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

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by SMOKEY53

Installed my freshly resprayed 4.6is rear bumper.

Mother of god that was a hard job to do solo.

Original bumper had arch extensions but no lower spoiler. Had to move all the PDC and arch flares and reinforcement bar over to the new bumper, all was going well until I realised the previous owner had obviously been rear ended (and poorly repaired which is why I was getting the new bar painted in the first place). Reo was bent as was the bumper shock mount - which of course was part of the tow bar kit, which meant it was not available as a single item. And of course the bolts were welded on for some unknown reason so had to cut those off, go and find replacement bolts - take the entire interior out of the rear because the bolts passed through to the inside of the body......then had to put it all back together and try line up the bumper, by myself, with out scratching it or the car,

It took me 6 hours, and it was honestly a Christmas miracle that I didn't scratch anything, but it's on!

Now for the front lip....

One of those projects from hell, I am surprised when a project does take less time than it should and everything goes better than expectations, maybe that is half empty club. Glad it turned out as you wanted.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

It felt good to drive the X again after 2 weeks of using the "transportation appliance" Honda Accord.

I didn't notice the 2nd radiator was damaged until the OE rad was removed, left the X on jackstands until the 3rd "double boxed" unit came in.

I remember the days when my car was my only transportation and regardless of went wrong I had to get it fixed to get to work the next day. Some of the best shade tree engineering came from DIYers in that squeeze.

[imalabil]

New tires, Fuzion Touring. Balance may be off a little, some vibration at 70+.

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by garrett.fell

Programmed the on-board homelink garage door opener to work with my door opener! Works like a charm and to think - I've owned the car for nearly 4 years now. I recall trying to set it up unsuccessfully right after I got the car. Anyway - works now!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Damn I wish my home link worked with my new overhead door openers.


I swear, my cars are like a girlfriend.*
Sometimes its a rough ride, sometimes its smooth motorin'.*
Sometimes she doesnt like how i treat her and sometimes i dont like how she behaves.*
BUT at the end of the day, she loves it when I am inside her.

[crystalworks]

Just went through 5 days of enduring the installation from hell (and I was a mobile electronics installer professionally)... pretty straight forward but very labor and time intensive. But Avin Avant 2 is in. Have to do some tweaking with my rear view cam splice as it's getting interference, but other than that...





A detailed install PDF and thread will be posted soon. Took 81 pics to detail the install one painful step at a time.

[Joshdub]

What warranted the removal of everything? I can't wait to see what you wrote. I want to go with the avant 2 as well. At least these interiors are easy to take apart!

[lhordmclain]

Whoa! I salute this project. I have to say I have no guts / probably the skill set to take this on (maybe with gran patron and pinching my ego.. I might but the day after ... What have I done!!!.... Just kidding)

How much do you charge on an average labor wise for this particular installation?

Originally Posted by crystalworks

Just went through 5 days of enduring the installation from hell (and I was a mobile electronics installer professionally)... pretty straight forward but very labor and time intensive. But Avin Avant 2 is in. Have to do some tweaking with my rear view cam splice as it's getting interference, but other than that...





A detailed install PDF and thread will be posted soon. Took 81 pics to detail the install one painful step at a time.

[white46]

Why did you have to disassemble this much for Avant? Thought they should be plug and play with little modification.
Some sound deadening?

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by Joshdub

What warranted the removal of everything? I can't wait to see what you wrote. I want to go with the avant 2 as well. At least these interiors are easy to take apart!

With factory nav you have to run the extension fakra cable from the tire well. I also was running cabling for the backup camera and 6 channels worth of RCA's for future system upgrades. I don't want to ever take it apart again to this extent. You'll see what I mean when I do the pdf and thread. You're right, they come apart easy... but you still have to take your time to avoid breaking the plastic panels if you want to avoid future rattles. It took at least a whole day and a half for me to do it.

Originally Posted by lhordmclain

Whoa! I salute this project. I have to say I have no guts / probably the skill set to take this on (maybe with gran patron and pinching my ego.. I might but the day after ... What have I done!!!.... Just kidding)

How much do you charge on an average labor wise for this particular installation?

LOL, with the forthcoming DIY... almost anyone should be able to do it with the right tools. Most of it anyway... I would not recommend my backup camera install to anyone but seasoned mobile electronics installers or guys familiar with auto wiring. Running things from the tail gate is an experience and using the camera I did took HEAVY modification.

For an identical setup to mine... I would charge close to a grand. I had at least 8 hours a day into for 5 days (some days more). So a full week in labor. The install could be done quicker I'm sure, but I am pretty OCD with my wiring and panel alignment.

Originally Posted by white46

Why did you have to disassemble this much for Avant? Thought they should be plug and play with little modification.
Some sound deadening?

If you have a non-nav factory setup then it's a lot easier. I pulled the whole interior to run cabling for future amps, extension fakra cable, future sub, plus backup camera. And a few other things as well. Also, my wife wanted me to pull the interior too so she could do her signature detail in the living room. She took 3 days to detail all the panels, carpets, etc. She does an amazing job and now the interior looks brand new.

[LVP]

Originally Posted by Clockwork

Damn I wish my home link worked with my new overhead door openers.


I swear, my cars are like a girlfriend.*
Sometimes its a rough ride, sometimes its smooth motorin'.*
Sometimes she doesnt like how i treat her and sometimes i dont like how she behaves.*
BUT at the end of the day, she loves it when I am inside her.

Clockwork, check my posts. I was able to source an adapter module that allows the older Homelink buttons in our car to work with the newer systems. PM me if you need more help. I use the buttons to open 2 garage doors plus activate exterior lights.