[BMW JA]

Would it be a good idea to acquire a set of hex bit sockets for my X3?

[ga9213]

Star bits moreso than hex bits though they would both be needed, depending on the work you plan on doing.

[BMW JA]

Brakes?

[Wgosma]

Originally Posted by ga9213

Star bits moreso than hex bits though they would both be needed, depending on the work you plan on doing.

+1...Torx, both internal and external (E) are commonly used on these cars.

[Opie55]

A 7mm hex bit is best to manually rewind the electric parking brake to change the rear pads. And you need a hex bit to remove the slider bolts on the front calipers. Most everything else on the car is torx, except the suspension likely requires some triple square bits.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by BMW JA

Would it be a good idea to acquire a set of hex bit sockets for my X3?

Do you plan to do the service to your vehicle? If so, hex + torx(internal/external) assuming you have all the other typical sockets and wrenches.

Originally Posted by Opie55

A 7mm hex bit is best to manually rewind the electric parking brake to change the rear pads. e bits.

The best way rewind the e-brake is to use a scan tool to command it to go into service mode.

[e30lover318i]

Harbor freight. Same warranty as craftsman, snap on, ect . Break a tool exchange for a new one. I run a small shop and 75% of my hand tools are harbor and I beat the crap out of them... I very rarely need to exchange tools.

[BMW JA]

I have enough tools except what I would need to do the brakes and the charge pipe on my X3. This is my first German car but I still plan on doing the routine stuff. I already have a oil filter cap wrench and the air sockets to fit the lug nuts. Anything else will be done by an independent BMW shop. Thanks all for the advice, I am getting too old to spend an afternoon under the car.