Home Forums Articles How To's FAQ Register
Go Back   Xoutpost.com > BMW SAV Forums > X5 (E53) Forum
Arnott
User Name
Password
Member List Premier Membership Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Xoutpost server transfer and maintenance is occurring....
Xoutpost is currently undergoing a planned server migration.... stay tuned for new developments.... sincerely, the management


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #281  
Old 02-23-2023, 03:27 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 320
guntherrex is on a distinguished road
nice to see an update here

Might need to go for a long drive (if you dare) to see if the CCV clears out
Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links

  #282  
Old 02-24-2023, 09:43 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
c-bass is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by guntherrex View Post
nice to see an update here

Might need to go for a long drive (if you dare) to see if the CCV clears out
That's exactly what I did
Reply With Quote
  #283  
Old 02-24-2023, 10:05 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
c-bass is on a distinguished road
So much like guntherrex suggested it was time to go for a longer drive and see what all the fuss was about months ago because it seems to be running ok now and we all know that these things rarely heal themselves.

Few slow laps around town to warm up and it's time to get on the faster road.

About a couple miles down the road I was turning around in a parking lot as another vehicle passed me and I thought to myself "Man that guy's brakes smell"

oh wait....

I stick my head out the window and sure enough there's smoke coming from the rear driver's wheel. Wonderful

limping back home we go.


Now this isn't my first seized caliper on a BMW so I usually have a spare kicking around but there's some conflicting information on realoem if the rear calipers of the E83 will fit the E53 and as I was doing some googling I happened across a new rear caliper on Amazon for $50.

That's significantly cheaper than anything else I've seen. The pic n pull yard is $25 and who knows hold old the caliper is so let's see what a $50 caliper looks like shall we?















From what I see the machining is on par with other "name brand" aftermarket calipers and I don't feel there's anything sketchy about them so in they go.

Seeing as my last experience working with the brakes resulted with introducing a generous helping of air into the system and having a really hard time barely getting some pedal feel back I'm very apprehensive about taking off the brake line but whacha gonna do right?

During the caliper swap I tried a little bit different method than I usually do with leaving the bleeder screw open on the new caliper while I connect the dripping brake line back on. My theory being that the fluid might help bleed the air out of that caliper as gravity does it thing.

Caliper back on, bleeding procedure with my Motive bleeder / triggering ABS pump with ISTA and test drive time.

I cruised around the neighborhood slowly pumping the brakes repeatedly, checked for any leaks and time to go for another high speed run.

This time around everything seemed to go smooth and we made it back to the driveway without any incident. Yay!
Reply With Quote
  #284  
Old 02-26-2023, 12:54 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
c-bass is on a distinguished road
Now as much as I'd like to pretend the whole oil spewing from who knows where incident didn't happen, it did, and there must be a reason for it right?

But Swampy seems to be running fine now, so what gives?

My leading theory was still CCV clogging could have caused things to build pressure...but what do I know.

Checking the oil cap revealed the usual winter mayo build up but the CCV didn't seem to be plugged when I popped the hose however there was a good amount of built up gunk.

Since we got the ball rolling replacing parts I might as well get on the preventative maintenance items, like the valve cover gasket.

As I'm popping out the coils I notice one of them wet with oil and take a look down the hole.

It's not easily visible but that right there is a spark plug hole about 1/4 full of oil












I guess that might explain some of the misfiring.

This VCG was the worst one I've encountered yet. The gasket was SOLID plastic and stuck in the valve cover pretty good. Lots of mayo, really heavy varnish staining as well as carbon build up.















I spent quite some time trying to clean out the crap from the valve cover but the usual products I use were having a hard time getting the job done so I poured some old gas I had around in there and let it sit for a while. That worked much better but then naturally I didn't take a picture of the after.

Once everything was buttoned up I let that sit overnight so the RTV could cure followed by a good washing/degreasing of the engine bay to hopefully find the rest of the oil leaks we had.

The next few days were spent driving short distances around town to make sure we weren't puking any oil from the spark plugs (or anywhere else) and the aftermarket fan clutch would constantly be in vacuum cleaner mode.

It would disengage for a while and then back on randomly even though it had no business being on and I got tired of that nonsense so I pulled the clutch from a parts car and guess what? It was the same crappy aftermarket brand

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: stay away from "Topaz" brand fan clutches, they're shit.

Back to driving around short distances for a couple of days before I went for a proper shakedown to visit a friend 10 miles away. I figure if I get stuck half way between home and his place at least I can catch a ride back.

Also, I'm still not very happy about the brakes. The vehicle stops...but not like a BMW should (or the wife's e53). More like an old Ford truck I used to drive.

The minute I pull up to my friend's place I dart under the hood to see if there's oil coming out of anywhere and we're bone dry across the board. That's odd...but I'll take it.

First proper drive after the alternator and brake replacement is a success
Reply With Quote
  #285  
Old 02-26-2023, 10:29 PM
EODguy's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Saudi Arabia/Philippines/USA
Posts: 3,830
EODguy is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by c-bass View Post
Now as much as I'd like to pretend the whole oil spewing from who knows where incident didn't happen, it did, and there must be a reason for it right?



But Swampy seems to be running fine now, so what gives?



My leading theory was still CCV clogging could have caused things to build pressure...but what do I know.



Checking the oil cap revealed the usual winter mayo build up but the CCV didn't seem to be plugged when I popped the hose however there was a good amount of built up gunk.



Since we got the ball rolling replacing parts I might as well get on the preventative maintenance items, like the valve cover gasket.



As I'm popping out the coils I notice one of them wet with oil and take a look down the hole.



It's not easily visible but that right there is a spark plug hole about 1/4 full of oil

























I guess that might explain some of the misfiring.



This VCG was the worst one I've encountered yet. The gasket was SOLID plastic and stuck in the valve cover pretty good. Lots of mayo, really heavy varnish staining as well as carbon build up.































I spent quite some time trying to clean out the crap from the valve cover but the usual products I use were having a hard time getting the job done so I poured some old gas I had around in there and let it sit for a while. That worked much better but then naturally I didn't take a picture of the after.



Once everything was buttoned up I let that sit overnight so the RTV could cure followed by a good washing/degreasing of the engine bay to hopefully find the rest of the oil leaks we had.



The next few days were spent driving short distances around town to make sure we weren't puking any oil from the spark plugs (or anywhere else) and the aftermarket fan clutch would constantly be in vacuum cleaner mode.



It would disengage for a while and then back on randomly even though it had no business being on and I got tired of that nonsense so I pulled the clutch from a parts car and guess what? It was the same crappy aftermarket brand



PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: stay away from "Topaz" brand fan clutches, they're shit.



Back to driving around short distances for a couple of days before I went for a proper shakedown to visit a friend 10 miles away. I figure if I get stuck half way between home and his place at least I can catch a ride back.



Also, I'm still not very happy about the brakes. The vehicle stops...but not like a BMW should (or the wife's e53). More like an old Ford truck I used to drive.



The minute I pull up to my friend's place I dart under the hood to see if there's oil coming out of anywhere and we're bone dry across the board. That's odd...but I'll take it.



First proper drive after the alternator and brake replacement is a success
Congratulations on the fixes!!

But if Swampy is anything like the White Witch, she's just read your post and will either make a repeat of the problems or find a way to use the fixes to create a completely new and exciting problem with a high wallet impact...

I wish the White Witch was illiterate.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
__________________
"When the Team Chief said.... You're trapped in a hole with nothing but a goat and a slinky, what do you do? Stubby said, I'm not sure but it won't end well for the goat...." ~(Overheard) Last day, Phase 3, Q Course
Reply With Quote
  #286  
Old 02-27-2023, 04:14 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 320
guntherrex is on a distinguished road
knock on wood, but looks like progress

maybe another brake bleed is in order?
Reply With Quote
  #287  
Old 02-27-2023, 11:54 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
c-bass is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by EODguy View Post
Congratulations on the fixes!!

But if Swampy is anything like the White Witch, she's just read your post and will either make a repeat of the problems or find a way to use the fixes to create a completely new and exciting problem with a high wallet impact...

I wish the White Witch was illiterate.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk
Sometimes I feel it's like patching holes in a screen door.
Reply With Quote
  #288  
Old 02-28-2023, 12:01 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
c-bass is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by guntherrex View Post
knock on wood, but looks like progress

maybe another brake bleed is in order?
My reference point for how I want the brakes to feel like at minimum is the wife's X.

When I'm driving her car the first stop sign we come to immediately reminds me of how mediocre Swampy's pedal feel is compared to hers.

I've read at least a couple of posts where people had difficulties bleeding their brakes but everyone managed to get it done so I'm hoping another solid round of ISTA bleeding will get it done.
Reply With Quote
  #289  
Old 02-28-2023, 07:36 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
c-bass is on a distinguished road
During my search for an alternator I came across another set of heated rear seats.









The first set of heated rear seats I came across ended up (partly) in the wife's car since Swampy wasn't ready for the road but I definitely wanted that option in both vehicles so when I saw another set I quickly snapped them up.


The plan was to start off with wiring up the buttons but I couldn't find any wiring harness in the rear of the console.

A little bit of digging around in the center console vicinity didn't reveal any harness and I started thinking that maybe Swampy didn't come pre-wired for this option.

Doing some googling brought me to a thread where I found out the wire harness can sometimes be tucked under the driver's seat.

Sure enough I pull the seat out and there's the harness. Only problem being is that it looks like this:







Spending who knows how long submerged in water doesn't seem to agree with wiring and a couple of those holes were almost completely full of the green corrosion. The next step was to try to scrape and clean out all that corrosion out of there.

That proved to be semi successful so the next step was to soak the plug in a solution of vinegar and then baking soda to help eat the corrosion off.

Soaking in the solution(s) seemed to clean the corrosion pretty good but as I was moving the wiring harness around this happened.






oh FFS!!!!

So off to the pic n pull yard I go...again...


Found a donor







got what I need and a few other random bits and time to solder everything up.














You can see how the copper has been contaminated by the corrosion compared to the other wiring harness and that's with me cutting off a generous amount of the old wiring.

Wiring harness fixed, buttons in place, bolted up the backrest part and as I'm flipping it up to get the lower seat portion installed it doesn't want to latch.

Hmmm

A couple more tries and there's definitely something wrong. I thinking it might be slightly misaligned so I loosened the bolts a little and try to flip it again. CLUNK!

WTF?!?!

Now I'm in the trunk and as I'm pulling up on the back rest and sure enough the slot where it latches on is different!











Guess what? the pre facelift models have a different rear seat design Isn't learning fun??

Seeing as these seats aren't going to work in either e53 I own I stole the rear seats back from the wife's and that's the end of that bullshit.

Later on I found out there a few other differences in the rear cargo are like the cover mechanism. This is usually how I find these things out so I'm not surprised at all.

P.S. If there's anyone "local" that needs heated rear seats for a pre facelift e53 you know who to talk to
Reply With Quote
  #290  
Old 02-28-2023, 08:01 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Brisbane Australia
Posts: 220
Homerlovesbeer is on a distinguished road
I'm loving your posts C-bass! Very entertaining

As a new X5 owner here (2004 4.8is) some of the abbreviations you refer to I don't know but I sure appreciate how well you manage to fault find and diagnosis issues that crop up.

How did the Russian "lift kit" work out?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:57 AM.
vBulletin, Copyright 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. SEO by vBSEO 3.6.0
© 2017 Xoutpost.com. All rights reserved. Xoutpost.com is a private enthusiast site not associated with BMW AG.
The BMW name, marks, M stripe logo, and Roundel logo as well as X3, X5 and X6 designations used in the pages of this Web Site are the property of BMW AG.
This web site is not sponsored or affiliated in any way with BMW AG or any of its subsidiaries.