I worked on a lot of European cars (mostly other people's projects) with a friend at his home shop. We'd go off into scrapyards looking for parts a lot, but seemed to never find wiring harnesses that were still good.

The worst case was a '70 Saab 99 that had its' hood up, sitting in the Texas sun for who knows how long. Absolutely no wiring underhood was still good...all the insulation was rotted off, and even the plastic fusebox had disintegrated. We had better luck with cloth-covered wiring on early cars, but in the 60-70's it seemed like Euro car manufacturers decided to let their wiring dissolve over time.

My friend warned me not to ever buy a European car (he specifically mentioned Audi and BMW) in the future, due to high costs of parts, and crummy rubber and plastic that they were built with. Of course, he'd never have approved swapping my Chevelle drag car for an elderly X5, but I did. Especially since it had the BBC engine he'd built for it, still inside.

When I was installing my electric fan, I went over practically all the wiring I could reach, while trying to find a switched circuit underhood (ended up using the flashlight charging circuit in the glovebox). I was amazed to find zero deterioration in the wires, including the lighting wires (which looked tangled and messed-with, but still intact). I had liquid tape standing by for repairs, but didn't need it.

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01 BMW X5 E53,3.0i-5L40E, 7/13/01
topas-blau,Leder-grau,"resto-project car"

Here:
14 Lexus ES350,3.5L-U660E
09 HHR Panel,2.2L-4T45E
04 Chevy 2500HD,6.0L-4L80E
98 GMC Sierra 1500,5.7L-4L60E

Gone:
66 Chevelle Malibu 2dr ht.,327>441c.i.-TH350>PGlide/transbrake
08 Cobalt Coupe,2.2L-4T45E
69 & 75 C10s,350c.i.-TH350
86 S10,2.8L-700R4
73 Volvo 142,2.0L-MT4
72 & 73 VW SuperBeetles,1.6l-MT4
64 VW,1.2l-MT4
67 Dodge Monaco 500 2dr ht.,383c.i.-A727
56 Chevy 210 4dr,265c.i.-PGlide