Danny's X5 4.6 Thread

[Ricky Bobby]

I'm glad its going to be kept alive by another enthusiast and enjoyed for the next 100k+ miles - nice job!

[dannyzabolotny]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

I'm glad its going to be kept alive by another enthusiast and enjoyed for the next 100k+ miles - nice job!

Thanks! Yeah, I saw it as my duty to rescue that X5 from an inevitable death. I talked to the seller and he said pretty much everybody else that called about it wanted to drive it home, so the engine definitely would have been wrecked if anybody else had bought it.

[RVAE34]

Nice pickup. Looks pretty nice. Amazing how many of the recent 4.6's don't have sport seats lately.

[dannyzabolotny]

Originally Posted by RVAE34

Nice pickup. Looks pretty nice. Amazing how many of the recent 4.6's don't have sport seats lately.

Yeah, I find it kinda weird, especially when you consider that the sport seats were stock and comforts were an option. I guess that just furthers the stereotype of the 4.6 being a high-powered housewife car haha

I had comfort-style seats in my Range Rover and they really weren't that bad, but I couldn't really make a turn at over 30mph without flipping it over so I never needed the side bolstering in that. With the X5 4.6 I'm sure I'll be driving it in a much more "spirited" manner. That's the main reason I wanted an X5, because I had to push my Range Rover really hard to get it to move quickly, and you could tell that it really did not like moving quickly, instead preferring to waft around at moderate speeds.

[electricalserv x5]

Nice , welcome and all the best......

[itsbrokeagain]

You're on here too? AND you bought an X5?

jeez I thought I was the only one with a problem LOL

[dannyzabolotny]

Originally Posted by electricalserv x5

Nice , welcome and all the best......

Thanks!

Originally Posted by itsbrokeagain

You're on here too? AND you bought an X5?

jeez I thought I was the only one with a problem LOL

I'm everywhere~ I'm the all-seeing M62tu whisperer, rescuing poorly-engineered BMW V8's from death.

I wouldn't say I have a problem, I have a solution— buy more BMWs hehe

[semcoinc]

Good on you Danny for taking on this resurrection. :thumb up:

With your experience, assuming the bottom end bearings are in good shape, after you tear into the guides and other high mileage engine components (water pump, hoses, alternator, pulleys, etc.), you'll have a great ride on your hands.

The one you got, despite the high mileage, shows very well cosmetically, a credit to the quality of materials and components BMW chose.

I have 4.6 and 4.8 envy, because there is no substitute for HP but my find hit all the other boxes I needed when I was shopping a couple years ago: cost, nearly fully loaded option packages, NAV and relatively low mileage (78K).

One night recently I read a couple of very thorough DIYs on the guides and it looked like a pretty deep dive, even for a guy like me with a good deal of major engine DIY experience, just not with the M62.

https://www.germanautosolutions.com/..._diy.php#thumb

DIY: Timing Chain Guide & Timing Chain Replacement

Good luck with the projects.

Mike

[dannyzabolotny]

Originally Posted by semcoinc

Good on you Danny for taking on this resurrection. :thumb up:

With your experience, assuming the bottom end bearings are in good shape, after you tear into the guides and other high mileage engine components (water pump, hoses, alternator, pulleys, etc.), you'll have a great ride on your hands.

The one you got, despite the high mileage, shows very well cosmetically, a credit to the quality of materials and components BMW chose.

I have 4.6 and 4.8 envy, because there is no substitute for HP but my find hit all the other boxes I needed when I was shopping a couple years ago: cost, nearly fully loaded option packages, NAV and relatively low mileage (78K).

One night recently I read a couple of very thorough DIYs on the guides and it looked like a pretty deep dive, even for a guy like me with a good deal of major engine DIY experience, just not with the M62.

https://www.germanautosolutions.com/..._diy.php#thumb

DIY: Timing Chain Guide & Timing Chain Replacement

Good luck with the projects.

Mike

Thanks! Yeah, the timing chain guide job is definitely intimidating for a beginner, but I've done 6 of them so it's not as scary to me anymore. From a technical point of view, the only tricky part is the engine timing, everything else is just simple disassembly and reassembly. You just have to take your time, label/organize everything you remove, and cut the job up into small pieces to make it more manageable. I'd say it's more a test of patience than anything, haha.

Since this X5 has 213k miles, I'm going to be a little more thorough than I would be with a 150k mile engine, meaning I'll replace anything that isn't visibly new, like the water pump, cooling hoses, and belt pulleys/tensioners. I'm thinking of going with an upgraded all-metal water pump and aluminum pulleys, just to make sure everything is bulletproof. The previous owner did some top-end work like new intake manifold gaskets and new ignition coils, so I don't have to worry about those things. The transmission is freshly rebuilt as well, so I don't have to touch that for a while. I'll probably change the fluid in the diffs and transfer case just so I know it's been changed.

-----------

I have a shipping update on the X5 4.6— it got put on a truck Monday afternoon in Seattle, so it should be at my house on Friday or Saturday. I'm pretty excited to tear into it and start fixing it. I also got a really clean 2001 740i Sport shipped to me a few days ago, the owner shipped it to me to fix the timing chain guides so I'll be doing that as well.

I was actually wondering about how to place the X5 and the 740i in my garage, since one of my garage spots is longer than the other due to having a water heater taking up a bunch of space in one corner. I looked up the lengths of the two vehicles and it turns out the X5 is actually shorter than the 740i by a whole foot! The 740i is 196" long, whereas the X5 is 184" long.

[dannyzabolotny]

It arrived today! The shipper was a nice Russian man so we talked for a while in Russian while we unloaded the X5. Apparently he drove through some snow storms up north so the X5 was quite filthy. The battery needed to be jumped and then it started right up! By the clatter of the engine it definitely sounds like bad guides, but the engine still runs pretty smoothly otherwise which is a good sign.



I'll give it a good wash tomorrow to get all this grime off before I can start working on it. It's way too dirty to put in my garage right now, haha.

Funnily enough, the engine compartment is the cleanest part of this X5 right now, aside from the interior (which is super clean, more on that later). I got a bunch of service records with the X5 which was pretty cool.



213,111 miles. Some of the pixels are missing, so I'll probably be sending this cluster to a guy on Bimmer Forums that repairs them. It should be a good time to do it since the X5 will be down for a few weeks during the chain guide job.



Other than the cluster pixelation and some cracked wood trim, the interior is in very good condition. The leather seats are soft and supple, with pretty minimal wear on the driver's seat for a 213k mile car. The passenger seat is perfect and the back seat looks practically untouched. This doesn't really feel like a 213k mile car— I've had cars with half the mileage that weren't as nice. I guess it just goes to show how well built these cars are.

I'll have more details and better pictures tomorrow!