My (wife's) 2009 xdrive35d
 

Ok, I thought that I would start a thread for this car. A real time "ownership experience" if you will. This will be a space for me to keep track of major maintenance, pictures, progress, trips, etc. I'm not really asking anyone to read, but all are welcome to follow along if desired.

I bought this car having never driven an X5. The test drive consisted of going for a ride in it. It had all the appearance of a shady craigslist deal gone bad. I was dealing the the seller's "assistant" as he was "in Japan". It was all completely on the up-and-up, but I was always cognizant of how much it seemed like one of those scams.

I didn't actually drive the car until it was paid for, but I was immediately in love with it. I was buying it for my wife. Having completely hated her last car (that she chose) and being in love with my e46 DD, she put her trust in me to pick out her next car. I'm happy to say that she is even more in love with this car than I am.


Car had just over 120k miles when we picked it up in Maryville, TN. I was really trying to find one with 100k on it, but this one had impeccable maintenance history, and it was very well optioned. So I took the plunge.


The car has a couple of issues. The glow plug module is bad, which led me to the conclusion that the thermostat is bad, which I confirmed.

I have the thermostat, water pump, glow plug module, and some supporting parts already on order. I will minimally document that repair here, as there are already threads on it.

I've also discovered that the air springs are leaking. Not surprising at this mileage. After looking at the writeup on here, I was pleasantly surprised by how relatively easy that repair looks. I found a local guy on craigslist that has a brand new set of replacement bags very cheap, but the ad is getting very old and I can't get a response from him.

Lastly, the brakes need attention, and first one, then the other headlight washer nozzle went missing.

Here's a few pictures.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/729/32...ec5cb1af_o.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3724/3...4fc04cf0_o.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3666/3...cf29e0a7_o.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/648/33...e5d0ca9f_z.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2899/3...978ec168_z.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3731/3...7dbea722_c.jpg

Nice looking ride. Drivers seat still looks good for the mileage.

@daytonatrbo Seems like my twin but in Silver (seems like you have the leather dash too :o). I have 3rd row, RSE, adaptive drive, comfort seats etc and I have dealt with all the same issues you have.

Yes, it does have the leather stitched dash. Silver wasn't my first choice for color, but it is growing on me. My wife loves it, and that's all that really matters :rofl:


I finally got in touch with the guy with the replacement air springs. They are the same brand that advertises here on the site. I'm hoping to pick them up this week, since the price can't be beat.

I consider the interior to be 10/10 for the age and mileage. Only the slightest sag in the bolster. The rear 60 seat squeaks a little when you sit on it, and there are some slight dig marks on the edge of the rear passenger door panel.

Well, I scored a brand new pair of Arnott air springs for only $120.

It's actually a pretty funny story. I found them on craigslist weeks ago. Long before I bought the vehicle. Once I discovered that the new X5 needed them, I reached out to the guy. He was super sketchy and hard to reach. After trying to get him to meet me last Sunday evening, he ended up not returning my messages until very late in the evening. Since he was about 2.5hrs drive from me, that didn't work.

So, I sent his contact info to a buddy of mine that works in the same town that the springs were for sale in. I told him that the guy was asking $60ea, I needed both, and whatever deal he struck with the guy, I would pay him the $120 when I got them from him. At this point, the ad was so old that it had expired (45days) on craigslist.

After my buddy contacted him and offered him $80 for the pair, the seller called me to see if I was serious about coming for them. Not really sure how to play it at that point I said that I was. He said that he hadn't had a single call on them until me, but suddenly his phone was "blowing up".

He told me that he would hold them for me, yesterday. Today, my buddy called me to say that he was meeting the guy and that he finally agreed to his offer of $80.


So I said 'awesome', and now my buddy has them and I get my springs for dirt cheap and put $40 in my friends pocket for about 20 minutes of his time. Win-win.


In other news, the parts I ordered to do the waterpump/t-stat arrived today. Too bad FCP shorted me the gallon of coolant I bought from them. I've sent them a complaint, but I think I will end up having to buy something locally so I can still do the job this Saturday.

So, this morning I started taking some of the plastic bits of the front of the engine in preparation to start in on the water pump/t-stat job later.

I noticed that the front of the engine is covered in what I can only describe as rusty water stains. I hope its just a sign that the water pump is past-due, but I was wondering if it is maybe a sign of EGR cooler failure??


Any comments there would be appreciated.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2882/3...e764d2bb_c.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3841/3...df2873fb_c.jpg


Then again, it might just be mouse piss:

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3926/3...121e0fd6_c.jpg

Make sure your engine partition units aren't cracked. If they are water can work it's way down and cause injectors to fail.
Good luck on the job as there is some info floating around on doing this job.

The trays are cracked and the acoustic mat was SOAKED
What's the preferred fix there? Buy all new trims?


I'm about to drain the coolant. I've finally gotten the fan out.

Yes,
I believe there are three pieces. Very common problem. I believe bmw improved the design but it's unfortunate the damage that can occur from the leaking partitions.