Happy 18th Birthday to my “Tank”!

[EODguy]

She still looks like she's only 3 years old.

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[workingonit]

Originally Posted by dkl

from 3-9-2022 18 years ago today, I picked up my fairly stripped factory-order 3.0i that only had 4 options: HID, Leather, Sunroof, and Steptronic (the latter 2 option boxes should not have been checked had I know better!).

from 5-24-2024 After 20 years, I still stare back at the ol'girl every time I walk away from her

Great-looking E53 (aren't they all??). I wish my '01 looked so pristine, but it has never been stored in a garage, according to previous owner #2, who found out from PO #1 (who used the X5 traveling to oil fields in West Texas) that he'd never put it in a garage, either. With me, that tradition persists, and the Texas sun, hail, and windblown debris has taken a toll on the paint. It's a 50-50 vehicle at best: "looks good at 50mph, 50 feet away, at night, in the rain", as we used to say at car shows. But, like you, I can't help staring back at it in parking lots, and I stare out my home office window (I'm retired, and at my desk most of the time) at it all day


I partially agree with your first post in this thread; I wish mine hadn't been ordered with the Sunroof option, at least. I've sealed and disabled mine to prevent further flooded floors, and also fabricated a rooftop rack over it (it's mainly a strong steel mesh that protects the sunroof glass from falling tree branches and frequent hailstorms). Other options, now broken, removed, and lost by the PO's would've been nice to have & use (I'm missing the "MID" and these)


Anyway, since my X5 will be 23 in less than two months, I guess it isn't so bad for a 211.5K mile/23 y.o. vehicle; I have a penchant for either buying older cars, or keeping them forever, or a combination of both...my oldest is 26 (owned for 18), the youngest is 10 (just recently bought, with low miles), and my record for longest owned is 27 years ('66 Chevelle, bought in '94, kept 'til I traded it for the X5, in '21).

If you love 'em, keep 'em.

[dkl]

Originally Posted by workingonit

Great-looking E53 (aren't they all??). I wish my '01 looked so pristine, but it has never been stored in a garage, according to previous owner #2, who found out from PO #1 (who used the X5 traveling to oil fields in West Texas) that he'd never put it in a garage, either. With me, that tradition persists, and the Texas sun, hail, and windblown debris has taken a toll on the paint. It's a 50-50 vehicle at best: "looks good at 50mph, 50 feet away, at night, in the rain", as we used to say at car shows. But, like you, I can't help staring back at it in parking lots, and I stare out my home office window (I'm retired, and at my desk most of the time) at it all day
Attachment 84158

I partially agree with your first post in this thread; I wish mine hadn't been ordered with the Sunroof option, at least. I've sealed and disabled mine to prevent further flooded floors, and also fabricated a rooftop rack over it (it's mainly a strong steel mesh that protects the sunroof glass from falling tree branches and frequent hailstorms). Other options, now broken, removed, and lost by the PO's would've been nice to have & use (I'm missing the "MID" and these)
Attachment 84159

Anyway, since my X5 will be 23 in less than two months, I guess it isn't so bad for a 211.5K mile/23 y.o. vehicle; I have a penchant for either buying older cars, or keeping them forever, or a combination of both...my oldest is 26 (owned for 18), the youngest is 10 (just recently bought, with low miles), and my record for longest owned is 27 years ('66 Chevelle, bought in '94, kept 'til I traded it for the X5, in '21).

If you love 'em, keep 'em.

The car has been garaged its entirely life until 7 years ago when the CEO got her new car. The sun has taken a toll on it the last 7 years after getting booted from the garage. Its condition tends to bother me less these days as long as I get to enjoy driving it

You have me beat by a long shot for the longest owned car! But I may be able to catch up in another 7 years The X5 holds the record for me for the longest owned followed by the Z4MC.

[motordavid]

Our 2001 E53 is going on 23 yrs old this September...5 spd manual, Sport pkg, 19" wheels, 3.0 IL Six.

Still runs very well and is the 2nd best car I have had in 61+ yrs of lots of different cars.

Usually garaged, but other than fewer miles every year it isn't GQueen, as I drive it locally often and an occasional long run from NC to NJ to see adult kidz.

Debating whether to have all belts/hoses, et al redone, as precautionary. The decision is influenced by the dearth of BMW/X Indie shops within a reasonable drive area, here in HillbillyHeaven...we shall see.

~ 141,000+ miles, but with 3 cars and until last year, 3 m'cycles, how much can I drive it as a Retired Bum.

My CEO tossed her 2017 X1 for a new X3 a year ago: she likes it, so 'we like it', but other than gizmos and being new, it couldn't carry the old E53's bag, imo. And her X3 has had more glitches in a year than the E53 has had in the past decade.

I expect to keep the old X until I leave the planet and then my CEO can sell it to a 'deserving' E53 enthusiast for chump change.

Interesting thread.
GL, mD

[dkl]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Our 2001 E53 is going on 23 yrs old this September...5 spd manual, Sport pkg, 19" wheels, 3.0 IL Six.

Still runs very well and is the 2nd best car I have had in 61+ yrs of lots of different cars.

Usually garaged, but other than fewer miles every year it isn't GQueen, as I drive it locally often and an occasional long run from NC to NJ to see adult kidz.

Debating whether to have all belts/hoses, et al redone, as precautionary. The decision is influenced by the dearth of BMW/X Indie shops within a reasonable drive area, here in HillbillyHeaven...we shall see.

~ 141,000+ miles, but with 3 cars and until last year, 3 m'cycles, how much can I drive it as a Retired Bum.

My CEO tossed her 2017 X1 for a new X3 a year ago: she likes it, so 'we like it', but other than gizmos and being new, it couldn't carry the old E53's bag, imo. And her X3 has had more glitches in a year than the E53 has had in the past decade.

I expect to keep the old X until I leave the planet and then my CEO can sell it to a 'deserving' E53 enthusiast for chump change.

Interesting thread.
GL, mD

mD - Good to see that you're still hanging around here. Are you still on original suspensions? I've done belts and tensioner about 5 years ago. Did waterpump/Tstats/hoses about 2 years ago and just did the expansion tank and bracket a couple of months ago. Since I'm still on original dampers, was thinking about overhauling them with some Sachs or Bilstein.


How's the X3 been treating you. Any likes or dislikes with it? What type of glitches are you running into?

[X5chemist]

Mine turned adult in April. It's starting to show signs it wants to be aggressive. Fixed all the lack of maintenance parts over the years. Almost daily driven. I have confidence to drive it anywhere. Ages like fine wine. It only gets better. Oil change due in 200 miles.

[dkl]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

Mine turned adult in April. It's starting to show signs it wants to be aggressive. Fixed all the lack of maintenance parts over the years. Almost daily driven. I have confidence to drive it anywhere. Ages like fine wine. It only gets better. Oil change due in 200 miles.

Congrats - Great looking ride

[andrewwynn]

Agreed. I miss the e53 at times. What did you do to have headlights look new after two decades?


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[workingonit]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Agreed. I miss the e53 at times. What did you do to have headlights look new after two decades?

If I might interject here...I presume you're asking about clearing the headlight lenses? I used a 3M kit to do mine 3 years ago, and they're still looking as good now as then (never garaged, exposed 24/7/365) https://xoutpost.com/1231925-post10.html
sidelights are different (I never noticed)

In the post I listed above, I expressed a desire to using pre-cut Paint Protection Film instead of using rub-on/liuid/spray-on UV protection, next time I choose to refreash the headlights. I found a pre-cut film from WeatherTech, 40-mils!, that is listed for the 2001 X5 4.4i, but there's no listing for the 3.0i model.https://www.weathertech.com/bmw/2001/x5-4-4i/lampgard/

Aren't they the same size and configuration? I can't find any reference among my X5 repair data that says they might be different. ????

[andrewwynn]

I think the lenses are the same. On realoem it's difficult to find where it makes the differentiation for engine.