Putting the back seat in again is kind of a pain, since you need a few more hands to jockey the seat belt buckles into place correctly. It can be done with practice!

Heavens, I didn't cut my carpet. I did yank about a foot to 18" of it out from under the plastic moldings/whatever and folded it back out of the way. It went back into place when I was finished, easier than I expected it to. Tucked it back under the moldings a little and banged it with my fist a couple of times. Can't tell that I ever had it out.

I did learn a simple trick with the seat reassembly. The biggest pain with that step is getting the female seat belt sockets back through the seat bottom. Put the seat bottom in place far enough to fish the seat belt sockets through, far enough to buckle the male end into it. Leave it buckled and it won't come back out while you complete the seat installation. Work with getting one belt buckled at a time. The buckled ones of course will stay in while you do the others. You may have to tug on the belt some to pull the buckled assembly up through the seat properly. At least that gives you something to tug with.

Yeh, that was the first thought to run through my head, about it maybe not working to disconnect the batter cable. My experience has been that some codes on some vehicles clear out that way, and some don't. Not much to lose in trying (except keeping the wife busy reprogramming pre-sets).

LOL I learned precisely these lessons just yesterday! Including the use of the seatbelt tabs.

A rationale for the X5 is cargo space for two folded bicycles. I haven't yet test fitted them, not until I have a $300 cargo area protector.

I DO NOT want to use an external bike rack. I have a nice DraftMaster. A $6K Greenspeed was destroyed on the DraftMaster when the Ringgold, Georgia, 2011 tornado dumped a roof on the car.

Great trick on the seatbelt buckles, I'll remember that.
I plan to check my fuel pump about every 6 months.

Not a bad idea, if you own one of these machines. Certainly check it if you get the P0442 code and you know that the gas cap is/has been on properly.

oh oh... I guess I gooffed :yikes:

I wrote to BMW last night expressing my displeasure with finding out I was driving a potential bomb. I made it clear that I was the one that discovered the issue - why are they not taking an active role in recalling these vehicles before tragedy strikes?

If they hear from enough of us, maybe we will get the action needed. I'm typically too busy to be an activist, but this problem hit home and was a genuine risk for me and my family. You don't mess with that. An perhaps the NHTSA would like to know about a high percentage of E70s failing evaporative emissions miserably after a few years...

If this fuel pump connector issue happened to me, it could happen to you. It's worth your safety to: 1. Check the connections to your pump 2. Jump on BMW for not addressing this issue. As I stated in my e-mail to them, this issue carries a lot more REAL risk than GMs ignition switch.

I've said my peace!

All of us who have encountered this problem: Are we all model year 2009, or do we span multiple years?

Dielectric means non-conductor. Dielectric grease might be used to keep moisture out or for heat transfer but it is an insulator.

Contact improver is just about the opposite. It may be metal filled, have abrasive characteristics in a lubricating vehicle.

The power current resistance relation is P=I^2 x R An electric motor will draw more current as the voltage droops, dropped across other resistors in the circuit, limiting the Counter Electro Motive Force induced in the motor. As the motor slows due to load or low voltage, the current will increase until the motor quits on overheat or a protective device functions.