New X5 4.4 Owner Resto *long thread with pic dump*

[Csaviano]

Beautiful work!

[smarkwilson]

all I can say is great to see you saved it from a parts vehicle I do love my 4.4 I own three of them two X and a 540i sport

[Deansbimmer]

Thanks guys!

I was doing some housecleaning and cleared all the engine and trans adaptations in the ECU as I'm not yet driving the car till I get it all squared away...

Almost immediately afterwards, I got a Service Engine Soon light for a VANOS timing code. In viewing sensor data live while the engine is runnning, my scantool says the Bank 2 cam is 7 degrees retarded where is should be zero like bank 1. As a result the bank 2 fuel trim is up at 780. Engine still runs as smooth as butter.

My thought is that either the bank 2 cam sensor wheel isn't aligned just right, or the cam slipped a bit in the holding blocks when tightening things down. I thought I nailed the timing on the first attempt but hopefully in my rush I misaligned one or the other and I can pullthe valve cover and fix quick.

Any insight? I want to start driving her but need to get inspection passed so I can register it and get legal. Wish me luck!

[Deansbimmer]

I did some more on the X5 this weekend. None of the windows rolled up or down so I bought new Dorman regulators for the rear and installed those yesterday while the weather was beautiful.

The door panels are a little tricky. There is one torx screw behind the vertical sunshade that the previous owner missed when he tried to remove the panel, and broke the panel right in two at the sill. I'm looking for a new door panel btw... He had stuffed a 2x4 in the door to hold the window up...

Old on the left.


Man these things really let go when they fail..







I also replaced the outer weatherstrip on the door which was poorly taped to the bottom of the door due to missing clips. I may go around and do this to the other doors because this door closes much nicer now and the whole seal only cost $19.70 with the clips.

[fraserp]

Wow. I hope you never leave this site and every work you do on the e53 or other beemers you post it. That's a job well F'ing done.

[e30cabrio]

Nice. Sorry the PO was such a douche.

[rmuntan]

Dean, I had to take a double take at your X5......for I had thought you had hooked mine up and put a new engine in it for me...lol..looks EXACTLY as mine down to the wheels....what a great post sir,

[Deansbimmer]

Originally Posted by rmuntan

Dean, I had to take a double take at your X5......for I had thought you had hooked mine up and put a new engine in it for me...lol..looks EXACTLY as mine down to the wheels....what a great post sir,

Haha thats funny! I wish the previous owner could know what I am doing to the car but he isn't classy enough to be on a forum. He is a lying super douche!

I continued today on some things.... The windshield had a big round crack in it like someone threw a basketball at it so I had a glass guy put a new one in. I bought new OEM top trim for him to put in too which got rid of the deteriorated old one.









Then, since the cluster display was just about completely dead I had purchased a new LCD and ribbon to rebuild the cluster. Let me tell you... In hindsight, for the $60 difference in cost, I would totally ship this off to someone for a rebuild. It tried my patience and took 3 hours out of my day and I'm still not happy with the results. I don't know if I got a bad part or if I messed something up, but I still get some faint lines through the display when I first activate the dash which is weird because it only last a few seconds. But at least it's good and usable now!

This is what I had to start with. Also note mleage unknown. The PO used that to his advantage when he sold it to me...


After I figured out how to crack open the case I got smart and looked at some DIY's. You have to drill on your cluster to get the LCD panel off! 4 holes!


Then you get to the ribbon cable. Mine basically fell off...hardly any of the contacts were still holding...


New display on the left, the parts I'm fixing on the right...



Cleaning the old material off the board contacts.


Lined them up to hold with some tape. Once you bolt back down the LCD sub-assembly it clamps the ribbon cable to the circuit board for a good connection.



And testing... I had very little faith in my repair so before putting it all back together I just connected the wires to the back to make sure it worked. It was mostly OK but I went back to redo my ribbon cable and this picture is the second test. Note the mileage, 182,000 miles!!! The PO said he knew it had about 147k on it! DAMN! Looking at the paperwork and DMV registration history, it means that he drove it around for almost 40,000 miles without transferring the title into his name. What an ASS!

[tmv]

Good job. Not many people dare to fix the cluster themselves. I did it on my old 3.0i and the 540i MSport.

[Rockit]

You should be very proud of yourself....not many people could do what you achieved and that includes must dealer techs. .

You started with a very clean good truck body wise and now it's 100%.

These older X5 aren't the most reliable things on the road and you will be constantly fixing things and sometime the same repairs twice.

The only thing I don't like about these models is they look like stilettos...when you get the time if you put on lowering springs it gives the car a much more modern stance.

Enjoyed your very well written and documented post. You have talent!!