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-   -   Jordi's E53 Mod/Service History Thread(picture heavy) (https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/112058-jordis-e53-mod-service-history-thread-picture-heavy.html)

SpookX5 06-23-2020 06:10 AM

Jordi's E53 Mod/Service History Thread(picture heavy)
 
Hi all, I thought it would be a good idea to document the journey of my X5 here. Purchased 4th of November 2019 from my uncle who had used it as a tow car for his flower business and as a family car. After he got a new car to replace the X5, the X5 was put up for sale but there was not much interest.

At that time I was looking to get a E39 540i Touring for towing my track car to some circuits in Europe. No way I was buying an X5... but after thinking for a while I kind of liked the idea and I always thought the E53 looks very good. This one had also proved to be pretty reliable, so I went ahead and bought it!

The car is originally from Germany, I don't remember where exactly but it was imported to The Netherlands when it was only 6 months old in 2000.

2000 E53 X5 - 4.4i
Topaz Blue Metallic 364
309.000 km / 192003 miles


Quote:

Originally Posted by VIN DECODER
LG90336

Vehicle Information
VIN LG90336
Prod. Date 2000-03-02
Type X5 4.4i
Series E53 (X Series)
Body Type SAV
Steering Left Hand Drive
Engine M62/TU
Displacement 4.4
Power 210kw / 286hp
Drive ALLR
Transmission Automatic
Colour Topas-blau (364)
Upholstery Leather Montana/basic equip/schwarz (N6SW)

Editions And Packages
S330 Sports Package

Comfort And Interior Equipment
S441 Smoker Package
S431 Interior Mirror With Automatic-Dip
S481 Sports Seat
S428 Warning Triangle And First Aid Kit
S423 Floor Mats Velours
S464 Ski Bag
S413 Luggage Compartment Net
S494 Seat Heating Driver/Passenger
S403 Glass Roof, Electrical
S459 Seat Adjustment, Electric, With Memory

Multimedia
S609 Navigation System Professional
S629 Car Telephone (GSM) W Card Reader, Front
S676 HiFi Speaker System

Driver Assistance And Lightning
S540 Cruise Control
S502 Headlight Cleaning System
S508 Park Distance Control (PDC)
S521 Rain Sensor
S522 Xenon Light
S534 Automatic Air Conditioning
S548 Kilometre Speedo

Wheels And Drive
S220 Self-Levelling Suspension
S226 Sports Suspension Settings
S261 Side Airbags For Rear Passengers
S205 Automatic Transmission

Environment And Safety
S801 National Version Germany/Austria
S342 Interior Trim Strips, Titan Shadow
S312 BMW LA Wheels With Mixed Tyres
S863 Dealer List Europe
S840 High Speed Synchronisation
S358 Climate Comfort Windscreen
S386 Roof Railing
S879 On-Board Literature, German
S823 Hot-Climate Version
S818 Battery Master Switch

Individual Equipment
S761 Individual Sunshade Glazing

Other Equipment
S999 Job Control "HEA"
S925 Dummy-SALAPA
S926 Spare Wheel


Exterior
Modded stock headlights
Black Kidney grilles
LED Puddle lights
LED Door handles
EZ Front lip
AC Schnitzer rear spoiler
Quad 4 inch exhaust tips
Roof rail delete

Interior
LED Ambient lighting
Paddle shifters
10.25 inch Android Head Unit
10 Inch Subwoofer
Playstation 4 linked to headrest screens

Engine & Transmission
Rebuilt engine in 2013
Rebuilt transmission in 2020
Dual exhaust cut outs after cats

Suspension
Style 168 wheels
20mm spacers front
25mm spacers rear
Complete new front and rear suspension parts (2019)
Lowered air suspension

Project Silver Camber and Toe arms (soon)
BC Racing front coilovers (soon)


2019

This is how it was sitting in the grass under a tree for months before I bought it. The X5 was almost completely stock, minus the dual exhaust cut outs after the cats and rear headrest screens. It's very very loud once the valve opens. :bustingup

The white Renault Clio RS is my track car that I use to compete in Time Attack.
https://i.imgur.com/rSBoFWbl.jpg?1

The night of purchase, of course at the gas station as the tank was empty :rofl:
https://i.imgur.com/kDbuE4cl.jpg

First inspections and service history checks:
https://i.imgur.com/jc6xeIAl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/j0i0QG1l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KyVDkRRl.jpg

First wash done, went to the local automatic car wash which also cleans the underside. I normally wash all cars by hand but I had to make an exeption for this time.
https://i.imgur.com/aSdaKFml.jpg?1

Turns out the engine had been rebuilt 90k km ago, good to know.
As the last maintenance was overdue I wanted to replace all filters and fluids soon. The car had a wobble when braking above 60km/u, a local garage told my uncle that the suspension bushing in the front had to be replaced soon.

Ofcourse I started looking for mods to make the car stand out more.

I polished the dull headlights, what a difference:
https://i.imgur.com/V8Ked9wl.jpg

E70 rear wiper arm
https://i.imgur.com/ufWDrAol.jpg

E53 full interior LED kit
https://i.imgur.com/oRqlymDl.jpg

Cleaning and Polishing done
https://i.imgur.com/6aVk6Dol.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/XkM0BK1l.jpg

Towing my uncles flower trailer, no flowers inside this time but a 1000kg car, off to the dyno for tuning :D
https://i.imgur.com/r97WgE3l.jpg

Black Kidneys:
https://i.imgur.com/o3j8zBQl.jpg

I always liked the angel eye look that BMW had, so I got a set of led rings off Ebay. No regrets! I added LED highbeams and fog lights too. Error codes coded out with NCS Expert. Black kidneys added too
https://i.imgur.com/2Y4JcYzl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/skbyMH8l.jpg

10.25 inch Android headunit, rear view camera, and 10 inch subwoofer added. I later added a rubber strip to complete it.
https://i.imgur.com/lBdFqral.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/mQmK6hGl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BukF8Kwl.jpg

After this I was finally able to get on the ramps to replace all the suspension arms in the front and the rear. I could not see much wear on the front suspension arms but decided to replace them anyways. The rear Toe arms were completely stuk on the subframe side. I could not get the bolt loose. I broke a few tools and decided to give up on this one and come back later. Same thing for the rear balljoint. I did not have the correct tool to get it out so this will be done later.
https://i.imgur.com/qNkc88Rl.jpg


2020

Unfortunately 2020 didn't start very good for the X5, when driving to work one day the gearbox decided it had enough and destroyed itself when driving off in 1st/2nd gear. Common issue as the valve body wears out. A complete rebuild had to be done, normally I do everything myself but this was too difficult so A specialist shop carried out the work for me.
Getriebenotprogramm = Transmission Failsafe
https://i.imgur.com/PGnF89Dl.jpg

1.5 weeks later, guess who is back and guess who missed driving it? Me :D
https://i.imgur.com/dBel0kcl.jpg


Added LEDs and resistors to the puddle lights in the mirror
https://i.imgur.com/5kIhwlql.jpg

Decided to try black running boards, still liking it. All rubber pieces came out without damage. Not bad. :D
https://i.imgur.com/pXctoOdl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TZXGtzNl.jpg

Needed to wash it real bad.
https://i.imgur.com/gR6KETll.jpg?1

Roof rail delete.
https://i.imgur.com/e37S6syl.jpg


After replacing the front suspension arms the shaking was still present, so I purchased a set of new Brembo rotors and pads. Turns out the rotors were warped.
At the same time I replaced the regular front suspension with air suspension, running a custom setup that I discussed here

https://i.imgur.com/itjLiI4l.jpg

Rear air needed some more lowering to match, which I did later.
https://i.imgur.com/xPBAmDsl.jpg

The car had a Kenwood DVD system with 2 rear headrest screens. Unfortunately the Kenwood DVD unit did no longer work. It would not recognise DVD's.
I came across an awesome idea online, adding a Playstation to the car. This was actually pretty easy and fun. It's a PS3 Slim, connected to a 12v converter, running a HDMI to AV box. I have hacked the PS3 to be able to run games from the hard drive as getting to the CD changer is not easy.
https://i.imgur.com/6U1VOIxl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DF0MbB5l.jpg

I really like the E39 M5 clocks and I wanted to give the same look to my X5, Silver Rings, red needles (permanent marker) and an M badge were added. The M badge wont be approved by everyone but I think it looks good and is not nearly as bad as an M badge on the trunk ;)
https://i.imgur.com/A58Wjhjl.jpg

Next mod, paddle shifters! I used a new clockspring with pins for a heated steering wheel, wired that to the up and down shift wires. The paddles I used are from an F model, exactly like these. Before you comment on my worn steering wheel, keep reading / looking, I'm not done yet. :D
https://i.imgur.com/6ABUCKEl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3Lu2eubl.jpg


Small lip spoiler added :cool:
https://i.imgur.com/fJ9UUFtl.jpg


Another quite ''big'' mod done: Led door handles and interior ambient lighting in the doors and dome. 5mm amber LEDs added in the original positions, giving a brighter amber light but not too much.
https://i.imgur.com/5VNxC7Ol.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/a0CyI3ol.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SBRcUDol.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tl9ATPsl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LyW3iTGl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qEHNkt0l.jpg

Family photo: :rofl:
https://i.imgur.com/ZPEq5NEl.jpg

Few nicer pictures, weather is getting better :D (added quad 4 inch exhaust tips and EZ Lip)
https://i.imgur.com/q4QtZR5l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Lyjntzel.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RkNQYuXl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZEofl3wl.jpg

Refurbished the original 309.000 km steering wheel with leather paint. Works great and stays on very good.
https://i.imgur.com/z8hZBMrl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mnCWa5Wl.jpg

Black plastics painted black. They started fading. Looks very good now!
https://i.imgur.com/OZN8rvzl.jpg


Photo shoot time:
https://i.imgur.com/1KigciMl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4Sc1eL7l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Cnx7qSZl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/x934tlnl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fLtShgAl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NOupxAIl.jpg

Back at it again with the flower trailer :D
https://i.imgur.com/L8wDIJdl.jpg

crystalworks 06-23-2020 07:12 AM

Lots of nice work. Way to keep it on the road. :thumbup: Thanks for sharing.

Overboost 06-23-2020 07:41 AM

Looks great! Lot of work and love put into this one. :thumbup:

Purplecty 06-23-2020 09:37 AM

Gorgeous X and outstanding work! One of the niecest on the road! Are those the original headlights modified?

SpookX5 06-23-2020 10:23 AM

Thanks! Haven't thought of selling it at all. :cool:

If anyone needs info on modifications or the parts I used please ask.

Yes these are the original headlights, I have removed the inner plastic lenses and added the halo's and chrome colored indicators. I might make a DIY topic for this one as I took many pictures when taking them apart :-)

Purplecty 06-23-2020 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpookX5 (Post 1186439)
Thanks! Haven't thought of selling it at all. :cool:



If anyone needs info on modifications or the parts I used please ask.



Yes these are the original headlights, I have removed the inner plastic lenses and added the halo's and chrome colored indicators. I might make a DIY topic for this one as I took many pictures when taking them apart :-)

Please do this! I am very interested in doing the same thing! Did they have to be baked open?

SpookX5 06-23-2020 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purplecty (Post 1186442)
Please do this! I am very interested in doing the same thing! Did they have to be baked open?

I think I will have time to make a DIY guide this week :-)
Yes they can be baked open but I used a heatgun to get the lenses off.

TriX5 06-23-2020 12:19 PM

Heel mooi! Goed gedaan. Nieuwsgierig, wat koste het repareren van de versnellingsbak en waar laten doen?

ZHPdave 06-23-2020 03:36 PM

Great looking X5! Very fond of your LED mods! Thanks for sharing!

SpookX5 06-23-2020 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TriX5 (Post 1186450)
Heel mooi! Goed gedaan. Nieuwsgierig, wat koste het repareren van de versnellingsbak en waar laten doen?

Bedankt! 4000 euro uiteindelijk, zou eerst minder zijn maar door een storing die ze er niet uit kregen ging de bak steeds in fail safe bij kick down. Zou eerst rond de 2700 euro kosten maar ze hebben hem er 3 of 4 keer onder vandaan gehaald tussen het test rijden door om te testen en er zouden nog een hele hoop sensoren vervangen zijn. Laten doen bij SHM Transmissie in Schiedam met 1 jaar garantie. Ik had toen een aantal bedrijven gemaild en het goedkoopste was rond de 2000 euro incl nieuwe valvebody, dus neerzetten en een paar dagen later weer ophalen. Helaas een dure grap geworden, maar ben blij dat hij weer terug was en nog steeds. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZHPdave (Post 1186466)
Great looking X5! Very fond of your LED mods! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! :cool:


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