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

[wpoll]

My BMW NZ supplied tow bar (very similar to the Westfalia unit) is rated at 2,700kg tow weight but only 120kg tongue weight - so similar to the arrangement in Europe.

The hitch is removable so that the rear bumper cover can hide the tow bar. It even comes with BMW-logoed carry bag for the hitch or the cover (depending on what is fitted at the time).

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by Bdc101

See, you could never find a trailer in the states more than maybe 3,500 lbs (about 1600kg) that would have 150kg or less tongue weight. That is just the difference between American and European towing schemes. And it's also the reason that very few vehicles in America can tow very much trailer other than big dumb trucks. If you put 600lbs of tongue weight on a 2.0l Mazda 3 it would not be safe, but in Europe that car could tow a reasonably large camper trailer.

You can load balance to hit the tongue weight in pretty much any reasonably sized trailer. It's not magically safer to tow giant trailers in Europe.

[X5chemist]

Every time I see a hitch, I want one for mine.

After 800 miles on the front suspension refresh/oil pan fix, the X5 started a clunking noise. I knew it was somewhere in the suspension. Sounded like strut noise. During the front giubo replacement, I checked all the strut bolts. Nothing was found. The clunk did get quieter. On Thursday, I remove the wheel again and checked everything else. Sure enough, the front thrust arm had a bolt loose. It was allowing the strut to move too much. I managed to get a 21mm wrench to tighten it. I did the best I could without removing parts. I'll check it again after a few hundred more miles. If it feels loose, I'll take off parts to reach it better.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

Every time I see a hitch, I want one for mine.

After 800 miles on the front suspension refresh/oil pan fix, the X5 started a clunking noise. I knew it was somewhere in the suspension. Sounded like strut noise. During the front giubo replacement, I checked all the strut bolts. Nothing was found. The clunk did get quieter. On Thursday, I remove the wheel again and checked everything else. Sure enough, the front thrust arm had a bolt loose. It was allowing the strut to move too much. I managed to get a 21mm wrench to tighten it. I did the best I could without removing parts. I'll check it again after a few hundred more miles. If it feels loose, I'll take off parts to reach it better.

Best way to tighten the thrust arm and control arm bolts is with the truck on jack stands, wheel off and jacking the steering knuckle up to ride height. The bolts are supposed to be tightened with the suspension on the ground. Using a jack to raise the suspension to ride height achieves the same thing and it is much easier to work on that way.

[X5chemist]

Oh yes. The pic was taken while I was using a wrench to look for loose bolts/nuts. Once I found it, I put full weight on it. Thanks for keeping me square.

[Aleman]

Changed the fluid in the front & rear diffs and transfer case. Replaced leaking coolant expansion tank.
Clay bar'd the paint, polished it, and carnuba waxed it (all Griot's garage products).

[bradb]

Looks like new.

Well done!

[nick325xit 5spd]

FWIW, Gyeon Wetcoat is unbelievably good for a lazy detailer. It's easy enough to apply every wash, not that expensive, beads very, very well, and looks great. I haven't really tested durability because it's too easy to apply. (Literally spray it on the wet car before you dry off.)

Like, yes, carnauba looks amazing. But if you actually use the car, the durability is intolerable vs. the effort required to apply.

[Bdc101]

I actually detailed my car this weekend as well. I washed the car, washed the wheels, polished the headlights, and then used the lazy spray-on detailer. This is about 1,000% more than what I normally do with it since I have kids and generally do a bad job of taking good cosmetic care of my cars.

I used the Meguiar's heavy-duty headlight refinishing kit that I have had in the garage for like 10 years. It has 1,000 and 1,500 grit sandpaper, electric polisher, and then UV protectant coating. It actually did a fantastic job with the headlights, which had a really bad "drippy" faded look to them. The car is looking really great.


However, I noticed my shifter boot coming loose on one corner, and I took it apart to try to fix it. Well, now it's loose on two corners. Anyone know if there are any good manual-transmission shift boots on the market that are cheaper than OEM? (Looks like the OEM one is still available for around $100)

[5s0ng]

Hey everybody! My buddy and I just finished my extensive interior swap (even the beige seat belts for black) - and installed a new Dynavin as well (old screen had a ton of dead pixels)... next up will be some exterior TLC (headlights first )





Final result


Even got the trunk and tailgate trim all swapped out!


Definitely took way longer than I expected