Just bought a 2006 X5. Minor issue help? Sunroof, bluetooth, door, angels, key

[phathom]

So after a 6 year hiatus of not owning a BMW. I traded in my pickup and bought a 2006 X5 with 121k. It has premium package, luxury package, cold weather package, and NAV.

It is great except for a few minor issues I hope to address quickly as my wife will be the main one driving it and she's picky. The main thing I was looking for was the sunroof issue. I searched and didn't find any info on the switch being bad and a replacement fixing it. I just figured I'd throw everything in one post.
It's good to be back here. I look forward to many more posts, meetups, etc.

1: The door handle on the drivers door needs to be pulled extra hard and far from the outside to open it. The inside works fine, so do the other doors. I had a similar problem on my Passat and it was just a nut inside the door that needed tightening. Same thing here? Something else?

2: The panoramic sunroof opens completely with the key fob and by the key in the door trick. It does not open with the switch. It only wants to close or tilt. If I press back to open, it tilts up. I'm guessing a faulty switch because it opens with the keyfob. Will this fix it? The part# I'm looking at ordering is 8352182 if it is. Real OEM tells me it's the right switch for this. From what I've said, would this be my best bet or is there something else that might be causing it to not open with the switch?

3: one of my angel eye bulbs is burnt out. I'm looking at upgrading both to something brighter than the 10W Philips halogen in there. I don't want to do a huge kit to retrofit CCFLs or anything, just a brighter bulb. Probably LED. What is the best/most cost effective option? Whatever fits? I have already removed the little BA9S bulb from one housing and it's definitely bad. Should I just get as big of a CREE LED that will fit within the housing and call it good?

4: I have my phone paired for Bluetooth, but it only does calls/phone book functionality, no A2DP. Sad. Also no CD/AUX/USB also makes me sad. FM Radio only in this thing? Really?
I'm looking at something like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/zemex-v3-1-A...-/172218653787
as a solution. Ran it through google translate and it looks like it should work with the NAV head unit. Does anyone have experience with this or another similar option that will give me USB/Bluetooth/Aux? If this does work with it, it will definitely be one of my first mods to the car.

I also have bluetooth paired to my phone. People can heare fine, but calls over bluetooth sound like crap. Is there a bluetooth audio special speaker that isn't part of the regular car speakers? If so I need to replace it, because it sucks.

5: It only came with one key. I want a second one so me and my wife both have one. I'm looking at a key like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EWS-Remote-K...-/151909079285
Aside from getting it cut/copied from my original key. Is it something I can program myself or do I have to go to the stealership to get them to program it for me?
5.1: I like the flip design like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Flip-Key...-/141957645055
Same thing, am I able to just swap my chip from the existing keys and have the blank cut by a locksmith or do I have to have the key cut/copied by the stealership?

6: Tranny fluid change, I'm not sure if this was done yet. Same with differential fluid. I know tranny fluid is due at 100k. Diff is supposed to be lifetime. I plan on doing the tranny fluid change this weekend. What about the differential fluid? Should I change it or leave it as is?

Thanks for all the help in advance. I'm very excited to have another BMW.

[NordmanMg]

1. Door handle is a common issue with E53, it is most likely going south, replace it before it fails completely

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2. Sounds like it, from what you said it's a switch, well at least it is what you have to start from

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3. It's your choice what to use in your car, eBay is full of choices , I had LEDs with ballasts, but they didn't last long, I bought just led bulbs without any extra weights on them, they are fine for me

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4. Usually factory Bluetooth is works fine, not to mention people without one prefer OE setup more then any aftermarket one, aux is a different story, it wasn't available in till E70 X5 came up, however it was addable option, you can upgrade it with aux input by adding just a AUX cable into factory radio, there is bunch of threads about it, search here on the forum, it is similar with all '01 E39 and newer E46 BMW models

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Calls use to go through the car speakers , like I said somethings might be wrong with the car setup, can't help you any further

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5. I personally don't like eBay keys, my imo, but people had them and they're works just fine, if you can find who will cut it and programm it to your car then you're good to go,
same thing with the flip-up design, you just have to transfer main plate and chip from one key to another

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6. Servicing your cars tranny is your own choice, because BMW don't do it purposely, they even have a sticker on the tranny oil pan "lifetime oil, no oil change needed"
but the thing is, there is no such a thing as lifetime oil,
same with the diffs (two of them, front and rear) there is also a transfer case for 4WD , not sure if it feeds out of tranny, more likely it has its own oil in it,

....
change all fluids in your car if you want to do it right

[phathom]

Thanks for the reply.
I'll order a new door handle and get that replaced. I wasn't sure if it was something that just needed to be adjusted our tightened or was just going out.

I ordered a switch, I then did some searching and found if power is interrupted while it's moving, it needs to be reinitialised, so I did that and it works great now. Cancelled the order on the switch.

Ordered non ballast cree leds for the angels.

My main concern about bluetooth is the a2dp functionality and clear calls. I'll see about checking the connections on the bluetooth module and resetting it to see if that helps the call quality. As far as a2dp, I may just get an adapter that converts aux to bluetooth. As far as the aux, I found and ordered the aux adapter that hooks into the cd changer port. So I'll be set with that for now until I decide if I'm going to do a hardwired a2dp solution through it. I just needed something besides FM and cassette as we're taking a road trip next month in.

I'll look to see if there's any place besides our two dealerships that can cut and program keys and go from there.

I looked in the service manual and it recommends tranny fluid at 100k. I did look through all the service records and this was done, so I'm good on that. I'll look into doing the diffs and transfer case.

Looks like I have most of the bases covered now. Thanks for the help.

[peter2772000]

A comment in regards to oil.

"...but the thing is, there is no such a thing as lifetime oil"

NordmanMg is right on the money. My FJ has "lifetime" auto tranny oil. You should have seen the colour of the oil when I replaced it at around 70k miles. Blacker than the ace of spades.

However, if you have a lot of miles on the vehicle and the tranny oil was never replaced before, you may end up with a slipping transmission. The new oil messes with the glazed clutches in some cases, causing problems where there were none before.

On a high-mileage vehicle such as yours, I'd leave well enough alone. Unless you're having tranny issues to begin with. In which case, you have little to lose. Change all the other oils, though I dunno if my opinion for tranny oil also applies for t-case oil.

[Qsilver7]

In regards to keys...BMW dealerships do NOT cut keys. They order them based on your VIN, and BMW NA sends it to them already with your keys correct ISN (individual serial number) that matches the same ISN burned into your EWS control module and DME/ECU.

When the key arrives, the only "programming" required is to initialize the key to the GM so that it will lock/unlock & arm/disarm the car. EWS is NOT driveway programmable unless you've invested money in an aftermarket set-up (AK90. That is currently the only way to retrieve & write the EWS ISN to a new key.

You have the new style key so the EWS transponder isn't loose inside the key...it is soldered to the IC board...so swapping the innards of an existing remote...the key would need space and button designs that would replicate the original key set-up.

Another option is...if you live in a part of the country that has aftermarket keysmiths that have an aftermarket deal and actually know what they're doing and how to retrieve the correct info and cut the correct key blade etc...then that may be another option.

Be careful with the eBay keys...they sell a lot of s_ _ _ & sizzle to owners that don't have a good grasp as to what features are built into the BMW remote keys. They show images of the new generation BMWs key styles and make it seem like it's a simple minute or two in your driveway to make it work...and it is not.

[Tricky.Aus]

Thanks Qsilver7 and Bluebee for the key explanation diagram.

[NordmanMg]

Thanks Qsilver7 and Bluebee for the key explanation diagram.

Your car is 2005? If you have 16x9 nav unit then your car probably equipped with BM53 radio unit in a trunk and it is prewired for AUX from the factory, you just need to get OE auxiliary cable from local dealership
...
if you have one of those business-CD radio then it also will work with AUX ,
just snap it into your CD players connector and you're all set