Mate...should have got round to doing this much sooner...your x at 6c sounded better than mine ever has even with a brand new battery and at temp of 23c or so.....pretty adamant now its starter...there is no way it can be a bad connection somewhere ....if it was i cant explain the handful of times i got a near no start and had starter spinning quite a while in attempt to start followed immediately by a very very fast spin of starter and startup. Tells me something is snagging or worn...anyhow monday i will find out ,tomorrow i will pick this berthundhuss starter up...gamble but i'll keep old denso see if i can open it up and see.

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E53 X5 3.0d SUV prod.date 11/2004 eng.variant M57N Europe Right hand drive N