Good day all!!

Well, I got the motor apart as far as I can... I can't get the front crank bolt free with the block out of the vehicle... To make matters worse, I got the bracket made to hold the crank but can't find my 3/4 breaker bar... I found a 3/4 in drive air impact gun that needed rebuild... Got it cheap and the rebuild stuff has been ordered... Figured that would get it... We'll see...

So, I'm not sure how, but the cylinders had a bunch of carbon debris in them... figured that stuff would be stuck to the head, valves, or pistons... Anyway, I got the pistons out and all the bearings look great... The block looks good, but one cylinder has two very faint lines that I can BARELY feel running my fingernail over them... If this was a race motor, I'd replace the block, but I think these won't even affect the vibration at idle... I will be pulling the pistons off the rods to balance everything... I am getting new rod and main bearings... I don't think the oil was changed as much as it should have been... The last main cap bearing has a good amount of wear... I pulled the oil filter cap off to find NO filter... Amazing... There was also an oil bottle seal caught in the oil pick-up screen...

I'm going to rebuild this one and re-install... This is not the quick answer, but it's all gotta get done anyway... So, it is what it is... The 2004 is still driveable... This does put the MT6 conversion off for a few more weeks... Sorry guys!!

I'll get pictures posted as soon as I get them loaded up...

Cheers all!!!

__________________
2001 E53 X5 4.4i (03-07-2001 build date) White exterior / hellbeige interior (6MT swap vehicle - Manny)
2002 E53 X5 4.6is (12-20-2001 build date) Imola Red exterior / M-texture interior (Red)
2003 E53 X5 4.4i (06-26-2003 build date) Silver exterior / Black interior (Silvester II)
2008 Mini Cooper S ragtop (04-17-2008 build date) Dark Silver exterior / Gray interior ( Topless)
BMWCCA member (#4745)