BenFenner's 2004 Silver SUV

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

Interesting...

I'm quite happy with my Knipex Oetiker clamp pliers (part number 10 99 I220) but I can see why you'd like yours.

Oh no! I've never seen those before. Now I have another tool to buy!

[BenFenner]

I can certainly recommend them.
The image above is a link with more details.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

I can certainly recommend them.
The image above is a link with more details.

Thanks!

[BenFenner]

Purchase used OE Westfalia tow kit | Album

Recall from my introduction post one of my future plans:

Originally Posted by BenFenner

I plan to get the OEM tow package to install, but it is NLA and expensive used, so we'll see when I can pull that off.

A dozen stars needed to align for this to happen, but it all worked out.

Since purchasing the X5 I've been looking for a used OE Westfalia tow kit in good condition. I've seen a few come and go on eBay for ~$850 shipped but was just never ready to pull the trigger. I finally found someone selling one in amazing condition outside of Tampa, FL on Facebook Marketplace. I messaged them on 2021-01-04, but for some insane reason Facebook never showed me their reply. About 50 days later on 2021-02-21 I finally saw they had replied, but the tow kit was long sold. I let them know if they came across another to hit me up. The seller reached back out on 2021-03-30 with another kit they were selling. It looked great, and was only missing the electronic tow module (available used on eBay for ~$75) so I told them to try to get a sane shipping quote for me. While we sorted out shipping options over the next few days my brother ended up in Florida by chance for work, but was still 200 miles away and not keen on the idea. Then the next week I came up with an absolutely insane idea.

Why don't I just fly down to Orlando, pick up a used V8 BMW M3 there, drive it to Tampa to pick up the kit, and then drive home?

I mean, that makes perfect sense, right?!

It saves me most of the shipping cost for the tow kit, and saves the seller a bunch of time and effort. And it gets me a donor vehicle I've been wanting for quite a while.

Believe it or not, the plan came together (I did have to change my flight plans at the last minute to work with the seller's schedule that I'd forgotten) and now I have the a tow kit for the X5.

I just need to grab the electronic tow module and then figure out when I have to time to install all of this.


Parts:
$500.00 | OEM tow kit for E53 (minus electric tow module) | 71600009711 | OE by Westfalia


Pics:

[BenFenner]

Album

Not a real update or anything, but the E53 finally put in some work it was purchased for. I grabbed some free dirt from down the street and used it to finally fill in behind our retaining wall.


Pics:

[X5chemist]

I'm stalling a hitch for that purpose. Work and not just commuting!
Cargo carriers and maybe small trailers will be used.

Your first page pic are what mine would like if previous owners detailed it. Wheels have cleaned up, but some deep brake dust exists. A few body scratches and paint chips are also present. One thing I will update are the headlights. I have a replacement set ready to polish up for installation.

[BenFenner]

Replace front driver door handle carrier | Album

These cars are absurd. I'm actually lucky only having had one of these fail so far.

From a Facebook post I made recently:

The issues that you'll run into unique to the E53 (so in addition to all of the normal BMW madness) are:
1) The door handle carriers like to fail very prematurely.
2) The steel rear brake hardlines like to rust out prematurely where they transition below your left foot on a left-hand-drive car.
3) The steering angle sensors like to fail prematurely (and require coding).
4) The plastic transfer case actuator gear fails prematurely.
5) The plastic stand-offs for the electrical backing plates in the tail lights (where the light sockets connect to) like to melt and allow the sockets to lose connection.
6) Suspension bushings and joints up front and in the rear designed for a shorter/lighter 5-series sedan will fail prematurely causing poor alignment issues and similar.
7) The CV boots seem to fail prematurely, especially the front outer units.

We'll see how many more of these common issues I collect as my ownership experience progresses.


Opening the door from the outside stopped working, and it was the common door handle carrier failure. Supposedly designed in such a way as to avoid them getting frozen stuck in cold weather, BMW managed to do this in all of the rest of their cars without causing this type of mayhem. I am aware of the multiple repair techniques (bailing wire or metal zip-ties), the aftermarket replacement options (all of dubious smoothness), and the rebuilt options out there (most notably by Moustapha Sari in France).

I tried to repair mine with a metal zip-tie but just didn't get it right. I then pivoted to purchasing new, and decided on OEM after a bunch of research and getting first-hand experience with what it might be like to live with a unit that doesn't fit perfectly. There were no decent rebuilt options at the time (like there are now). It was a bit more than I wanted to spend at the time, but I am happy with the solution.

After the failed repair attempt I still needed the car while I waited for parts to arrive so I fashioned up a field fix that worked well enough until the new parts arrived. You'll see that oddball stuff in the pictures.

Normally this would be a pretty typical repair, except I had one crazy thing to deal with.

Who ever removed and reinstalled the driver's side door panel before I bought the car pried open the tangs on the central latching mechanism to the point where the door panel locked into place with no easy way of removing it. After a couple hours of trying I finally got a sight-line and enough light on the issue to see what was going on. I was then able to dislodge the door panel from the locked latch, damaging the plastic female guide in the process. A new piece was easy to add to the order. The pics show I was mistakenly sent 1 bag of 10 pieces, instead of just one.

While I was in there I also glued one of the outer latch provisions that had pulled away from the door panel during removal.

The rubber trim for the door handle was in decent shape, but I replaced that as well.


Parts:
$130.58 | OEM outside door handle carrier (front, driver's side) | 51218243615
$11.84 | OEM rubber door handle trim (front, driver's side, right lock portion) | 51218243631
$12.09 | OEM rubber door handle trim (front, driver's side, left portion) | 51218243629
$3.20 | OEM door panel central latch guide (plastic, female) | 51418156532


Pics:

[Fifty150hs]

When my drivers side DHC failed and I was waiting for parts I just used the key fob to roll down the window and opened the door with the inside handle.

[BenFenner]

Yah, it's been a while but I think I was opening a rear door and reaching...

It is possible I thought it was going to be a more permanent solution, that just turned out to be trash. So I just left it that way until new parts came. It certainly was less annoying that way.