Spec X5 Overland Build

[Henn28]

Yesterday was a marathon, and very painful. However, my x5 is back on the ground finally. Still lots of work to do, but there is light finally at the end of the tunnel.

The front diff is a nightmare to get back in. It won't come out on the motor with the steering rack in (or I didn't want to risk it as it was hitting the rack on the way up) and I screwed up by not putting it on when the motor was a few inches off the mounts, like it was when I saw the interference and pulled the diff. I ended up having to do the full Bentley manual routine of pulling the motor mount nuts, lifting the motor a few inches and dropping the subframe a few inches until I could work the diff back up into place. Its heavy so a helper is super nice to pop a couple bolts in as you bench press it up into place. 2 hours wasted because I forgot to put it on at the right time in the motor install sequence. The only thing I didn't do per the Bentley manual was pull the (left) motor mount. This is to get the bolt into the diff, because of course BMW puts the one long bolt right where it will hit the mount/subframe. However, if you pop it into the diff while you are working the diff into place and before it interferes with the mount/subframe, you'll be fine. All this while on your back bench pressing a 50lb diff into place.

After I put the motor and subframe back into place, and torqued it all down (again) it was time to finally put the suspension back on. I needed new tension arms and ball joints, so the axles came off a few days ago, despite my initial desire to keep the hubs on. The bushings were shot, as were the ball joints and I needed to have them pressed out by a local suspension shop. Getting the right axle pedestal back on was easy but getting that axle clip to seat was a real PITA, as was driving the axles back on the carriers despite lots of PB blaster and then grease. It finally took a mallet and a short piece of 4x4 to get the nuts in to where they had at least 3 turns and could safely pull the hub onto the axle without fear of stripping. The right axle threads were also stripped for the first several turns (where the staking cutouts are) due to the shop that changed it a couple years ago driving it on to early with an impact I'm guessing. I got the nut to catch finally after lots of struggling.

After that it was relatively smooth sailing to tighten all the suspension bits down and install the wheels. I'll torque everything to spec when I can get back to the car next week hopefully.

I'm a bit unsure how to get to 300 and change foot/lbs for the axle nut. It's at around 150 or 200 now so I could put the wheels on and safely drop the car. Short of buying a monster torque wrench is there a way to get to 300 lb/ft? That is a crazy number.

[EODguy]

great job Henn!!

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

[vbelsky]

Originally Posted by Henn28

I'm a bit unsure how to get to 300 and change foot/lbs for the axle nut. It's at around 150 or 200 now so I could put the wheels on and safely drop the car. Short of buying a monster torque wrench is there a way to get to 300 lb/ft? That is a crazy number.

Just get it real tight with a breaker bar, and then pinch the nut to the axle shaft.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by EODguy

great job Henn!!

Always makes me smile seeing an old BMW getting treated right.

[Henn28]

Thanks Gents. Labor of love...sometimes!

I'm already thinking of a suitable home for the 4.4 I pulled out of my X5. Years ago I had an E36 M3 sedan, which was a blast with 250ish HP, if I recall correctly. 29 minutes of research on the interweb shows that M6x motor transplants into E36 cars is possible and has been done enough that at least one company makes the new oil pan and modified pump set-up needed to clear the subframe, and the mounts.

Frankly at this point I'd look forward to a motor rebuild I can do from a chair in the evenings! I think guys are getting 350+ HP from "M60B44" motor builds, without the vANOS leaks and complexity, and with a retrofitted double row timing chain in the 4.4 block.

Pic below of the X back on the ground...until I can get back to working on it in a week or two. I've gotten to know the garage member building the "hippity-hoppity" wagon next to my X a bit and have a new appreciation for these builds. The amount of work he's put into that car make my project look like kids play. The engine swap he just did for it was the easiest part of his build. Fun to watch it come together.

[kspark]

Originally Posted by Henn28

I'm a bit unsure how to get to 300 and change foot/lbs for the axle nut. It's at around 150 or 200 now so I could put the wheels on and safely drop the car. Short of buying a monster torque wrench is there a way to get to 300 lb/ft? That is a crazy number.

Plus I think you'd need a torque wrench that goes to 500+ lbs, in order to get 300 accurately. This one might have to be a bit of guesswork to DIY.

[Nolimite39]

For axel nuts and other ridiculously large TQ figure fasteners I start off with this

portercable.com/products/power-tools/drills-and-drivers/impact-drivers-and-wrenches/75-amp-12-impact-wrench/pce211

And finish with a feel with a 30" breaker bar just to make sure there is no further movement.

BTW, that impact combined with a little bit of a propane torch made quick work of the crank bolt on the M62

[TriX5]

When my crank bolt had to come off I purchased a 24" long 3/4" breaker bar and 3/4" drive 27mm socket, which I had to bounce on with all my weight to get it loose (using the special tool to hold the hub).

This same breaker bar is doing duty with a x-over and 1/2" drive 36mm 12pt socket to crack axle nuts loose. Of course the wheel has to be on and the weight of the car on the tire. I support the center point with a piece of wood to prevent slipping off the nut. Tightening it back up is easily achieved, you can feel when the axle stub bottoms out against the hub. I found that using a 1/2" drive breaker flexes far too much to do anything useful for that level of torque and gets frustrating in a hurry.

Highly recommend getting one of the 3/4" tools, I use it to undo stubborn wheel nuts as well.

[Nolimite39]

I didnt have access to the holding tool and didnt need it. The impact action didnt let the crank turn, it just hammered the bolt straight out

[Henn28]

Progress has come to a screeching halt due to having to go back to work. My one week swap took up two weeks of vacation and off days. Not surprised however, as no amount of reading was going to make that process go faster the first time.

I was able to send the DME off to Kassel Performance to get flashed with the 4.6 ones and zeros, and the secondary air system fully deleted. Both Kassel and DUDMD were at the top of my list to use, and Kassel said “no problem” on the secondary air sys. It hasn’t worked right for years and I’ve ignored the codes. In fact i can count the number of times I’ve even heard it come on in one hand. Not much cold Wx in SoCal and New Orleans, where the car has spent it’s life. Definitely no testing of any sort in Louisiana either.

My original plan was to live with the 4.4 DME, which according to smart E39 guys on another board who have done this swap, will run the 4.6 just fine, just not optimally. I would live with the SES light for the air pump until I found time to send the DME off. However since I can’t get back to the car until late next week, and have several days of work left to do, I popped it in the mail. I discussed a subtle tune with Kassel as well. Nothing cosmic as I don’t want to find the limits of the 4.4 OEM ZF tranny. It’s the same basic unit as the 4.6is except that the 4.6 has a different stall speed and an extra clutch. The difference in torque is only around 25 lb/ft so im not too concerned that my relatively fresh 4.4 tranny will give out, but I don’t want to push my luck with a big tune. Frankly, I don’t know how much power is even left in the 4.6 that a tune could get to, but I figured since I was paying for DME work anyway a little tweaking couldn’t hurt. I’d actually be even happy with a a bit more V8 lope at idle and crackle when lifting the gas. Probably not possible with the vanos, but a girl can dream.

Third crank pulley has arrived undamaged finally so late next week I’ll install it, run the belts, install the heater hoses and valve/pump, intake (dreading getting those oil return lines on now that the motor is on), radiator and attach the hoses to it, plumb my oil cooler (AN lines) and install the reservoirs and new hoses. Then it’s up on the lift for the power steering banjo bolts (new crush washers all around), torque the suspension bits and install the starter and front drive shaft and fill the diffs with new fluid. My new tranny bolts finally came in so I’ll swap out the easier ones to get to. I’ll leave the stiffener plate off until after I start the car and trouble shoot any leaks.

My spidey sense tells me I will regret not putting a new steering rack in, but I had to draw the line somewhere financially and time wise. Plus, the bonus of having to pull the motor up a few inches and drop the subframe a few inches for the differential nightmare is that I think I could get a new rack installed in a day if needed. My steering is occasionally stiff and I fear the rack is going, but I did thoroughly degrease the u-joint with the motor out and pack it full of grease just in case this is the cause. The whole shaft assembly seemed secure and not worn.

Then it’s time for oil, coolant and power steering fluid and first start. Two days max I’m hoping as I’d like to break the motor in on the way Iowa to bird hunt. Best laid plans….

I’ve agonized over the break in for a new Alusil motor and official BMW guidance seems to be non-existent, so I’m going with the guidance in the owners manual. I may use non-synthetic for the first 1000 miles as I have read that synthetic is too slippery and can impede proper ring seating. No way to pre-lube these motors so my fingers are crossed that there is still lots of assembly lube in the important bits after several years of sitting on a shelf in Munich.