oh oh, wading into to politics on a car site. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!
:rofl:

Do you think they will make boys and girls hand over the Euro Wagons in exchange for some nice Detroit steel? I do wonder from time to time what life with an X5 is like in the US, okay I know mine was built there, but... maybe I will start up a thread. Better search it first just to check... hahaha :p:

Meh

Oh I see, so they're made in China, humph.

Life with an X5 in the US can be summed up in two ways: gas is cheap and you still feel pretty small on the road, especially in Southern states. Even when I had my Range Rover (which was bigger and taller than an X5) I still felt pretty small in comparison to all the massive SUVs and lifted trucks on the road.

That makes me laugh, last time in the US I had a drive of the Escalade... I mean... its an aircraft carrier on wheels and the styling was as offensive as a punch in the face... the the interior had AWFUL plastic. But.. I loved driving it. Something about driving the right car in the right place, in Italy, you HAVE to drive a Alfa Romeo for example. In the UK the X5 has a bad image problem, Range Rovers only viewed slightly better but theses are very large cars on our roads. Can't see me sneaking down a country lane in a Escalade with a car coming the other way. I guess what I am trying to say is, for me, right car, right place. If I lived in the US, would I go X5 again?? hmm annoyingly... Because I would be homesick, I would go X5 but I would fantasise over a bigger truck.

Any back on to bolts. At $19 dollars per bolt maybe I should call my contact in China to bang out a 1000 bolts for me and becoming rich quick. Even if I flog them for 1/3 of the price.

That makes me laugh, last time in the US I had a drive of the Escalade... I mean... its an aircraft carrier on wheels and the styling was as offensive as a punch in the face... the the interior had AWFUL plastic. But.. I loved driving it. Something about driving the right car in the right place, in Italy, you HAVE to drive a Alfa Romeo for example. In the UK the X5 has a bad image problem, Range Rovers only viewed slightly better but theses are very large cars on our roads. Can't see me sneaking down a country lane in a Escalade with a car coming the other way. I guess what I am trying to say is, for me, right car, right place. If I lived in the US, would I go X5 again?? hmm annoyingly... Because I would be homesick, I would go X5 but I would fantasise over a bigger truck.

Any back on to bolts. At $19 dollars per bolt maybe I should call my contact in China to bang out a 1000 bolts for me and becoming rich quick. Even if I flog them for 1/3 of the price.

Merry X5mas!

OK...I am not bgoing to ask if I should or shouldnt use these re-use these bolts :) but I do have a question relating to them.

How the heck do you get access to the nuts on the upper side when putting them back? I really struggled to get them out and at the weekend am planning to re-assemble the car after swapping the turbo and frankly am dreading getting access to all the nuts, a couple are accessable via the wheel arch but not all.

Yes, they are a total pain. So, the access to them is a bit of a process. First, remove the plastic splash shield infront of the Reinforcement Plate, after that, I removed the side covers around the steering control arms top and bottom, and the inspection panels in the Plate, where you can drain the oil from, etc... So with all this done and out the way, by the ARB you can see the top of the bolts, I used a box spanner on the top side and a regular wrench underneath. Lay on my back under the car I just about found enough access to all of the bolt nuts on the underside. Use a bottle jack to keep the plate in place, remove all bolts then remove jack and lower the plate when you are out of the way ;)

Thanks for the promt reply. Yea I saw from the side splash plates you can just about see the one nut from each side. Will let you know how I get on. Car is up nice and high anyhow as the turbo had to come out from underneath and with my belly it had to be high for me to get under. Thanks again.