BMW 2007 - new BMWer!

[TerminatorX5]

black powder is the brake dust - OE pad are a bit on the softer side, and they shed dust, and that dust coats the wheels, usually the front ones, even though the rear ones get the dust too, not as much though... if left on the wheel for very very very long time under baking sun (such is in Middle East!!), the brake dust will bake into the wheels and will be hard to remove.

remedies -

use different pads, you need to study the brake pad market to decide which ones you like, there are many types of pads that don't give out as much dust

coat the wheels with various cleaning agents that will repel the dust and allow simple water from a garden hose to wash off the dust

use brake dust shields (i do not recommend those, they look too ghetto on some wheels, ok on the others... on your wheels, they will not look good)

change color of your wheels from silver to black, using a powdercoating technique, or Plasti-Dip. Powdercoating is more expensive and rather permanent, Plasti-Dip is about $10-15 for the whole car, and rather temporary...

As far as Nav disk - sorry pal, no help from me... i have no idea...

the right mirror - this is a standard feature on BMWs (and Audi, MB and some other euro cars) since early 80-s... there is button next to mirror adjustment, it selects left or right mirror - when this button in one position, the right mirror does NOT tilt, when the button is in another position, the right mirror tilts... this is done for the curb parking, so you can see how close you are to the curb...

[ahmed.abdou]

TerminatorX5, Tuns of thanks bro for the valuable info. Thanks for your time. Really appreciated.

A question that came to my mind when you recommended buying other brake pads, in Qatar the spare parts are madly expensive. Are there a recommended website were I can buy spare parts online?


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[TerminatorX5]

if the parts are expensive, that means that the government taxes/custom duties are high... in some cases you may wish to buy parts in the US and have them shipped to you - you have to make sure that the cost of the item, the shipping charge and the custom dues imposed do not exceed the cost of the same part in-country...

i may recommend ECS tuning, they are a sponsor on this site, before ordering, check if they have a member discount.

I personally order from BMW of Fairfax, it is a dealer in my local area (about 40 miles from me), they ship free in the US for orders over $200, I am not sure if they will ship to Qatar... When you order from them online, there is about 15-20% discount off the listed prices...

there are others, like Pelican Parts, BavAuto (Bavarian Auto), KCPerformance, FCP Groton...

You can buy parts that are maintenance and stock them, but for emergency parts you are still looking for local suppliers...

[rcasey]

Ahmed, did you get your voice commands working?

Ciao,
Dick

[ahmed.abdou]

Dear Terminator.. thanks for the usual support. appreciate your valuable information.

Hi Rcasey, Unfortunately.. No

[mkurniawansyah]

Well hello there fellow Qatar X5-er.

Let me know if you got your copy of Nav DVD, I might need to copy from you, hehehehe I'll let you know if I got hold of that DVD first.

As for no.4 from your first post. I don't think you'll be able to fold the side mirrors if you turn off the engine. However, if you have comfort access (keyless entry) you might be able to get it coded to fold if you lock your car by holding down the lock button in your remote. I got mine coded to do that.

Give it a try first with your remote. Hold down lock button when locking the car, and see whether the side mirrors fold automatically.

For brake pads, try Tariq Garage on St.14. phone 55225122. I've used Textar brand since my last change, so far it's not as black as the original ones.

Regards,
Iwan

[ard]

For parts check out Schmiedmann:

Schmiedmann - Styling/Tuning/Spare parts for BMW - New parts

They seem to have a strong international presence...some of the US places will be less experienced in shipping and much more expensive.

[paul.rog]

To make your wing mirrors fold in when you lock the car you need to program the car using NCS Expert and change the code -

Key fob remote mirror close (this has a dependency with remote window close, for this to work i thing remote window close should be coded as well)
FRM Module
SPIEGEL_KOMFORT_EINKLAPP (MY07-08)
aktiv


I use Collinite No845 Insulator wax, this is designed to protect your alloys and to help to prevent the brake dust build up.

[ahmed.abdou]

Dear All, Thanks a million for your valuable information.. much appreciated.

Dear Iwan .. I would really appreciate having your mobile number as you're in Qatar so you may advise me on how/where to program the car key for the mirror fold and alarm when needed. specially while searching for the car in City center

Dear Paul.. where can I buy the Collinite Insulator wax? any shop or online?

[scorpioy]

right side mirror down, so you can see the side curb,
left side mirror stay, so you can see the cars coming from behind. Good for you to keep like that.