What did you do to / for your E53 today??

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by BigLion

Beeaauutttiful automobile!! <3 <3 <3

Nice!

[BigLion]

Well gang, I may finally be at a stage where I can be at peace with my car...

I had to get it inspected for the registration renewal, and to sort a lot of longstanding niggles (besides them insisting replacing two solid rear tyres because the date on the side-wall was 'old'), I also;

* Got all the seals done inside the tranny which was causing longer and longer delay to settle into reverse, also lumpy downshifts. It took an INPA adaptation reset to settle down those hard shifts, but a week later it shifts as smooth as a baby's butt!
* At the same time all the fluids accumulating under the car went away! (commented on the first inspection)
* Thought I was having a return of the failing valvetronic motor, but the misfire was just a worn spark plug - also replaced a plastic elbow joint from the master cylinder to eliminate vacuum leaks
* Two new rear tyres
* FINALLY got the interior front door handles, sent from an eBay UK seller - I was waiting to replace the cracked driver's side window and handles in one hit, and went back to the same tint shop to match the film with the other windows
* Just sorted the dead board monitor tonight (a week after replacing the DSP amp) with a new #75 fuse. Could have sworn the multimeter showed it was good though?
* Also picked up a fresh looking trunk cover from the breakers. A long time since I washed mine and the glue on the roller dissolved and left me with a piece in each hand
* I'm still of a mind to lower the front a couple of inches cos I swapped the air struts out for coilovers in two stages (front first, then back), purely due to logistics. The front is a teensy bit higher... it's just a matter of timing to get them done at the workshop. I also need to code out the suspension warning at some stage.


So chronologically from inserting the key; radio comes on, starts beautifully, goes backwards and forwards straight away(!), smooth gear changes and plenty of power at higher revs. I'm a happy man!

For now....

[LA02MAX]

Originally Posted by BigLion

Beeaauutttiful automobile!! <3 <3 <3

Thanks, I’m loving it! But your color combo is really the one I was lusting after.

[BigLion]

We had a couple of good ones to choose from at the time, 10 years ago this August, but the colour combo is sweet - it had to be Imolarot with ivory seats



Did I mention that I replaced the plastic bulkhead (where the positive terminal attaches)... Original one got shattered while the engine was being worked on.

[andrewwynn]

Replaced my cargo rack.

Painted the edges road stripe yellow to reduce how often people bump into it.

[bnfaustin]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

…

Replaced my cargo rack.

Painted the edges road stripe yellow to reduce how often people bump into it.

[mention]andrewwynn [/mention] Awesome! That is a sweet setup!

I drove down to a local breaker yard, since they had 2 e53 X5s in various states of breakdown and I saw that at least one of them had the passenger side (fixed) rear quarter panel window trim molding and my car has been missing that since I bought it….

So, not only did I score that molding, the other one also had it, so I pulled both, along with two clips for the trunk (boot for the brits) panel, the driver side front bumper insert that goes under the headlight and to the right of the center grill opening, the hitch cover in the center of the rear bumper and two passenger rear window privacy screen retainer hooks (all these items were also missing since I bought the car); a couple of window switches, and an OEM widescreen Navigation display all for the grand cost of $56 ($3 for admission to pull parts and $53 for all the parts). I’m feeling pretty good at this point, since I have only seen that molding for $249 or more, which made no sense to me that it would be so expensive….

Now, I get to figure out how to release the original (small) navigation screen display out of the center of the dash so I can drop in the updated one, and how to permanently install that window molding because I verified that it fits, but it doesn’t seem to want to stay in place securely until you bend some tabs to lock it into place and I did not have a tool to reach in there and bend the tabs without damaging the weather stripping in that area….

Anyone know how to get the original small screen navigation display to release off the top? Mine is sitting in its spot, I can pivot it up several inches since it’s not secured on the bottom, but it will not “pull” out through the top….

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by bnfaustin

... Anyone know how to get the original small screen navigation display to release off the top? Mine is sitting in its spot, I can pivot it up several inches since it’s not secured on the bottom, but it will not “pull” out through the top….

Sounds like it's missing the lower securing screws....

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by bnfaustin

[mention]andrewwynn [/mention] Awesome! That is a sweet setup!

.

Harbor freight but needed a bunch of modifications.

The support bars under the expanded metal don't touch the metal until you put in enough load to flex the deck.


I put a double bend on the ends of each bar and the center bar as well to make the deck flat edge to edge (so stupid to have a 1/8" bump in the middle of the otherwise flat deck). (so that anything flat across the bottom would either teeter or bend).

My revision is perfectly flat edge to edge

[bnfaustin]

Originally Posted by wpoll

Sounds like it's missing the lower securing screws....

I was not trying to attach it, I was trying to remove it completely to replace it with an upgraded one… turns out that there are 2 Phillips screws along the top of display covered with black tape. Once you move the tape aside, you can unscrew ‘ pull the two screws and then angle the head unit out.

Once done, it was an easy swap, just had to cut the two excess tabs off the bottom of the frame to ensure the updated unit would fit in:

Now I may well have to order a BlueBus :-).

[PalmSpringsE534.6]

I've been hunting for a nice running board set for my 4.6is...and thanks to this board...I bought a set today and they're only a short drive away. What freaking luck.

Now to get that damn Aux Fan working.