Radiator flush/new coolant
New hood latches/cables
New alternator
New belts
New spark plugs
Changed oil/filter
New agm battery
New FSM

So lately the back of the X5 felt unstable on road variance and hard braking.
Kept thinking yeah, I need to do the rear control arm bushings, they are probably worn out.

I really started to notice it the other day in a hard downpour running into normal hydroplaning areas on the freeway. The back just seemed disconnected.

I wondered about tires and gave them a good look and noticed the outer edge of my right rear was wearing ahead of the left and noticed some cupping.

Jacked it up and gave the wheel a lateral shove and Holy mother of God, it moved at least an inch.

Took the wheel off to find the tow arm had loosened up. I guess I hadn't tightened it enough when I did the Hard Race arms last year.

I tightened it up and all is good now but this is the second nut/bolt that I failed to get tight enough (front thrust arm was the first) even though I leaned on all of them when installing.

Note to self, stick to programming the race cars and leave nuts and bolts to the mechanics. :banghead:

So which bolt loosened up? The hardrace adjusting bolt?

Finished up valve cover gaskets, again. Did it about 3 years ago. Oil started leaking on the backside of the drivers side valve cover. Took it apart, the eccentric sensor in the back was barely hanging on. The inside valve cover half moons were broken as well.

Replaced the valve cover, gaskets, and sensor. No more oil leak. I must have did some damage the last time I did the gaskets. Such a PITA not much space to work with

No, the outer end of the tow link that connects to the hub assembly. It looks like a tie rod end. I suck as a mechanic.

Don't be so hard on yourself. You're just not heavy enough. ;) I have ZERO problems @ 240lbs breaking bolts by leaning on the bar. :D

But seriously, some Loc-tite is nice insurance for mission critical things like suspensions and brakes.

I'm in a relatively smooth sailing period with my X5, but had a couple things pop up. October was hunting month, so the X5 pulled my camper to far SE Colorado for 4 days of pronghorn hunting and then made one day trip elk hunting in north-central CO. The trip to the SE part of the state involved some REALLY dusty conditions so....

Changed out air filter (Mahle)
Replaced long-leaking selector shaft seal on transmission (more trouble than should have been)
Now at 8K mi. on last oil change, so ready to change oil and rotate tires.

Driving in the early AM hours on I25 yesterday, I couldn't avoid a "pipe" in the road on Sunday AM. It looked like a 3" diameter by 4' long piece of PVC pipe, but it happened so fast, I can't say for certain. It was a big thud under the X5, but I had little choice but to continue on my way (construction zone with concrete barriers and enough traffic to eliminate any options to stop). I can't see any damage so far, but...

I don't drive much at night, so it hasn't been a high priority, but my dynamic headlights have been wonky since I got the vehicle earlier this year. They randomly go up/down. I didn't worry much about it, as I intended to do some paint work on the X5 and the wife's X3, and intended to sand and clear the headlight lenses with the 2K clearcoat. Figured I'd address the wonkiness then. Alas, that paint project kept getting bumped and after the pipe-in-the-road incident, I decided I needed to go ahead and figure out why the headlights aren't acting right. A little reading up and about 10 seconds under the passenger side front end revealed that the height adjuster switch was broken and missing the linkage to connect it to the control arm. So, I threw $70 toward FCP Groton and soon I should have properly functioning headlights again!

That's it for now. Otherwise enjoying my E53 and happy to have joined the club!

AM.

Thanks CW. I can program race cars to win championships but apparently I have no business holding a wrench. Good thing my teams have professional mechanics. :slap:

Thank God the nut was a nyloc or it could have turned ugly in a heartbeat.

Glad you found the aiming hardware issue. Once you get it working do yourself a favor and aim the lights exactly 0°. Park parallel to a brick wall on the driver's side and cover one headlight so you can aim it until the mask transition is parallel to the bricks.

Then cover the other headlight and repeat. You will be mind blown when you see the difference


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I use to tell the car owner/driver that we were both better off when he would just drop the American Sedan(AS) car off at my place and let me prep it for the weekend vs him working on it and me fixing it all weekend at the track.

He won the NASA Championship in Spec Iron this year :thumbup: