Bought a X5 35d - What Next? Maintenance and Deletes?

[drummr8]

I just got a great deal on an X5 35d, but I don't have a ton of info about the service history and it's over 100k miles. I am very experienced with BMW's, but not diesels (yet). I plan to do 95% of any work myself, and I also have a 335i that I deleted and tuned with MHD. That being said, here are my questions:

What risk items should immediately be addressed?

When doing deletes, is there anything I should do first/immediately, or do it all at once? How much time should I allot for DIY delete?

For deletes, what exactly is required/recommended parts-wise? Is this everything below? What gaskets are necessary?

https://www.tunemyeuro.com/eco-bille...5d-and-x5-35d/
https://www.tunemyeuro.com/buzzken-b...-cat-delete-3/
https://www.tunemyeuro.com/swirl-fla...5d-and-x5-35d/

Intercooler upgrade necessary/recommended for tunes, like with N55/N54?

Transmission tune worth it?

Transmission "refresh" needed? Will definitely do fluid and filter, but do I need new solenoids, mechatronic sleeve, and the 4 rubber seals between the valve body and housing? (I've always owned manual trans)

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer. And yes, I'm already reading every thread I can find on the diesels

[mcmahand]

Congrats on the purchase! The main items you need to look at are the following
- Valve cover gasket
- Thermostat (temp needs to be at 180-190F)... might as well do the water pump too
- Harmonic balancer
- Belt tensor and idler pulley... check for the recall too.
- Vacuum lines
- fuel filter
- Transmission fluid, filter/cover, and mechatronic seal and sleeves
- Differential fluid
- Transfer case fluid
- Crankcase Ventilation Hose... get the hose from tunemyeuro
- Exhaust Gas Pressure Sensor Hose... they are prone to rupture with age. Youll smell exhaust gas when it does. Needs to be fixed immediately
- Center rain tray if its leaking before it kills an injector
- Glow plugs and controller
- motor mounts might be at end of life
- Upper J oil line for the small turbo... they are prone to leak and its an easy fix.

.... that covers a majority of the maintenance items.... more like a 100K mile IDK what the last owner took care of list but do not skip the valve cover!

As far as ABC deletes:
- EGR race pipe... many vendors
- Swirl flap delete/blanks... many vendors
- Downpipe and mid pipe... rawtek with DOC is my pick.
- intercooler is not required but recommenced and going with AMT gets rid of all the leaks... I recommend also get their ASV kit too.
- Tune... there is a few out there; cost does not always mean more power, reliability, or customer service


if you have FB join the group. there is countless good people willing to help
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NABDOG

[RL18]

That guy pretty much said it all. Also don't forget the clutch alternator pulley and check for CBU!!! I would personally make sure you do all of this before you delete. I did the opposite in my 335d and I paid for it and and my car was down a lot. But my x5d I'm doing right by making sure maintenance and issued are addressed before deletes so I can enjoy it.

Also a transmission tune is definitely needed, deleted or not, these transmissions are soft and sloppy and it'll feel a whole lot better just by tuning. Also xdelete is another thing you can look at to change the driving dynamics of your x5d.

Intercooler I recommend since the x5d is a pain in the ass to replace a leaking boot since you pull the bumper and the fender liner, so you can do it, hopefully, once with the atm intercooler kits rather then hope the factory arrangements work. I know my 335d blew the boot a couple days after I deleted. Remember these cars put out some serious boost I recall mine being around 38-40psi tuned.

[mcmahand]

I would have to agree with RL the trans needs a tune. I know for me the trans tune alone left a lot to be desired compared to my 335d.

I ended up going for the upgraded TC from sutphin. Now it shifts like it should have from the factory.... kind of pricey but I would say it was just as much of a gotta have it investment as an LSD was for my 335d.

[drummr8]

Great feedback guys, I really appreciate the detailed response! Have any of you driven both a tuned/deleted 35d AND a tuned/FBO 35i? I'm really curious how they compare.

[Honda]

After owning both, I would pick 35d tuned and deleted for sure for being torque monster.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by drummr8

Great feedback guys, I really appreciate the detailed response! Have any of you driven both a tuned/deleted 35d AND a tuned/FBO 35i? I'm really curious how they compare.

I have driven a x3 m340i and I still prefer my stock 35d with just a trans tune over that. I like my diesels though. I'll be deleting my x5d soon but I have an idea of how it'll be since I have a deleted 335d. Different gearing though so I'd imagine the x5 will feel like a beast after especially with xdrive.

[drummr8]

Just got an emissions code today, then checked the coolant temps and while cruising I'm at ~70C, at idle it got up to 80C. Ambient temp outside was about 65F. Seems my temps are very low, so I'm hoping it's as simple as replacing the thermostat, resetting codes and going for a long drive to burn some junk off. Sound about right?

Also, do I need to replace both the trans thermostat and the main thermostat, or just the main? I guess it makes sense to do both while coolant is drained?

[RL18]

Just replace the main thermostat. Btw, now would be a great time to do an egr race pipe, if you're still on the stock Harmonic dampener you should replace with either fluidamper or FAI automotive, you should do both belts, water pump, and clutched alternator pulley.

[Nyc Dito]

Originally Posted by drummr8

Just got P20EE today, then checked the coolant temps and while cruising I'm at ~70C, at idle it got up to 80C. Ambient temp outside was about 65F. Seems my temps are very low, so I'm hoping it's as simple as replacing the thermostat, resetting codes and going for a long drive to burn some junk off. Sound about right?

Also, do I need to replace both the trans thermostat and the main thermostat, or just the main? I guess it makes sense to do both while coolant is drained?

Hopefully your Tstat takes care of your code/issue. I recently had both NOx sensors replaced under warranty and the code (P20EE) came back. Both the dealer tech and my Indy confirmed the SCR (catalytic) is most likely going bad. My Tstat performs correct and the car runs great.

Follow the suggestions by RL18 and report back to update us.

[Thecastle]

P.s. I’ll add I tuned my transmission and felt it was a minor improvement at best. I also changed the oil... anyway it gets rid of a bit of the slip behavior when giving throttle at low speeds. But beyond that I felt it was a waste of money, fortunately it wasn’t that expensive. Some people swear by the custom tunes, after how little change there was I didn’t bother. I’ve not bothered with my 550i and x5m either since my 335d experience.

Some other things that break commonly are
The boost hose seals
Egr cooler

The glow plugs are not usually a problem unless you have a bad t-stat. Then the engine never achieves operating temp and constantly runs the glow plugs until they burn out. I’ll also mention that I had the jr tuning, Mhd is a more recent tune and I don’t know the reliability of it. Jr was trouble free for me for 55k miles, stage 2 with egr delete. Dpf and scr still active. The dpf rarely fails on these cars.

Skip the fluid damper. My car never ran as good as stock after installing. I went through 3 fluid dampers, various clutched pullies, replacing all belts and tensioners seeking a good idle. I started with the 1st batch and was part of the initial group by. I’m not the only one that has had problems with the fluid damper, but most folks won’t post about it for fear that it will kill after market development of this part as folks won’t buy it. But really the stock damper is fine.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

P.s. I'll add I tuned my transmission and felt it was a minor improvement at best. I also changed the oil... anyway it gets rid of a bit of the slip behavior when giving throttle at low speeds. But beyond that I felt it was a waste of money, fortunately it wasn't that expensive. Some people swear by the custom tunes, after how little change there was I didn't bother. I've not bothered with my 550i and x5m either since my 335d experience.

Some other things that break commonly are
The boost hose seals
Egr cooler

The glow plugs are not usually a problem unless you have a bad t-stat. Then the engine never achieves operating temp and constantly runs the glow plugs until they burn out. I'll also mention that I had the jr tuning, Mhd is a more recent tune and I don't know the reliability of it. Jr was trouble free for me for 55k miles, stage 2 with egr delete. Dpf and scr still active. The dpf rarely fails on these cars.

Skip the fluid damper. My car never ran as good as stock after installing. I went through 3 fluid dampers, various clutched pullies, replacing all belts and tensioners seeking a good idle. I started with the 1st batch and was part of the initial group by. I'm not the only one that has had problems with the fluid damper, but most folks won't post about it for fear that it will kill after market development of this part as folks won't buy it. But really the stock damper is fine.

Take his opinion on the trans tune with a grain of salt. There's many tunes available and they all blow away stock tuning. It also has better cold temp shifting. Not to mention the torque converter locks up much earlier than stock. The real fix for these cars is an upgraded torque converter but we won't get into that. The trans service is very important though like he said, every 50,000 miles it should be done

I personally don't recommend fluidamper either from all the issues they've had. The FAI automotive HD seems to be the best option and is popular in Europe over the stock unit. That's what I went with. The clutch alternator pulley is a must though, that will greatly increase the life of the HD.

[Thecastle]

Originally Posted by RL18

Take his opinion on the trans tune with a grain of salt. There's many tunes available and they all blow away stock tuning. It also has better cold temp shifting. Not to mention the torque converter locks up much earlier than stock. The real fix for these cars is an upgraded torque converter but we won't get into that. The trans service is very important though like he said, every 50,000 miles it should be done

I'd take all opinions with a grain of salt especially from folks who are selling/promoting a product.

Do you actually have any experience with the xhp tunes? Which tune are you using. Blow away in what way? Any objective measurement?

The xhp, stage 1,2,3 tunes which I've owned emade a minor difference in cold weather behavior, and a little less clutch slip from a slow roll. But beyond having the gear indicator on the display wasn't even noticeable to anyone who drove the car. I'd lend it to folks and they never noticed a difference per/post tune. ITs not nothing but not major in the list of upgrades.

I'd recommend a trans tune only when you've done all the better bang for a buck things like, engine tune, deletes and etc. If you want that last little bit. But its not going to make a major difference, unless your heavily modded and the upped torque limits maybe of benifit. On a stock car there are better ways to spend money.

[Thecastle]

Originally Posted by drummr8

I just got a great deal on an X5 35d, but I don't have a ton of info about the service history and it's at 137k miles. I am very experienced with BMW's, but not diesels (yet). I plan to do 95% of any work myself, and I also have a 335i that I deleted and tuned with MHD. That being said, here are my questions:

What risk items should immediately be addressed?

When doing deletes, is there anything I should do first/immediately, or do it all at once? How much time should I allot for DIY delete?

For deletes, what exactly is required/recommended parts-wise? Is this everything below? What gaskets are necessary?

https://www.tunemyeuro.com/eco-bille...5d-and-x5-35d/
https://www.tunemyeuro.com/buzzken-b...-cat-delete-3/
https://www.tunemyeuro.com/swirl-fla...5d-and-x5-35d/

Intercooler upgrade necessary/recommended for tunes, like with N55/N54?

Transmission tune worth it?

Transmission "refresh" needed? Will definitely do fluid and filter, but do I need new solenoids, mechatronic sleeve, and the 4 rubber seals between the valve body and housing? (I've always owned manual trans)

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer. And yes, I'm already reading every thread I can find on the diesels

I'd add swirl flap delete and egr cooler deletes are not strictly necessary, and if your wanting to save a few bucks can wait. You can buy a EGR cooler block kit, heck I have one still I think, and the swirl flaps won't make any real measurable difference, except at high power levels maybe. I did go with the race pipe to completely delete the cooler, but its not strictly necessary, unless you have high power goals.

Your going to need to spend a lot of money to turn this car into a performance monster. So economizing on things initially can save big bucks for things that make a bigger difference. I'd also expect your suspension is shot at 130K miles and will need probably new tension struts, bushings, shocks, and etc.

IC like on most cars will make a minor difference with certain tunes. Most of the upgrade people think they are getting is because of a lack of oil coating the inside of the new cooler improving its heat transfer efficiency. Going larger also can increase lag. Best bang for the buck is remove it and clean the oil out, then add a catch can to slow the oil fill up.

I wouldn't bother with the mech sleeve and solenoids unless you have a problem. The sleeve wasn't really a leak issue on this transmission. A fluid change is a good idea. There are plenty of kits, but you will need an accurate way to measure trans temps to achieve the correct fill.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by Thecastle

I'd take all opinions with a grain of salt especially from folks who are selling/promoting a product.

Do you actually have any experience with the xhp tunes? Which tune are you using. Blow away in what way? Any objective measurement?

The xhp, stage 1,2,3 tunes which I've owned emade a minor difference in cold weather behavior, and a little less clutch slip from a slow roll. But beyond having the gear indicator on the display wasn't even noticeable to anyone who drove the car. I'd lend it to folks and they never noticed a difference per/post tune. ITs not nothing but not major in the list of upgrades.

I'd recommend a trans tune only when you've done all the better bang for a buck things like, engine tune, deletes and etc. If you want that last little bit. But its not going to make a major difference, unless your heavily modded and the upped torque limits maybe of benifit. On a stock car there are better ways to spend money.

I know you do thecastle. I run the stage 3 tune and use the customization license to fine tune. I drive In M-mode usually which is a massive difference over stock (faster shifting, quicker lock up, rev match sensitivity, I can choose shift speed/firmness, full throttle shift points). D-mode I rarely use on either my m57s so my tweaks are minor at best. Driving in d-mode I suppose you could say it's a minor difference felt but you seem to have higher standards when it comes to performance.

But it looks like we can agree on the fact that a deleted m57 needs the transmission tune. I don't actually know from experience though because my first modification on both my x5d and 335d was a transmission tune.

[mcmahand]

xHP trans tune on my 335d made paddle shifting instantaneous and sport mode almost instant shifts. Too harsh at times at WOT but I call it better than stock. Granted it does need improvement but I quit beta testing when Clemens pushed out v2 and called it good enough.....

Now on the x5d the xHP tune felt very slow at shifting still and acted like it just wanted to slip with no power getting put down. I hated it enough to say screw it and roll the dice on a somewhat new product and try the TC and a different tune.

Once installed it shifts very smooth and is very quick to engage from a stop; only a little throttle is actually needed now 10% vs almost 40% before to feel like it was accelerating... Now in sport/manual mode I can squeal the tires finally 2-3 shift at wot...

For me I would buy what you want on your car. I promote no products, I just give feedback when asked, good, bad, or horrible.

[RL18]

Originally Posted by mcmahand

xHP trans tune on my 335d made paddle shifting instantaneous and sport mode almost instant shifts. Too harsh at times at WOT but I call it better than stock. Granted it does need improvement but I quit beta testing when Clemens pushed out v2 and called it good enough.....

Now on the x5d the xHP tune felt very slow at shifting still and acted like it just wanted to slip with no power getting put down. I hated it enough to say screw it and roll the dice on a somewhat new product and try the TC and a different tune.

Once installed it shifts very smooth and is very quick to engage from a stop; only a little throttle is actually needed now 10% vs almost 40% before to feel like it was accelerating... Now in sport/manual mode I can squeal the tires finally 2-3 shift at wot...

For me I would buy what you want on your car. I promote no products, I just give feedback when asked, good, bad, or horrible.

I feel like if you drive in m-mode you have the best driving experience in these cars. It's just so damn quick. I always get asked if its and manual and I say no it's an automatic and people are like what?? It's not as fast as a DCT but damn close.

Btw the harsh shifting and little quirks is the reason I bought the customization license, since fine tuning my stage 3 tunes on both my x5d and 335d I have no complaints. Took a bunch of revisions but it was well worth it. They both have similar tunes but my 335d is more aggressive, my x5d might get revised once deleted though.

[Nyc Dito]

I did xHP/Rod Sutphin tune and love it compared to stock. I had already did trans service maybe 8k miles ago and did new adapter and sleeve as well, for $20 why not? The car now shifts much better even in D mode and Sport is great for ME. M mode has made me want to do paddle shifters since I dont have any, M mode is really nice and responsive. The main reason I did it was to eliminate the cold start shift points, they were super annoying to ME.

I am no vendor/retailer of ZF, xHP or Sutphin Tuning, just sharing MY experience.

My next fluid and filter service will include the Sonnax kit.

[JDAURIA]

Originally Posted by Nyc Dito

Hopefully your Tstat takes care of your code/issue. I recently had both NOx sensors replaced under warranty and the code (P20EE) came back. Both the dealer tech and my Indy confirmed the SCR (catalytic) is most likely going bad. My Tstat performs correct and the car runs great.

Follow the suggestions by RL18 and report back to update us.

Recently had thermostat replaced. P2E00 just popped over the weekend. I will be taking to dealership this week to hopefully have them replace the NOx sensor under warranty. Is the SCRA metering valve still under warranty? (SI B18 04 12)

[bluefish7]

What year is your X5?

Originally Posted by drummr8

I just got a great deal on an X5 35d, but I don't have a ton of info about the service history and it's over 100k miles. I am very experienced with BMW's, but not diesels (yet). I plan to do 95% of any work myself, and I also have a 335i that I deleted and tuned with MHD. That being said, here are my questions:

What risk items should immediately be addressed?

When doing deletes, is there anything I should do first/immediately, or do it all at once? How much time should I allot for DIY delete?

For deletes, what exactly is required/recommended parts-wise? Is this everything below? What gaskets are necessary?

https://www.tunemyeuro.com/eco-bille...5d-and-x5-35d/
https://www.tunemyeuro.com/buzzken-b...-cat-delete-3/
https://www.tunemyeuro.com/swirl-fla...5d-and-x5-35d/

Intercooler upgrade necessary/recommended for tunes, like with N55/N54?

Transmission tune worth it?

Transmission "refresh" needed? Will definitely do fluid and filter, but do I need new solenoids, mechatronic sleeve, and the 4 rubber seals between the valve body and housing? (I've always owned manual trans)

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer. And yes, I'm already reading every thread I can find on the diesels