Tons of Money saved DIY-ing!
 

Hey all,

As some of you may know, I purchased my 2008 E70 X5 4.8i last July. A month into owning the car, several issues started to appear one after the other. I just wanted to share my experience with everyone and how I went about tackling these issues myself. I chose to DIY fix everything not because I couldn't afford the repairs or had prior experience with fixing X5's, but because I wanted to learn about my car. Recently I've decided to tally up everything and was very surprised as to how much I've saved.

I am by no means, a mechanic. My only experience with working on cars is modifying(cosmetically) e92 M3's. My father is a mechanic though, and has given me some input on these repairs but he specializes in Japanese cars.

I encourage everyone to go about DIY fixing their cars because you get to know the car better, and the knowledge will carry on to other cars in the future. You'll also save a ton of cash. :thumbup:

Also if anyone needs some tips on these repairs, just let me know.

Issues
Car would get christmas lights on the dash every 100 miles
Simple battery swap, got coded by an indy shop
Money Spent: $300
Dealer Wanted: $650

Car would shut off while moving
Swapped out voltage regulator located on the back of the alternator
Money Spent: $110
Dealer wanted: $1600 (They wanted to replace the entire alternator)

Losing coolant every 2 weeks
Replaced radiator and expansion tank. Also flushed coolant.
Money Spent: $570
Dealer Wanted: $1900

AWD/DBC Engine malfunction
Replace throttle body, accelerator pedal, and spliced new wiring harness
Money Spent: $460
Dealer Wanted: $2700

Total
Money Spent: $1,440
Dealer: $6,850
Money Saved: $5,410

Special thank you to all the members on here especially gregg3gs. I couldn't have done it without you guys!

I'll drink to that!

Yup, as these cars age, owners are coming up with creative solutions to problems. Its a good time to learn from others.

Nice job, satisfaction that you did it, you get better knowledge of your vehicle and can diagnose it better as you become more familiare, money saved, and you know the work was done. WIN WIN in my book.

Same reasons I do most of my own work as well, especially on my Harley's, one of them if I brought it to a HD Dealser for work, they wouldn't even think about working on it, they say it's too old. LOL What a joke, and many mechanics, using that term loosly here are hacks at best, but look at what they look up to. You ever see the OCC bike building show, can't even sit though a whole episode before I had to change the chanel, only thing i learned is I'm short about 20 dead blow hammers in my tool set. ROFLMAO

Harry