Greydog

Looking Good Scott

Morning Scott Welcome to the forum lots of experience here to tap into on everything from detailing through to mechanics Enjoy your new car don't forget pictures for us !! Dave

The beeps are "BMW Wallet Alerts" just your beemer's way of making sure your awake!! As Trevor says low battery voltage will throw all sorts of spurious alerts and warnings, I use a Ctek battery charger and conditioner a couple of times a year just to make sure the battery is in top condition. It takes around 12 hrs to complete a full reconditioning cycle but well worth the investment and effort in my opinion.

Not an easy question to answer I would check out classic auction sites a little on line research should give you clues. The difficulty in valuation is for someone looking for that Marque and model the price may be quite high for someone else it is just an old car (please don't take that the wrong way) So Google as many sites as possible to get an average price that will help guide you, good luck

The Xdrive system has lock up on the box and engine braking at low speed. With my X5 it has a 3 option Auto box auto, sport, manual and I have to confess apart from a play when I first got the car it just lives in auto. So I suspect that unless we have a really bad winter I think you will be the same, enjoy that Xdrive.

An Xdrive will cope in anything but the most extreme conditions on summer tyres with out to much stress, however remember it's not just about getting going steering and stopping are useful things to be able to do as well. That said my X5 with fat summer tyres has many times pulled the horse trailer with a couple of fat horses on board out of slippery wet grass fields and coped with snotty gateways where others have had to wait for a tractor to assist. Winter Tyres use a different compound that only really starts to work below about 12 C so on a cold frosty morning they are not compromised. While a summer tyre still works it's stopping distance will be increased. With the AMG's on a cold morning on a moist road any acceleration would give the traction control a work out, while on winters it wouldn't be noticed. Just remember just because they grip better in poor conditions they don't increase our driving skill to that of a World Rally driver !!

I can see this turning into a game of "Pass the Parcel" sadly in our litigious world I wonder if corporations spend more time finding a way of avoiding liability or responsibility than helping their customers. A simple question would be do BMW supply a different headlamp for Spain than the rest of Europe or the UK ?

Winters are the way to go I started using them years back when I did a lot of travelling and business in Northern Europe, they are law there from October on. Try an AMG E class or CLS with out !!! I even have a set of Wintrac Extreme for the X5, as Mick says they don't fix everything but at least you can still get about.

Thinking about the information gained it makes sense now that BMW show the same part numbers for left or right hand drive vehicles

OK digging further with a little (well a lot actually) help from an old business buddy in Barcelona it seems the Spanish have 2 sets of what we term "Construction and Use Regs" UNECE and EU, UNECE are United Nations regs for world approvals and EU obviously take precedence in Europe. Jose sent a couple of links 1st http://www.f2i2.net/VehiculosComponentes.aspx?lengua=En clearly shows that headlamps must comply with Regulation 112 2nd Is regulation 112 which I have attached in PDF format but as I read it it is clear that light units that are EU conformity marked and have a "passing" beam pattern are legal in all EU states. All Xenon lights do apparently and most can be set to Right or Left hand drive. Jose works with Nissan in Barcelona and they don't have different light units for vehicles shipped to the UK the UK dealer adjusts them? So the can of worms gets fuller ?? Jose says " set the lights to left hand drive say nothing and take it for a test " Good Luck Paul R112r3am1e.pdf

Just to add to the confusion, I have just searched www.realoem.com BMW online parts catalog and it shows the same part numbers for headlamp units both left and right hand drive?? In headlamp components it shows a part number 10 on the list as the Alignment element? Paul I don't know if you use realoem just Google it and put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box then search headlight and see what you come up with. What a can of worms

And all because Europe drive on the wrong side of the road ?

Depending where you are in the country someone may have a set of winter wheels/tyres that you could try. I have a set of 18" fitted with Wintrac extreme non runflat not sure if they would fit the F25 though? Due to the young age of your X3 you may compromise warranty if it turns up at the dealer with "non standard" tyres fitted. With my X5 the tyres are low profile and are harsh and noisy on all but the very best surfaces the winter wheel have a deeper side wall and noticeably quieter and less harsh. Check out ebay I brought my winters from there with tyres fitted for just over £200, worth a consideration and if it fixes the problem you can then measure ride comfort against the warranty risk should there be a drive train issue.

Runflat tyres ? Hard side walls there are many posts on other sights stating harsh ride, road noise etc from runflat tyres

Certainly modules or functions could be activated or switched off on earlier BMW models using Inpa, BMW 1.4.0 or similar. I believe Carly do a software app for Smartphones now which uses a Bluetooth dongle in the OBD socket though I have now experience of how good/bad it is or what can be achieved using it. Good luck and enjoy your 4

Morning Barry Try www.realoem.com enter the last 7 digits of your Vin and have a search you can also search manually the E36 would be in the Classic section I would think. It is a BMW online parts catalogue so if it was fitted or an option it will show up. Being BMW though it isn't always logical which section they put things in so have a good poke around. Good Luck Dave

Maybe it just needs a good clean? A neighbour with an X3 has just had her car Terracleaned she had white smoke at start her car has a full BMW Dealer history from new BMW told her it was due to the cars age and her low mileage (about 25 miles a day) The deep clean has fixed it, well for now anyway, she also says she is sure the car is quieter first person I know who has actual experience of it.

The X5 Diesel had an engine breather filter that was prone to clogging (earned its self a nick name of the bog roll filter) if your car still has one of these old filters it can cause the white smoke cold starts and after idling. Most have been changed to vortex type filters which superseded the early ones. The pre heaters can also fail giving white smoke at start though this normally clears when up to temperature Fingers crossed it is a simple and economical fix Dave

Morning Emma Ouch !! Is your garage a BMW specialist ? Can they take a pressure reading at the rail ? At least it would take away some of the guess work. For the actual pump I would look at www.realoem.com put in the last 7 digits of your vin and search fuel system you should get the part number plus any alternates. The good old Google and Flea bay are a source to find a good used or re manufactured pump that does save a lot then find a friendly mechanic or garage to fit it (being sexist here as you may be very competent with spanners) Fingers crossed for you Dave

Welcome Very nice, enjoy the miles may they be smooth and trouble free

That's a great outcome Lee, not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive either. Now you can enjoy your Beemer. I use www.realoem.com for part numbers then look for the best price for the part I need online. Just put in the last 7 digits of your Vin and hit search. That way I cut out a lot of guess work Good luck in the future

Good news on the sniff test (your wallet will like that result) Don't forget the auxiliary water pump Lee if it is running it will help self bleed the system and save a lot of grief. With the X5's if it is sticking or not running the job is a whats the word beeeeech, also no heat to the feet. It performs the same function for your car I believe.

As Clarkson said "Diesel" fuel of the devil welcome back to petrol

First question Lee is it manual or auto ? If its auto then there is a thermostat located at the bottom of the rad under the expansion bottle plus the thermostat in the water pump. If its head gasket a sniff test at most garages will find out quickly. For your cabin heater you will have an auxiliary water pump in the system trace the pipes from the bulkhead and you will find it not unknown for them to clog or burn out, put your hand on it and get someone to turn on the ignition you should feel it running if not very little heat in the cabin. Fingers crossed the sniff test is clear

My son did exactly what you have done and put in an additive which Toyota said had clogged the low pressure pump and filter, there was just enough fuel getting to the high pressure pump to allow starting and normal driving below about 2k rpm as soon as he went above that fuel starvation miss fire and engine cut out. So my money is on the low pressure pump and filter. The BMW 3.0 engine is one of the strongest out there and capable of some monumental mileages with good maintenance so I would have no worries about you enjoying your car for a long time to come. Remember what Clarkson and co did with a 140k 3.0 D stripped out the interior fitted a cage and then raced it in an endurance event at Silverstone !! 6 hours flat out and finished in the placings. So ENJOY