I think we need another car...

[Terri Kennedy]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

When you buy cars like this, you've basically got to fire the parts cannon at them.

Even a one owner from new BMW tends to demand things at this age / mileage. A couple of years ago I did the "replace everything between the grille and the engine block" cooling system service.

Sacrificing front CV joints to the parts gods was a regular occurrence (replacing the stock ones with the same part is cheaper / faster than going for a rebuild) until I bit the bullet and bought some lifetime-guarantee indestructo ones.

Window regulators are also an inconvenience, not because of frequency of failure but because of when / where they failed (passenger side rear in the wilds of PA during a blizzard; driver side rear at the Wildrose charcoal kilns in Death Valley, many miles of rough dirt road back to pavement before civilization).

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Speaking of the “Comfort” seats….

Those were the same seats I put in the e46. They are comfy, but don't give much lateral support

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

The bad is that the X5 NAV display angle is really stupid, so visibility is much worse than you'd expect, even given the low mounted location.

Is it Camaro bad? The 6th gen Camaro angles the center display downward. If there is a front passenger wearing light colored clothing, the reflections are such that the display is basically invisible.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by clyde

Is it Camaro bad? The 6th gen Camaro angles the center display downward. If there is a front passenger wearing light colored clothing, the reflections are such that the display is basically invisible.

pointed at the sun

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

pointed at the sun

Oof.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by clyde

Oof.

Yeah. At least you can dress code your passengers.

[Nick M3]

Yesterday was less productive than hoped. We had friends fly in - they've been traveling across the country in a cessna. (Also, apparently the College Park, MD airport has been reopened to the public.) I still at least got the seats swapped out. Also swapped out the B-pillar trim.

This week's goal is to get the front struts and LF axle swapped out. Will also swap out the LF wheel bearing while I'm in there.

[SCA]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

When you buy cars like this, you've basically got to fire the parts cannon at them.

#THETRUTH

My ‘03 540/6 M Tech with now 64k miles has had exactly that. Turnkey now… Good to go for another 18+ years and I am well stocked on new genuine BMW E39 parts (mechanical and cosmetic) as well in the event something was to go NLA.

[zach]

Comfort seats are imperative in these. The ones in the e53, e70, and e60 (and probably others of that vintage too) were fabulous and cushy.

[John V]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Got the PDR done. The X5 is now mostly presentable.

As a side note, apparently there were roughly 3 times as many 5spd X5s as 6spd. Reportedly 1,079 6spds, and a total of 4,356 manuals in all years.

Nice! Alan just did my truck a few weeks ago and it looks phenomenal. He does such good work.