The New Guy, just picked up an X5 3.0si E70

[JWoody]

Hi all! Glad to be here, I just picked up a 2008 X5 E70 3.0si for my wife to replace her 5 year old Trailblazer. Carmax had a good deal on the vehicle at $43,998 and the trade on the Trailblazer was even better. We rolled out of the Laurel, MD store with 15,320 miles on the ODO and have been loving it ever since. I have looked through the forums long and hard the last week or so before we picked it up reading the DIY's section and all the Threads, getting acclimated so to speak. Looks like you folks have a wealth of knowledge that I will certainly being using. On to the pics...





Anyhow, the vehicle has pretty much just the Technology package, and all the other standard features. This coming Saturday she is going into BMW to do their 150 point inspection to see if there is anything I missed.

I am not a mechanic per se, I have done quite a bit of my own work on my 2005 VW Jetta GLI.






I used a high powered LED light bar to inspect the under carriage and other areas. Things looked pretty good. I do have a few questions...

Is it really better to go to BMW for accessories? I wanted to add the aero kit, the step rails, aluminum pedal covers and some other odds and ends.

I see ECS Tuning has a banner here, there is not much in the way of stuff on their site for parts. I am looking to replace perhaps the engine cover with Carbon Fiber, also Dinan does not sell or make a Upper Strut bar? Is there a need with the E70 body?

Bimmian looks decent, are they reputable? I see some things that look promising. Are there other sites I need to look into?

Also the manual did not come with the car, fortunately the NAVI DVD did, but I of course downloaded the manual, should I purchase the paper? How much do you think BMW would charge?

Since I am computer geek, I was curious as to what OS is running the car's iDrive/Menu/NAVI etc. I would assume a small LINUX distro?

Again thanks for the time, I look forward to hearing from all of you, I am sure I will come up with more questions.

-J