Got a swarm of Mercedes this last week. And a curse on wheels (V8 X5.....), guess it's a German time of the year lol!

 

Awesome Striker!
I hope business is good and making $$$.
Once everyone knows they can trust you with their Euro cars you will be soooo busy.

It's hard to find a competent German car indy.

PS- really like that BMW M5, I thought they had V-6's but V-8 is even better.

 

Thanks! It's already a thing I'm used to, I work on every brand under the sun since a car is a just a car once you understand them well enough lol!

No real difference working on these vs "normal" cars other than you need to command stuff via the scan tool and parts are a bit harder to get/cost more and sometimes there are many extra steps...However you can handle 99% of them without being forced to buy specific tools outside of the torx/triple square/allen/and ultra short sockets, plus a bleed system and vacuum pump. Only real special tools you actually need are cam alinement bars/pins for VW products and also crank alignment jigs for the same brands. Mercedes also requires some jigs for the AMG engines.

Huh, now that I typed that out maybe it is a little worse than I thought? Anyway....

Thats an X5, I've only had one M5 come by and it was a total loss since the engine was beyond help.

The Diesel in the picture has been a rolling disaster for the owner, it's needed 3 wheel bearings (nightmare, you need to replace the knuckle if press force to remove exceeds 8-10.5 tons or so), CV axle failure, just lost the alternator, engine cooling and blower motor fans, DPF, and the body controller kept leaving lights on and flattening the battery. 90k miles.

It would be an otherwise superbly appealing car to me since it could replace my Jeep functionally speaking and have great mpg with a delete and tune. However for the price and how cheaply it's made in some ways I'm good!

 

Are there still Crown Vic police cars anywhere where any of you are?

They are mostly gone here but you still see them. Cops loved their CVs. Most of the police cars are Chargers and they are much more discreet, I’m glad I don’t have a reason to be pulled over bc they are easy to miss, Crown Vics not so much.

 

Drive within the law and you probably won't have anything to worry about.

 

I do.. Did you miss my previous posts? Back when I used to speed when younger I’d always see cops and panic for a sec. I don’t care now because there’s never a reason to pull me over.

 

lol i've exclusively heard/read/seen terrible things about the V8 X5

is it true that's it's just a little rubber o-ring very deep within the engine that goes bad and ruins the whole thing? i'm mostly going off hoovies garage vids haha

 

Yes. Also has valve guide issues, MASSIVE vacuum leak problems, timing issues, VANOS valves and valvetronic motor issues, and body control modules constantly failing. Also has suspension issues and coolant leaks but those are givens on any BMW

1000% not worth it, get literally anything else instead and in those years a GX is just a better car.

 

Oh man, those V8 X5s. Yikes!

A few, but not many. Mostly Chargers and Explorers now.

 

Yeah, that was news to me.
I almost bought one and always wondered if I made wrong decision, now I'm glad I stayed away.

Even if I did those difficult repairs DIY, question is would I want to, uhhhhh no thanks. lolol

 

The first two gens of X5 were horrible in general, but that V8 is the real problem. As much as I love V8s if I was going to keep a BMW I would get the I6.

 

There's an older MB.
Those were good cars if I remember right.

Hope it's holding up for them.
What's in for?

 

Those Benz wagons are the epitome of family class IMO…

 

Here's another reason lots of us like heavy trucks. You are safe from idiots like this person in the video:

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a4...exus-lx-crash/

 

WOW. crappy American junk LOL. That mighty LX was like Superman Not a scratch or a dent