Awesome news!!

So glad to hear she's back. I hope the police checked for prints!

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Thanks everyone for the comments!

Yes I will upgrade soon, it's still the same. ;)

Great idea, my dad has an old HP laptop that he offered me for free though, and I just found a great deal on Ebay, Windows 10 + 500GB SSD and all the BMW software already installed. It comes with the cables too!
Yes I already searched around and it is possible to delete old keys so they can not be used to start the car anymore. I will have to replace the doorlock to fully keep them out. Only downside is that I will have to carry 2 keys but much cheaper then replace all keys, door lock and ignition lock and code everything.

:thanks:

Yes they did check for prints and took a lighter that was left in the car by one of the thieves.

Awesome to hear that you got it back, mostly unscathed!

One of the best looking X5's I've seen. Love the color and the care you have put into it :thumbup:

May have been some amateur thieves that knew the location by reading this forum and got scared with the amount of effort you were making to recover it. Take some care with what information you post here.

[emoji848] Maybe they're reading this forum....

www.dead-criminal.com may have a sale going on right now. (Just saying)[emoji1787][emoji1787]

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So glad you recovered the vehicle:thumbup:. Please note that posting pics with license plate number and location information embedded (phone pic setting) are also risk factors. I see most folks do cover or photoshop license plate number (e.g. cut and paste one letter multiple times). You just never know who could be lurking in the forums.

Thank you!
I thought about that and it's possible but I also use Instagram Stories sometimes to share pictures of the car.

:thumbup: I used to photoshop out the licence plate of my first car when posting on forums but kind of stopped doing that. Will look into the location information that saves with taking a photo.

Congrats Spook, I am glad your X was found. I even looked for you on autoscout24.it to see if it was offered for sale. Good all is safe.

Thanks!

Update time:
Before the car got stolen I replaced the main giubo and center axle bearing. New inner and outer CV joints in the front (Actually E46 330xd outer CV joints as O ring size is smaller on first build date X5's). And I cut out the resonator and replaced it with 2.5 inch pipe.

Resonator delete: The sound it not what I expected, I thought it would be a little louder, I should have done a muffler delete instead. I might visit an exhaust shop to redo the welding as my welds are bad. :(
https://i.imgur.com/xni43MDh.jpg

And last but not least, I installed the E70 X5M front brakes!
Big! I added the correct M badge later.
https://i.imgur.com/Q5T4VrAh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/NwdwhYHh.jpg

After this I torqued all suspension parts and gave the rear an eyeball alignment. :D

I decided it was time for a 2 stage paint correction, while taking my time, unlike the first time I polished the car.
After 2 weeks in the workshop it was time for a wash, ironx and claybar:
https://i.imgur.com/Hhh9KqKh.jpg?1

Completely clean and ready for polishing:
https://i.imgur.com/vQL4DFnh.jpg

I wanted to test out Ceramic coating by Gyeon for the first time. Which takes 24 hours to dry after applying.

That is when the car got stolen from the workshop just 3 hours after finishing the ceramic coating. :( Fortunately the car was found by Police 10 days later!

Meaning the coating did not dry like it was supposed to, that sucks because it's pretty expensive. I will have to buy a new coating and re apply it. No big deal, so happy to have the car back!

That doesn't mean it's not clean :D:
https://i.imgur.com/fnXnbb2h.jpg

The polishing made a big difference in depth:
https://i.imgur.com/g0sj3xCh.jpg


The X5 still has some issues with the rear air suspension, it went inaktiv in Germany when towing. I checked the fuses, relays and checked the module for water damage. All was good. The compressor would not run on it's own, I manually pumped up the bags with a method described on this forum. It would raise the axle when giving the command through INPA but would come back down again during a few days. There is a small leak somewhere in the lines.
I checked the sensor wiring and took the sensors off but did not find damage. I've read many things online and I decided to replace the sensors first as there are different brand sensors on the car. That explains why one side would lower more then the other side. Hopefully this will fix the problem, otherwise I will buy a second hand module. Will update when I replace the sensors

Sometimes a Error code 140 for the Thermostat would come up so I bought a new thermostat and a new water temp sensor.
Same for the Bank 1 o2 sensor (pre cat), replacement on it's way.

Then it has a intermittent Code 33 (Camshaft Bank 1 (P0011)), it comes and goes. I cleaned the camshaft sensors and they are OEM and probably 20 years old. I checked out the VANOS solenoids and the gaskets are leaking, but I do not have the correc tool to take them off and test them. Engine runs normal and feels strong. No weird noises. Chains and guides have been done 60.000 miles ago and should be fine. If it comes back I will start with camshaft sensors first.

To complete it all I was thinking about wheel refinishing or different wheels and looked around for 21 inch wheels. Ideally I would like something that looks like a BBS CH-R but then I found a set of Style 87 kind of local to me. I have not decided yet.

Glad this thread is alive again!

Indeed! It almost feels like we just woke up from a collective nightmare, only that it wasn't a dream:D.