Since I just acquired my e53, I streamed the Rams theft from the Saints in the garage while tinkering with the e53. I rotated the wheels and scrubbed the inside of the wheels from years of caked-on brake dust. They didn't come out perfect, but much cleaner. I have warped front rotors, but wanted to inspect the brakes all around before ordering parts in case I needed pads. Pad are near new all around, so I'll just order the front rotors for now. Planning on conventional Brembo rotors as I've had good luck with them in the past.

Also pulled the stiffening plate and plastic splash guards from bottom of engine area. Everything was really grungy and oily. I wanted to determine where I might have any leaks so I can order gaskets and tackle that. Surprisingly, all the usual culprits appear clean/dry - OFHG and VCG both appear clean and dry. AFAICT, I have leakage from at least one of: rear main seal, right axle seal, oil pan gasket. I may have to clean everything up and try to re-evaluate in a couple weeks to see if I can be more certain of the culprit.

That stiffening plate has 6 bolts with loose nuts on top. That was a PITA compared to my e83 that has 4 bolts with captive nuts. While the nuts weren't terrible to access, everything was so grungy that I was NOT happy with BMW engineers over that. Going to have to haul that plate to the car wash to clean it up. Yuck!

Cleaned out the cabin filter intake that was full of leaves/debris. I know most people buy new filters, but I often just rinse them out with the hose, spray with general purpose cleaner and rinse. They don't get perfect, but if I needed perfect, I'd have an F15.

Will be ordering lots of parts/supplies in the morning so I can soon tackle some of the deferred maintenance items such as f&r diff fluid, TC fluid, AT fluid, brake fluid, coolant, and engine oil. I also have a stuck thermostat and am debating replacing the WP preventatively (I have no idea when/if it's been replaced).

AFAICT, this car has always been serviced at a dealership. I haven't found ANY aftermarket parts on it other than tires. Even the battery is genuine. That's a good thing, as we all know that many aftermarket parts don't function/last well. I'm not one to avoid aftermarket parts entirely, but there are many instances where it can be very costly to go cheap!

I have a headlight out, so I'll need to figure that issue out quickly, but then have a few non-essential items to tackle: headlights need sanded/cleared, stereo is messed-up, blower motor isn't working at all. This should keep be busy for a bit!

AM.