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

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

^^Awesome! Glad to hear you guys met up - his is super clean for the miles and I'm sure yours is too

Had a good time talking with Jay, glad I followed his black 4.6is, thought he would be an Xout member seeing the mirror polished Dinan exhaust.

Jay has a super clean '03 too.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by squidzilla

Wow no warning. That is what spooks me about not replacing my 545i battery after 6 years of service. I am worried I might come out from the movies and click click.

I am not being cheap, just trying to find the balance between not replacing parts too soon and not asking for it either.

I wouldn't replace your battery based on what happened to me. If you're are concerned you might be left stranded have a load test done every 6 months. I have AAA for those mostly imaginary horribles.

[tmv]

Make some free time to paint the aero bumper

[dkl]

Originally Posted by sandbagger

I picked up another sibling for my X5

got a 03 Z4 black on black 3.0i with the 6spd manual.

that now makes 3 in the drive way along with the 99 M3

Perfect combo

[wpoll]

With the onset of a cold winter, I noticed that our X5 didn't seem to be running as warm as it had over the summer. It heated up as quickly as before but the temp. gauge was struggling to get over the first white mark on most trips. The OBC confirmed that the temp was running about 65 Deg. C on the open road, maybe making 70 Deg. C on a hill but dropping back to 60 Deg. C when heading down the other side. Not normal at all.

One OEM thermostat housing assembly later, it's now running around 88 Deg. C, climbing to 95 Deg. C towing a trailer up a hill (a serious test for it first long run!).

The old assembly...



Getting ready for surgery...



Everything (engine acoustics, intake ducting, EGR pipe, turbo inlet ducts, old thermostat housing etc.) removed and ready for the new assembly...



Another angle...



Note that the fan is still in place - I managed to do this replacement without pulling the fan or shroud. This is possible on a facelift 3.0d but I understand that it is not possible on the earlier models.

The turbo inlet area was showing a little oily dirt etc. but as I couldn't get at it (this photo was taken blind!) I decided to leave it alone rather than risk getting all that crap into the turbo inlet...



The turbo inlet duct has a small plastic swirl vane - I was VERY careful with this, as I've heard they can break off and be ingested...



With the new thermostat housing installed, I buttoned it all back up, refilled the coolant and bled the system...



Very pleased the have the `5 running perfectly for the coming winter.

[powers1]

Nce work,well done.
Thanks for sharing

[bcredliner]

Feels so good when a repair is done and the problem is gone.

[Pekelicious]

Out with the old.....



In with the new...

[bcredliner]

I like it.

[phathom]

Found this thread after having mine for a little over a week so I have some catchup posts to post.

5/25: Buy 2006 E53 3.0i. Premium package, cold weather package.
05/26: Change Oil and degrease undercarriage.
05/27: Debadge
05/28: LED license plate lights and side markers
05/29: White 3.5W LED angel eye bulbs (20W bulbs on order)
05/30: Lamin-X fogs yellow
05/31: Washed it
06/01: N/A
06/02: N/A
06/03: Detailed rims. Had front windows tinted
06/04: Installed Aux jack. Write up on super stealth install in progress.