Alternator removal 2004 3.0d

[Clavurion]

Originally Posted by wpoll

No E53 X5 with the M57TU ever had swirl flaps, as far as I can tell. Vendors selling conversion kits insist that they did but they are wrong....

In some cases, the same M57TU engine in the X3 E83 did have swirl flaps fitted... weird...

M57N engines with DPF (EU4) have swirl flaps. I've removed the flaps on mine.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Clavurion

M57N engines with DPF (EU4) have swirl flaps. I've removed the flaps on mine.

Well, there you go.... after five years of asking on this forum and others, finally someone indicates that they own an EU4 E53... with swirl flaps... that's a first...

I once found a member here that had a DPF - but no swirl flaps. And the DPF had been retro-fitted... so not factory...

Your car is a rare beast, Tony......

[rbjtech]

I'm about to do an alternator overhaul on mine later today - X5 3.0d 2003

It's fine currently, but with 130K I'm doing as a preventative maintenance - I've got the full kit, slip rings, brushes, new bearings etc.

I've got new belts - but I'm now thinking while it is all apart of also replacing the water pump and thermostat ?

These are currently original but again I've had zero issues. I've heard the 3.0d water pump is actually very good are rarely breaks/leaks.

The car isn't a daily driver so I'm not dependable on it.

Any thoughts on whether I should replace now or wait until it fails ?

[rbjtech]

I'm in there now and it was such a pain to get to, that I'm going to replace both now for the sake of £150.

Getting the alternator out was the hard bit - I needed to remove the hard EGR pipe running across the front of the engine (obviously not there on the Petrol engines) - once that was out the way, then it was still a tight squeeze out but doable.

Water pump has very slight play in the bearings, so glad I'm doing it now .. should be relatively easy now as I have plenty of room ..

.. but reconditioning the alternator first while I wait for the water pump and thermostat parts - going to use MAHLE which I think is OEM ?

[Clavurion]

Originally Posted by rbjtech

I'm about to do an alternator overhaul on mine later today - X5 3.0d 2003

It's fine currently, but with 130K I'm doing as a preventative maintenance - I've got the full kit, slip rings, brushes, new bearings etc.

I've got new belts - but I'm now thinking while it is all apart of also replacing the water pump and thermostat ?

These are currently original but again I've had zero issues. I've heard the 3.0d water pump is actually very good are rarely breaks/leaks.

The car isn't a daily driver so I'm not dependable on it.

Any thoughts on whether I should replace now or wait until it fails ?

I'm a fan of romantic preventative maintenance but in your case (mileage) I would only renew the alternator brushes which can be done without removing the alternator.

[Clavurion]

Originally Posted by wpoll

Well, there you go.... after five years of asking on this forum and others, finally someone indicates that they own an EU4 E53... with swirl flaps... that's a first...

I once found a member here that had a DPF - but no swirl flaps. And the DPF had been retro-fitted... so not factory...

There was an official DPF retrofit option for EU3 versions. A friend of mine has this (or had because the DPF is now removed). These versions are all the same as every EU3 but that DPF is installed instead of cat and is totally unregulated (no DPF temp or pressure sensoring). (No swirl flaps either.)

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=18_0716

[rbjtech]

Originally Posted by Clavurion

I'm a fan of romantic preventative maintenance but in your case (mileage) I would only renew the alternator brushes which can be done without removing the alternator.

Thanks @Clavurion.

A bit late for that now , haha, alternator is out but as you suspected, the slip rings are hardly worn, and the bearings feel perfect - so I just changed the brushes as they were about half worn.

I'm replacing the water pump and thermostat too - as those bearings do have some play in there (original pump), so I'm glad I found that out now.

[rbjtech]

So all done - alternator brushes, new belts, new water pump, new thermostat, new pulleys, egr delete, coolant flush, MAF clean, 2 new batteries in keys. Whew .. Thanks xoutpost as most of these items were researched on here ..

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by rbjtech

So all done - alternator brushes, new belts, new water pump, new thermostat, new pulleys, egr delete, coolant flush, MAF clean, 2 new batteries in keys. Whew .. Thanks xoutpost as most of these items were researched on here ..

Great work!

How did you deal with the EGR errors in the DDE after the EGR delete....?

[Clavurion]

Originally Posted by wpoll

How did you deal with the EGR errors in the DDE after the EGR delete....?

On pre-facelift M57 engine (DDE4) there shouldn't be any problem just blocking EGR. There will be a code for it if trouble codes are checked but it won't cause any problems or light up engine warning.