So...after a year of listening to the wife rag on me about how we need a bigger car (previous vehicles were a 2001 BMW 325i and 2002 BMW X5 (the ones without 3rd row)) I finally did it, pulled the trigger on a type of truck that has been kicking around in my head for about three years now.

Back up to last year. My wife and I had just moved up to Washington from Texas, with the Army. We were caring for a baby boy who was placed in our care through the Foster Child system, and trying to squeeze him into the back with the two kids from my first marriage. Look into the back seat, see shoulder-to-shoulder-to-carseat children. Wife starts bugging me for a car with more seats, starts perusing the dealers for a newer 3rd row X5. I agree with her, that we need a bigger car, but disagree on the model, and try to convince her to get into either an Expedition or (better yet, by my estimation) an Excursion Powerstroke. She scoffs at me, saying she will never own another American car, because they're just too unreliable

We truck on for the next few months, then we get a second foster child placed with us, this time a baby girl. So now there are six of us, and only five seats in her X5 and my 325i. Now, if we need to go somewhere as a family, it's two cars. Bad news for gas expenditures and toll bridges. She continues to shop obsessively for BMWs.

This is where my evil plan comes into action: I allow my cooling system to partially fail on my BMW (anyone who has ever owned an E46 BMW knows that the cooling systems are notoriously unreliable). I tell her that I know where the leak is, but I can't really get to it all that easily, and it's going to cost me a few hundred dollars to fix it. Let that go for a few months, continually filling the cooling system with water, complaining about the unreliability of my car, and start shopping for Excursions. I tell her that this is a type of car that ticks all of my boxes. I can seat 8 people in it, I get my diesel that I've always wanted, I can go to Home Depot and load up the back with lumber, plants, soil, tools, lawn mowers, whatever I want. I can tow things. I can get a utility trailer and use it like a pickup. It's 4 wheel drive, so I can go places in the snow that my BMW wouldn't have been able to handle. We can take the kids, the dogs, the double stroller, a tent, all of our camping gear, and go away for the weekend without having to worry about space.

So I find one at a dealer up north of Seattle (Harris Lincoln) that has a really nice 2005 Excursion Limited Powerstroke 4x4 that I want to look at. So Friday afternoon, we head up there, the salesman (Nate) shows us the Excursion, and it's better than I had expected. Rear seat entertainment with the wireless headphones, tan leather interior, alloy wheels, brand new tires, and a nice, straight body with only a couple of small dings in the right rear door and a handful of minor scratches, and 120,000 miles on the odometer. I take it for a test drive, and the Powerstroke purrs. It's so quiet on the inside. I maneuver it through traffic on Highway 99, and the truck feels large, but not as large as I had expected, given the F-250ness of it all. Throttle response is as good as a stock turbodiesel can be, shifts are firm and quick, the audio system sounds nice, the seats are comfortable. So I take the truck back to the dealer, talk them down a little on price, and drive away with a nice, clean, loaded Mineral Gray 2005 Ford Excursion Limited 6.0 4x4.

It's stock...for now. No telling how long it will remain that way, but I'm wagering, not all that long! I'm not a go-fast goody type of guy, really, but I like practical power upgrades and miles per gallon.

Anyway, once I get some nice photos of her (as soon as I get a sunny day) I'll post pictures. Sorry about the wall of text! I'm just excited to finally have a "man vehicle" to drive!

 

Awesome. Don't let her read that you tried to kill her BMW to get what you wanted though

 

Congrats on the Ex, and great color choice! Welcome to the FTE family.

I would highly recommend starting to read up on the 6.0. It is a great engine, however, it pays to know about it and all of its potential issues.

Congrats again!

 

Congrats on your acquisition.

 

Hahaha yeah, it was my BMW that I killed, not hers.

As for "stock", I'm looking at affordable options to boost power and MPG.

 

Coincidence??

My e36 BMW's cooling system failed, overheated the engine and warped the cylinder head.

Fast forward and I'm driving my 2002 XLT and the BMW is in the garage being parted out

HA!!!

 

It's good to hear someone having a good experience at Harris. Congrats on the new Ex, and good luck on keeping it stock, we all say that at first.

 

I wasn't aware that Harris had a bad reputation...

Anyway, the finance manager, the sales manager, and the salesman were all excellent, in my opinion. I didn't come in at a busy time, so I really felt like I had the undivided attention of most of the important people at that dealership.

 

Hey, congrats on the new-to-you rig. And, welcome to the northwest. Thanks for your service!

 

Thanks, gmcbride! Drove it to work today, and did my first back-in parking at the lot here at my hangar. Got out, and everyone was like "Hey man, where's the Bimmer?"

That diesel sounds nice. First turbocharged vehicle I've ever owned, and I love listening to it spool.

 

Congrats on an AWESOME truck!!

I was gonna keep mine stock too...now it's a pretty Sinister Blue...

 

I know there are probably thousands of threads about this same thing, but by general consensus, what would be the first couple of power/MPG mods that people on here recommend? I'm thinking tune and intake/exhaust are probably high on the list.

 

Congrats on the "man vehicle".....1st mod should be a Scangauge, Torque Pro app, Edge CTS or something similar to monitor various sensors and parts of the motor. Oil temp, coolant temp, FICM voltages, and many other things need monitored PRIOR to attempting an increase in HP or adding tunes. Also, a blue spring upgrade kit for the fuel pressure regulator is also recommended.

If you already have something to monitor engine vitals, disregard the above.

You want to spend some time in the 6.0 forum and read the tech files to get familiar with the motor.

 

Your first mod has to be gauges...I went with the SCT Livewire TS, because it gave me both gauges and a tuner in one compact package.

Then I would look at the items that tend to go bad on a 6.0 and figure them into your plans for future modifications.

 

Thanks, guys.

I'm not going to mod it much, at least not for now. I am planning on doing a lot of the reliability stuff first, in addition to swapping fluids for synthetics. I'm not really a grandma when I drive, but I'm not a hot rodder either, no matter how cool that turbo sounds when it spools.