Still haven't got a chance to upload any pictures but... here's an update on the first 3 weeks worth of ownership of my 2009 X5 XDrive 4.8.
Including Tax, License, etc., the purchase price wound up being about $17,000.
Week 1
The obvious thing it needed was new brakes which I got installed brake pads and rotors for $650 from an independent mechanic in Santa Clara that I found on Yelp. I was very pleased with their service. These days with Yelp, it makes finding a reliable independent mechanic easier than 10 years ago when I had my BMW M3 and had to rely on word of mouth.
After driving the vehicle for 2 days, I had two warnings pop up. One was a headlight adjustment issue and the other referenced the 2-stage brake light.
I took the vehicle in for these issues and the brakes. While it was in, I had the mechanic give it a good look over and he discovered a oil leak coming from the oil cooler lines. So... $20 worth of parts and $1500 worth of labor, the oil leak problem was fixed.
I picked the vehicle up on Friday afternoon and drove it up to Lake Tahoe for the weekend. I noticed that they had not fixed the rear brake light issue so we agreed that they'd fix it the next week. No issues on the drive except, I discovered one problem with the GPS.
The GPS issue is that I drove from Tahoe to Reno and there is a new freeway between Carson City and Reno that wasn't on the GPS. So, it was obvious that I needed to take the 580 but my GPS lost its mind because I was off the map. With the dead reckoning, it knew exactly where I was but, didn't know how to give me instructions for about 25 miles until I synced up with the known highway.
I'm sure this can be fixed by updating the navigation DVD. So that's probably $100-$200.
Week 2
I'll start off with the drive back from Tahoe. It started snowing about midnight Saturday night so, I figured I'd get an early start on the drive back on Sunday. I left the hotel at noon. I was expecting a snow chain checkpoint so, I knew things would be a little slower but I had no idea how slow.
It took me 9 1/2 hours to drive 10 miles from Stateline, NV to the chain-up checkpoint near Meyers, CA.
The stop and go traffic gave me the opportunity to break out the owners manual and read up on the vehicle. So, I figured out a few things like - how to open the glove compartment, how to operate the rear wiper and what the fluid capacities were. Actually, the traffic wasn't stop and go, it was just stop. During the 9 1/2 hours of idling, I burned about 1/4 tank of gas. Also, looking through the owners manual, I found all the info from the previous owners including a few receipts from previous service visits. One of the service visits noted the oil leak so... that had been leaking for some time.
The X5 handled really well in the snow and ice. The only issue I uncovered was the fact that I needed to replace the passenger side wiper blade. It wasn't making contact with the windshield for about the last 6-8 inches so it was just dragging accumulated ice and snow across the window. Once I turned the defroster on, that solved the ice problem.
After my 14 1/2 hour drive back from Tahoe, the only thing I needed the mechanic to fix was the stage two brake light warning. To do that, they replaced two of the brake lights for the mild sum of $650.
So, by this point, I'm into about $3,000 or so worth of repairs. This brings my total spend up to almost $20,000.
Towards the end of Week 2, I get a warning that my windshield wiper fluid is low. No big deal, I stop into AutoZone for $2.50 worth of wiper fluid. I pour the entire gallon in. Later that evening, I park the car and observe a giant puddle of wiper fluid under the passenger side of the car.
I think it could be an overflow or it could be a cracked reservoir.
Week 3
Drove the car from NorCal to SoCal. Drove like a dream.
After about 5 days, the windshield wiper fluid alarm went off again.
Looking online, everybody says that it could be a cracked reservoir or it could be one of two pumps which appear to be located under the reservoir. In any case, it sounds like a $650 job, mostly labor.
I parked the car last night before flying home to Australia. It will be 50 days before I return to the USA so, I'm hoping the jumper cables I bought at Sears in Burbank on Saturday will do the trick before I drive it to Texas.
I need to order some BOSCH wiper blades because the replacement Rain-X ones I got at Target don't seem to fit properly.
So, after three weeks, the summary is $20K invested, 1700 miles driven, 1 pending headache (windshield reservoir) and 2 minor issues (wiper blades + updated Navigation DVD).
During Week 3, my younger daughter discovered that the Bluetooth works for the phone but not for media. That's an oversight on my part. I probably should have done some more research on that. It does work really well for the phone though.
After the drive to Texas, I'll stop back to comment if any other issues show up.