Quote:
Originally Posted by DuSh
You can stay with your stock plugs (what's your mileage?), but if/when you'll get pinging/jerking at WOT - you might start getting misfires and maybe even infamous message "drive-train malfunction error...". In that case you'll need to diagnose car for error codes and most probably change plugs. Don't touch coils until they go bad or you have a specific cylinder misfiring even after you changed plugs. You can swap bad coil then (you don't have to change all 8). I would invest in either Bimmercode OBD device to read errors and be able to diagnose simple things at your convenience without having to go to dealer for every single issue. Even better if you can install e-sys, insta/rheingold (can be downloaded for free) - then you'l be able to do a lot of stuff yourself. Check coding threads.
I think 5-8k oil changes are fine (you can also just out of curiosity send your oil for analysis to blackstone labs - some people have done it and so far it looks like N63TU is holding very good, low chromium - so piston rings are excellent, etc). For the rest you need to follow maintenance schedule, but keep in mind you might want to be careful when going to dealer for maintenance: you'll need to flash back to stock at least (and possibly swap plugs to stock ones if you are going due to misfire, because if they will change plugs and see that you have X5M ones - you might get in trouble about warranty depending on the dealer). I would change ZF8 transmission every 60k for sure - because I don't believe in lifetime fluids and ZF itself recommends fluid/filter change. Fuel filter should be fine in US (gasoline quality is good). Coolant is a shady area - ideally you might want to change it at least at 100k. BMW coolant system is very good and tight, but coolant still looses it's qualities over time.
Wastegate is fine on X5 50i - we have quite reliable turbos - failures due to wastegate are very rare (I haven't seen one so far).
IMHO most important thing when you are tuned in 50i - is good fuel (91 octane sucks), good plugs/coils and timely oil changes. Everything else is not much different from any other car. If you live in hot climate like AZ or FL - I would think about either getting a E85 tune or installing a meth kit for cooling.
There are also some other things available to prolong engine life like a cooler thermostat swap (the one that opens earlier and keeps lower temps) and/or downpipes - that will reduce exhaust temps that stock cats (catalytic converters) that are creating 1400F right in the middle of engine and slowly frying everything in engine: hoses become brittle, gaskets may leak, valve stems loose elasticity etc. However, downpipes will cause emission issues so it's not that popular, at least in US/Canada and especially for X5 50i - that is usually a family car for majority.
In sum, just follow common sense, research and think twice before committing to some expensive mods, do timely maintenance and you should be fine in the long run.
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Thanks for all those info, it’s really helpful!!! And such a relief for a newbie like me.
I already brought the bm3 tune from their website this morning, and will try to flash it tonight or maybe this weekend. The current mileage of my car is about 22k miles. So I will change plugs at next oil change (30k miles).
After some research, there do have some bad stories regarding to the injectors and coil failure, figure crossed. The extended warranty of my car gonna be ruined for sure, but I hope the tune will worth the risk.
Btw, if I daily drive below 3k rpm, the flash tune won’t affect the lifespan of the engine plugs and other components right??
Cheers
