Went to stealer and they did inspection 2 Even though Im at 68,000
found out
OC3 sensor mat is bad. - under warranty
piece missinh in weather stripping next to spoiler - $165.00
stuck thermostat - under warrnaty
total price with labor $928.00

I put in a camshaft position sensor(exhaust side had p0369 on my obd reader, sway bar arm link (passenger side) very clunkie hollow bottom of the bucket sound. Kinda hard to explain. New water pump and soe fresh coolant.

We out for a nice cruise with the E46forums/bf.c community. Makes me appreciate the X5 how stable BMW's are when driving at highway speeds even with winter tires. I also didn't need to turn up the volume of my music once from driving on local roads to driving on the highway; road noise doubles on the Impreza so I'm bringing it back into service as I think that is unacceptable.

I am patiently waiting till I can get back into a BMW. At least I get the X5 for a few days when the Impreza is in service.

did this

Attachment 53530

for the third time in five weeks. getting old.
think it's done more miles on a flatbed than it has on its own recently

Whats failed 3 times in 5 weeks?

As I'm now pretty confident of the conclusion, bought a new OE, not oem, battery, installed at stealer.

Cause of replacement:
Turned on HID fogs, but double-hit the switch, int lights came on, four way flashers blinking. Hit 4-way switch, then open close door to kill int lights. Hit fogs again, all seems well.

Next day (12 hours) battery totally dead. Stealer says prob with my DEPO AE's, surprise.

Install OE battery, no AE's 2 days, all is well.

Re-attached AE's last five days. all is well.

As stated many times here, wonky electronics? start with the battery. And feel free to verbally bash me, but if you can afford it? get the BMW OE stupidly expensive battery (replaced < 2 year old highly recommended Optoma).
</podium>

Also, wife was giggly about how well the X performed in our goose-poop snowstorm last night. Apparently cars were sliding everywhere, she was 'on rails'. Nice.

EDIT: Stealer said battery tested Fine, told 'em to replace anyway (winter, been dead, going for ultimate safety)

Props for the well functioning X.

Short story. Optima Red Top. Din't last for anything in my last car. Lasted 2 years, replaced under warranty. Lasted another 1.5 years. Died. Factory battery, is still in that car when I sold it, 4 years, and going. Just food for thought.

Removed the back licence plate light covers, were almost full covered by oily dirt. I washed these plastic covers with a sponge and some dishes detergent. I firmly wiped the light bulbs with a wet cloth. Let dry, reinstall. it's fine & shiny.
did the same for side turn-signal light. Tried this for fog lights, but couldn't remove the glass cover from light assy. Just cleaned outside face of lens.

Found the steering fluid below min, filled with ATF fluid, sucked all fluid away, then refill again. Close cap, switch truck on, turn right to the max, left max (to get rid of air), checked fluid level again, add some just below "max" level. it's fine.

Had rpm fluctuating during cold start, added injector cleaner to a full fuel tank. Still fluctuates, checked, found coolant water below min level. Will replenish soon (hopefully it's the only reason behind this)

Pumped out old brown pentosil from power steering, poured in some fresh green sauce. Will repeat in a couple of days. Can't believe it was so brown. And no, not aft in there.

1. frozen oil separator
2. failed power steering pump (on my way to Chicago - 100 mile tow back to dealer). local "mechanics" in podunk Indiana had no clue what was causing the loud howling. they offered to remove "that there plastic" and have a look - I politely declined. lucky we had an awesome friend come up from Indy to get us.
3. no idea yet - back at dealer for diagnosis. started, ran badly for 20sec then died. multiple warning lights, Trans Failsafe on dash, discouraging noises under hood. hour late to work. my neighbors probably thought I was getting repo'd. how embarrassing
Attachment 53565Attachment 53566
108,000 miles