Skeletor's Black E53 5MT Thread

[Skeletor]

I'm not new to Xoutpost or X5's but I'm new to posting to the forum. Thought I'd share some of my experiences.

I picked this one up just over a year ago. It wasn't our first X5 and the price was right. It was listed on craigslist and the guy answered the phone at like 9:30 and we drove down to Maryland 2 days later to pick it up.

It needed some work. Half of the lights on the dash were lit up, Found out that the check engine light was on for evap (ran it out of gas) and a cat. code. The other lights were because the front left speed sensor and brake sensor had gone out. $60 and a car lift fixed that. The passenger window was being held up by duck tape because the window regulator had been torn out of it, and a few small trim pieces were missing from around the car. The manuals seem to eat up the rear sub frame bushings as well, these were shot.

We bartered with the guy and talked him down off of the $3K asking price. (Not saying the true purchase price, it may make some members jealous). The drive home was one of the most nerve racking things I had done in a long time. Upon going for a test drive, we heard the fatal disa chatter. We were about a 2 hour drive away from safety so we tried keeping it under 3,000 rpm (which is virtually impossible for a manual x5) and babied it home.

The first thing that we did: CAREFULLY pulled out the disa valve. She was hanging on by a thread. I've piloted an e53 when the disa pin flew out, it was not a fun experience.

Many new parts have gone on since then, and I will post my experiences this weekend (thanks to me forgetting to bring my SD card with me). The whip currently has a squared set of gloss black 214's, heated sport interior, clear lens headlights (DIY halos in progress) among many other mods.

Soon to come:
Factory 4.4 black exhaust (completed)
Gloss black window trim
BSW subwoofer
Factory Xenon w/halos
Front window tint (completed)

Some time in the future:
Eibach lowering springs and sway bars
S54 engine swap