FinanceGuy's Maintenance/Project thread -- 08 E70

[TheFinanceGuy]

Thanks fellas!

Joop: So far I love it! I still have a few things to sort out, but for average person, they wouldn't spot these items. I have the optional 3rd row I honestly LOVE to have the wood grain trim GONE, but my wife likes it. Says it reminds her of the BMW's she grew up in. Which is exactly why I'd like to swap them out. It's really her car, so her wish.

The airbags were very easy. Hardest part of the whole thing was re-installing the airbag into the upper perch. You have to do this 'blind' then twist 1/4 turn. Drivers side popped right in 1st try. Passengers side, I struggled to find the hole like a high school on his first date. Took me a good 15 minutes to finally get it.
I took my sweet time and did everything including putting tools away, taking pictures, and being nervous about being under a 2.5 ton car in 2.5 hours. Was as hard as changing oil and a flat tire (because you do need to take the rear tires off).
The bags I got from OEMbimmerparts for $190/each. They are made by Arnott. You can buy them directly from them at $205/each plus shipping. OEMbimmerparts had free shipping. :shurg:

I think the X5M has the active steering, which might impact some of what I said above. I think just a different part, however I'm not sure. The process stays the same.
I liked this write up the best: Xoutpost

[TheFinanceGuy]

Transmission leaking....

[TheFinanceGuy]

111,400 miles
Front and rear diff flushed and filled
Transfer case inspected, oil found to be in good condition leading to us believing it was changed at some point. Will still change, but delaying until Jan 2016 (next scheduled oil change)
Transmission pan is leaking. Appears the pan/gasket was installed incorrectly and needs to be replaced. Fun times...

Taking the car in tomorrow AM to have the tires road force balanced. I am having an issue with vibration in the rear seat.

[TheFinanceGuy]

112,000 miles,

Starter died while at work. I have to park in the basement of the parking garage, three floors underground. That makes it hard to two a heavy AWD SUV out of...
AAA sent a low clearance wrecker to recover it out of the garage. The X5 proved to be a bit too heavy for the wrecker, but he did his best anyway. It struggled the entire 21 miles to the shop.
The add insult to the injury, my normal preferred shop, where I get special treatment from all the damn money I've spent there, was on vacation and closed. Tried out a new shop with the ZHP about a week prior to this. Called him up, and even through he was booked solid for the next two weeks, took it in. Had it repaired the next day.

[TheFinanceGuy]

Here is another small update on this beast-
-Transmission fluid changed
This was the result of a rough/hard shift between first and second gear. The tech ran every diagnostic he could to ensure that the TCU was functioning correctly. We ended up concluding that it was 1 qt low on fluid, resulting in low pressure between the valves in the valve body allowing second gear to be picked up.
6 quarts of fresh fluid, a filter, and new pan gasket and it shifts like new. Too bad it had new fluid in it at 105k miles.

-Lifter tick upon first start
Switched to liqui-moly oil and the tick is gone. I am thinking one of the hydo lifters has a slight leak allowing the oil to leak out over night. This is evidenced by the black soot found on the tailpipes indicating a small amount of oil being burnt. Not enough to add oil between changes, but it was slightly low upon draining.