Newcomer, Hi everyone

[o3x5e53]

New to the BMW scene, AND first European car. Just wanted to say hi to everyone that owns one of this beautiful Classic Bmw X5 E53.

Please excuse my bad grammar and spelling mistakes.

I bought one not long ago, a 2003 BMW x5 E53 4.4i and plan on carrying out most of the maintenance

I come from the Honda Community (Little boy race cars as everyone would say) and have worked on a lot of them.
Basically from engine swap, clutch changes bigger intake, throttle body, exhaust suspension and bushings etc.
Here’s a glimpse of my little daily/Sleeper.
Basically this civic is my second build.
You can see my 1st build through this link: Ozhonda Forums
And this is my quick second build over view:











Why civic? Sleeper status and basically it’s a 170kw (227hp with bolt on) in a 950kg shell. Zippy, handles great and fast. Great on fuel too.

I’m from Australia/Melbourne, 3month or so ago I picked up a 2003 BMW X5 E53 4.4i 240,000km on it. Engine and auto transmission was basically mechanically A1, besides the poor BMW oil service drain intervals.. What a joke. It’s why I haven’t owned a European car till now.

I service my Honda every 4-5k and the engine depending on how hard I drive. It looks brand new every time i open it up to inspect etc. Reason I change oil so early is because I rather spend 60-70$ every 2-3months then 1000$ of dollars fixing stuff. The way I see it.. Oil keeps engine temps down.. Lubricates gaskets and seals and keep them from being brittle etc.

Upon buying little leaks were detected. But nothing major, well for now. Valve cover leaks, PS steering hose leaking a-bit
Little dribble not a lot at the Rear main/Upper oil pan gasket which I will sort out too. It does not drip on the ground.

In the 3 months of owning the BMW x5 I have so far done 2-3000km,
So far:

*4engine oil service (1 when I first got it home. New oil/oil filter in drove it for 30mins and dumped the oil again it’s was MIGHTY black even after putting new oil/oil filter in)

*20days later dropped the oil/oil filter again, also black. Engine noticeably more crisp and smooth

*Just completed another oil change yesterday 17/6/2015 drives beautiful and waiting to change it in another month or so.

* Air filter, Cabin filter, Spark plugX8, Right Valve cover Gasket (one side for now, will do other side when weather picks up. What a bitch to work on)
*1x Rocket cover has been re-powder coated when valve cover gasket was getting done.

*Transfer case oil (Also black) has been change, Rear diff and front diff oils changed.

*ZF lifeguard 5 Transmission oil/gasket/filter changed by ZF boys themselves 17/6/2015. They said it was really really black (I knew it was going to be black, no one ever changes it). Before service they did a diagnostic check to see if there were any errors code and how it drives. It droves smooth despite how black the oil was. After service It definitely drives even better clearly day and night. They told me to come back in 4months and they will change the oil again to get 100% new fluid in there.

Future/soon service & refresh, Water pump, High pressure power steering hose, Alternator, RMS/Upper oil pan and MAF sensor and 4x o2 Sensor, lower oil pan gasket. Planning for a full refresh of Front & rear Control arms + 4x new bilstein shocks

For me I rather prevent things from happening. Then rather wait till it happens. I’m very anal when it comes to servicing and maintaining cars which I have 4 cars especially this BMW having 240,000kms on it.

I will also be towing my other car 2000 Honda Integra type R I have at home to race track events here in Australia/Melbourne.

My other hobby is car detailing, I do it sometimes when I get request over the weekend for few extra $$.
A week later into buying the car I did a 14hour day in detail it from top to bottom.

Upon inspecting paint the previous owner mention he had it “Professionally washed, wax and cut and polished”
When it was time for me to inspect the paint..i had found that they used a glaze to temporarily hide swirl marks and defects.
I stripped back whatever was on the car to free all residues to expose what lay beneath the makeup.
Passenger door, previous owner also mention that the professional carwash place had a portable shade which the wind blew the legging of the shade and scratched the passenger door.
Here are some before and after pictures.

Some before shots




Some 50/50




Some after shot. The car came out outstanding. Although this was only a 1 stage cut, I will be doing another finer stage to make the paint pop even more.





Will update when i get home from work. Thats it for now.