New owner resurrecting an E53 3.0L

[redsubdivisions]

New to the site, but not BMWs (Also have an E30 and E46). Back in December, I managed to pick up a 3.0 E53 for $500. Yes, $500.00 USD. lol The previous owner blew the motor, so all it needed was a new engine and other various components. She had another X5 and was quick to sell this one because it was sitting for almost 2 years. Managed to source a used engine from an E39 and completely overhauled the cooling, CCV, and belt drive system. It was a lot of work but I feel that it was worth it.

I just got done buttoning her up last week and have been scooting it around the parking lot at work until I'm finally ready to use it as a daily driver (currently using my E30 as my wife uses the E46 since she works one city over). I have been reading and searching as much as I can on the site to see any common issues. Looking forward to being a member on here!

[TerminatorX5]

Welcome aboard!!!

that is a nice find for $500 - how much did the car cost out the garage, and onto the road after all of the things were done? how much time did you put in?

[rocksteadyX5]

Wow...that's impressive that you were able to get all that done. Yeah..how much did it cost you to put it back on the road?

[redsubdivisions]

It took me some time because of finances and I wanted to take my time on it. Last time I rushed something and tried to cut corners, I ended up costing my self an engine rebuild.

To break it down, this is what everything cost me:

$500 - the whole vehicle as it sat. Oxford Green, non self-levelling suspension, regular headlamps. Just the basic X5 for that year.

$1100 - engine. That one was probably what took the most time because I wanted it to be out of a car with 134k or less miles (to match the chassis, of course) and one that I knew was guaranteed to run. After calling several salvage yards, the lowest I could find was $2000 and they were still questionable. A local scrapper here, Quarry Motors, specializes in parting out BMW and Minis...so I called him and eventually he had an E39 M54B30 that ran pretty well. Saw it run, even had him take another video of it and send it to me to re-verify it was the same car before he ripped it out. Because I deal with him on a daily basis (I work at a BMW dealer), he gave me a break on the engine price. The original price was $1200 but he knocked off $100 and kept the oil pan.

$100 - window regulators. I initially did the driver's window regulator as that's what was 100% needed. When I put a jump box on, I started playing with the switches. Not a smart move, especially for a vehicle that's been sitting. I got to the right rear window regulator and it broke. I went aftermarket on the regulators because of how often they fail, I might as well get the "cost-effective" ones. lol

Those were the major components needed to get it road ready. But as I dug deeper and deeper into it, there was a lot of "while you're in there" things I did. For instance, all new vacuum lines, filters, gaskets, CCV stuff, pretty much to prevent anything crazy from going down. Those were all OEM and cost me a pretty penny. Grand total was probably over $3k over the span of 4 months.

Now as far as time put into it, I stayed late and came into work on the weekends. One day I spent 18 hours on it, but I did a lot of it myself using the shop equipment. My original plan was to take the engine out from the front but as I started to look around, there was no way in hell that would happen in relation to the location of the TC and trans tunnel. So I dropped the subframe with the engine, trans, and TC attached. I was only able to work on it sparingly because of work and waiting for parts or just being lazy. haha

This was definitely a learning lesson for me, but had I known it was going to cost me this much....I probably wouldn't have done it. But with that said and I'm finished, it was definitely a learning experience.

[afstud]

wow thats great, im glad you were able to save it and get here running again, and i think you will come out well on it even if you decide to sell it. Nice work! post pics!!

[epdarks]

Anyone who saves an E53 from the graveyard is a winner in my book... enjoy the truck and welcome to the forum!

[redsubdivisions]

Originally Posted by epdarks

Anyone who saves an E53 from the graveyard is a winner in my book... enjoy the truck and welcome to the forum!

Thanks! I will eventually post pictures up when I get a chance. I still need to attach the exhaust.

[Ricky Bobby]

who needs an exhaust? dump tube to smokestacks on it LOL!

[TerminatorX5]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

who needs an exhaust? dump tube to smokestacks on it LOL!

two smokestacks and a snorkel!!! some mud tires with big, BIG teeth, sticking out a half foot on each side!!!

[pnoyako85]