of dollars. Makes a big difference if 5 miles down the road you can save 50 cents a gallon. Adds up over time.

[ard]

Prevailing westerly winds. Multiple discussions on line. A 10 mph wind, traveling at 70 mph, means you are pushing 80mph headwinds going...and 60mph coming.