Preventive Maintenance
 

As I browse around the site dialy, I noticed that there is a few concerns regarding preventive repairs, like serpentine belt, water pump, oil separator... etc. I find that it is very hard for all of us to come ot one place at 75K-100K miles to do a major preventive maintenance to our beloved X, so she doesn't give up on us when we are offroading, cruising, going to work/school, camping, anything you name it. I am sure the frustration and the cost associated with unprepared situation cost much more than paying the stealer to get the job done. In addition, the tow company also... I want to start this thread(needing help) to put in items that needs attention.

The way that I am going to do it is to update this thread frequently whenever there is suggestion for attention, or links to the diys, concerns to the first post.

So people will be able to come read the first post and know what they are doing instead to browse the thread for 10 hours and come out confused! This should keep our X stay on the road longer and proof it to be the LEGEND!

Disclosure: I will be the first one to be benefited as I have done no other maintenance except oil change, differential oil change, transmission oil change...

Preventive Maintenance for 75K-100K interval

1: CV Boot - Check the boots - costly damage to axle may occur if boots are ripped and rocks get in.

DIY INFO
Repair Cost range $150-200/side for inner & outer boot
Parts: Front (Inner & Outer Boots) ~ $100 (Brand Rein) from prostreetonline
Stealer Parts: Approximately $80-90/ boot quoted from 3 dealers in So Cal
Stealer Repair Quote: 672 / side


2: Oil Separator

DIY INFO


3: Alternator/ Serpentine Belt(Drive Belt, Multi Rib Belt)/ A/C Belt

DIY INFO

4: Waterpump (Throw in a new Thermostat Also!) USE DISTILLED WATER!

DIY INFO 4.4
Added info: Some complaint that waterpump with plastic impellas will tend to break off in earlier models. I got mine OEM replacement at prostreetonline with metal impella for around 60+, plastic and metal is pretty much the same price~
Check the 2 hoses behind engine for softness, and hoses going in/out of radiator.
DIY INFO 3.0
Troubleshooting
Follow the procedure in serpentine belt/alternator to take off the belt, and you will need a 32mm wrench and a counter holding tool to release the fan. Search "BMW Fan tool" on ebay and you will see it for sale around 35-50 for both pieces. You may also need a 8mm Hex Drive and a T60 Trox bit to release the tension of the belts.

Unresearched Topics:
Tranny filter/Fluid change - A great debate between owners, but there is alot on this topic on the forum, I will try to link it asap.
Fuel filter change - I personally don't know why we need to mess with this filter when the car is running fine, maybe someone will explain?
Diff's fluid change - update pending
TC fluid change - ??
Ignition coil change - update pending

I was hoping to find a thread like this when I joined this forum a couple of months ago, but my search results didn't come back with any one thread that had most if not all of the info in it. (may be I didn't search hard enough.)

Great idea!

p.s. the link in iten 3 is not working.

You might want to add info for the water cooled alternator. From what I've been reading in my trolling, it's something to watch out for in the 100k mileage range.

EDIT: and i agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that this is an excellent idea.

Nice post great idea X5turtle. I just went through the oil seperator valve blues and this post would have saved me some time. Well there is always next time!!!

I just had the 'drive belt' changed by the dealer. I'm assuming this is the same as the serpentine, yes?

Is the water pump easy to get at to inspect?

unless you can isolate some kind of noise coming from the waterpump, there really is no inspection that will tell you it is about to fail - please note that some previous threads have had the plastic vanes in the water pump breaking off and restricting the coolant flow. this has overheated the engine and warped the heads, resulting in an engine replacement. It's like the old Fram oil filter commercial..., "you can pay me now, or you can pay me later."

At least on this website, you can get a fairly good read on how long parts last. you then have to adapt them to your type of driving and conditions. I know CV boots have been an often mentioned repair. yet I've not had to replace one in 96K miles, but it is something I remind my mechanics to check when I have it in for any service. Somethings, like the waterpump, I had replaced because I'm about to go on my biannual cross country trip. Again, it's less expensive to fixin the shop, than out on the road.

I haven't seen a document here on X5World on how to replace the water pump. Is it something you should just have your dealer or indy mechanic do?

Since you are making a central list. (Great idea, thanks.) It would be great if you also list the year/model that has a weakness in a part.

For example, X5Flyboy mentioned the plastic impellers of the waterpump. If all years do not have plastic impellers, then it would be especially good to know which ones do.

As far as I know, the high end Stewart waterpump is only for the M54 engines.

Alrite!! I am looking for some more information to add the the thread, anyone have additional information that I can summarize into one place? Your effort would do a lot of good for the community!!

I would like to service the transmission with new fluid and filter, how do you know how much fluid to put in and at what temp?? I saw a post for a certain temp but how do you know you have reached or exceeded that temp? Thanks for any help or personal experience you can give me to make this an easy diy project. :thumbup:

T

OK, so now my next question is - where are the engine designations listed. By context in other threads, I am guessing the M54 is a 6cyl.

Yes, M54 is the 3.0 liter 6. M62 and N62/N622TU are the 8 cylinder engines.

I've went through numerous post and cannot find a post with temp req when I replace my tranny oil. What I did was to drain the oil from the drain plug, then unscrew the transmission pan. replaced filter, seal, and put everything back. Then I just pump in oil until it leaks, and then turn on engine to wait for the oil to circulate, and then pump in more oil until it leaks consistently and screw it shut. Never pay attention to level or temp, been driving with no problem for 35K miles.

Very cool. Still under free maintenance but saved this in my favorites for when it expires :D

Thanks, I'll give it a try :thumbup:

Transmission temp should be between 30 and 50 degrees C. That is what is dictated by BMW for properly checking the fluid level. Checking the level also involves a bit more then just running the engine for it to circulate (i.e. A/C should be on, etc.)

How can I tell what the trans temp is? :dunno:

I don't know. I just answered the original question. The dealer knows the trans temp from the computer reading.

Buy a Infared temperature reader from pepboys for about 10 bucks, I believe.

Teaser: :rofl: Just don't stick a glass therometer or it might break.:rofl:

Or just drive it around town for 20 minutes or so before you change the trans fluid. That's what I've always done.

I have 66k miles now ... would I change the water pump now or wait for a while? .. everyone here suggests changing it at 75-80 k miles.

My car will go to the workshop today for normal service (oil, spark plugs, ... etc) and I was thinking to do the water pump.

Wait. Check all your hoses.

I replaced most of the hoses ... they get dry quickly here because of the very hot weather.

I think I will wait till the next service.

Do I need to replace the Thermostat as well? or only the water pump?

Can you be more detail about hoses?:stickpoke I've open up the hood and there is ton of hoses.:wow: How many exactly are there and how many of them you replaced?? :rolleyes:

Hi,
Good idea for a thread! I have a couple of ideas/tips and question...

My X5 3.0i w/ 91,2++ miles on her

Oil sep. replacement: My '01 3.0i just went out (clogged) a week before X-mas (great). The SES light turned on and my wife spelt the oil in the cabin. I bought my X5 from the local bimmer dealer (no warn.) and i decided to bring it into them to check the code (checkers auto had OBDII but broken and my business partner, parting out old Land Rovers did not get his in the mail, backed up in x-mas mail..lol). By afternoon the dealer called and said it was the oil sep. went out but BMW NA said they would pay for the job, minus $100 (saved $1,000 plus) and it was not recalled (should be) but a good will jester (had a fancy name for it..lol). This covered the oil sep, re-location dip stick, engine cleaning, hose and some other parts... I could post all the parts that they used to help out others here (which parts to buy). I would call the dealer to see if they would cover the upgrade. I had my O2 univer. sensor (can not think of name) went out but paid for that...

Tranny fluid/filter change: Like a couple people said, get a temp gun and if you drive the X to get it up to normal temp then the ATF will drain better. I use Hylomar on my gaskets and threads on my Rovers and it would be good to give the gasket around the pan a good coating (i think they have a rubber gasket in the kits for the pan, new to the bimmer world). Also in the Rovers or almost all cars they will only drain the Qts from the pan and there will be left overs in the torque and etc that will not come out. ex in my 93 range rover i would drain 5 qts out of the pan but the tranny holds about 10qts or so. I would drain out the ATF (5qts or so) then fill it up (still has the dip stick) and then w/in 1,000 mile i would drain the pan again and add new ATF to it (this would get the oil ATF out).

I got lucky that the PO (i am the 2nd owner) took her in for everything (to the dealer) and all fluid changes on time, brake fluid, coolant, and etc... I had the key read and the service guy printed me out everything that was done by that dealer. I found out that the brakes were just done, tires only have 50k miles (she bought new ones), the H2O pump went out which caused the belt to come off and wreched the fans and etc (got a belt and fan out of it to, glad it did not happen right after i bought it) when it was on the lot, 3 month before i bought so the dealer paid for it...lol That was one thing that worried me about buying a car w/ 86K miles but i got really lucky w/ the H2O pump.

H2O pump: Also if you see some coolant dripping around that area get it looked at ASAP. The pump could fail then this will cause the belt to stop which could wrech the fan, rad, and etc.... I have seen rad's go bad ($$$$) w/ the fan going right into it.


This summer i am going to do the following on my own (preventive Maints):

Tranny filter/Fluid change.
Fuel filter change
Diff's fluid change
TC fluid change
Ignition coil change (thinking about this and they say every 100k). Does anyone know what all needs to be changed on them. ex... boot covers,...
I am use to the spark plugs w/ wires, cap and rotor. 1st time w/ the ignition coil which seems a lot easier to deal with! No cutting up my hands trying to get at the plugs:D

One other thing. Join the BMW CCA and you will save so much money! I have already saved over $100 or more and joined in July of '08! I now buy all my parts from the dealer (live 5 miles away) do to the matrix % savings on parts. Yesterday i bought some clips to hold the door seals together... normal price ~$2.00 each but w/ the Club discount it was around 70 cents each (bought 10 clips and some brake fluid and the tap was under $12.00 and no shipping!!!). Also the dealer here (i had the work done) will give you 10% off labor...

cheers,

what is CCA BMW?

I typed to fast, BMW CCA
Here is the link http://www.bmwcca.org/
lots of great deals and only $40 a year!!

I'm not sure about lots of great deals. I was a member for years and frankly I thought it was a waste of money. I could find information far better on the net and the discount was minimal compared to buying parts online from BMW dealers. The discount is 10% off parts and nothing off of service. It's relatively easy to get 15%-25% off BMW parts these days. The magazine was interesting, but by the time the articles came out the information was already 2+ months old.

Everyone has their thought about it.... I live really close to the dealer and have checked out prices online and the cost of shipping the part(s) to the discount i get at the dealer and i still save money on not shipping. Like when i need a oil filter kit and only pay ~$7.50 (w/o discount at dealer $9.99) at the dealer w/ discount compared to buying the filter and then having to pay shipping and wait for it to get here...or just some clips to hold onto the door mud seals....i really like the monthly mag (Roundel) too.

I really like this post, my CPO runs out 8/31 and I have 72k miles right now so I know I am up for some preventive maintenance. BTW, do dealers or any other auto do diagnostic checks or analysis or inspections of what will need to be done?

ALWAYS replace the thermostat with a water pump change. Also check the 2 hoses behind the 4.4 engine (~30mm dia), if they are soft & flexible then they are wearing thin and should be replaced

Excellent point! All the hoses at the BACK of the engine should be examined thoroughly.