Hi everyone,
Been lurking around here long enough and think its time I get my rides thread up and alive! 😁
Some of you may recognize the vehicle as Gavin's old X3. An absolute gentleman who took great care of the X3. I hope to be able to look after the X as well as he did
Basic specs:
- Space Grey Metallic
- M-Sport
- Xenons
- Electric Towbar
- Sunroof
- Black leather interior
- BMW Professional Radio
Extras:
- Downpipe
- JB1
- Vari heat treated and slotted disks
I've had the vehicle for 4 months now and I've done over 10k km's already! The X is incredible to drive! Comfortable, spacious and super responsive for its size. The sound with the downpipe is something else!
In the time that I have it, I've done the following:
First on the cards was tyres. I opted for non runflats as I prefer driving around with a spare for peace of mind. Also staying in a little dorpie in the Free State means run flats aren't always easily accessible and the higher risk of potholes and cutting tyres makes non runflats more feasible
I did a little bit of DIY touches on the grilles by just spraying them gloss black for now. Would love to still get a set of gloss black dual slat kidney grills from Firi in the future
I recently found out that there was a Ceramic Pro facility in Bloemfontein which is about 100km away from where I stay. Decided to get the X polished by them as its much more convenient than having it done in Durban on JHB. They just did a paint correction polish with a few brush touches here and there and a light coating
Around the beginning of last month the X started feeling a little bit different. Being the first performance motor vehicle that I owned, I didn't really know what to expect. Luckily I had a buddy who was able to scan the vehicle for me. We noticed that the vehicle was missing and decided to pull the sparkplugs for a visual inspection. This is where the headaches started. Being in a small remote dorpie meant finding the correct sparkplug socket was impossible. This meant I had to go to Welkom which is 70km away to find the correct socket. After getting back home, removing the covers and removing the first coil pack, I discovered that the socket's diameter is too large. I was pretty frustrated at this point. Made a few calls the next day to find out if anyone in Welkom stocks a smaller diameter socket but had no luck with this. Luckily a friend of mine in Bloemfontein helped me out and we sourced the correct tools:
King Tony size 14 thin-wall 12pt socket
3/8" drive extension bar 150mm
3/8" female to 1/2" male adapter
I don't consider myself anywhere near to being a mechanic but decided that I'd like to get a bit more hands on with my vehicles. After seeing how many guys on the forum DIY, I decided to give it a try myself. I did some reading up and after acquiring the correct tools went about the whole process of removing the sparkplugs and doing an oil service while I'm at it. Basic servicing is so much easier than one thinks when you have the right tools. Although, I must say getting to the 4th, 5th and 6th plug was no joke.
I did the service using the following:
- Motul 8100 X-cess 5w-40
- NGK Laser Iridiums
- Mann filters
I came across this thread https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1824067 that's quite helpful for anyone that wants to perform DIY's on their F25 X3
Being the first time that I did a DIY like this meant I didn't take any pictures of the process but will definitely try and remember to take on future DIY's if I don't break anything else in the process 😂
Enough reading, on to some pictures of the car
Thanks for reading!
Been lurking around here long enough and think its time I get my rides thread up and alive! 😁
Some of you may recognize the vehicle as Gavin's old X3. An absolute gentleman who took great care of the X3. I hope to be able to look after the X as well as he did
Basic specs:
- Space Grey Metallic
- M-Sport
- Xenons
- Electric Towbar
- Sunroof
- Black leather interior
- BMW Professional Radio
Extras:
- Downpipe
- JB1
- Vari heat treated and slotted disks
I've had the vehicle for 4 months now and I've done over 10k km's already! The X is incredible to drive! Comfortable, spacious and super responsive for its size. The sound with the downpipe is something else!
In the time that I have it, I've done the following:
| Date | Comments | Serviced By |
| 11-Apr-21 | Collection | |
| 16-Apr-21 | New Tyres - Nexen Nfera AU5 - 245/50/18 | Tars Tyres |
| 18-Apr-21 | Kidney Grills - Sprayed Gloss Black | Anees: DIY |
| 23-Apr-21 | Oil Topup - OEM BMW 5W30 - 1 Liter | Anees: DIY |
| 27-Apr-21 | Kidney + Lower Grills + X3 Badge - Sprayed Gloss Black | Anees: DIY |
| 2-May-21 | OEM BMW Rim + Conti Spare Tyre Purchased | |
| 23-May-21 | Oil Topup - OEM BMW 5W30 - 1 Liter | Anees: DIY |
| 25-Jun-21 | Paint Correction Polish | Ceramic Pro |
| 30-Jul-21 | Major service - Motul 8100, Oil Filter, Air Filter, Cabin Filter, NGK Laser Iridiums | Anees: DIY |
First on the cards was tyres. I opted for non runflats as I prefer driving around with a spare for peace of mind. Also staying in a little dorpie in the Free State means run flats aren't always easily accessible and the higher risk of potholes and cutting tyres makes non runflats more feasible
I did a little bit of DIY touches on the grilles by just spraying them gloss black for now. Would love to still get a set of gloss black dual slat kidney grills from Firi in the future
I recently found out that there was a Ceramic Pro facility in Bloemfontein which is about 100km away from where I stay. Decided to get the X polished by them as its much more convenient than having it done in Durban on JHB. They just did a paint correction polish with a few brush touches here and there and a light coating
Around the beginning of last month the X started feeling a little bit different. Being the first performance motor vehicle that I owned, I didn't really know what to expect. Luckily I had a buddy who was able to scan the vehicle for me. We noticed that the vehicle was missing and decided to pull the sparkplugs for a visual inspection. This is where the headaches started. Being in a small remote dorpie meant finding the correct sparkplug socket was impossible. This meant I had to go to Welkom which is 70km away to find the correct socket. After getting back home, removing the covers and removing the first coil pack, I discovered that the socket's diameter is too large. I was pretty frustrated at this point. Made a few calls the next day to find out if anyone in Welkom stocks a smaller diameter socket but had no luck with this. Luckily a friend of mine in Bloemfontein helped me out and we sourced the correct tools:
King Tony size 14 thin-wall 12pt socket
3/8" drive extension bar 150mm
3/8" female to 1/2" male adapter
I don't consider myself anywhere near to being a mechanic but decided that I'd like to get a bit more hands on with my vehicles. After seeing how many guys on the forum DIY, I decided to give it a try myself. I did some reading up and after acquiring the correct tools went about the whole process of removing the sparkplugs and doing an oil service while I'm at it. Basic servicing is so much easier than one thinks when you have the right tools. Although, I must say getting to the 4th, 5th and 6th plug was no joke.
I did the service using the following:
- Motul 8100 X-cess 5w-40
- NGK Laser Iridiums
- Mann filters
I came across this thread https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1824067 that's quite helpful for anyone that wants to perform DIY's on their F25 X3
Being the first time that I did a DIY like this meant I didn't take any pictures of the process but will definitely try and remember to take on future DIY's if I don't break anything else in the process 😂
Enough reading, on to some pictures of the car
Thanks for reading!
