What did your X5 do for *you* today?
 

I love the thread about the things we do for our E53's. I thought we might also need a thread about the wonderful things an E53 can do for us in return. Naturally, some will chime in about the negative, but that's OK. It happens. :dunno:

• Tell us if you just got the 'look back' after you'd parked it, as you were coming to your ride, or even if you just washed it. Talk to us about the things that only an X5 can do. Maybe even the things only *your* X5 can do. ;)

• Did you navigate an 'any road' situation where another Sport Ute/Activity Vehicle may have delivered but without the comfort and class of your pride and joy? Did you avoid getting creamed by some idiot who was clearly blinded by how awesome your car is? Did you carry 1200 lbs of some remodeling project, remove it, raise the seats and take five adults to lunch?

• Or did your X5 pay the ultimate price just for you? Your spouse? Your kids?

Tell us, Outposters:

What did YOU get back from your X5 today? :thumbup:

And of course, I started this thread because *my* X5 rewarded me with speed, agility, and style even though I put us in danger in the first place... :rolleyes:

Yesterday in interstate construction, I was passing in the farthest of 3 lanes a wide load that took 1/2 of the middle lane. I thought I had plenty of space. I mean, I *would* have if the guy hadn't decided he needed to switch to the middle lane.

The wide load was an earth mover. One of those metal tracked things hanging over the sides- getting suddenly ever closer to my doors. There was no way I was going to power out of the place. I was just too far back. I could have probably stood on the brakes, but I wasn't sure the folks behind me were going to stay there instead of my back seats.

To my side were construction barrels keeping drivers from a section of newly paved Interstate. The road surface is new, but often in use as road crews switch traffic to other lanes for work. I know the area well. It's a near daily route.

Does anyone else sometimes look at those big orange construction barrels and think... "MMmmmmm Really big driving school cones?" :cool: I admit that I often have, so I suppose my split second decision was maybe not as spontaneous as you might believe. But there I was... making the decision and the X5 right along with me...

At speed, I braked slightly and swept to my side through a gap in the barrels. The StopTech binders and Eibach sways persuaded the X5 to comply. We nosed down a little and the X5 was going right where I pointed it. I missed them! No drama! The X wasn't even a little upset. There we were... in a 'verboten' lane hurdling down beside what is essentially a tank with a huge shovel on it. "What next?" says the brain. An instantaneous discussion between the little angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other results in horns sprouting through where the halo all too often fails to fit. :bmw:vs :dancing:

I could hear Obi Wan so calmly... "Use the (brute) force... Hammer the go pedal." And so I did. I had a mile of nice road and barrels to make my next move.

The big V8 just launched forward like it always does- Especially at highway speeds. I was around the wide load and even had a little more room as he finally did see me and was now straddling the lane. With plenty of room in front, I nudged closer to the barrels where the gaps seemed to get smaller and smaller as I accelerated. I was well past the truck when I took my shot.

Clear the truck. Quick brake. Swing through the barrels and hammer the gas again. The Eibach sways fought to keep physics at bay, but the X5 didn't mind even a little bit. No unnatural weight changes. No correction needed. Just that truck getting smaller in my rear view mirror.

It. Was. Awesome.

Oh and need I mention: Of course I was alone. There is like ZERO way I could've pulled that off with the XX chromosomes present. Not quietly anyway. :nanana:

Sounds like fun and scary at the same time haha, I always enjoy reading your post 👍


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Nice story! When it comes to trucks on the highway, ever since a near miss a couple of years ago, I never dawdle when passing; I goose the go pedal and get past them ASAP. That near miss? I was rolling down the freeway (I-90 in Minnesota) a couple miles over the speed limit, and had just passed a tractor trailer that was going just a tad slower than me. As I glanced in my rear-view mirror to make sure I was far enough in front of the truck, one of the truck's rear tires blew out and the tread flew through the space I had occupied not thirty seconds earlier. That taught me a valuable lesson; whenever possible, give trucks plenty of space. And those wide loads... I happened on one traveling on I-29 just south of here on my last road trip. As the truck approached a bridge, the follower pickup behind the truck moved to the left lane & kept me from passing. The load was wide enough that the truck driver was running one wheel on the shoulder, and had to move left to get across the bridge, which pushed the left side of the load about half-way across the left lane. That's another reason to scoot around trucks.

Oh, and my X5 carried me and four others to my father-in-law's house for Father's Day. It did the job well, but the check engine light came on again. I think I'll be replacing O2 sensors here pretty soon.

Took the whole family out for "My day" dinner last night in style :D The Dinan exhaust sound is intoxicated. Sound even better than my //M5 (but wait until I do the muffler deleted on the //M5 and see.)

Doing contruction work with the X5 is classic ...carry 4x4, dirt, cement , tools
I was at Home Depot every days with that x5 ..

--------//
Same old stuff with wife new 2014 GX460
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps6d466c8e.jpg

Mirror finish / depth / sharpness ... Perfect background for the little one " aloha" fashion

She grew with e53 since birth, her official ride ( routine checkup, day care, pre-k and now summer camp)

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...psc9fc7782.jpg

That ride would like even better with that rear wiper deleted. Beautiful x5 though.

Glad the X kept you safe!

Mine amazes me daily that something so big & comfortable can be as quick & agile as it is.

I just installed some Rigid Industries D2 Dually LED off road lights.

NICE! I plan to be iun Chicago with my X5 next month. Staying near Mag Mile.

Cute baby girl! Mine was the impedus for my first X5 3.0 in 2004. She was a little upset when I sold it for the current 2004. But she likes it now. She tells her friends, "Oh yeah. Hold on!" :rofl:

Thanks for the complement!

I work in downtown Chicago (near the bean). If you want ping me and we can enjoy the sunshine + view: (I;m only available at lunch time, sorry - kid pick up duties after work)

* Sweet Water
* Park Grill Millennium Park
* Tavern at the Park

100% dig the "She tells her friends, "Oh yeah. Hold on!"

I work downtown as well - right by the bean. Big red building!

My '05 is sterling gray too!


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lhordmclain, Your little girl is very pretty and stylish. Hard to notice anything other than her.

Thanks for the compliment!

BTW:
One of my to do's visit Austin, San Antonio and Dallas (maybe this year or next year)

* I will definitely stop by at Gas Monkey Grill :)

oops wrong thread

After a couple of days of a wash, polish, sealant and some Zaino Z8, I hit the glass and the wheels yesterday. The E53 sits in my garage just glowing off the florescent lights this morning, waiting to be whisked away on a ~400 mile trip over the next couple of days.

She's lookin *GOOD* and ready to take the K&N drop-in on the first road trip after the AFE.

Fan/alternator/powersteering belt broke. Jeebsus it is a pig to steer w/o PS.

Took 2 days to get belts/fan wrench.

I searched and all I get is alternator R&R that does not have too much in depth belt info. The manuals & write ups I nave found basically say R&R belts, etc anyone have any tips?

Attacking it as soon as it gets light in about an hour.

took the bm54 unit out for an amp repair and a firmware upgrade,
soon to have music streaming , and more power :)

next analogue to digital tv upgrade,

:)
suppose ill have to listen to the symphony of a v8 to keep me amused

it made me grin a little after it responded well to the transmission/drive style reset procedure this morning... (pressing in accel pedal to floor...)
It then shifted smoothly from 1 to 2...
I smiled. :)
A week ago i wanted to sell and hated driving it.. (water pump was screeching, alternator was going, trans failsafe and engine failsafe warnings, one HID fog lamp was out, tire pressure was mismatched, jerked when slowly pulling off from 1st gear to 2nd gear)

today? - all things above fixed and with a 2 hour hand washing, I had to turn back and look at her when i parked her up :)

Provided transport for a cedar trellis!


2002 X5 3.0 264,450 miles
2004 325i 116,500 miles

Sweet! That may be the coolest thing I have ever seen strapped to the roof of an X5! That is so freakin awesome, it kinda makes me chuckle how cool it is. :thumbup: I had an E39 540 in a color close to that for a time. My mother's 335 CiC is close to that color green as well. I still like the greens. Looks great!

Mine gave me ~300 miles of trouble-free rollin' today. After the trip, I got *three* compliments from different coworkers on how 'shiny' it is. One drives an E60, another an E90. And I got one niiiice long look and a thumbs up from a couple of kids in a Toyota Tundra-Ute-thing as they rolled past on the Interstate. (What *is* that thing called? My sister has one with like a bazillion miles on it.. You know the one.. They're all grey.)

No one can believe it's 10 years old. *THAT* still makes me feel pretty good.

Took me to the sauna cuz it felt I'm getting a cold.what a smart car I have...

Clean is good!

Thanks for the compliment. I've only seen two other green/greys in the DFW area, and have never seen another set of chrome style 130 wheels anywhere so it is on the "unique" side. And I know what you mean about people not believing mine is 12 years old. With a little bit of care, they maintain their looks.

The trellis went to a Hampton Inn sign in Marian, AR and weighed 250 pounds. The crossbars flattened out a little but came back to shape as soon as it was off. As long as the load is even, there's no problem hauling the maximum capacity on the roof rack. I've had up to six 4' x 8' sheets of 3/4" hardwood plywood (390 lbs) on the top with no issues at all - other than hoisting them up there!

Ours helped our daughter move into her first home this past weekend. We have the BMW factory hitch and pulled several trips with our dump/utility trailer full of house stuff & furniture with it. My daughter's now a member of the 30 year mortgage club...

Congrats! Getting them up and on their own is an important step in life. Good job! Plus you get a cleaner house too!

srmmm, did you make the trellis? Looks like nice work .... like that nice green color on the E53, too, must be pretty rare.

Yes, it's clear, red western cedar. I'm an IT Director by trade for a sign manufacturing company, but my hobby in woodworking has let me supply several custom wood signs for various customers as they've come up.

I have a plan for a Trellis I need to put together for an entryway into our backyard, and will use western red cedar when I finally get around to it. Fortunately, I won't have to haul it on top of the E53 .......

Yup, out of my house and out of my wallet. Now to keep my son's that way as well and it's like I just got a raise.

Got my blood pumping! :) Went for a spirited drive on some winding country roads, and powered thru some tight corners! Kicked down on some straights, the X had an itch that needed to be scratched!I do love this thing! :) I've been browsing over on M5BOARD. The last couple of weeks, I've had a real bad case of (want one!) Maybe I'll start the search and scratch that one next year...

Kept me out of an accident. Man, these brakes make a lot of dust but they sure work nice ;)

Filled up today, nothing exciting so far lol.

I found a set of 2002 OEM xenon projector headlights for sale about 100km away for cheap, but I'm having issues finding a thread on converting my halogens over.

Any insight guys? I'll start a new thread later on if nothing here, but I'd imagine just swap the low beam connector to match the ballast and maybe an inline resistor for dash lights?

Thanks all

Jack, if it's like my e46 retrofit... swap the connectors over to the Xenon projectors. Then install everything and test. The dash lights will come on and you may have some flicker. Now you need to code the LKM to know it's had Xenons retrofitted. Worked perfectly on our E46... which these vehicles seem to be pretty similar to electronically.

Got a set of Blizzaks.. Corner nicely, but dang they are noisy.

Hauled my new bike for summer :)

And another one