After five years away, I'm back with X5 #3

[Eric Giles]

**Sorry in advance for the double-post in the E70 forum-I haven't been able to get a moderator to reply to my move request.**

My last 're-introduction' post was five years ago, which is here if anyone is interested:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ew-me-e70.html

I get a laugh reading that post now...man, a lot changed in those five years. A few months after that post, I met my wife, got married, sold my E70 X5 and my other BMW's, and had two beautiful daughters. I was completely out of the BMW world for those five years, until this past January when I found a '04 330i ZHP for an unbelievably low price, that wound up NOT being too good to be true. And in the 7 months since January, I found another '04 330i ZHP-this one with a 6sp manual and at the SAME low price as the previous one...so needless to say I am back into my BMW hobby again.

Which brings me to why I am posting here again. I just picked up a '01 X5 3.0 with 93k miles for $1600.



Of course, there is a reason why it was only $1600 - which I was fully aware of before I purchased it. Here is what came out of the oil pan...

Milkshake anyone?

Before I had drained the oil, I was thinking I might get away with pulling the head, installing a known good used head, refreshing the entire cooling system and then give it to my wife to drive. However, after seeing what came out of the oil pan, I knew it would be best to swap in a good used motor. So, today I purchased a M54B30 that was in a '02 530i from a salvage yard for $890 shipped. The engine tested fine and only has 107k miles. They are also providing a 6 month warranty. I'll be using a friends body shop that has a lift to do the swap in about two weeks. I'll refresh all of the gaskets, plugs, water pump, thermostat, valve cover gasket, VANOS seals, etc. before it goes into the X5. I'll also be replacing the radiator, expansion tank, all major cooling hoses, as well as the hard plastic coolant pipes that are under the intake manifold. I'll go ahead and do the diff fluid, as well as the transmission fluid and filter. And of course, I'll be thoroughly cleaning out the current oil pan and swapping it to the replacement engine.

Since we will be using a lift, we are going to drop the entire front subframe with the engine and everything attached in order to make removal quicker and easier. If time permits, I will try to take pictures of the process.

As far as the X5 goes, it is a basic model with few options. The condition is actually very good...I was very surprised that it exceeded my overall expectations. I've only been able to drive it up and off the car trailer, but I have verified that everything on the vehicle works as it is supposed to. The only broken piece is that trim piece above the CD player, but all of that will be removed in the end. It has a few scratches here and there, but that is to be expected for a vehicle that's 15 years old.

IF everything works out, and there aren't too many surprises during the engine swap, I should have about $3200 into it in total. I'm well aware that more money will be required for some other maintenance needs down the road, but I believe it will be an excellent vehicle for my wife to drive for the price.

[ylwjacket]

Man, that is a lot happening in 5 years -congrats on all of it.

I am jealous of the ZHP's - I came very close to getting one of those a couple months ago. It was at the dealer, and needed some work. They took it on trade, sent it to the auction, I made an offer, they brought it back from the auction, then decided they couldn't sell it to me because of the airbag recall issue.

I really wanted that car, so I'm back on the hunt now for one that I can afford.

Anyways - congrats on it all.

[upallnight]

[tmv]

Welcome back. It looks exactly like our old 3.0i when we bought it.

[jljljl]

Welcome back
Looks really clean!