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

[X5chemist]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Siphon jet usually can be repaired. Just needs an o-ring and some teflon tape (and a zip tie to prevent self destruct)

Is there an o-ring part number? I'll have to search for this fix. Since a new pump is due for preventative maintenance, might as well fix it up right.

[Henn28]

My daughter and I spent some time troubleshooting the X’s clunky steering. I was convinced that the source was the upper column, or a bushing at the firewall, however as soon as she started turning the wheel it became fairly apparent to me that the noise and excess play was at the double u joint every 30 or 40 deg as it turned. That not to say I don’t have other issues too with the steering, but I ordered a new double joint from FCP (pn 32306758076), and new bolts as a place to start.

Bentley has the torques listed fortunately (in section covering the steering rack), but little else that I can find. There are some good writes ups on the board though that I’ve found. It seems the key to getting the old joint out is to fully remove the bolts? I think I can do the job without pulling the heater hoses, hopefully. I’m still enjoying a leak and mess free engine and don’t want to make a zerex G48 mess so soon.

I need to read up on the siphon jet o-ring as I recall seeing that it can fail. I also have a new fuel pump laying around that I was going to install during the motor swap, but did t get to it. I think however, that my current (second) pump only had around 80k on it, so maybe I’ll hold off longer. Makes sense to do the siphon jet work and fuel pump at the same time though.

[LA02MAX]

Well it wasn't today (last week, in fact) but I finally got the ol' girl back on the road after many months of downtime. Most of that was deciding what to do about the front diff replacement, and then waiting for it to arrive from Germany. I also worked on it 2 hours at a time every now and then during the week, and some weekends I'd spend 6 hours or so working on it. Items I replaced since the last time I drove it:

Engine: Valve stem seals, valve cover gasket sets, upper timing cover gaskets, spark plug tubes, eccentric shaft sensor seals, crank pos sensor O-rings, VANOS solenoid O-rings, valvetronic motor seals and O-rings, vacuum pump O-ring, intake manifold gaskets, throttle body gasket, fuel injector O-rings (2 per injector), all PCV breather pipes, MAF O-ring, both belt tensioners, idler pulley, crank pulley, drive belts, oil drain plug and gasket, oil filter drain plug and gasket, oil level sensor gasket, lower oil pan gasket, oil pump gasket, upper oil pan gasket, new oil, power steering hose banjo bolt washers, power steering fluid, motor mounts

Drivetrain: New OEM front differential, cv axles, right cv axle carrier, all axle seals and O-rings, front diff fluid, transfer case fluid, rebuilt transfer case actuator motor, transfer case / transmission mount

Suspension: front sway bar bushings, all front control arms and ball joints, all struts/shocks, all coil springs, rear spring pads, all strut mounts and associated hardware, rear upper control arms, rear lower ball joint, rear integral links, all sway bar end links, vehicle alignment, front brake hoses, brake fluid


To say that was a massive undertaking is putting it lightly. I'd imagine I saved about $15k in labor, if not more. That being said, I spent about $3500 on parts and $1000 on special tools. But now I have a beautifully smooth running N62 that has NO LEAKS and most of the engine bay crevices have been cleaned from prior leaks. It's truly a miracle considering it was leaking from every possible spot before this. The transmission oil pan and alternator bracket gasket were tackled on a separate occasion and they were also gushing before.

Next up is some cosmetic items such as new headlight lenses, and re-securing the headliner fabric to the pano sunroof shades, but I also need to code out the air suspension still and I'd love to reset the transmission adaptations....just seems like that process requires about 100 miles of road with zero traffic to accomplish lol

[Henn28]

A massive project. Nicely done!

Originally Posted by LA02MAX

Well it wasn't today (last week, in fact) but I finally got the ol' girl back on the road after many months of downtime. Most of that was deciding what to do about the front diff replacement, and then waiting for it to arrive from Germany. I also worked on it 2 hours at a time every now and then during the week, and some weekends I'd spend 6 hours or so working on it. Items I replaced since the last time I drove it:

Engine: Valve stem seals, valve cover gasket sets, upper timing cover gaskets, spark plug tubes, eccentric shaft sensor seals, crank pos sensor O-rings, VANOS solenoid O-rings, valvetronic motor seals and O-rings, vacuum pump O-ring, intake manifold gaskets, throttle body gasket, fuel injector O-rings (2 per injector), all PCV breather pipes, MAF O-ring, both belt tensioners, idler pulley, crank pulley, drive belts, oil drain plug and gasket, oil filter drain plug and gasket, oil level sensor gasket, lower oil pan gasket, oil pump gasket, upper oil pan gasket, new oil, power steering hose banjo bolt washers, power steering fluid, motor mounts

Drivetrain: New OEM front differential, cv axles, right cv axle carrier, all axle seals and O-rings, front diff fluid, transfer case fluid, rebuilt transfer case actuator motor, transfer case / transmission mount

Suspension: front sway bar bushings, all front control arms and ball joints, all struts/shocks, all coil springs, rear spring pads, all strut mounts and associated hardware, rear upper control arms, rear lower ball joint, rear integral links, all sway bar end links, vehicle alignment, front brake hoses, brake fluid


To say that was a massive undertaking is putting it lightly. I'd imagine I saved about $15k in labor, if not more. That being said, I spent about $3500 on parts and $1000 on special tools. But now I have a beautifully smooth running N62 that has NO LEAKS and most of the engine bay crevices have been cleaned from prior leaks. It's truly a miracle considering it was leaking from every possible spot before this. The transmission oil pan and alternator bracket gasket were tackled on a separate occasion and they were also gushing before.

Next up is some cosmetic items such as new headlight lenses, and re-securing the headliner fabric to the pano sunroof shades, but I also need to code out the air suspension still and I'd love to reset the transmission adaptations....just seems like that process requires about 100 miles of road with zero traffic to accomplish lol

[nick325xit 5spd]

Nice! Headliner is on my list too. I need to got harvest all the black pieces - I absolutely refuse to re-do the headliner in (ugh) grey.

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

Nice! Headliner is on my list too. I need to got harvest all the black pieces - I absolutely refuse to re-do the headliner in (ugh) grey.

I get excited to sit in my X5 with the as-new headliner and pillars. The mechanical stuff is satisfying, but I really enjoy the creature comfort stuff, done by pros!

I'll shoot you the ebay seller I used for most of the black pillars and other pieces/parts when I get a chance to look it up. Decent prices and everything showed up well packed, in a timely manner, etc. One A pillar cover had crack in it, which was easy to fiberglass over. I couldn't get angry since every piece of plastic I touch in that car explodes.

Graham at ASC Fabrics hooked me up with the nice M3 like headliner material, and I'm planning on sourcing the anthracite Uberkaro for my seat inserts from him too. He's got a fantastic Z3 project going that he transplanted an N62 into: [email protected]

[sandbagger]

Originally Posted by Henn28

Graham at ASC Fabrics hooked me up with the nice M3 like headliner material, and I'm planning on sourcing the anthracite Uberkaro for my seat inserts from him too. He's got a fantastic Z3 project going that he transplanted an N62 into: [email protected]

Looks like the black headliner is Out of Stock/special order as I need to do mine as well and wrap the A pillars

[LA02MAX]

Originally Posted by Henn28

I get excited to sit in my X5 with the as-new headliner and pillars. The mechanical stuff is satisfying, but I really enjoy the creature comfort stuff, done by pros!

I'll shoot you the ebay seller I used for most of the black pillars and other pieces/parts when I get a chance to look it up. Decent prices and everything showed up well packed, in a timely manner, etc. One A pillar cover had crack in it, which was easy to fiberglass over. I couldn't get angry since every piece of plastic I touch in that car explodes.

Graham at ASC Fabrics hooked me up with the nice M3 like headliner material, and I'm planning on sourcing the anthracite Uberkaro for my seat inserts from him too. He's got a fantastic Z3 project going that he transplanted an N62 into: [email protected]

Yeah, the plastics used are incredibly cheap feeling. I think there were 8 clips in total holding the two side trim pieces around the rear window, and 6 of them came out with the plastic tabs being left behind inside the metal clip.... just feeling the cheap/brittle plastic, I can see why. I'm reaaaaally not looking forward to messing with the sunroof for that reason, but I gotta fix the crappy sag look from those shades. I have to mentally prepare myself to have no interior trim for a while because I'm fully expecting to break something and have to wait on a replacement lol

[LA02MAX]

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

Nice! Headliner is on my list too. I need to got harvest all the black pieces - I absolutely refuse to re-do the headliner in (ugh) grey.

I'll trade you my black headliner for your 6 speed

[Henn28]

I adjusted my parking brake yesterday and was thinking about how well the x has been running, and how much fun it’s been. Bad call as the X5 gods heard and visited their wrath on me. Took the car to get dog food and got the dreaded “ding”, with a low coolant message. The bane of my X existence.

There were a couple things that I did, or didn’t do during my motor swap that the little voice in the back of my head told me I might regret. Im batting 1000 so far on that. A quick look under the hood confirmed what my gut was telling me, the heater hose running from the aux pump to the rear coolant manifold had blown. The hose snakes down the the bottom of the motor (no idea why) and back up to the manifold. It has a metal section swedged in this area too, and it looks like the hose came loose of the zip ties I used to keep it anchored and got too close to the steering rack and wore thru. I think it got loose and the column wore a hole in it.

I inspected this hose when I put the new motor in and it looked fine, so I re used it. However, whatever bracket BMW used to secure it on its crazy path under the motor was long gone. Zip ties to the rescue. Clearly not my finest hour.

She didn’t get hot and I’m waiting on parts now. I’ll do the double joint at the same time. My problem is that I can’t figure out the routing around the rack, or the exhaust manifold, which it has to bend around at the back of the motor on its way to the manifold. Nor do I know how BMW secured this coolant line originally.

Good times. Back on the road next week hopefully.