Greydog

The Mk3 is CD based and the Mk4 DVD I believe, I was told they are interchangeable I looked at this upgrade and the cost of the Mk4 units second hand is silly I also wanted Bluetooth again a silly cost for BMW units, both would have been over £600. In the end I brought a Hualagin unit fitted for just over £500. It looks standard but provides easily updated good sat nav with full postcode search across Europe, rear view camera, DVB TV, DVD/CD, full Ipod connectivity, Bluetooth, aux in etc etc oh and a radio. I have the original BMW kit which I must get around to selling but should more than balance the cost. My advice would be consider a Dynavin/Hualagin type unit as a replacement.

Welcome I brought a 4.4 petrol X5 last year primarily to tow a horse box (we had just sold the horse lorry). What influenced me? As both my wife and I have other cars I didn't want to spend a fortune on a car that wouldn't get used that often. It had to be capable of pulling 2 large horses and everything that goes with them. I wanted something that was comfortable and reasonable on the motorway. After trying several different marques Mercedes ML, Range Rover, Audi Q7, Toyota Amazon we tried an X5. The X5 on the road is a far better drive than any of the others, equipment levels are comparable all had nav, phone etc, all could pull 3 tons with ease. Off Road ability what a load of rubbish is talked here!!! The furthest off road most of them go is a muddy track or slippery field. Then I looked at prices, now I have never owned a BMW before and expected prices for a premium marque would be high what a pleasant surprise. On average prices were 2 or 3k below RR and Merc then I saw the X5 we brought, low-ish miles full history tax and MOT blah blah the thing was the price due to it being Petrol bargain, it seems no one wants a gas guzzler but this one was LPG converted. Yes I did the research I knew suspension bushes are suspect around the mileage we were looking at so that went into the negotiation. Since purchase I have had the suspension re-bushed with polybushes £480 and the car didnt have bluetooth and I kept forgetting to divert calls to the car or cancel it?? So I had the headunit replaced with one that has Radio, bluetooth,DVD, DVB TV, Ipod, Rev camera, CD changer and more all in £430 fitted. I enjoy the drive so much it has ended up being used just about everyday, it's quick enough it's cheap to run and tax great when the snow came (Shooting is a hobby and it went everywhere without problem) I am so pleased I am selling my CLS and will upgrade the X5 later this year.

That Plate looks brilliant never thought about such a simple mod making a big difference, but then I never normally mod my cars just change them? Not a 4.6 or 4.8 but my 4.4 on LPG goes around 280 miles on 60 litres of LPG (mixed and proper motorway speeds) at £0.73p a litre (Cheaper if I can find a Morrisons) = £43.8 the equivalent in petrol would be about £85. So £ for £ I think it works out cheaper than a 3.0D. A friend has a 3.0D and he reckons the same distance costs him about £50

I brought my X5 primarily to pull a horse box and it was originally going to have low usage just like you (both my wife and I have other cars). I brought a 4.4i with LPG conversion and I have driven it almost everyday !! There goes the low usage, on the road I don't think there is any 4x4 that drives/rides better. I read the comments about the suspension bushes so had them checked and upgraded to polybushes (actually cheaper than OEM all in) I couldn't get on with the BMW in car phone (I kept forgetting to put a divert code into my mobile) so I changed the headunit I now have bluetooth DVB TV I-pod and all the other stuff for less than the cost of a BMW bluetooth upgrade. I shoot and the X5 has carried us over some pretty snotty snowy and slippery tracks this season without once even feeling like it would get stuck. With LPG at 74p (thats the dearest I have found on the motorway) I think it's one of the best cars I have owned.

Seems to be a common fault with the FSR, mine went the day I was picking the car up (stroke of luck for me) It took one of the service guys about 10 mins to change he said it was fiddly not hard. He removed the carpet trim in the drivers footwell, the FSR is right at the back behind the heater. He un-clipped it removed the plug and put the new one in. The new one was a different design (I am assuming an upgrade) all has been well since.

Swap it for a 4.4 or 4.6 petrol running LPG you don't get anymore MPG but at 73p a litre it's easy to live with, I get around 200 miles on a tank of LPG (better on the motorway with cruise control in) and a tankful costs between £40 and £45 dependent on where I fill up. Plus no potential turbo or EGR issues.

OK the headunit is swapped Wow, what a difference the biggest and best improvement for me is the bluetooth (includes phonebook transfer) no more fiddling with divert codes. Just get in start up and go, the unit it's self has Radio, GPS (really excellent full European 3D maps and post code search speed camera and speed alerts) DVB TV, I-pod connection, plus it plays CD's DVD's has USB and memory card inputs (tried but not used) sound quality is great in all functions and steering wheel functions are retained. Just to much to mention really and all for less than the cost of upgrading the BMW phone system to bluetooth. The car is still going well, I have been onto a number of shoots recently where mud has been a big problem but the X5 has got us around and not got stuck (yet), even drove around a stranded Disco (I think if I had stopped there would have been two of us) He needed two Landrovers to pull him out.

Such a shame that the attitude of some main dealers can do so much damage. Sadly it's not just BMW I have had the same arrogance problems from Mercedes (Gearbox issue with my CLS hard erratic changes) the dealer told me it was my driving style!! Volvo who think it's fine to keep changing parts at the customers expense and still not cure a misfire, finally cured in 1 hour by an independent. Come on BMW a respected company of world standing listen to your customers. Good Luck with the Audi

4 months and 3600 miles have flown by, still really pleased with the X5 the suspension creaks were the dreaded rear subframe bushes on their way. So I had them upgraded to the poly bush replacements, so no more creaks and groans. I can't get on with the in car phone/nav/TV in the car. I keep forgetting to put the divert code into my moblie and the cost of upgrading to BMW bluetooth is just silly, so I am going for an aftermarket replacement with it all in the headunit I have seen and tried one and was very impressed. So anyone want the old system PM me.

Hi I have seen these codes on Mercedes it happens when the fuel enrichment exceeds parameters. The codes are normally caused by a Vacuum or air leak, or it could possibly be a dodgy O2 sensor. My first checks would be looking for any air/vacuum leaks on the inlet/servo side, check and clean the MAF then reset and see if they return. Good Luck Dave

I now have belt and braces!! Parking Sensors all working plus Rear view Camera definitely needed when my daughter uses it she has always parked by ear.

Well done, glad you got the blower sorted. With the parking sensors I have an intermittent fault with a rear one I know which one but when I fitted the Digital TV upgrade I brought the AV lead with the camera input so it made sense to fit a rear view camera. Needless to say I haven't bothered with the parking sensors since, I will get around to it as I just like everything to work but its low priority now. They say things come in 3's I hope the 3 things you have found are all that need doing.

When I brought my X5 the blower stopped working at the garage the day I was picking it up (lucky me) it took one of their workshop guys 10min to change. He dropped the black plastic trim under the steering wheel 3 screws (I think) then one screw on the carpet trim alongside the tunnel and popped it out. The FSR is right at the back towards the firewall, he just reached in unplugged it and plugged the new one in then put everything back together. The workshop guy told me this was a common fault until they upgraded the FSR the new ones have a shorter finer Hegehog bit (cant think of a better description). Certainly worked OK since, after seeing what he did I think it wouldn't take me to much longer he said fiddly not hard.

I have just done the upgrade all PnP got the Audio Video cable with rear camera input from Ebay I already had a Veba DVB TV tuner from a Volvo we used to own. The only difficult bit (if you can call it that) was finding where BMW had buried the TV Unit (I do mean buried) Once you have uncovered the TV tuner its all straight forward PnP. The Veba unit needs an infra red detector for the remote control, I mounted that in the front ash tray out of sight and fed the lead back to the unit in the boot. The antenna's are under the trim of the rear side windows (seem to work OK) reception is good if you are stopped or not travelling to quick above 50mph the signal starts to break up. Maybe higher gain antenna's mounted in the rear spoiler like the OEM ones would improve things?

Thanks for the welcome Guys. Well I just spent 4 days shooting on the Woodhead, 4 guys all the kit and 2 dogs almost 600 miles round trip without a hitch. Up on the tops the going on some parts was shall we say "pretty snotty" and we just followed the keepers 110 Defender without any problems at all. So the smile is bigger.

Well it's just over a month since I brought an X5 4.4 Sport, primarily to tow a horse box I have been really pleasantly surprised and pleased. Performance is excellent ride is very comfortable we have ended up using it almost everyday (not the original plan). There are a few little jobs that need doing (aren't there always) some scuffs and scratches (I am fussy) digital TV upgrade (done) there are a few creaks and groans from the suspension (bit like me in the mornings) they will be investigated next week it's booked for a full service. One of my hobbies is shooting and I have already tested its off road capabilities (well as far as I am likely to) 4 guys all the kit and 2 dogs in comfort across the top of the Woodhead, chuffed. Oh it also runs on LPG so a 500+ mile round trip to the Woodhead Pass at 75p a litre cost just over £75 for this car and it's capability that is a bargain. Long may it continue

Morning When I brought my car there was spare Navigation CD player in the rear side pocket I haven't tried it yours for the postage if you want it?

Hi everyone after selling the horse lorry we needed a car capable of pulling a horse box. One of my hobbies is shooting so AWD is a bonus, most of my friends advised Range Rover or Disco. A month ago I purchased an X5 4.4 2001 with low miles and a full history, it has a few scratches that I will get seen too and the drivers seat bolster needs replacing at some time (common problem on every car I looked at regardless of make) but then my backside is on it so I tend not to notice it much. The doubters have told me X5's are nowhere near as good off road as a Range Rover, but as I have pointed out a muddy gateway is as bad as it will get with the horse box or a farm track when shooting. So after 1 month of ownership I am really pleased with my X5 everything works apart from the TV (why are BMW so expensive with an upgrade to digital). Fuel consumption is OK for the size of the beast so looking forward to a good spell of BMW ownership.

Google search for BMW owners club, simples