Skeletor's 325K Mile "Number Three" E53 5MT Thread
 

We picked this thing up a couple months ago from the local BMW shop. It's got a couple of miles on it *Cough Cough* 325K... It's got a random misfire going on but still runs and drives. The suspension is pretty good and it's had a whole bunch of work done to the fuel system already. I ended up trading a set of Style 397 wheels and a couple of $$ for it.

It's got a squared set of Style 87 Reps with brand new tires on them and a front aero "Skid Plate". It's pretty dirty but nothing a vacuum and some time can't fix.

We picked it up as a parts car but when we drove it home, this thing was pretty good for having as many miles as it does. So we're planning on putting a new engine in it and making it one of the DD's.

Number Three cleaned up pretty well! It doesn't show it's age very much in person.

The tires were in really good shape so we swapped them out on our auto for the time being. This will be in the shop for a while so it'll rock the 214's for a good while.

Used engine for Number Three. Turbo Install???
 

We bought this engine and 5 speed transmission about two weeks ago from a dude in Maryland. He drove up to PA and dropped the engine off. The engine and trans have 117K miles (With no proof :( ) It came out of a white 2003 with the sport package. I saw that the whole vehicle was for parts only, and I didn't want to see another manual transmission go to waste. So I picked it up with some stuff to swap it: Transmission, Transfer case, drive shafts, shift linkages, pedal assembly, and clutch master cylinder. Not bad for $1500 I think.

Anyway, I don't know if I'll be able to find a clean 3.0 to swap the trans into, but since I have the linkages and everything else. I've been following WilliamX5 and I was wondering about maybe doing a manual swap in something else, like a 4.4 or maybe 4.6 :D

Dannyzabolotny might be able to appreciate this, We noticed that the front driveshaft going into the transfer case has been welded. I think maybe the splines were stripped out while a 4 wheel burnout was in progress. Who knows... But it doesn't look like it will break again :rolleyes:

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the 5 speed swap. I really want to see it go to good use. I can get my hands on a complete 6 speed e53 swap as well. If anybody is interested in it let me know. I might be willing to give it up.


So, since this is more of an ornament at the moment, and it's got a stupid amount of miles on it. We were trying to think of what kind of crazy swap we could do just because we can. And one think that I've seen the e46 guys doing was turbocharging the m54's in their 330i's. I was kind of upset when I heard that the S54 swap into an X5 had already been done, but has a Turbocharged M54 been done before?? E46 guys have been doing it for years so the means of doing are there.

Why are you replacing the engine? An engine with that many miles is worth keeping just for the bragging rights alone!

It's awesome to see an X5 with such high mileage, even if it is just a 3.0.

I do think that it's great that it ran strong the whole way up to 325K miles! But now it has a misfire that we can't put our fingers on. But, with our current plan for the X5, would you want to turbocharge a 325K mile motor? or a 117K mile motor? I swapped a set of rims for it, so I don't really mind putting another engine in and seeing how much further the body can go.

Hey! You respect my 3.0! Haha It's the little 6 cylinder that could.

Turbocharging a 325k mile motor would be a lot of fun, haha

Right, the fun being the scavenger hunt for parts littered all over the ground. :rofl:

But in all seriousness, the Turbo project is a real idea. It may be a long process, but I'm sure I wont have any problem with technical support. I'll plan on making an account on bimmerforums and e46fanatics or bimmerboost for any help. I think a 5 speed turbo X5 would be pretty neat considering they turbo'd the e70's.

Yeah, it would be pretty neat. And it would certainly make the 3.0 X5 quite a bit quicker. I have my 4.6 and I feel like it's not all that quick, I can't imagine what a stock 3.0 X5 feels like.