Never thought I could bring myself to do this...

[ajacks8]

I told myself it would never happen to me.
I told myself it could never happen to me.

Then, after picking up my 5th e53...it's happening to me. Parting out an e53. I don't want to do it. I'll have to bring myself to do it! I finally acquired a 6-sp e53, but it's from Ohio, and its NOT going to work. It needs a clutch, but the exhaust is welded on and I have NEVER seen so much rust under a vehicle! The whole underside is solid brown, ever bolt ready to snap at the slightest crank. It drives incredibly well, and besides the clutch slippage, has a great overall drivetrain. Unfortunately, with the clutch job not really viable - I've made the difficult decision to part it out. Obviously, everything south of the rockers is toast. Adding to my decision are that the rear doors are very rusted at the seams AND that I picked up my unicorn optioned 3.0i as a donor body for this 6-sp swap...albeit with a cost of twice book value. It is flawless underneath with all major services completed recently...OFHG, VCG, oil pan, etc. So, the reason for this post is...WHAT should I work to harvest from this body to sell at a worthwhile price to make removal worth my time? I'm not sure the diffs are of great value with the rust, even driveshaft is powder-brown. It has standard sunroof with a perfect tan headliner. I do have an extra $400 LUK flywheel that I picked up to install when I was going to do the clutch if anyone wants. Besides the seats being nice and pulling the newer apple car-play headunit for one of my other x5's...I don't really know what else to remove for selling. Any feedback is appreciated!

[Effduration]

So will you use this rusty E53 as a donor for the 6-speed swap into the other unicorn X5 ?

If so, I don't understand the drama associated with parting the rest of it out...That should have been part of the plan to begin with..

If you are not swapping the 6-speed trans, it obviously has value with pedals, driveshaft, shifter, harness, etc. as a swap kit...

As for other X5 parts...the following have value and are worth removing in my opinion.

-The B30 engine
-battery if good
-headlights if xenon and not foggy
-tow hitch, harness and tow module if equipped...Get the hitch sandblasted.
-side mirrors if good
-Driver and passenger side door handles and handle carrier if Genuine BMW
-interior door and dash trim if unusual and not cracked.
-Does it have the rolling rear floor
-Maybe the Alpine Amp in the driver's side rear cubby
-Auto-dim rear view mirror if equipped.
-HVAC panel and buttons.
-ignition switch if Genuine BMW
-Alternator....rebuilt Bosch units are junk IMO

[ajacks8]

Originally Posted by Effduration

So will you use this rusty E53 as a donor for the 6-speed swap into the other unicorn X5 ?

If so, I don't understand the drama associated with parting the rest of it out...That should have been part of the plan to begin with..

If you are not swapping the 6-speed trans, it obviously has value with pedals, driveshaft, shifter, harness, etc. as a swap kit...

As for other X5 parts...the following have value and are worth removing in my opinion.

-The B30 engine
-battery if good
-headlights if xenon and not foggy
-tow hitch, harness and tow mudule if equiped...Get it sandblasted.
-side mirrors if good
-Driver and passenger side door handles and handle carrier if Genuine BMW
-interior door and dash trim if unusual and not cracked.
-Does it have the rolling rear floor
-Maybe the Alpine Amp in the driver's side rear cubby
-Auto-dim rear view mirror if equipped.
-HVAC panel and buttons.
-ignition switch if Genuine BMW
-Alternator....rebuilt Bosch units are junk IMO

That's a great start for me! I did NOT anticipate the rust and was too excited about $3k for an LCI manual. Ideally, I would transfer all of good drive train in rust bucket to another LCI 3.0i needing either trans or engine replaced...but instead I'm moving just the trans to a special order Estoril 3.0i that needs NO work at all! While $3k is way too much for just the swap parts, I'm hoping to recoup some of what I've spent on it. It's Toledo with NOT one great looking body panel!


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[Salty B.]

I'd make an offer for the gearbox to swap into my pre-LCI 5-spd manual but I have nowhere to actually do that...

[Factory6speed]

I just did the clutch and didn't have to touch the exhaust at all. Just that front heat shield you can slide out over the pipe and then you can get the transmission crossmember out. No need to touch the exhaust.

If the seats are black I would be interested in them.