The E53 was the last X5 without either swirl flaps or a DPF. Be grateful. Both of the aforementioned devices are the spawn of Satan to most motorists who care about their rides. The F15 onwards also has AdBlue too.

It (almost) surprises me that despite decades of steadily increasing car sizes, building regs have failed to keep up. In my Close of 14 houses, only 3 houses actually have cars in their garages. Everyone else has either converted it to another room or it’s just storage because their cars won’t fit.

The vast majority of SUV type cars sold in the UK have been diesel because of running costs/fuel economy. It really only recently began to change. I have recently been seeing only the petrol versions in my main dealer - with 4.4V8 twin turbo mills (the 50i). Diesel was unfairly demonised as the late...

Not just ‘young’ people. It’s the way I’ve done it for the last ten years or so. I’m due to retire in three years (well that’s the plan) and lying upside down on cold concrete is getting a little tiresome. Still happy to do oil/brake fluid changes and wheels/brake updates, but crawling around undern...

As above. The issue with diesels is that in order for the particulate filter to burn off soot (regen cycle), the car has to be fully warmed up and then run above 40mph for at least 20 minutes every 300 miles or so. Short journeys don’t allow the system to fully warm up for the regen cycle to start (...

That depends mainly upon your home location postcode. In London then very likely, somewhere a little less ‘urban’ and might be fine. Mine doesn’t insist it even give a discount. For the X6 they did, but not the others. I’ve had their systems for decades. Used to have them in the fleet I was responsi...

BMW won’t do the install. Trackstar (or Tracker) will send their own technical folks out to do the job. I’ve had one physically installed at the Dealership prior to delivery and it was done in an area where no dealer staff were permitted. They don’t want the dealers to know where the kit is hidden. ...

A 306D1 version of the M57 is the first generation M57 30D unit with 186bhp rather than the later 204/211bhp variant. There may be differences with the bell housing as that version was used with a 5 speed gearbox.

You’d need the ECU from it as well.

My 2011 X6 has it all on board. Not sure when they actually switched over. Mine is iDrive 3 (CIC). ISTR that not all dealers used the electronic version immediately. Yours I think is the same version. It wouldn’t surprise me if different ‘level’ cars had different functionality because of how BMW do...

As above, in BMWs only the passenger mirror ‘drops’ with reverse, and only with the mirror adjustment switch selected to the drivers side. The iDrive should tell you which service is due - it’s usually under ‘Vehicle Information’. The service records are held electronically on the car rather than st...

Moderator This looks a bit suspicious but I’m going to let it sit for a while.

I use Octopus Energy’s Intelligent Octopus Go as my tariff. They use green energy (so they say) rather than power station derived energy. Their ‘normal’ tariff is the Ofgen capped rate (£0.2525p/kWh). The daytime rate is £0.2376p/kWh and runs from 05:30 to 23:30. Their off peak (23:30 to 05:30) rate...

I’ve now been the proud owner of a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) rather than a hybrid of any kind and thought I’d share so,e thoughts together with the costs. As some may know, I bought a BMW i4 M50 a year ago after waiting 14 months from order to delivery. The i4 is based on the current G26 4-Seri...

Glad that you got there in the end. Enjoy more miles with smiles

Fitting sheet is here: https://www.osram.com/ecat/LEDriving%20 ... #downloads

Doesn’t look too tricky. 4 wires only if I’m reading it right.