Greydog

Welcome Kevin Nice looking car lets hope it's pain free ownership, a couple of web sites that may be of use are www.realoem.com this is a BMW on line parts catalogue just put in the last 7 digits of your Vin and search. I've found it invaluable to see what goes where and to ensure I get the correct part. Also http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E31/BMW_M60_M62_M62TU Timm's BMW site loads of knowledge and how too's Once again WELCOME, here's wishing you Happy Christmas and a problem free New Year Dave

Here's wishing everyone a very peaceful and problem free Christmas and New Year

On my X5 E53 My choice is:Osram 66240CBI - D2SMTEC Ver.3 - angel eyes

Hi Barry Have a look at www.realoem.com put in the last 7 digits of your Vin then look at the Navigation section. That will give you a list of parts and part numbers for your model so your sure it will fit. You will also know if there are any trims and hidden bits not in the sale. I would think it is a fairly straight forward retro fit just take it logically and dont rush, the only piece of the retro fit you may not be able to do is coding the system to the car which I believe has to be done for that model. If you have software like NTSC or Carly for BMW you could manage it yourself, I would Google a bit to get as much info as possible before parting with your hard earned. Dave

Welcome Geoff Lots of knowledge here if and when you need it, and remember the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask. Enjoy your new car Dave

Hi Kevin Welcome to the Forum enjoy the car and here's hoping you don't need to much help

Morning Joe Welcome to the Forum for information on your car have a look at www.realoem.com put in the last 7 digits of your vin and up will come a full parts catalog for your car, model, type and accessories either fitted or available. Headlamps can be upgraded to Xenon or LED but I believe that would need new units so may be costly to achieve, a bulb upgrade will be the most cost effective.

Hi Scott I thought that the muted mic automatically reactivated when a new call was received or made. Is there no help in your manual? Dave

I did read somewhere (sorry old bloke syndrome and can't remember where) that you have to enable streaming in the settings some how I believe it's separate setting for A2DP. Try a You tube search that should find something I am sure. Sorry I cant be of more help mine has old tech (a bit of wire with a plug on the end) Dave

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