Independent repair shop in North Carolina? Charlotte and west?

[jeffNC]

Hi all, new member here. Love the forum.

We have a new to us 2018 X6M with about 42,000 miles on it and I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for and independent repair shop in NC? We live about 45 mins west of Charlotte. Between Charlotte and Asheville.

I was reading a thread about fluid changes and had me wondering about a shop. I do my own oil changes on it but haven't tackled some of the other fluids yet.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Jeff

[pachieh]

Dang, if you were east of Charlotte I’d recommend Import Motor Werks in Cary.

If you can do an oil change, you can do your diffs and transfer case. Very easy and multiple DIYs on here and YouTube.

For your transfer case, you need a Foxwell scanner or ISTA to do the calibration after the fluid change.

[jeffNC]

Thanks Pachieh!

Sounds like I could definitely do the diffs and transfer case. I am pretty mechanical and try and do all my own maintenence. Did the rear differential fluid and manual tranny fluid on my 2015 corvette but you don't have to do any calibrations on that vehicle.

Is this the Foxwell you mentioned for do the calibration of the transfer case after you change the fluid? Not calibration needed after doing the diffs?

https://www.amazon.com/FOXWELL-Autom.../dp/B019QCG5RE

Vehicle only has 43K on it guess I need to look up and see when it is time to change the fluid on the diffs and transfer case. Never done coolant or brake fluid either.

[tfunk88]

I’d get the newer NT530 from Bimmerworld. Was about $30 cheaper than Amazon for me

I’m doing coolant, transmission, transfer case, and diff fluids every 50k miles. Brake fluid every couple years.

[jeffNC]

Thanks Tfunk88 for the info and what you are doing and time frame.

Can you use BimmerCode or Bimmerlink app to do any of the things the NT530 does in regards to replacing fluids and telling the vehicle it is done? I have both apps (haven't gotten the paid verson yet).

Just curious. Sorry for the newbie question but the last BMW I had was a 1991 E36 325is that I loved and there were no apps for that!!!!!

Jeff

[tfunk88]

Man, I wish…I also got both BimmerCode and BimmerLink thinking I’d be able to do all kinds of stuff…but BimmerLink is basically a good code reader and monitor. It won’t allow you to do a transfer case recalibration, which is why I ended up ordering the Foxwell NT530.

The only fluids you need to “tell the car” when they are done are oil and brake fluid, both of which can be reset using the odometer reset button in the dash. Hold the button down (ignition on, engine doesn’t have to be running) and the service options come up. And this is just for service interval indicators, not because the car makes changes based on fluid replacement.

[pachieh]

You need the Foxwell or ISTA for the transfer case because the VTG calibration adjusts the clutch packs, no other way or software to do it.

No calibration needed for the two diffs that I am aware of.

Also, next oil change, drop the pan and tighten your oil pump chain. Also easy to do, just takes a little time.

[jeffNC]

Hi Pachieh, thanks for the reply and info.

So I guess the oil pump chain is a problem? Even with 44K miles? Guess I need to look that up and see how to do it properly.

Thanks,

Jeff

[jeffNC]

How soon do I need to be looking at tightening up the oil pump chain? I know it varies but with 44K don't want to pull the pan too soon if it doesn't need it.

Jeff

[tfunk88]

I did mine at 94k miles and it seems recommendation is no later than 75k miles. I know there was one post by someone who said theirs was a little loose at around 40k miles, but it wasn’t anywhere near as loose as mine was lol

I’d say you can wait a bit, but it really doesn’t take that much more time than an oil change, plus you’ll get to see how clean…or not…part of the inside of your engine is. I was pretty happy to see how clean mine was from regular oil changes vs the bmw extended interval.

[jeffNC]

Thanks Tfunk all good info!

Did you just buy the replacement oil pan gasket and reuse bolts or did you replace bolts also?

I saw one video here the guy recommended replacing all of the oil pan bolts (25) and the reinforcement plate bolts (6). Seems extreme!

I change my oil every 5000 miles so yeah doing mine sooner than recommended.

Thanks!

Jeff

[tfunk88]

I did change the 25 lower oil pan bolts as they have the correct threadlocker on them, and I got them from FCP Euro so if I do it again they have a lifetime guarantee. Though it’d be easy enough to clean off the old bolts, add a dab of non-permanent threadlocker and reuse them.

I did not replace the 6 shield bolts…which are actually the ones I SHOULD have replaced since they are torque to yield bolts…but I’ve never had an issue and my shield has been on and off a bunch of times lol

Oil change every 5k is what I do as well. 👍