Prospective VX owner looking for a little advice & direction

[evillecutter]

this goes with any vehicross: unless you have lots of money and/or love to work on cars, turn around, run, and dont look back

p.s. my metal bar is original and looks brand spankin new

[Roody650i]

this goes with any vehicross: unless you have lots of money and/or love to work on cars, turn around, run, and dont look back

p.s. my metal bar is original and looks brand spankin new

Nothing I haven't dealt with before, the Avalanche is a mess and my quad is even more work. Love to work on cars, hate to spend the money. Worth it though!

[eternal21]

this goes with any vehicross: unless you have lots of money and/or love to work on cars, turn around, run, and dont look back

I'm going to have to disagree w/that statement. I've owned my VX for over 50k miles and 3.5 yrs. In that time, there have only been 2 sources of consternation:
a) the overheating - finally determined it was a pulley, and it has been replaced, and truck has been converted to electric cooling
b) tranny leak - replacing w/a 5MT to remove that altogether.

Now, the fan and controller were $300 combined, and the 5MT setup cost me nothing (bought the complete wrecked trooper and sold off misc parts to cover my purchase price).

Outside of those 2 things, the truck has been rock solid, and I've spent less than $500 on req'd maintenance items during that time. This year, I plan on spending another $500ish (ball joints, new plugs, new PS rack, new axle boots), but to me, having a rare vehicle for 4yrs with required expenditures of $1k or less is a steal.

I feel that I should also point out that my VX spent its life in TX, so it isn't susceptible to rust like a lot of the northern VXs.

[evillecutter]

I'm going to have to disagree w/that statement. I've owned my VX for over 50k miles and 3.5 yrs. In that time, there have only been 2 sources of consternation:
a) the overheating - finally determined it was a pulley, and it has been replaced, and truck has been converted to electric cooling
b) tranny leak - replacing w/a 5MT to remove that altogether.

Now, the fan and controller were $300 combined, and the 5MT setup cost me nothing (bought the complete wrecked trooper and sold off misc parts to cover my purchase price).

Outside of those 2 things, the truck has been rock solid, and I've spent less than $500 on req'd maintenance items during that time. This year, I plan on spending another $500ish (ball joints, new plugs, new PS rack, new axle boots), but to me, having a rare vehicle for 4yrs with required expenditures of $1k or less is a steal.

I feel that I should also point out that my VX spent its life in TX, so it isn't susceptible to rust like a lot of the northern VXs.

so the 5 speed swap was free? great deal! (in other words you sidestepped a $2000 rebuild)

and like i said - if you love to work on cars, which you obviously do since you converted everything stock to different operating systems, then there is no problem

[eternal21]

so the 5 speed swap was free? great deal! (in other words you sidestepped a $2000 rebuild)

Yeah, when everything was said and done, it was free. When I picked up the wrecked Trooper, I figured I would be able to get what I needed and flip it to cover the investment, which has turned out to be true. I sold the wheels and tires and a fender, and I was even. Still have the engine/transfer case/shell/interior, so I'll actually come out ahead.

But even then, $2000 for a tranny rebuild/swap over 3.5 years is still ~$600/year on average. Beats a car payment *lol*

And the tranny wasn't the problem. The problem is that the gaskets for the reservoir pan kept leaking. I didn't want to have to deal with the leak, and pretty much everything I have ever owned is a manual tranny, so I figured I'd go ahead and do the conversion.

and like i said - if you love to work on cars, which you obviously do since you converted everything stock to different operating systems, then there is no problem

And I wouldn't say that I love to work on cars; I would say
a) that I have ideas about what I think my vehicles should look/function like, and I don't mind doing a little wrenching to make my revisions come to fruition and
b) I *hate* paying exorbitant prices for shop labor when, with a little elbow grease, I can do the work myself and learn a little in the process. I'd rather be self-reliant, so at least I can make sure there were no short cuts taken when the work was done.

Besides, a lift w/big tires really brings the truck to life! *lol* The interior is getting to be a little dated, so there is some refreshing that needs to be done there, which has prompted some of my current/future mods.

I really don't care much to work on cars that I don't own, but I will help those in need when I can.

OP, what year 650i? I have a MT '08 E90 M3. Any mods?

[Roody650i]

OP, what year 650i? I have a MT '08 E90 M3. Any mods?

It's actually a Kawasaki Brute Force 650i ATV, not a Bimmer...but I did just sell an '89 e30 Coupe

Going to look at the VX in about an hour!

[tysamigo]

this goes with any vehicross: unless you have lots of money and/or love to work on cars, turn around, run, and dont look back...

Every time someone around town asks me.... "Hey, I saw one of your suv's for sale, you think I should get one?"

This is the PERFECT answer... I'm going to use it lol