Sorry to hear that tale of woe. There's been a few stories recently about Admiral and their less than market value pay outs. I think it was on the Z4 board that someone would not accept an offer, despite huge pressure, and held out for 18 months. Eventually the insurance company sent someone to deal...

[quote="paulcoles88"] She passed today but with a fair few Advisories... Window still stuck down as they refused to look at it :( Brake Pipe Slightly Corroded N/S & O/S Front Headlamp Deteriorated but light output not reduced N/S & O/S Tyre's close to limit N/S front, N/S & O/S...

[quote="Cat Man"] I went with the BMW Approved warranty. Had a claim this month for a rear air spring - no idea what that would have cost me to have done if I were paying. Horses for courses I suppose, pays your money and takes your chances... [/quote] Air bags are pretty cheap at around £...

Refer the letter to your insurance company. Don't get into any dialogue with the body shop. Their contract is with the insurance comppany, not you.

You'll probably find the body shop has already been to the insurer and been told to "do one" hence, coming to you.

e53, with a DPF. Not likely although German spec may be different.

Most likely the breather. Just change to the vortex type and smoke goes away.

Perhaps Mavis was doing 20 a day.......

Do a search on here.

No e53, whether pre or post facelift, has been found to have flaps.

I'd agree with Steamy. Any problems are usually down to the Mk 4 unit so get that repaired first and see what happens.

The screen is fairly easy to take out and there's usually plenty around on eBay.

[quote="dunny"] Hi Graeme. Thanks very for the advice. Ive heard that Auto boxes on the X5 have a life span of 100k. Is this true? [/quote] No. It's cobblers. BMW say sealed for life so maybe, in BMW's world, life could be measured as 100k or even 70k. The first issue is "sealed for l...

True enough, they can't test a 4WD on regular brake testing equipment. I once had a tester, whilst doing my P38 Range Rover and not testing the brakes, say that if I'd managed to get 2.5 tons of car to their garage without destroying every car in front, there's a good chance the brakes are fine. See...

[quote="Steamyrotter"]
Just found out the hand brake efficiency is not brilliant, but significantly better than the pass mark.

Still room for improvement!!
[/quote]

16%, so as you say, not terribly efficient.

[quote="Steamyrotter"]
[quote="X5Sport"]
Excellent news 

(You sure it was your BMW?)
[/quote]
Adjusted hand brake[/quote]

That's what did it 

No swirl flaps on any e53.

There's a bit of wallet saving good news for a Saturday morning.

There's a black box, rear nearside panel, with DVD written on it. Pull the unit out from it's cage, unplug the 2 plugs and it will be free.

Send this off to one of these guys that will fix it for about £100.

Alternative is to buy a Mk4 Nav unit from eBay and swap over.

WTF is a beeper????????