New X-5 owner what a great forum! HUGE problem :(

[tyheiss]

So ive been a foreign (mostly European) car fan my whole life. Im on # 26 now, and I have to say the X-5 I purchased is by far my favorite, and im convinced I will finally settle down and own one of these for the rest of my life. I love it that much. My first BMW, I always was shy of them because I know they are high maintenance, but nothing ive owned rides or drives like this.

So, my truck...
I did tons of research before buying and bought anyway despite the high risk of somewhat major problems that are common with these, it seems to be a bit luck of the draw as to which one you get, and as always the key is how it has been maintained. I do all my own work on my cars. I got so lucky and found a 2002 with 130000 on it and im the second owner. prev owner is the pres. of some company in Chicago and babied this thing like crazy, it came with a stack of maintenance records and had zero wrong with it. I instantly fell in love and via this forum began some mods n upgrades right away. I can finally afford to own and maintain one of these and its exciting all the stuff you can get for them.
Heres the sad sad part folks. Not even a month into ownership I RAN IT OFF THE ROAD INTO A CURB AND POLE OF SOME SORT!!!
Heartbroken!!!
Ive always had great faith and luck on forums like this with other cars and have met very helpful and kind people and admin. on them. And now im asking you fellow fans for help today. I had the truck hauled to my shop, as the first mystery about the damage is:
I had enough inertia to roll it into a parking lot, it rolls even though I blew one of my custom rims up, but the transmission would not engauge and move the truck after the accident. im not sure what I could have damaged in the front clip that would make the transmission not engauge?
I put it in gear to try to move it more and nothing. In the process, as the entire cooling system was blown up, I redlined and over heated the motor briefly trying to get it to move. I have yet to investigate the damage on that, we shall see. I have it all torn down and all damaged parts removed, so if I need to replace a head/gasket nows the time anyway. Both front quarterpanels are undamaged except my drivers mirror is gone, not even a scratch otherwise, just the cooling system, and every piece of plastic on the front clip, hood and grilles crunched a little, and one headlight need replaced. I did twist the drivers frame and drivers suspension up a little, but I think I can heat n bend enough to get it ridin right enough to finish its life out, and I desperately don't want to let her go. So im postin a few pics and askin for your opinions, fix or is it a lost cause, and also im callin out for a parts truck, im willing to travel if someone can give me a break on the parts off a sitting one. I know I could never afford to replace all that stuff new so a parts truck is my only hope. I can get a list together of everything I need and work out a deal on cost and shipping with someone maybe?. I live off of VA disability from injurys in Afghanistan, so I have a little scratch but im not rich, im hopin a couple grand will do it. I don't see that the motor was touched or shifted in any way, u can see in the pics the drivers side is just pushed in and up a little.
Lemme know what you think fellow x-5 lovers?

the pictures are on this website I made quick, I can take and email or post more if needed

myx5 | Wix.com

thanks so much!!

[bagpype]

Oh dear. Did you not have insurance on it?? If not, why would drive it without insurance? My advice; Sell it for parts, get your hands on another one, and get insurance this time!

[romeokc10]

You didn't mention insurance, do you have any, if so I can tell you they will total it, too old, too many miles. If you're determined to keep it, it ain't gonna be cheap to fix it, even buying salvage parts. Just sell it for parts and find yourself another one, there's no shortage of E53s for sale, most people with good sense (none of us here...lol!) are getting rid of them as they're becoming a pain in the ass to maintain as they age.

[Naz24]

Buy cisco's X5 in the for sale forum. Great mods, and babied by an enthusiast...

[JCL]

Originally Posted by tyheiss

...I had enough inertia to roll it into a parking lot, it rolls even though I blew one of my custom rims up, but the transmission would not engage and move the truck after the accident. I'm not sure what I could have damaged in the front clip that would make the transmission not engage?

Next to the radiator is the transmission heat exchanger. You can see it in your photos. You would have broken a line off it, and lost transmission fluid. Then you have no drive.

[tyheiss]

JCL, Makes total sense on the tranny, and yes that snapped right off, thank you for that.
And yeah id love to say it wasn't a cash buy with minimum coverage, and I would've totaled it and not had to bug y'all, buuut I cant say that.
But im determined and a diehard junkyard dog, and I know theres gotta be a truck sittin around that matches that's messed up in another area besides the front I can snag up for a low price that someone is tired of lookin at, I have faith, and only want to sell as a last resort, as I paid 7500 for it and have no idea how much I would get or ask for it in this condition, but im positive it will not be near enough to buy another one outright, so its gonna have to be suck it up n grind it out on this one, even if its a 100% on the outside n a few parts odd on the inside type deal its gonna have to hobble out another 100,000 for me. So there are insurance guys and get ur hands dirty guys, lets hear it gearheads....

[X5SND]

Your first priority should be to determine the extent of damage you did from overheating. In all honestly though....I would really look to part it out and sell off what you can. The grim reality here is that trying to get another 100k out of it is a looong shot without some MAJOR investment.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by JCL

Next to the radiator is the transmission heat exchanger. You can see it in your photos. You would have broken a line off it, and lost transmission fluid. Then you have no drive.

+2

[tyheiss]

Am I correct that all e53 parts (that would need) from 99 to 06 will work for this, will the facelift bolt on to mine?

[jsoto]

Panel wise...hood, qrt panels, headlights, bumper - they are all different on the facelift. So it's all or nothing on these and they need to be all pre or post face