My 4.6is project!!

[williamx5]

Good day all!!

Here is the story on my new (to me) 2002 Imola Red 4.6is... I found this on craigslist a good month or so ago.









Little bit of damage that I hope will fix up like new!!!



I was looking for a project vehicle to do a manual trans swap from a 540i. This one "needed a trans" from what the PO stated. The asking price was a little more than I wanted to put into the initial vehicle knowing it was going to need a bunch more items for the conversion. But, I liked the idea of converting an already sporty version X5. I went to look at it and decided to make the purchase with a lowered agreed price of $3000. I put a down payment of $600 and came back the next day with my tow dolly.


I pulled the front drive shaft and found the problem the X5 was having.


I looked on ebay as soon as I got home for a transfer case (TC) and front drive shaft (DS). Snow storm hit and delayed getting the parts by a day or so. Tucked away during the snow storm...



The seller was great to deal with! Super nice and helpful! And check out the packaging done to the new (to me) TC!! Gotta love it!!







As luck would have it, I found out the DS that was in the X when I purchased it was the modified version. I don't know how many individuals are making these, but I'll tell you a little story about the one guy I found on ebay selling the modified version in a minute. This is the failed DS and the new used one I got with the TC... A point about the failed DS... There was no sealing sleeve (sitting on top of the two DS)... Would it have lasted longer if the sleeve was there? I greased up the new used one and made sure the used sleeve was as round as I could get it!!



Both have spline wear (one far worse than the other)!! HOWEVER, the longer one that was in my X when purchased must be made of softer metal than the TC output gear because there was virtually NO damage to the splines!! I installed the new used ORIGINAL version DS and took it for a test drive. YEP! $3000 for the vehicle and a used DS to put it back on the road.

That's all for now!! More to come!!

Cheers!!