Can I "easily" get all this from a wrecker?
 

I've got an 06 X5 3.0i, love it, but it needs a few new bits. Buying OEM is too expensive for the value of the car so thinking about going the wreckers route and repainting if need be (I know a guy in a paint shop so that should be cheaper than normal).

I need these bits:
- replacement wing mirrors (both)
- replacement rear spoiler
- replacement door handle (although if too hard, the internal mechanism is pretty cheap online)

I also want to give it the 4.8i look, so also wanting to pick up:
- front bumper
- rear bumper
- rear exhaust tip (I think these are probably welded on, if so then will buy this OEM or somewhere else)
- rear wheel flare arches
- might be missing something else here to complete the look...

I'd like the 20" wheels but not sure if they'll be at the wreckers... may have to scout online for 2nd hand here.

If I brought my tool kit and had a couple of hours to spare, realistically which of these could I take from a wrecker car? Or would there be parts that I would need to buy separately?

Thanks!

In the states, all that would be pretty easy. X5's (E53) are increasingly showing up in junkyards.

How many X5's are /were there in Hong Kong?

The rear spoiler might be a challenge. I think it was different on the later cars.

All the Euro brands have a pretty good following here. There are a few E53s still on the road but more E70s around so there should be some more E53s in yards somewhere. I'll have to call around and ask before I go hunting because there are simply so many car wreckers here.

Do you know if the spoiler was the same on all E53s in the same year? I saw an '05 4.8i in a car park the other day and at a glance it looked the same, but not sure if there's subtle difference that might get me stuck. If so then I don't need to find a 3.0i for some things and a 4.8i for others, I hope all the parts on a 4.8i will fit and I can go to town on it and be done.

The 4.8 model will not be as common as all the other X5 models so finding one at a wrecker with the bumpers still intact and complete will be a unicorn find.

Coming from someone that has done everything on your list (less front bumper) you need to be ready to spend thousands of dollars. My rear bumper conversion alone was $2K with everything I needed and your 20" wheels will be another $2K with new tires. I think I have around $250 on the exhaust tips.

It will transform your X5 look and I love the way mine looks but you have to be ready to throw a lot of time and money at it so plan on keeping it a few years.

Yeah fair point on the costs.

I haven't spoken to a wrecker yet so don't know what costs I'm in for, but will get a list of OEM part costs for comparison's sake before I do. That, and compared with the cost of a similar aged 4.8i, which goes for about $4500 USD here. So it'd need to be pretty cheap to be worth it for extra costs for the 4.8i look. But we come back to buying a car that will likely have a horrible service record and will end up costing a lot more than the $4500 I paid just to catch up on servicing.

In my head the comparison costs are basically the costs of all this vs. $4500 for a 'new' car + probably $2000 USD in servicing catch up, which is about what I spent on mine in the first year, and mine had a full logbook.

I do plan on keeping this car until it dies, just like my last car (Toyota, 18 years). If something else does catch my eye (E70 X5 M!) then this car would go to my wife anyway, she likes it, so I hope it stays with us a while yet.

Mine is also black like yours. That's the look I'm going for!

Yep, might be best/easier to just buy another X5. Find a totally mechanically neglected 4.8 that doesn't run and you should be able to pick it up cheap. Then you can pull off whatever you want/need and send the carcass to the junkyard. Done that a few times for different vehicles, including my X5. Bought my donor car for $1900. Sold ~$600 in parts off it, and then sold it for $200 to a wrecker.

There are tons of E53s in junkyards around me. They get totaled over any one of the variety of things that causes a $3-5k bill from a mechanic, since they are fully depreciated now.



The sad part is that the junkyards want big time money for any parts. You would think that a junkyard with 10 E53s on site would want to get rid of some parts. Every time I call to ask, they gouge me and refuse to haggle.

Do you have any "u-pull" type lots? They don't differentiate parts prices by brand. A bumper from an X5 is the same price as a bumper from a Cavalier. I've done pretty well at the u-pull lots near me.

AM.

Can I "easily" get all this from a wrecker?
 

Check to see if LKQ has a pick-your-part yard in your area. That’s my favorite place to find used oem parts for the families vehicle when I don’t go new. They have an app also that will alert you when select vehicles come in so you can get there before they get stripped to the bones. And the prices as someone else said are standard across the board no matter what vehicle they come from.

https://www.lkqpickyourpart.com/

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Yeah, i should go to a local pick a part, but I don't have the time I used to for "want to have" car projects. Only the "need to have" projects end up getting time alotted for them. Maybe its just the yards that don't allow you to pick your own parts that are so expensive. Though, that is what OP is asking for.