Leaderboard

Castrol Edge 5W-30 half price at $55/5L at Repco.

Have you done the rear struts?. You could add trailing arm bushings to that list. I dont know what your alignment specs are like but adding eccentric subframe adjusters would likely help alot. Yet to see any BMW semi trailing setup that doesnt have the rear alignment out . They are all old\used cars now. Never seen a completely worn one on these cars. They are way more robust than 3 series stuff being a coil over mount and sit high up in the body not being exposed much

He has spent a heck load on maintenance. EGR cooler failed, rear door actuator and stuts failed, rear air bag struts leaking, various suspension components replaced (expected). Couple grand each visit.

If you’re looking for an E70 X5 that’s the ones to get, NZ local “Performance” Edition, especially the later ones with the 8sp auto. In terms of petrol v diesel, the petrols are pretty thirsty especially if worked hard either driving fast or towing. The diesel is much better in that regard to offset the RUC. An NZ new 6-cyl petrol is a pretty rare beast, especially in the later version. Swings and roundabouts in terms of bits to go wrong, coils more likely than injectors, versus fuel pumps, etc. Depends very much on the actual car and finding the right one. With either engine, be prepared for some hefty bills for fast wearing tyres and brakes, especially if you like spirited driving (which you can do in an X5, the pay Back is the wear due to physics!) I think you have been very unlucky with your 120d and understand your fears around another diesel Beamer.

Yep it’s my one! Needing to free up some funds and with the majority tied up in the E30 it might need to be moved on - albeit for the time it doesn’t sell I will keep enjoying it

Top shock mounts?

Well I just discovered a knock in the passenger side rear. Not sure what it is yet but I am thinking its like bushes. So that will also be getting some love. I will probably replace the dog-bones, swaybar links and subframe bushes.

Looks pretty tidy. The fact it's still on OEM Bridgestone runflats (at $600+ a corner) suggests they probably haven't cut too many corners on maintenance

What is left that is 2 or 3? Surely every combo is gone? I am surprised how many of the black style plates are on the road. (They do look quite good on come cars)

Does it make you feel better that its an Aussie company too? Dogs.

No certification re-check tomorrow unfortunately due to the certifier getting Covid and pushing everything back a week. That has been a blessing in disguise as I've had time to not rush things. I never mentioned that after flashing the standard Uprev ROM to the ECU I was unable to get past 70 km/h ... I thought that was very strange as my code to send the speed to the ECU was not functional (did not show speed in my OBD dongle). Upon investigation today it turned out it was in fact working !! Just calculating incorrectly. So have corrected that and now have an accurate speed signal to the ECU which is great as some of the tables reference speed. Did a little data logging from the Arduino and from Uprev just to ensure they lined up when actually driving and have had great success.

Most likely it is the DPF burn mentioned above. Certain driving patterns, ie certain journey times and distances repeatedly can cause this. If you had an injector leaking that bad to over-fill the sump I would suggest there would also be plenty of smoke out of the exhaust, especially on start-up. Probably black, but also possibly white.

The N57 injects extra fuel as part of the DPF burn cycle which naturally brings up the oil level, this is completely normal. When you do an oil change, just put the BMW recommended amount of oil in it. Don't use the dipstick as a guide. From memory, if you put the recommended amount in, the level sits at about half way on the dipstick.

Seats Ive never been happy with my seats, they are certainly not uncomfortable but very lacking once you start cornering harder. Having to brace your knees against the console and holding on to the wheel gets old quick. The foam bolstering on the RHS is a little worn\sagged as you'd expect with all these older seats, but i dont think replacement top and bottom sections @ $800 is going to improve it that much. Also the leather seats aren't quite as grippy as the equivalent fabric units. Decided to experiment\gamble on other options. Shipping prices and quotes i got for one seat overseas were basically the cost of the seat itself, so i ruled that out quickly. Locally no one really stocks anything besides racing buckets and didn't really want to order in something expensive i couldnt test sit in. I figured with the somewhat decent selection for second hard Recaro seats that they were probably the best option. E46 seat bases were still available from Nengen in Japan for around $500 landed so i went with that. Turns out the older E46 bases had been discontinued, only option was to go with the newer bases which sit lower and no height adjustment built in (as below). Im guessing these are more for designed for bucket seats and\or newer Recaro seat models or maybe they are just cost cutting. I saw some Japanese vinyl seat covers for a Recaro SR-3 on facebook and a single good condition SR3 seat on tm. Seat seller was in Auckland and was very hard to contact so i couldn't actually view the seat, gambled and hit the buy now. SR3 - Upon sitting in it i immediately felt it pinching the side of my glutes, trying to move your bum forward relives this some what but now your spine is bent and has no lumber support. Im not fatty with 36" waist, but the seat base being narrow esp at the rear with high side bolstering means if you have a developed some quads and glutes, you get pressure on them from being squeezed. Being taller and having broader shoulders i find they are sitting on outer edges of the upper bolstering rather than inside them. Its really a seat built for your average Japanese guy aka skinny with little muscle it seems, probably fits them like gloves if they used it in so many JDM cars. In saying that is its still much more supportive than the stock E46 seat in cornering. I took it on a 300km trip and it did seem to get more comfortable as my body adapted to the discomfort, but i did have some delayed back pain after. Shame as i thought the SR3 with vinyl covers matched the stock seat ok. Recaro E46 mount (new style)- 1" too low with the SR3 even after being raised at base by 30mm (Im 182cm tall). Still livable. Side seat bolster slightly pushes against the door card arm rest when door is closed. If base or seat were higher it would probably clear. The SR3 upper bolsters do flair out a bit at the top which doesn't help. Im leaving it for now but will likely sell the SR3 and keep an eye out for a later SR series seat. Would have to be taller, more comfortable and has good support. SR6 maybe or later SRXX series. Z4 Msport Sway bars Picked these up from Ray - 25mm front and 19mm rear. Biggest OE front bar that is a direct fit (M3 one isnt really). I always thought that non M E46's with sport suspension came with bigger bars, turns out that was the earlier 98\01 cars with S226A\S338A option (24mm front and 19mm rear) From April '01 they all used 23\23.5mm front and 18mm rear (excl 'vert with 20mm rear option) Certainly helped with the turn in response, removed some understeer bias with no noticeable change in ride quality. Ended up using E60\E61 25,2mm Corteco synthetic rubber front bushings, genuine ones were overpriced and the only option at $80ea. Had some Lemforder 19mm bushings id ordered by accident awhile go so was good to make use of them. Clock fix Suffered the classic shitty BMW plastic failure and couldn't adjust the time due to the plastic tabs breaking. $25 Ebay 3D printed part to remedy.

Cheapest I have seen HPR5 for quite a while. https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/p/penrite-penrite-hpr-5-engine-oil---5w-40-5-litre/14911.html?cgid=SCN8006450 Maybe we should keep posting any half decent relevant oil prices here. I also see Nulon has a new HPR5 equivalent. https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/p/nulon-nulon-full-synthetic-apex-performance-engine-oil-5w-40-6-litre/646302.html?cgid=SCN01070403

New brakes, intake pipe (034 motorsports), and wheels Need to replace the dog bone bushing too, axle hop when smashing out the DSG farts is annoying, then Im going to leave it alone.... Interesting comparing the engineering whilst spannering this thing. That is one big f**k off single pot caliper out of the VW parts bin (GTI performance option unit), everything been definitely effecting by the accounts department. All the subframes and control arms in it (same as mk7 GTI) are all stamped steel and welded tubes. BMW on other hand are all aluminium forgings etc, and even the stamped steel parts BMW spit out are done less agriculturally... VW/Skoda are definitely built to a price. VW must make a killing on GTIs, as they are more expensive than the Skoda for the same conglomerate of parts.