Good evening! Can I ask for some advice?

[Mafian]

Sorry Skier1, you just confused me by saying "LED" screen when it is an LCD screen as both are completely different. I don't think it had LED backlight technology back then and it uses a Fluro tube! I have seen some of these pages and they have been great. I am thinking of just getting the screen from Eurotech and giving it a crack myself! There are too many toys for them on Evilbay and it is getting dangerous starting to make a shopping list!!!

[Skier1]

Sorry ,I got tounge tied with my LED's and LCD's

[bigwave2255]

hey mate and welcome

im in qld and have a 2005 diesel, bought it 3 years ago with 60k on it, and now have 160k, its an awesome car and been super reliable, i didnt even know about these X5 forums, and bought based on the experience of work mates, it was only after surfing web sites that i began to worry, and i have had to replace the drivers door handle carrier, and front drive shaft boots,

i think that in Australia due to our milder climate we dont see the problems other countries experience, that said you do have to keep on top of the service.

i also dont treat my cars hard, the BM is my daily driver and its all freeway KM so fairly easy on it.

i have to say early in the piece i got to be very concerned about the reliability, based on forums as i said, however after 3 years and now owning the car ive relaxed and am enjoying it, safe in the knowledge that if something does break i,ll pay the bill, and still cheaper than a new car

look after it and it will look after you

[Mafian]

Thanks Bigwave. Luckily mine has only recently had the castor bushes, brake fluid and outer CVs replaced and new front rotors fitted as part of the deal. Unfortunately not long after I picked it up the 4th gear solenoid in the mechatronics decided to lunch itself. It gave no warning as the transmission was smooth as silk through all of the gears when the "Trans Failsafe Prog" reared it ugly head. Fortunately for me a brand new mechatronics unit was fitted under warranty so one of the weakest links shouldn't be a problem for me for quite a while, touch wood!

I changed the oil today as Supercheap had the Nulon fully synthetic long life 5W-30 diesel oil on special in the 10L container. When I went for a drive afterwards the car seemed to like it with the oil pressure light extinguishing even before it fully fires and even though it may be the placebo effect it seemed to run a bit quieter and smoother. I was also surprised how reasonable the genuine oil filter was, much cheaper than I expected. I also changed the coolant so I have a base line of fluids and nearly fell over when I found out how much the genuine coolant from the stealership was. WAY cheaper than expected and even cheaper than most of the brand name coolants at Supercheap etc. Also thanks to the internet there is a huge range of parts available when/if things go wrong. Having once been an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer I am confident in doing general service items/replacements myself.

I ended up going for a drive over Easter from Toowoomba to my folks near Bundaberg and it ran faultlessly with effortless overtaking of the idiots who drive too slow/follow too closely to the slow driver in front of them without passing. With the car loaded and A/C on not even trying to be economical (ensuring I was on the 'wrong side' of the road as little as possible) I still managed 7.6L/100km over the whole trip. Impressive for such a big car. It also managed it in extreme comfort and quietness, even though it is the sport with the firmer suspension. It is good to be back in a BMW again!

Over the next few months I intend to 'bling' it up a bit with tinted windows, new tv screen (some dead pixels), alloy gauge rings and maybe even an LED upgrade of the AEs to go with the HIDs. Whilst it wasn't a good start with the transmission I am still very happy with it. I know BMWs can be reliable as I had an E36 325i coupe that was faultless for the 5-6 years I had it for.