My Preventive Maintenance...Thoughts?
 

Had these done today by my mechanic (2004 X5 at 26,000 miles)

- oil changed (mobil 0w-40)
- rotors turned, mintex brake pads installed
- replaced coolant (BMW coolant)
- replaced brake fluid (ATE blue racing fluid)
- replaced power steering fluid (redl ine synthetic)
- replaced rear differential fluid (red line 75-90)



gonna go to dealer to get new micro-filter. gonna have engine bay steam cleaned

Did i miss out on anything? Is this over kill? Feed back would be appreciated. Thanks:thumbup:

How many miles?

-Replace transmission + transfter-case fluid
-BMW rotors aren't supposed to be turned as they're quite soft
-Make sure you get the charcoal cabin filter

Being proactive about maintenance does pay off down the road :thumbup: .

Aren't you still under warranty? Let the dealers take care of the maintenance stuff.

I missed the model year on the first line. It's pretty early to be changing most of those items, but no harm done other than to the wallet.

The only stuff the dealer would have changed under maintenance would have been:

-Oil change, provided you have the orange light
-Brakes, provided pads or rotors are below spec
-Coolant, after 4yrs from build date, typically done at Inspection I
-Brake fluid, after 2yrs from build date, typically done at Inspection I
-Microfilter, at Inspection I

jaba, where exactly are you located in southern cal? I'm currently trying to look for a good independent mechanic and hopefully perform some of those maintenance stuffs as well. As Vin pointed out, why not do the transfer case and tranny fluid changes as well if you did the diff. Just out of curiousity, does the X have a front differential as well?

I decided not to do the automatic transmission fluid since the I found the fluid for it expensive and since it was a closed system, I didn't find the need to replace/ refresh some of the fluid. I'll probably do that at 50 k miles. I also noticed a torn/damaged cv boot on left side of the car (could probably be that big tug / loud snapping sound when i turn the wheels while on reverse from a parked position. I'll have my dealer look into this). I think I still have about .04 of a mm in my rotors above min specs.

I'm located in costa mesa but I brought my car all the way to a shop in Walnut, of the 60 near West Covina, Azusa and all. I provided all the fluids/materials. Everything that I had done cost me about $340 (shouldn't have had the rotors turned but I wanted to play it safe, he told me anyway that that would drive the cost up because of labor) I don't mind doing it though I guess $340 is worth having all those done every 2 year interval prior to the maintenance service the dealer provides. It took about 4 hours to get everything done. (yes I waited)

As for the differential, I only noticed a rear differential. It took about 2 quarts of redline fluid i brought 3. I was gonna ask him about the front differential and transfer case but I couldn't seem to find it when i was under the car and I totally forgot about it after.

He's an honest guy and knows his sh*t. He was joking somewhat about not servicing BMW x5's anymore cause he said he was getting old and he probably killed his back doing the brake job by himself. If you want his number and location, PM me. He'll probably kill me for recommending him to you but business is slow and he'll probably take on your X provided that you give him all the fluids/materials you already have.

Well, this post is about as long as it should get. Last question though

How many specific filters are there in the car (cabin, microfilter, air filter)? I just got confused for a bit

Air filter for the engine. One main one for the cabin (microfilter). Often times at Inspection, the dealer will replace the charcoal factory filter with a cheap paper one, so make sure to purchase the charcoal one from your parts dept.

Thanks for the help.:thumbup: I got it. I"ll purchase the charcoal filter, and when i bring it back for inspection. I"ll put the old dirty one in.

The dealer told me the transfer-case and rear differential fluid change only when there is a warning light come on. Is this true? What happened if I replaced these jobs ahead before the light come on. Will they still come on at between 60k-90Kmiles?