Official X5 4.6is & 4.8is Thread

[Victorious4.8is]

Nice!

Welcome.

[bcredliner]

Welcome!

[TUNEX_E53]

Originally Posted by Aleman

Hey Gang,
New E53 owner here. Just got this 2005 4.8is delivered from Washington state where they don't salt the roads. Can't wait to get a license plate on it tomorrow. I'm looking forward to learning all about the E53 from the forum and hopefully contributing some new content. I'm new to the E53, but not to this era of BMW. Had an E46 wagon and an E39 sedan for a while. My E30 has been (and will be) with me for a long time. See you around!
Cheers,
Aleman

Well congrats
This one looks Like a Solid Black Gang Car 4.8 is An amazing piece of Machinery
Mine is also Black on Black but 4.4
What Kind of content are you planning on producing?
Here is couple of my vids You might be interested in, Just practicing on Editing so the quality is not that great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjjbku2ys3U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85gmgW1WyZc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hr2kS-nqEI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eFqzI44nCM

The knowledge on the Car is Quite Significant since I grew up in Russia, & E53 there was a Cult Car. Especially in the Black on Black Fully Loaded/Super Thick And Bullet Proof Editions.

Subscribe support the Growing Channel

[Nolimite39]

Welcome and congrats, always good to see another iS find a good home (especially a black one, since they seem so shunned)

[Aleman]

Originally Posted by TUNEX_E53

Well congrats
This one looks Like a Solid Black Gang Car 4.8 is An amazing piece of Machinery
Mine is also Black on Black but 4.4
What Kind of content are you planning on producing?
Here is couple of my vids You might be interested in, Just practicing on Editing so the quality is not that great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjjbku2ys3U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85gmgW1WyZc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hr2kS-nqEI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eFqzI44nCM

The knowledge on the Car is Quite Significant since I grew up in Russia, & E53 there was a Cult Car. Especially in the Black on Black Fully Loaded/Super Thick And Bullet Proof Editions.

Subscribe support the Growing Channel

Hey Tunex - Whenever I take on car projects, I like to write-up step-by-step documents with photos and tips, so if I ever have to repeat the project, I have all my lessons learned for reference. I will share that with the group here as I complete the work.

Right now, my X5 doesn't seem to have any issues, but I've only driven it about 5 miles so far!

[Victorious4.8is]

Ran across this 4.8is with under 7K miles for sale on eBay last night. Enjoy!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203379253831

[LA02MAX]

Hello all! New member here and I just picked up a 2006 4.8is last week in California. I enjoy working on cars and I've always had a soft spot E series BMWs. In the past, I had an E36 325is 5-speed and an F30 335i 6-speed, both of which I loved. Since I'm up to the task of maintaining an old BMW V8, I figured it would be a fun change. Anyways, I live in Louisiana and took the risk to try and drive the X5 home from California immediately after purchasing it.

That didn't work out so well for me hahaha. The water pump blew up in the middle of New Mexico at 2am on a Sunday (classic BMW, right?). It happened at 99,945 miles so juuuust short of 100k. I had it towed to a hotel and tried finding a u-haul + trailer to tow it the rest of the way home with no luck. Everything between Deming and El Paso was completely sold out of u-hauls and rental cars. So my brother came down from Colorado Springs and towed me back to his house.

The battery and tires were also crap. So while I was stuck in Colorado, I had the entire cooling system overnighted to me from FCP Euro, replaced the tires, got a new battery, and replaced the front brake pad wear sensor because it was intermittently giving me a warning light. I got it home successfully this past Saturday.

Next items on the list (already have all parts in the garage):

- Radio screen replacement. Seems like every E53 I looked at had crappy screens, so I'm guessing this won't last long. I'll probably look into a more permanent solution like an Android radio in the future.
- All power steering hoses and reservoir. It's currently leaking.
- All fluids: Oil, transmission fluid, front diff, transfer case, rear diff, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and coolant has obviously been replaced. All OEM, of course.
- All filters: Air filter, oil filter, a/c microfilter, transmission filter, fuel filter
- OEM coils and spark plugs
- Random stuff like gas cap, E70 rear wiper and new front wipers, and transmission seal kit

Future items will be to remove the ridiculously dark tint and get more normal tint that I can see out of, new OEM kidney grilles to replace the aftermarket ones that don't fit and fall out every time I shut the hood, refinish the wheels, and do a nice paint correction + ceramic coat. It doesn't currently smoke at all, but I do want to do the valve stem seals and AGA coolant pipe replacement to address more of the common issues with the N62.

On to the pictures from the trip. 24 hours into my ownership and it got to ride on two flatbeds haha

[bcredliner]

Welcome! Enjoy!

[Victorious4.8is]

Welcome. Glad you were able to get things sorted out and be able to still drive her home. Good thing you had family in the area who could rescue you! Looks like a very nice X you found. Enjoy!

[LA02MAX]

Originally Posted by Victorious4.8is

Welcome. Glad you were able to get things sorted out and be able to still drive her home. Good thing you had family in the area who could rescue you! Looks like a very nice X you found. Enjoy!

Thanks! It'll be a fun project, for sure. Lots of interior rattles on this thing that I want to chase down as well. But overall it's in great condition. The paint isn't terrible and the leather and carpet still look great.