Xoutpost.com - After a 5 year hiatus, looking to get back into an E53

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Quote:

Originally Posted by DiscoStu (Post 1100006)

Thanks for the replies all. It seems like most are happy with their 3.0 E53s with little to complain about other than the typical BMW "stuff".

While on the subject of getting back into an E53, I have a question about navigation and bluetooth on the later models. I've noticed on a few I've looked at they have these large masses of dead pixels on the nav screen, almost as if someone poked it too hard thinking it was a touchscreen. Are the nav screens known to be delicate or wear-out? Also, it is my understanding that bluetooth phone support only comes with the BMW assist option? Where models sold with bluetooth but without the navigation?

I cant speak to the bluetooth option because I never use it on mine but about the Navigation dead pixels. The way it's oriented (slightly facing upwards), it is subjected to a lot of sun light via the windshield and sunroof. I believe this causes premature dead pixels. I could be wrong :dunno:

Welcome back to the club. Mine bled the wallet dry and then some when I first bought it (thank God for friends who own shops) but from here on out the only real big ticket items would be doing an Eonon or NBT navi upgrade, swapping to Style 214/215s, running boards with 4.8 flares and either swapping to xenon headlights or doing just a drop in HID kit.

I had a thought or two about adapting ESS' twin-screw blower to the E53 but I could honestly spend 6k somewhere else...

Quote:

Originally Posted by CleanIsFast (Post 1100007)

It's a design flaw: they used a ribbon cable that has about 100 connectors that is most likely screen printed silver traces. They either corrode or disintegrate.

You can buy the cable for I think $20-30 and buy a send in service for about $100-120 to have somebody else replace it.

I'm betting some trace repair paint (similar to that used to fix broken back window defrost) would fix it in-place.

If it's corrosion not disintegration than more than likely wiping deoxit pro gold into the contacts would solve the problem.

It's on my to do list. I expect in the next month or two I will have time to repair mine and hopefully wife's.

With any luck I can use continuity test on each wire and fix just the 4-5 defective traces even if I solder in a jumper. I will most certainly post the process once I do it.

The same old problems as before plus more because with a 15 years old car it has gone through multiple ownership.

The first owner had a xxxx mile and xx year warranty so if he had any problems he just brought it in.

The second owner had a xxx miles warranty as a cpo car so if the item was a warranty item he brought it in.

The third owner probably didn't have a warranty so he let his indy work on the car since the stealer rate was too much.

The fourth owner tried to DIY the car and probably bought the cheapest part he could find.

The fifth owner is not a diyer and just ignore the problem and flipped the car once the engine or transmission blew up from a lack of maintenance.

My prior E53 was an '05. It had a Bluetooth unit in the trunk, and did not have NAV. It was prewired for CD changer, and there were a couple of plugs in the driver side storage area in the trunk. It was just plug and play.

The unit I had did not play music off your phone - it was phone calls only.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiscoStu (Post 1100006)

Sounds like you're reading the Carfax for the one I just bought.

Quote:

Originally Posted by upallnight (Post 1100041)

Year 2 owning mine (N62 - 4.4) and after the initial thrill of ownership wore off, and my frenzy to purchase all sorts of thing for it, my wallet has revived.
As far as maintenance is concerned and according costs, I can't say it's much more expensive than any of our other vehicles. That said, the time involved to do simple tasks in say a Toyota, will take double if not longer in the E53, but then again the driving enjoyment factor is double or more...
It's all a trade-off I suppose. Would I buy one again...probably yes, now that I'm a bit more comfortable working on it and have the appropriate tools. Do I still enjoy the vehicle - yes, very much. Does it still look good (in appearance & design) - most definitely.
When thinking of the alternatives in a similar price bracket to my purchase price, I'm very happy with the E53. It's a very comfortable vehicle, safe and generally reliable (it's never left me stranded). That said, I have one of the last production E53's with almost all options and it was a two owner vehicle with BMW service history when I purchased it 2 years ago. No regrets and no big ticket repairs (yet).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ylwjacket (Post 1100154)

Sounds like you're reading the Carfax for the one I just bought.

:thumbup:

:bustingup

:rofl:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiscoStu (Post 1099952)

I'm a former E53 X5 owner (2002 3.0) that might be looking to get back into another one. I'm curious to know though how well these cars have aged. I remember our old X5 seemed to have something break every week. It was usually something small (broken door handle, AC buttons falling off, cooling system, inactive airbag suspension, etc.), but nevertheless I seemed to constantly be working on it. Looking back, I never realized how much I missed hating that car. There was a certain level of pride and satisfaction in fixing it.

My question is, and setting the "small" stuff aside, are there any major issues that have crept up with the E53 now that they're around 15 years old? I would be looking for a facelifted model, most likely a 2006 somewhere in the ballpark of 100-110k miles. I will also only be considering the M54 3.0 engine. I did some reading last night and it seems as though the automatic transmissions are prone to failure? This wasn't something I've ever dealt with on my older X5, but it seems to be the "norm" now. Can anyone shed some light as to whether the E53 3.0 has widespread transmission issues? Is it inherently flawed, such as the E46 rear subframe, or are cases isolated?

The car would be for my wife, who currently drives a very reliable, yet incredibly boring, Toyota Highlander. She's hinted at getting back into an X5 and I personally love the idea. We also have two young children, so reliability is important. The reason we are targeting the E53 is better reliably and past experience. I will without a doubt get a PPI on which ever car I chose. I also have plenty of experience working on BMWs of this generation, in particular the M52/M54 engine. I owned an E46 328Ci for 10 years and currently own an E46 330Xi. I plan to do all maintenance and work myself.

So, good idea or bad idea?

Coming from a Highlander you are not going to find anything more reliable than that. I love my X5 4.6is and I am a DIYer so that helps but the X5 will demand the greater part of your attention or wallet or both. Since this is your wife's vehicle and you have small kids you are really going to have to give this some deep consideration. Do you plan to keep the Highlander as a backup? If you do then I would say that you can get the X5 so that when it goes down she has something to transition to until its up and going again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CleanIsFast (Post 1099987)

Yea I am getting hosed right now through the first 2-3 months. Hoping it slows down because I really do like the 4.6

Best of luck, would be nice to add another E53 to the NoVa area :thumbup:

Isn't it amazing how an BMW E39 M5 is more reliable than the V8 X5?:wow: