Spec X5 Overland Build

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by Bmwe5320023.0

Locking diff has dropped!! Ecstunning finally did it, just 4 available at this point, not sure if i made the cut, projected ship date is January 13. Locking diff + winch will be fantastic for overlanding!

That thing should be great off road. I wonder if it will be noisy on the highway as it ratchets. I’ve never used one. So far I’m very happy with the Quaife I put in.

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by Factory6speed

Cool thread I don't think I saw all this

The berryman chemdip (comes in a paint bucket) and is the best I've found to clean Pistons. Just don't let it sit in there forever and rinse it good. It eats the carbon.

For about a year I've been trying to get this b58 in the car. I kept getting strange readings with the plasticgauge and had get the mic set and dial gauge going. I don't know about this particular engine but the b58 everything is torque to yield so you can't really get anywhere with the factory bolts. Then with the ARP studs the problem I was having was the lube was getting under the cap and not letting things bottom all the way out. I had to mix and match the slightly oversized bearings as I had the crank machined, but I was able to get everything right to 0.0020. Caps 1-4 & 7 started at 0.0025 and then caps five and six were way up to 0.0031. The 0.0026 oversized set just in the upper half, and then in both halves on five and six put everything in spec. On the rod caps I had to use the same oversized set just on the upper half across all six. The rod bolt stretch gauge from summit racing was pretty good. It fit in real nice.

That is interesting about the ARP bolts. Did you stick with them, or swap to BMW bolts? I was going to buy ARP connecting rod bolts because they are cheaper than OEM BMW bolts, but not if they are a struggle.

ARP doesn’t make main bearing cap, or head bolts for the M62 family I think. Only conrod bolts.

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by x5Alpine

Let me know who you use to restore your seats. Every place that I have found, their final product doesn't have the right "shape and form" that a new OEM seat would have. I am looking to try a place in Connecticut called prestige auto leather, he goes by "BMWrestoredseats" on instagram.

I bought a set of LCI comfort seats off a forum member who swapped his interior over to black. I think they are from a 2005 e53. I also bought new foam from BMW for the bottom cushions (shocking that it was available still), and dropped the whole mess off at a local upholstery shop.

He’d done several headliners for me over the years, with good results, and has a good rep. It took way, way too long due to Covid and he had a health scare. Im very happy with the comfort of them, and the added functionality like heat and more adjustability, but I wish they were a bit “tighter” in places. The fit of the new leather could be just a bit better in a few places.

Bottom line tho, for my purposes, they are fantastic. I would look into any well reviewed mom and pop upholstery shops in your area. Not sure if you have seat heat, but the elements will need to be steamed off the old cushions and glued to the new foam, if you get new foam. Also, it may be a good time to replace your airbag sensor mat, if they still make them. Otherwise you could end up starting at an airbag light like me! Still working on that.

[Factory6speed]

Originally Posted by Henn28

That is interesting about the ARP bolts. Did you stick with them, or swap to BMW bolts? I was going to buy ARP connecting rod bolts because they are cheaper than OEM BMW bolts, but not if they are a struggle.

ARP doesn’t make main bearing cap, or head bolts for the M62 family I think. Only conrod bolts.

Yes, ARP main studs, rod bolts, and head studs. I'm going to bleed the clutch here this morning and put the starter motor to it. Hopefully no strange noises. Then a whole bunch of reassembly for the cooling and intake system, and some computer things, and maybe it will run.

The instructions for the rod bolts said to torque them to 36 ft lb, but if you have a stretch gauge, use that until you get 7,000 of stretch. The stretch gauge is pretty easy to use. Most of them I had to torque to 45 ft pounds or even a couple of them up to 50 ft lb to get the stretch. But I probably would have been fine just at 36 ft lb, many people say they just torque and have never had a problem, I'm not building a 900 horsepower 9000 RPM racing engine or anything. It should be fine to putt around town and make a little boost.

If the factory bolts weren't all torque to yield I would have just went with them. I tried reusing the old set to check the clearance at first and that didn't work at all. And I didn't want to buy two sets just to throw one away to check the clearance but that's really what you would have to do.

[Clockwork]

I'm not building an Overland version, but I did find something kinda fun on sale at ECS Tuning called Molle racks for the rear side windows of the trunk. I literally drive my X5 in the city 99% of the time and have no real need for these but I love the look of them so I installed them. Perhaps I can justify using them on my annual camping trip (now that I also have 17" wheels with fatter sidewalk tires for comfort too)

NOTE: It makes getting the rear cargo cover next to impossible to remove now...but it is doable.

If anyone else is interested...

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...-molle-panels/

Damn, they are even cheaper than when I bought in November. Nuts. Anyhow ECS tuning also shows (kinda poorly) how to install them on a YouTube episode where Mike is adding a roof rack to his X5 and these Molle racks (begins at 11:45 mark of the video).

https://youtu.be/L8aQnu9HEe0?si=sLVHtenVptvscEso




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[Henn28]

Nice look….do they screw into the plastic, or attach some other way?

So far no show stoppers on the m62 build, or the transfer case. I really want to get the transfer case in before early January, when I plan on making the drive north to Iowa again. I’m probably just being OCD, but I feel 170k on a chain driven transfer case is far enough, and it’s a full-stop failure mode part on the non-x drive e53s. That said, there are 1000 other things on a 22 year daily driver old car that can me stranded on long drives to cold places too.

TIS details removing the stiffener plate, middle exhaust section, heat shields, and sway bar to get the transfer case off. I usually pay a price in time and frustration when I shortcut Bentley Or TIS, but I just don’t see why the stiffener needs to come off. I’ve got other things I want to do that require it’s removal, and I even have new stretch bolts on hand finally (I’ve reused the old one 3 or 4 times by now), so I guess I’ll see how things go time-wise on the transfer case R and R.

On the motor rebuild project, I dropped the pistons off at the first machine shop that is doing the head work. He’ll back up my one brain cell calculations and measurements and make sure there is enough meat in the tops to remove a max of 1.5mm from each valve pocket, and add that work to the list. I also dropped off new stem seals and valve keepers, but I need to bring him a wrist pin or two as well, as this helps him secure the piston(s) in his machine. I’m slowly acquiring new lifters as they aren’t too expensive (non BMW brand!), but add up when multiplied by 32. Springs are the big question and hopefully we’ll have an answer to if I can use S62 springs to save a (lot) of buck(s) soon.



the crank got dropped off at the other machine shop to be cleaned up and polished. For those interested few that may someday need to rebuild an M62, you can make out the main bearing journal dots on the weights in the below pic (yellow on #1 and green on #2):



These dots represent the OE bearing shell sizes used on the bearing caps. The block side gets all yellow color shells, but the caps get the shell that corresponds to the color dot. Within each color, there are several stages larger shells, to accommodate a crank journal that has been ground due to damage. This fact should be represented by a tic mark, or two or three, punched into the journal one counterbalance. Con-rod journals use the same color system, but not quite as complicated, and there are no color dots because the journals all use the same colors…one red shell and one blue shell per con-rod. Again, different sized shells of each color are available to accommodate re-worked con-rod journals.

TIS calls for plastiguaging each journal, with the new bearings. I did a couple and decided to switch to a high quality micrometer to measure each. These measurements were spot on to what TIS says an OE crank should measure, so I ordered OE shells of the appropriate colors. I will use plastigauge on journal 5, as the dot had worn off, or wasn’t there to begin with. It measured to an OE “yellow” size shell tho. I have all the new yellow block side shells on hand, and have ordered the cap shells. Once they arrive I’ll install the crank, a new rear main seal and carrier, and the rear coolant cover with a new gasket. I need to get an upper oil pan and pump, chain, etc. inbound. I also need to get my valve covers off to a powder coater for the full bake and coat makeover in crinkle black. They are in terrible shape, so the crinkle should do the best job hiding what doesn’t clean up.

Thanks to BimmerBreaker for setting me straight on the above.

[Clockwork]

Henn28, they screw into factory screw points (into metal) (you remove OE screw/bolts and use their flat top screws instead) as per the video. Secure, and functional for sure.

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[Henn28]

Thanks Clockwork, that’s good to know.

I scheduled the lift at the garage I use yesterday and got the rebuilt transfer case in. It’s a big job for a solo project, but doable. A transmission lift would be super helpful but I couldn’t find the garage’s lift so I used the jig I knocked together to lift the new transfer case into place.


With a transmission jack, and tall jack stands, the car can be up in the air a comfortable height and the transmission can be supported while the transfer case is unbolted and dropped down. As it was, I had to put it up to do the prep work, then down to creeper level so I could use floor jacks to support the transmission, and lift the new tcase into place.

First order of biz was to drop the stiffener plate and take a look. 2 years worth of grime, and a slow leak from the front diff where it mates to the oil pan. I also saw some oil on the left tie rod boot but can’t tell of its power steering or spray from the diff side axle which is inches from the tie rod. The diff is a big job so I’ll just keep an eye on it.



Lower control arms needed to be done, so I put a new set int while I had the wheels off. My steering wheel is off maybe 15 degrees now so I’ll tweak the tie rods a bit this am. The old control arms were 2ish years old and shot. I have Turner monoball uppers on the car and really like them, but didn’t want to spring for lowers from them at this time. I figure the Delphi ones are cheap and if they last 2 years I’ll be happy. I also don’t want a stiffer suspension at this point.


Next, the car went up and the exhaust came off from the cats to the rear mufflers. This is the biggest pain as when working solo, in my opinion. Getting it back on is even more painful. I use a floor jack to help getting it up and down after all the nuts are loose.


The heat shielding came out next, then the rear driveshaft came off at the guibo and was supported by wire to protect the U joint. The car went back down to creeper level then so I could support the transmission with a floor jack under the pan. This allows the transmission and transfer case support member to come off. Three bolts on each side into the frame rails, and a long bolt through the transfer case bushing. After this the 9 torx bolts holding the transfer case in can come out. The input shaft at the transmission, and the two positioning dowels keep it from falling off, and I just worked it free and off.


The rebuilt tcase (in the jig I made) went onto a floor jack and went up into place without a much drama. I regreased the front driveshaft splines, and put some anti-seize on the transmission splines, per TIS. I had bought 5 new torx bolts for the job, assuming that several heads on the old bolts would be messy. The top bolts are a pain to get to, but dropping the transmission a few inches via the floor jack was super helpful. As it was, several of the torx can only be accessed with a wratchet torx wrench. The torque on them is only 30 something ftlbs, so not hard to get to with a hand wrench. I used a torque wrench on the few that had clearance.



After that it’s down to reassembly. Once again, the exhaust is the biggest pain. New copper nuts at the headers, and even though I had bought new gaskets for the joints at the rear sections, I couldn’t get the the old metal seals off amd didn’t have time to cut them off.
All in all a full day, but no show stoppers like stripped fasteners, etc.

Interestingly, the “ping” I’ve been chasing for years when selecting drive or reverse was gone when driving home. Maybe it was something in the tcase all along.

[Henn28]

The motor rebuild is turning into a slow burn. I figured any delays would be on my part, but it also turns out the machine shops I'm using are quite backed up. Not a huge deal though since it gave me time to get the transfer case into the X5. Until this week I also didn't have all the parts I needed to put the bottom end back together. My crank bearing cap shells and bolts arrived, along with some of what I need to get the oil pump converted. I'm still waiting on the o-rings to the tubes, and a few other misc parts. I also expect an ebay upper oil pan to arrive in the next couple days. Assuming it is in good shape, I will need to get an appropriate -AN fitting to have welded onto it where the X5 oil separator return line would go (on the X5 upper pan). Then I can source the hard-line that bolts to the back-right of the motor and sends the oil from the separator and the CCV valve down to the pan. On the X5, this line has a banjo fitting that goes into the upper pan, so my plan is to chop the bottom of the hard line off and fit an appropriately sized -AN line for the last few inches to the pan...I think something like a 4AN might do nicely as I seem to recall the hard line is around 1/4" OD.

My ebay oil pump showed up and while dirty, seemed fine until I took it apart for cleaning. Unfortunately the housing that the outer rotor fits into has some significant scratches in it - deep enough that I can feel with my fingernail. The rotor itself is steel and is in good shape. Clearly something got into the oil pump and did some damage. I'm not sure though if its enough to matter, but I'm leaning towards buying a new pump.



On another note, I pulled my OE transfer case apart and took a quick look. I was interested in what a 170k E53 transfer case looked like. I may have been my imagination, but I felt the drivetrain was getting sloppy, and I did have that infuriating "ping" noise when selecting D or R. In the past two years I've replaced the front driveshaft splines, put in a rebuilt rear diff, new guibos all around and changed the transmission fluid, all to no avail. After pulling the transfer case halves apart, frankly I'm glad I didn't do this before I committed to rebuilding an ebay xfer case. It looked pretty much brand new inside, with only a small amount of metal mud on the magnet. The chain had about 1/2" of slop in it...not enough to cause it to jump, but definitely about 80% more than the chain on the "new" transfer case after rebuild. The rear driveshaft output gearset/shaft does have a pronounced noise when spun, but I can't tell if that is bearing noise, or coming from the large dust shield that may be rubbing on the case. Regardless, the "ping" is completely gone with the rebuilt transfer case, so it was either coming from the t-case, or maybe the guibo was torqued incorrectly and the backlash of selecting D and/or R was causing the rear driveshaft to make the noise.

Since the LWX500 transfer cases are the unicorn of the two types used in the early, non X-drive e53s and parts are getting hard to come by for rebuilds. I may order bearings, chain and output shafts (if needed) from Cobra and rebuild this one when I get a chance since it is quite simple.


If anyone has any experience with the inside of these M62 oil pumps, I'd love feedback on the scoring present on the case where the outer rotor fits in. It was pretty cheap, so not the end of the world if I don't use it. A new pump is definitely more expensive, but maybe the way to go given how much damage can happen so quickly with a bad pump. Thanks all.

[Factory6speed]

I wouldn't run it. It will put shavings in there. All this work you want it to turn out really good and last not have metal in there. It's worth the expense.

The b58 is getting me around town, so far seems good. No noises or anything, it's smooth. I think maybe I did okay. I haven't done any pulls yet but it sounds fine up to redline. I don't know how long it will take to stop being nervous.

I put the front tension struts on completely upside down, and then I had to take the whole front suspension apart and the axles out to put them on the right way. And then I tore the one axle boot trying to force the arm ball joint down in there. It fired up two weeks ago and I'm finally driving it because I didn't take a picture of the suspension. Usually everything only goes on one way...