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

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by randiwood

dreaded self leveling inactive showed up..had the accumulator error code, vehicle would not move off of the middle setting when high level pushed...green light flickered as though it was instructed to do by the ehc2 control module. through trial, error and a few visits to two independent shops, searching through on line articles for self education, arrived at buying a used eBay unit from a salvage for $225, whole black pot, swapped it out, took it to have the vehicle re-set at the BMW Dealer who set it and said all was well...drove away and within two blocks, the dreaded red lights came back..took it back and they re-set it again, this time maybe doing additional height calibrations...not sure but since then, all is well...
Also did the air compressor piston change from the Andy guy on eBay. $41 kit, real easy to change, so now I have the original pump unit as a back up.. moral of the story...if it flickers but doesn't move, if you get the light and code is accumulator ...it is most likely a worn air compressor piston ring...the ring is Teflon, likely to keep the noise down and it obviously wears fast..so, get it fixed if it has a leak because the system will call for the compressor..love this beast..

I'd install the pump back on the car that has the new Teflon seal and keep the spare as a backup. Yes if you get accumulator filling error its 100% the compressor, I had this almost 3 years ago and got a working compressor off a 35k mile X5 and its been flawless.

[LVP]

First long heavy tow trip with the X5. Used the Prodigy RF with a rental trailer. I'll start another thread for the nuances with all that. Once I dropped off the trailer, I noticed a slight growling/grinding noise on uphill left turns, slightly loaded, steady throttle. Turns out the right front outer boot let loose. They were good before I left. Lucky for me, one of the guys at the track owns a shop nearby. The X is parked until Wednesday morning. Hopefully a new boot and repack will save the joint. Overall though, with a loaded trailer weighing in at about 4,500lbs, it towed quite well.

[e28jay]

Tried painting my peeling steering wheel trim. That was a disaster. Removal and reinstall was easy. Followed all typical painting steps but I think the primer I used had some sort of reaction to the plastic. Wasn't like a fish eye from grease/oils. More like a chemical reactions. Tried to work through it by layers and sanding but it never came out good. Looks like I'll be ordering a new one. I hate painting...

[Joshdub]

Originally Posted by e28jay

Tried painting my peeling steering wheel trim. That was a disaster. Removal and reinstall was easy. Followed all typical painting steps but I think the primer I used had some sort of reaction to the plastic. Wasn't like a fish eye from grease/oils. More like a chemical reactions. Tried to work through it by layers and sanding but it never came out good. Looks like I'll be ordering a new one. I hate painting...

That sounds like the story of my life. At least you have a legitimate reason to buy a whole new piece now.

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by e28jay

Tried painting my peeling steering wheel trim. That was a disaster. Removal and reinstall was easy. Followed all typical painting steps but I think the primer I used had some sort of reaction to the plastic.

Depending on the shape of the piece some heat shrink tubing will work wonders to fix this sort of problem and at $2/ft typical price but have to be happy with limited colors such as black. They do have both matte and gloss black however. I'm not home to look at mine to see the part but need to do the same for my door handle trim and was planning on the pvc shrink wrap it will outlive me.


Sent from my awrPhone using Tapatalk

[94csi]

When I bought my X I noticed at some point the previous owner had tried to remove the plastic trim on the inside of the hatch (maybe to get at the 3rd taillight). Unfortunatly they broke every plastic tab on all three pieces to do so. Today I replaced them with brand new ones. I am hopefull that will take care of the rattle I was hearing sometimes when driving

[Ricky Bobby]

^Did you order from the dealer? Those pieces are expensive. I have one piece with a few broken tabs, just my OCD is telling me to replace it.

[94csi]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

^Did you order from the dealer? Those pieces are expensive. I have one piece with a few broken tabs, just my OCD is telling me to replace it.

My OCD is why I did it for sure but the pieces are expensive. I do work for a dealership so I get them a little cheaper

[Ryoken]

fitted my new bonnet emblam , what a pita that was
and another pdc module in the boot , shame it didnt fix the pdc problems i still plagued with

Steve

i desperatly need to wash it , the roof feels like sand paper , its horrible

[bsprtsgrp]

I had my hood and front fenders re-painted and then added XPel Ultimate Paint Protection....