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

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by mam4.6

Polished the tips cause they were getting nasty...

Thats the beauty of stainless steel. Looks great

[jopecasa]

Bought a set of BMW 18 inch chrome wheels.......Yuck!






For Winter and possibly off-road duties!

[David D]

Picked mine up from the dealer tonight after having it there for over a week for several repairs. One of the repairs was to have the passenger seat heater replaced after waiting 6 months for the part to arrive from Germany. Got to the dealer, returned the loaner car, paid the cashier, and walked out to get in my car to find that they had replaced the entire seat bottom leather, and it doesn't match! The leather is more of a matte finish compared to what's in my car. Of course, most of the dealer personnel had left by then, so the only service person left couldn't help me. I agreed to take the car and talk to my service writer next week, with the caveat that they hang onto my old seat leather in case it comes down to putting it back on, faulty heater and all. You'd think the tech would have looked at the new seat bottom and talked to someone before installing it.

To add insult to injury, we started the 40 minute drive home only to have it start overheating after about 15 minutes. Turns out either they didn't connect one of the hoses or didn't tighten the clamp and it blew coolant out and all over my engine compartment. Called the dealership, told them what was going on, that I was having the car towed back and that I needed the loaner car again.

It's like the old saying about not buying a car that was built on a Monday or a Friday, someone was obviously in a hurry and didn't give a crap about what they were doing. I'm tired of dealing with people that don't care about what they do. Do people with brand new BMW's get the same crap service?

On top of it all, my wife had purchased movie tickets for tonight and we were going to take our daughter. Fortunately, she was able to get a refund. I know, first world problem, but aggravating nonetheless.

Sorry for the rant... It's just been a crap evening.

[powell.guy2]

David my wife would've been fuming.

Just picked up my x5 from the indie. New suspension conversion to springs and deleting rear air ride was the best decision ever. She hasn't driven this smooth since I got her. Replacing left rear abs sensor on Wednesday.

They also said that both front axles have broken boots. I'm assuming they mean the cv boots? They are quoting me 924 for both. I've looked up the parts and the repair myself. I have replaced all four brake pads and rotors myself last year and that wa the first repair I've ever done a vehicle and they work perfectly. Interested in others opinions on a diy job for the cv boots to save myself some coin and an extremely drawn out argument with my beautiful wife.

[willy_manily]

Refinished my headlights today. Unfortunately it didn't go as well as I'd hoped and I may have to give it another crack next weekend.

Also painted my front kidney grills titanium silver and installed a USB/Aux cable in the glovebox.

[squidzilla]

Originally Posted by David D

Picked mine up from the dealer tonight after having it there for over a week for several repairs. One of the repairs was to have the passenger seat heater replaced after waiting 6 months for the part to arrive from Germany. Got to the dealer, returned the loaner car, paid the cashier, and walked out to get in my car to find that they had replaced the entire seat bottom leather, and it doesn't match! The leather is more of a matte finish compared to what's in my car. Of course, most of the dealer personnel had left by then, so the only service person left couldn't help me. I agreed to take the car and talk to my service writer next week, with the caveat that they hang onto my old seat leather in case it comes down to putting it back on, faulty heater and all. You'd think the tech would have looked at the new seat bottom and talked to someone before installing it.

To add insult to injury, we started the 40 minute drive home only to have it start overheating after about 15 minutes. Turns out either they didn't connect one of the hoses or didn't tighten the clamp and it blew coolant out and all over my engine compartment. Called the dealership, told them what was going on, that I was having the car towed back and that I needed the loaner car again.

It's like the old saying about not buying a car that was built on a Monday or a Friday, someone was obviously in a hurry and didn't give a crap about what they were doing. I'm tired of dealing with people that don't care about what they do. Do people with brand new BMW's get the same crap service?

On top of it all, my wife had purchased movie tickets for tonight and we were going to take our daughter. Fortunately, she was able to get a refund. I know, first world problem, but aggravating nonetheless.

Sorry for the rant... It's just been a crap evening.

I would be asking for a free oil change or two for that mess.

To everyone else :I washed my auto and 5mt X with new new harbor freight electric power washer. Used Mequirs wash and wax gold stuff in the dispenser. Worked great and has plenty of pressure to power wash your car and whatever else. Not bad for 80.00.

[X53Jay4.8is]

Went to the boneyard with a friend removed a rusty looking Dinan Exhaust which he paid $250 for. Went back to his house refurbished the Dianan exhaust with a series of wet sand/polishing techniques. Used 400,800,1500 and 2000 to wet sand off of the rust and restore original luster of the Dinan. looks like new.

I know a number of you think the Dinan parts are overpriced but the quality construction of this exhaust is an illustration of how well built these components are. All stainless steel construction allowed for the refurbishing process to take place. Had this been chrome on steel it would have rotted through. Did I mention how awesome sounding the Dina exhaust is on the X5 4.8is. Glorious!!!!

[itscoo2pyopants]

Originally Posted by X53Jay4.8is

Went to the boneyard with a friend removed a rusty looking Dinan Exhaust which he paid $250 for. Went back to his house refurbished the Dianan exhaust with a series of wet sand/polishing techniques. Used 400,800,1500 and 2000 to wet sand off of the rust and restore original luster of the Dinan. looks like new.

I know a number of you think the Dinan parts are overpriced but the quality construction of this exhaust is an illustration of how well built these components are. All stainless steel construction allowed for the refurbishing process to take place. Had this been chrome on steel it would have rotted through. Did I mention how awesome sounding the Dina exhaust is on the X5 4.8is. Glorious!!!!

post pics!! good find!!

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by X53Jay4.8is

Went to the boneyard with a friend removed a rusty looking Dinan Exhaust which he paid $250 for. Went back to his house refurbished the Dianan exhaust with a series of wet sand/polishing techniques. Used 400,800,1500 and 2000 to wet sand off of the rust and restore original luster of the Dinan. looks like new.

I know a number of you think the Dinan parts are overpriced but the quality construction of this exhaust is an illustration of how well built these components are. All stainless steel construction allowed for the refurbishing process to take place. Had this been chrome on steel it would have rotted through. Did I mention how awesome sounding the Dina exhaust is on the X5 4.8is. Glorious!!!!

Must be nice... our yards are full of E36's, older 7 series (not e38), and not much else. Can't even find E30 parts in the yard anymore unless you go to a yard that pulls parts for you.

[David D]

Originally Posted by squidzilla

I would be asking for a free oil change or two for that mess.

I had a nice long conversation with the service manager yesterday morning (yes, they were working!). They were already on it, fixing the coolant issue and cleaning my engine compartment. We discussed the seat heater fiasco along with a couple more issues, and he's taking care of them. Not sure what's going to happen with the seat leather. He's going to make sure they ordered the correct part first, and go from there.