I'm Baccccckkkkkk!!!

[BimmerM3inGA]

Last year, I started this thread on the restoration of an abandoned E53 X5 3.0i:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ted-intro.html

I ended up selling that X5, but immediately regretted it. I really liked it!

Well, I just bought another abandoned E53 X5 3.0i. This one is an '06 with the Sport package. It's not in nearly as bad shape as the previous one, but still needs a lot of TLC. It mostly needs a good cleaning, some bodywork, and has some electronic issues.

The story is that the owner passed away several months ago and her estate has been tied up in court due to fighting heirs. So the car sat until that was all sorted out. Her oldest son finally got control of the estate and has begun liquidating assets. The car was the easiest to sell, so he took care of that first. Now he has to deal with the 7,000sq ft house and all of it's contents.

Anyway, it's a nice car and I will probably keep this one once I have all the issues fixed. I'll post updates and questions as I go. But it will probably be a month or so until I really get to work on it because I'm trying to finish up an E46 323i project first.

[Ricky Bobby]

Dude, first things first, welcome back!

This one does look in need of a nice cleaning, good to see the cluster has all its pixels! What are the issues on this one?

Oh and btw, I hope you have a machine polisher, you're going to need it to polish out that Shadowline trim, I can see the water marks and oxididation and years of neglect on the Shadlowline finish, and it is NOT an easy surface to clean up. Took me about 5-6 passes to get rid of the deep oxidiation, but a lot of that damage is etched so it may never get 100% hologram free.

[BimmerM3inGA]

Thanks! It's good to be back. I missed you guys!

I think the cluster has been replaced. I ran a history report prior to buying it and there is a notation about the cluster being "serviced". The local dealer has all of the service records since it was new, but I haven't had time to go by and pick them up. When I do I will be able to verify that theory.

The main issues (that I know about so far) are:

• Very large dent/scrape in driver and left rear passenger doors.
• Lots of deep scratches and several medium-sized dents.
• Filthy interior
• Assorted broken/missing interior trim bits
• Broken sunshade for the Panoramic sunroof (that one is going to be fun!)
• Leaking valve cover gasket
• Needs an alignment
• Bad pixels in MID

You are right about the high gloss black trim. I've never liked the way that looks (I prefer matte trim) and it's going to be a biatch to get clean. Not looking forward to that job!

I work with a local paint/body guy who gives me great prices on bodywork, so I'm not overly worried about that. Although I think it might be a little tough to match the paint color. It has a slight pearl effect that is going to give him nightmares when he sees it!

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by BimmerM3inGA

Thanks! It's good to be back. I missed you guys!

I think the cluster has been replaced. I ran a history report prior to buying it and there is a notation about the cluster being "serviced". The local dealer has all of the service records since it was new, but I haven't had time to go by and pick them up. When I do I will be able to verify that theory.

The main issues (that I know about so far) are:

• Very large dent/scrape in driver and left rear passenger doors.
• Lots of deep scratches and several medium-sized dents.
• Filthy interior
• Assorted broken/missing interior trim bits
• Broken sunshade for the Panoramic sunroof (that one is going to be fun!)
• Leaking valve cover gasket
• Needs an alignment
• Bad pixels in MID

You are right about the high gloss black trim. I've never liked the way that looks (I prefer matte trim) and it's going to be a biatch to get clean. Not looking forward to that job!

I work with a local paint/body guy who gives me great prices on bodywork, so I'm not overly worried about that. Although I think it might be a little tough to match the paint color. It has a slight pearl effect that is going to give him nightmares when he sees it!

Mine looked similar to that when I bought it, and I have it to about 90% corrected now. You won't need a repaint but you will need a powerful machine/compound combo to get it looking right.

Ugh on the pano sunroof job, I only hear horror stories about them. MID and VCG are easy jobs, so basically its cleaning up, body work, and replacing broken trims. Not too shabby, much better than pulling the engine on the last one lol!

[bcredliner]

Welcome back! Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

[BimmerM3inGA]

With any luck, the engine will be able to stay in this one!

[mam4.6]

Welcome! Sub'd for the cleanup...

[e30cabrio]

Cool!

[Riggodeaux]

BimmerM3, is that an auto tranny shifter I spy in the corner of the picture? Too bad.
If you find you need fancier paint/body work, I can refer you to a guy near Hampton [the ATL NASCAR track] who is very good, did wonders on my bro-in-law's alfa spider, inherited from a cousin in very bad form ..... do post your progress, your previous project was very educational and entertaining. I like that color on the E53, too.

[Riggodeaux]

May be sports package [suspension/18" wheels, square], but no sportsitze .....