well....SUCCESS! replaced the t-stat this weekend and the needle is at high noon about 5 min down the road. previously, i'd been driving for 25 min (see first post) and it never warmed up fully. hope this helps with my oil cheese!!

incidentally, i drove her hard this weekend and heated her up and then went to Wal-Mart and bought 2 jugs of sacrificial quaker state 5w30 synthetic. only $20 a jug. did a hot oil change and then drove her hard again. did ANOTHER hot oil change with the good stuff after that.

pretty wild that after driving on new oil for only about 30 minutes and then draining it, it was already chocolate colored. DEFINITELY not clear.

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2005 X5 3.0i - 71k mi (9.2018) -> 81k (9.19) -> 100k 9.21 -> 123k (8.25)
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SOLD : ( 2003 X5 3.0 - 177k mi (9.2018) -> 186k (9.19) -> 205k (9.21)
SOLD : ( 1997 328is Coupe - Hellrot Red
SOLD : ( 1988 528e w/ Bullseye s256 / MS2 Extra / GC Coilovers / Yukon Coils ~ 300+ HP