Spec X5 Overland Build
 

I have been building an Overland X5 and thought that I'd share it here on XOP.

This is my 3rd E53 and 5th BMW (two E46s). The first X5 was used as a family hauler and the second was used as a grocery getter. I traded my way into this (3rd) E53 by buying my older son's E36 M3 when he moved to NYC. Then my younger son wanted the M3 so I traded it for his R56 Mini Cooper S. Then I traded the Cooper S to a close friend for this X5.

The plan for this Overland X5 is to be used for off-road trail driving to get to more remote hiking spots and towing a travel trailer to provide support when I'm racing my race car and boondock camping. Its also intended to be a counterpoint to my classic air-cooled 911 daily driver.

The starting point is an almost bone stock 2003 e53 3.0. The only upgrade is the audio system consisting of an Android head unit, amp, and speakers that was professionally installed. The truck has been well maintained and the entire suspension was replaced about 10K miles ago so it rides like its brand new.

That's enough talking, here are a couple of pic's of the starting point. Let's get to upgrading!

The X looks like a strong starting point but I want to see pics of the race car. :dunno:

I raced a Porsche Spec Boxster for 5 years and bought a SCCA Spec Racer Ford (SRF-3) last December and raced it this year.

I am also a licensed racing instructor.

Nice! I miss Rosamond. I used to be there and Buttonwillow every week when I lived out there. Love the Spec Boxster and Spec Wrecker Ford. :thumbup:

:popcorn:

Exciting to see!
I am also doing the same thing, just picked up a 3.0.
Test fitting some 285/70/17s today and looking for rear bag > spring kit and a lift.

I'm also going the "offroad/overlander" look but I'll be a straight up poser :D

I have no intentions of doing any real off-roading and HATE camping but living in the country I do have some decent snow drifts to deal with and want more ground clearance.

I'm finding it hard to figure out what size tires will fit, if you need spacers and if so how much spacer?

I think something I was reading mentioned needing a 30 mil spacer for the rear?

I've never been good a tire sizes so I'll be looking at what you guys find out

What part of Canada are you in? I'm in Southwest Ontario

Stay tuned. I have a lot of examples (that I will post) which I used to help me decide about wheel and tire sizes.

Sweet!! :popcorn:

Other coast, out in BC!
I'm also picking up some 265/70/18s to test fit on the stock wheels to see how that will fit!

I started my search for wheels and tires by researching what others had done previously. I found several X5's that I liked and then found the details of wheel size, tire size, and lift.

Then I compared each wheel to a BMW stock wheel in terms of offset. If the wheel in the photo stuck out or poked out more than the BMW stock 17" or 18" wheel, then I made a note of that as "poke".

I used the stock wheels/tires as 17x7.5 et 40 wheel with 235/65/17 tires and 18x8.5 et 48 wheel with 255/55/18 tires.

Here is what I found... (Note: The info here is the best that I could find, but I can't guarantee the accuracy because, well you know, its the internet)

Example 1
18x8 et 13 Hamann HM2 wheels
Hankook RF10 265/60/18 tires
Poke 33mm more than stock

Example 2
18x8.5 et 48 BMW stock wheel
285/60/18 tire
25mm spacer (= 48-25 = 23mm net offset)
Poke 30mm more than stock
2” lift

Example 3
Dick Cepek Crusher Radial LT305/65R17
Cragar 17x9 wheels et 0
40mm spacer
2” front /1” rear lift
Poke: 40 mm wheel + 40mm spacer = 80mm more than stock

Example 4
17x9 wheel et 32
General Grabber AT2 265/70/17
Adapter for lug pattern (wheel has 5x114.3) acts as a 25mm spacer
No lift, stock suspension
Poke 52mm more than stock

Example 5
Stock BMW 17x7.5” wheels
BFG TA 265/70/17 tires
2.5” front/3” rear lift
Poke 0mm more than stock

Example 6
17x8 et +20 wheel
265/70/17 tires
2" lift
Poke 51mm more than stock

Example 7
17x8 et 38
265/70/17 Falken WildPeak AT tires
25 mm spacer/bolt pattern adapter
1.5" lift
Poke 33mm more than stock

Example 8
7.5x17 et 41 BMW E36 M3 wheel
265/70/17 Falken WildPeak A/T tires
3” front/2.5” rear lift kit (J Level strut spacer kit from eBay)
Poke in 1mm less than stock

Awesome posts!
I’m picking up some 275/65/18 general grabbers tomorrow, will post some pics on the stock wheels with no lift

Based on the above examples, I decided that I liked a combination of #4 and #6 so I decided to go with a Cragar Series 397 Soft 8 17x8 et 0 steel wheel in black so the tire would poke out 46mm more than stock. This makes the tire look wider than it really is and the 17x8 wheel wouldn't have any problem with fitment.

I read in several places that a 31" tire would fit on the stock X5 suspension without rubbing (and no lift). This helped me to decide that the tire size would be 265/70/17.

Then I had to make a choice about tire makes. After looking at a lot of tires, it came down to the BF Goodrich TA K02 vs the General Grabber ATX. Back in the day, I had owned several sets of the original BFG TA All-Terrains and they were top notch.

However, the Grabber ATX had some great reviews and I really liked the look of the aggressive sidewall and they were quite a bit cheaper than the K02's, so I decided to go with the Grabber ATX.

17x8 et 0 Cragar Series 397 Soft 8 wheel
265/70/17 General Grabber ATX

Spec X5 Overland Build
 

Awesome project and you won’t regret the Grabber ATX - had a set on an old Bronco that just couldn’t be stopped! Great straight on traction on flat ground and you can saw them back and forth in the mud and take advantage of the aggressive side walls [emoji106]


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Wow looks fantastic! Great job and complete info.

Hub Centric Rings

I initially installed the new Cragar Soft 8 wheels straight onto the X5 to see if I really needed hub centric rings.

Hub centric rings are designed to fill in the gap between the hub of the car and the center bore of the wheel. Most aftermarket wheel manufacturers design their wheels with a centerbore large enough to fit a wide variety of cars. These wheels have a larger center bore diameter than the hubs of most the vehicles they are made to fit onto.

As such, the wheels are mounted "lug centric" as the wheel lugs are the only thing keeping the wheel centered on the hub whereas stock BMW wheels will always have a very close fit between the center bore of the wheel and the diameter of the hub to more accurately center the wheel.

The concern is that a lug centric installation can result in wheel vibration because the wheel is not accurately centered on the hub.

Which is exactly what I found. With the lug centric installation, I would feel a vibration most pronounced at around 50-60mph. It felt exactly like a wheel out of balance.

Then I installed a set of hub centric rings to fill the gap between the wheel and the hub. This provided a very snug fit and centered the wheel to the hub. The result was that the vibration disappeared and the wheels/tires drove perfectly.

Hub centric rings come in sizes to meet almost every application. In the my case, I needed rings with a outer diameter of 83.82mm to fit the wheel and an inner diameter of 72.5mm to fit the X5 hub. I was able to order a set in this size from Amazon at a cost of less than $10.

The rings are constructed of a very hard plastic material. Installation is easy, they simply install over the hub and the wheel goes outside of that.

Here is a pic of the hub centric rings installed:

I got some 285/75/18 General Grabbers installed yesterday. Very tight in the back so put on a small slip on spacer. Will check the turning clearance in the front!
https://i.imgur.com/tm27dXwh.jpg

To get wheels to work without hubcentric rings, you have to have wheels made for either conical or sleeved lug nuts/bolts. Flat lug bolts or nuts won't center the wheel with the adequate tolerance to avoid vibration. It looks like your wheels aren't made to work in a lugcentric installation at all.

Can I get in on this?
 

Half-way there. Got the mud covering and KO2's


:p:
Planning external spare tire carrier and front/rear bush bumpers
https://photos.google.com/u/1/album/...qrSxBqjyv2sbO_
https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...IDhuWjy0-0Uj15
K

I’ve told my wife that I’m keeping my E53 forever so that I can lift it and put mudders on it when I finally get my E70 5.0i [emoji16]

Making solid progress, keep up the good work and I love the mud coat, solid proof that the tires are doing there job [emoji106]


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* First Trip *

Took a trip from LA to visit a friend in Northern Arizona for a 5 days. We did about 1,200 miles total with around 50 of those miles off road on primary and secondary forest roads. Nothing too difficult.

The X5 ran great cruising at 80mph on the freeway with the temp gauge normal even in 105F temps while crossing the California and Arizona deserts. The General Grabber ATX's drive perfectly straight and are as quiet as a street tire on the freeway. The freeway ride is very nice without any bumping or jarring (my sports cars ride harsher than the X5 with the all-terrain tires).

We spent most of one day driving the X5 on Forest Road 300 which follows the edge of the Mongolian Rim for about 20 miles. We had lunch at one of the many campsites. The views are absolutely beautiful.

Off road, the X5 worked fantastic but the front tires did rub on the fender wells when I hit large bumps. I have a 1.5" lift ready to install as soon as I get some time. Otherwise, the X5 performed perfectly on the forest roads.

The only problem that arose was when the passenger rear window got stuck in the down position. We simply removed the door panel and used a wood stake to prop the window up for a quiet and cool drive home. When I got home, I replaced the window motor and slide mechanism and it works great.

You can definitely get in on this! Keep us updated on your progress, looks great!

I can’t wait to see it lifted!

Passenger rear window quick fix!

Replacing the window motor and slide mechanism was pretty easy when I got home. Took about an hour.

In car video from the Northern Arizona trip...

This was the first time using the video cam in the X5 and it was set a bit low so I got a bit more of the windshield wiper than I had intended! I have a better mount already for next time.

Forest service roads were in pretty good condition. The view from the Rim was amazing!

*Fender Flares *

I had some free time over the weekend so I decided to do a quick fit check of the fender flare kit that I bought from eBay.

The rear looks ok but the front looks like its missing a piece that goes on the rear side of the fender well to merge the flare into the bottom sill.

Anyone have a recommendation for a kit that gives a more integrated look or is this as good as it gets?

Have you seen the fender flare kits on ecstuning?

Great post and hello to a fellow racer (spec e30 for me)

I just bought a 2001 three pedal and had the same thoughts on lift, wheels, and creating an mild offroad ride. I really liked #5 so thanks for the pictures. I'll be curious to hear where you shop for the lift spacers and what the thought process on getting the height right.
I'm a month away from that because I'll be replacing the entire cooling system in my space rime

Exactly! They are a hit pricey at $300 per side but those will probably fit and look the best. Thanks.

How did the finish install on the flares look?

I haven't done the complete installation yet. I plan to first install the lift and then see how the flares look and if I like them, then I'll do the full install of the flares.

Are you getting your lift kit from FMU? What height are you going with?

I am looking for just enough of a lift to keep the front tires from rubbing on the fender over large bumps so I chose the Tema 30mm (1.2") lift kit. It looks like fairy decent quality for the off roading that I have planned and was affordably priced at $147. I am planning the install for this weekend.

The FMU kit is much higher than I need for the size of tires. I might have used the FMU kit if I had selected a larger tire.

BMW E53 X5 Lift Kit TEMA 30mm

Actually looks like a nice kit and a very nice alternative to FMU at the price! Is that aluminum I assume?

The TEMA kit spacers are made from some type of hard rubber. The front spacers have a metal insert for the bolts but the rear spacers are all hard rubber.

This might add a bit of compliance to the suspension which could be good for ride comfort on rocky roads but not optimal for handling. I have other cars which are optimized for handling (like a classic air cooled Porsche 911) so this is a tradeoff that I am willing to make to gain some off road capability in the X5.

And I'm pretty sure that is where most of the cost difference comes from (molded rubber vs machined aluminum). The other likely contributor to price difference is country of origin and their relative native costs (Tema is Russian made vs FMU is US made).

Spec X5 Overland Build
 

Would agree on the cost for sure. I would also say if they are a hard enough material that there shouldn’t be any issue and they may definitely be easier on the rear end during your off-road sessions vs the aluminum for sure [emoji106]

My only concern, and it may be completely invalid, is the rear spacer sturdy enough to hold up to a spring moving around on it all the time. I know my power flex insulators on my Notchback are poly, but they’re only about a 1/4 inch thick.

Call me paranoid but I might try to find an insert that matched the inner diameter of the rear spacer opening and bolster that top hard plastic lip a bit. Again, probably paranoid but with an inner metal “bushing” it may help keep that upper lip from flexing as the spring puts leverage on it, especially in harder off camber turns with the weight of the X leaning to one side.


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I think your concern has merit. The rear spacer is 2.1" tall with an inner diameter of 1.95" so a 2" long piece of 2" OD/0.065" wall aluminum tubing might do the job. What do you think?

I would be comfortable with that. At 2.1” tall, I might cut my “bushing” 2.5” tall to give myself total lip stability [emoji106]. Would rise out of the spacer ever so slightly and give you comfort that the entire top lip was more solid.

The fronts, I have no concerns with, I think being sandwiched between the strut tower and mount that those will be good to go.


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Good idea about making the bushing taller. I ordered 12" of tubing so I should have more than enough. Tube arrives tomorrow so I'll use it as part of the install this weekend. Thanks!

Excellent! Looking forward to some before and after pics [emoji106]


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** 2500 mile General Grabber ATX Tire Review **

I have logged around 2,500 miles on the General Grabber ATX (265/70/17) and would say that they have exceeded all of my expectations!

Handling: All-terrain tires will never provide the handling and grip of a low-profile summer tire, but the Grabber ATX provides sure-footed handling that inspires confidence in corners. I have been able to test this on freeway on/off ramps where I dive into the corner to the extent that the stability control intervenes. The ATX provides very good feedback to the steering wheel and grip breaks away progressively. For everyday street, highway, and trail driving, the handling of the ATX is exemplary.

Ride Comfort: The Grabber ATX excels in this measure with a ride that is surprisingly smooth and comfortable. I was worried that an E load rated all-terrain tire would have an overly stiff ride but this is not the case at all. In addition, the ATX tracks nice and straight on the highway and doesn't impart vibration to the steering wheel.

Noise: This is another area where I had concerns about tire noise intruding into the X5 cabin. The good news is that the Grabber ATX didn't increase highway road noise or create bothersome thumps/bumps over freeway expansion joints. The ATX is very quiet and road noise simply isn't an issue.

Wear: Although the ATX's only have 2,500 miles, wear is hardly noticeable and appears to be even across the tread.

Traction/Wet: There hasn't been any rain yet in SoCal so I haven't had an opportunity to evaluate the traction of the ATX in any other conditions than dry (where they have worked very well).

Traction/Trails: I have been able to evaluate the Grabber ATX on off-road trails in both SoCal and Arizona and found the tires to be capable of far more off-road challenges that I will probably ever attempt in the X5. On primary and secondary forest and desert trails the ATX provides excellent handling, tons of grip, and a very good ride quality.

Appearance: Looks are highly subjective, but I personally like the look of the Grabber ATX. The tire has a tread pattern highly reminiscent of the BFG KO2 with a more aggressive sidewall.

Pricing: Tire Rack priced the Grabber ATX $30 less per tire than the BFG KO2. Additionally, at the time that I made my purchase General Tire was offering a $100 rebate on a set of four tires, so a set of ATX was $220 less than a set of BFG KO2.

Overall: Overall, I am really pleased with the General Grabber ATX. The tire handles well, rides smoothly on roads without road noise, and is probably more capable off-load than I will ever need. Regardless of price, the ATX is a credible competitor to the all-terrain leading BFG KO2.

Thanks for tire review
 

Appreciate the details on the Grabber tires.

I am pretty happy with my KO2's but they are starting to get a bit worn (30k-km of logging road tends to do that ;)) So good to know there is a viable option


cheers
Ken

Appreciate all the effort putting the examples together here.

I just picked up a set of 18" style 69's that I plan to put all-terrains on. Considering adding FMU's lift kit, but first I'll wait to see how the TEMA kit works for you. :) Any reason you chose that over the J level?

What's the consensus for biggest tire diameter without a lift? So far it looks like 265/60/18 is a safe bet.

What's this J level you speak of?

I'm placing my order for the FMU kit today and found a good set of 18" OEM rims to use on craigslist for nearly free. Anyone have experience with the 285/60r18 wheels? Will that require a spacer or work fine with the lift kit?

If it’s a factory BMW 18” wheel off of another E53 you shouldn’t have any issue with the wheel itself, it will all be in the tire you install on those wheels. And it they’re 18x8.5s I wouldn’t expect any fitment issues unless you try to squeeze a 35” tire on there or something crazy.

Bolt a “naked” wheel on to make sure hub centric fits and crank full left and full right. I wouldn’t expect any issues or any need for a spacer, unless you want the tire flush with the wheel lips - and then you’ll need the tire installed to measure the proper spacer.

What wheels did you get?


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Yes, it's a factory 18x8.5 w/ 48mm offset. I'm leaning towards the 285 60 r18 General Grabber XT that was reviewed earlier in the post. I was impressed with the lack of road noise.
Attachment 79267

Yes, those are original factory mounted Michelins with a date code of 2001

Thanks. I put all of that info together and then realized that I probably wasn't the only person who might find it useful. Plus I'm new here and its always good to contribute to the collective knowledge of the group when you can.

I chose TEMA over J Level for two reasons:

(1) I was actually looking for an 1" lift. I think that is all that I need to eliminate the tire rub on the top of the tire and the fender. TEMA offered a 30mm/1.2" kit while the J-Level kit was 52mm/2", so the TEMA 30mm was closer to the 1" that I was looking for.

(2) The second reason was price. The TEMA kit was $147 while the 2" J-Level was ~$600. As discussed above, there are differences in the kits that justify the difference in price but the goal of this build is to create a list of affordable components to create a basic X5 Overland and a $600 lift didn't seem compatible with that concept.

The 265/60/18 should fit fine and you shouldn't need any lift.

With an OEM wheel, the tire will fit inside the fender so you shouldn't have to worry about fender rub at the top of the tire over large bumps like I experience (because my tire sticks out of the fender due to the 0mm offset wheel).

I purposefully wanted the tire to stick out for that aggressive off road look and that means that I need a small lift to make that work.

The X5 is on my 4-post lift and I'm ready to start the TEMA install. I should have time to complete it over the next 5 days (and maybe work on the flares) since I am on Day 9 of a 14-day Covid quarantine. I was exposed to someone who tested positive and have been in quarantine since I was notified. No symptoms but I had a Covid Test today to see where things stand. All of my Thanksgiving plans have been cancelled so I won't have much else to do but work on the X5 alone in my workshop!

Based on all the data here you may want to try that 286/60R18 before you buy them, seems the 265/60R18 is a safe bet, I don't know if the 285 would put too much rubber in there. I think the post just above this one calls out those notes :thumbup:

Does FMU have a lead time on the kits right now? Or do they carry them in stock?

285/60/18 would be a 31.5" tire so you should be fine height wise. Sounds like ~31" is the max before a lift is necessary. Not sure if you'll need spacers though, and 285 is a wide tire on 8.5" wheels.

thstone, keep us posted on the install!

I didn't see this example posted yet, from another thread.

"265/70/17 blizzaks and they fit just fine"

That's a 31.6" tire. Suspension looks stock.

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

FMU is doing a production run and is taking orders right now. There's an advance purchase group buy for $799 (prices have gone up). If you call them today you can still get into the advance buy and probably have them in a few weeks.

For the Rubicon crowd :-) The X5 from FMU features in this video.
 

Hey guys, FWIW, I watch LegitStreetCars Youtube channel sometimes as he is thorough (MB tech) and the videos are detailed (he refurbed a 335i recently). This is a video about an AMG ML55 but the FMU X5 features and may appear in later vids as well. The gent from LegitStreetCars is building the AMG for a rally and it seems that the X5 may feature there as well. Hope this is something useful for this thread :)


Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWD67quZyds&t=919s

** TEMA 30mm Lift Install **

This is what happens when I am on Covid quarantine lock down - I get a ton of work done in my workshop! Over the past 4 days I installed the lift kit, installed new brake rotors and pads, flushed and bled the brake fluid, and replaced the rear diff fluid!

The TEMA lift installation is complete. It took me about 3 hrs per rear and 2 hrs per front for a total of 10 hrs to install the lift kit. I'm not that great of a mechanic so if you know what you're doing I am sure that you could do it in less time. I thought I'd start with the results and then I'll post the details of the install in a subsequent post.

The TEMA lift kit consists of front spacers that install on top of the front shocks/struts. The upper shock mount bolts are too short so they have to be replaced with longer bolts so they reach through the spacer. This means that you have to remove the front strut and remove the top mount to get to replace the bolts. The rear spacer installs under the coil spring and above the lower spring bushing. This means that you have to compress the spring and get the lower control arm to fully extend to have enough room to install the spacer on top of the lower spring bushing. Overall, its a good amount of work.

The result: 1.25" lift in front and 1.5" in rear.

My initial impression is that this is not a huge lift so the overall change in appearance is somewhat subtle, but noticeable compared to stock (see photos below). In terms of driving, the X5 seems to drive just like stock. Handling was as surefooted as ever and the ride wasn't noticeably stiffer - just smooth as always. I only had time for about 30 mins of driving around town this afternoon so I didn't have a chance to experience freeway driving or off road. The good news is that I was able to hit road dips at a lot higher speed without any fender rub.

Overall, I am very happy with the initial result. For the $147 price of the lift kit, its hard to beat this kit for value.

Oh, and my Covid quarantine ends today. I tested negative on Friday and haven't had any symptoms so even though I was exposed, I didn't catch it. :thumbup:

Here are some before/after photos:
1. Kit
2. Before
3. After

Close up front photos:

Close up rear photos:

I like that look. Any rubbing on the fronts lock-to-lock?

That turned out very well, I actually like the look [emoji106]


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No rubbing on the fronts.

Spec X5 Overland Build
 

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e82d10c744.jpg

I like the lift, wheels, and tires! Great to see the different configurations on the these E53’s.

Thanks for sharing this channel. I checked it out last night and thought it was pretty good so I added it to my list of subscribed channels!

I also have recently purchased and installed this TEVA 4X4 kit. My experience, while largely similar to yours, is different in one important way, which is fascinating to me. After installation, I ended up with a lift of only about 1/2". No idea why. :dunno:

When installing I noticed the spacers compressing a bit as weight was put back on the tires, so I wasn't expecting 30mm, really, but still...I measured at the low point of a skid plate at the transfer case in the middle of the underside, right before and right after, and it's about 1/2". There is no huge visible difference in ride height like in your pics. For comparison, in your pics where you measured ride height at the wheel wells, in the front you show 34 1/4", I have 33 7/8". In the rear you show 33", I have 33 1/4" (higher :confused:). I have the same size tires as you, although a different brand. The only big difference I can see is that I have a 4.4, whereas you have a 3.0. I wouldn't have thought the weight would make that big a difference, but maybe it does. It would certainly explain being higher in the rear and lower in the front. I would have thought that wouldn't change the lift any, though.

Anyways, great thread, thanks for updating and documenting so thoroughly. :thumbup:

I am going to postulate that the TEMA kit isn't really a true lift kit, its more of a leveling kit using a spacer. The spacers lift the body but don't correspondingly increase the ground clearance (distance between the chassis and the ground).

Thus, I would expect that the actual undercarriage ground clearance (skid plate to the ground) would be nearly the same before/after installation of the TEMA kit.

The 4.4 might have a lower ride height than than the 3.0. If that is true, the fender height on your car will always be lower than mine. Also, different brands of tires can vary in height even though they are the same size, so your tire might be slightly shorter to start.

Combine all of these things together and its possible that everything on your car is exactly how it should be and comparing the two cars is simply a case of comparing apples to oranges.

What do the fender gaps (distance between the tire and the fender) on your car look like? Are they similar to my car before the lift or after the lift?

Do you have any photos showing the rear spacers after the installation?

Well, this thread convinced me to do it!

I went with 265/60/18 Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws on style 69s. WOW, they are heavy tires. Made the stock 19's with 285s feel like racing wheels.

They fit fine, plenty of room around the tire with zero rubbing. I'm glad I did not try to squeeze in 265/65s or 285/60s. I only test drove a few miles but the experience was... interesting. It makes the X5 feel very truck like, but not in a horrible way. There is effort needed to turn at low speeds, and you can definitely feel the unsprung weight added. The fastest I got to was 50mph so I'm curious to see how high speed driving is.

Ride height is noticeably higher - I don't think I'm going to do the lift kit anymore, at least not right away. Especially after hearing Ragnarok's experience (thank you guys for the reviews). The Wildpeaks stood a bit over 1.5" taller than the 19" stock tires, and it feels like my X5 is right around .75" taller overall.

Will post more pics of the full car in the next week or two.

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

https://i.imgur.com/dd2Wa5F.jpg

Those tires are awesome, especially for the price point. I had them on my Titan for over 60k mostly highway miles. Rode great on pavement and held like a mountain goat on a cliff when off road. Good choice!

That's good to hear that you had a great experience with the Grabber ATX over 60,000 miles!

Yeah man! There you go!

I think that there are a lot of very good all-terrain tires and definitely want to hear your feedback on the Wildpeaks as you put on some miles. And yes, these larger all-terrain tires are pretty heavy. Post up some more pic's!

Not Grabber ATX, I had the Wildepeak AT3Ws.

Sorry, my mistake! Still good to hear that an all-terrain can make it to 60K miles.

They had plenty of life left when I traded the truck and I don't drive Ms. Daisy either.

I don't mean to make this about my problems, just sharing a similar experience. As you noted, other options get pricey real quick, so for $150 I try not to complain. It is an 18 year old vehicle with a quarter million miles, after all. But I have always loved and owned BMWs, so here I am.

Anyways, to address a few of your questions, here are some pics. The wheelwell gap looked about the same before and after; I have been keeping track of the ground clearance as I mod, all at the same point, the skid plate in the middle of the underside. Installing my tires (and nothing else) lifted me almost 1.5"; Installing this lift kit (and nothing else) lifted me almost 1/2". I then removed both sway bars, which made almost no difference in handling. I have some 1" spacers I need to install yet. So, pics: whole car, close-ups of each end, and a pic of the rear spacer installed.

I like how the Style 32s look on it with the big tires!

Great thread!

I believe this is the most thorough off-road build thread ever.

Thank you for write up!

How did you meet the 120 PCD with the Cragars?
Custom ordered?

Thanks, glad that you're enjoying the thread!

In regards to PCD (pitch circle diameter), the BMW 5x120mm is very close in size to the Cragar 5x4.75 inch PCD so they fit without any adapter, modifications, or customization.

To dive a little deeper, 120mm is 4.724", not 4.75". The 0.026" difference (otherwise known as 26 thousandths of an inch or 26 thou) is within the manufacturing tolerance of the hubs and the wheels. So while there is a real measurable difference, in practice the wheels mount fine and can be fully torqued.

The best way to sum this up is to say that while 120mm does not equal 4.75", wheels with a 5x4.75" PCD will fit a 5x120mm PCD wheel hub.

With that being said, it is up to each owner to decide if "close enough that works" is acceptable to them. I completely understand why someone might want a true 5x120mm/4.724" PCD wheel to mount on a 120mm PCD hub and would refuse to install anything else. That's how BMW designed it and BMW certainly knows what they are doing.

In my particular case, I am ok with installing a 5x4.724" PCD wheel on a 5x120mm hub. Your mileage may vary.

I hope that I fairly summarized the different sides of this issue.

Thank you! VERY clear!

Your wheels really bring ruggedness into the vehicle.
They look way better than bmw 17 inches:)

* Roof Rack *

The roof rack is now installed!

My roof rack system consists of a set of crossbars and the roof basket. The crossbars mount to the stock roof rails and the basket installs on top of the crossbars.

I wanted a rack system with a fairly low profile so I seriously considered installing a flat roof panel instead of a basket but then I realized that the sides of the basket make it a lot easier to hold stuff so I decided on a basket.

I specifically selected crossbars that mount flush with the roof rails. There are many brands of crossbars (Yakima, Thule, etc) that mount on top of the roof rails and then the roof rack or basket mounts on top of that - kind of Jenga style. The profile of those racks systems was going to be too tall for my taste.

Of course, another consideration was cost. A set of crossbars from one of the big brands (Yakima, Thule, etc) typically runs ~$200 and a roof basket can easily be $250+ which didn't seem to align with the affordability goals of this build.

After a bit of searching, I found a set of flush mount crossbars for $85 and a rugged roof basket for $126. The roof basket did require some labor (described in the next paragraph) but I was willing to trade a couple hours of my time for the lower price.

The roof basket is solidly built but several reviews on Amazon mentioned that the finish was poor and the rack would get water inside when it rained and then the rack would rust on the inside and drip rusty water onto the vehicle. Well, of course its gonna be cheaply made, that is kind of what you get for $126.

So, to prevent that from happening I filled the joints where the rack assembles with expoxy putty and filed/sanded them down. Then I scuffed the entire rack with a scotchbrite pad and sprayed two coats of satin black and one coat of clear from rattle cans from Home Depot. In the end, the rack looks great and hopefully the sealed joints and new finish will prevent any rusting. This took me about 3 hrs.

Installation of the crossbars and the basket was pretty easy. I took care to get the basket centered on the X5 where I liked it and then centered the crossbars and the basket mounts in their respective positions and tightened everything down.

The stock roof rails are actually curved a bit so I had to move the crossbars fore/aft to get the rake of the basket level with the car. I was working alone so I had to keep moving from one side of the X5 to the other so if you can find someone to help it will go a lot faster. The whole installation took about 90 mins.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with the result at an all in price of only $211.

Couple more pics...

that looks badass!

I can see I’m going to need another X... my current one for the “low and go” and a second one for “throwin snow”!

Impressive build, that is turning out amazing [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Xoutpost.com

Links/Vendors
 

Hi

That is exactly what I am looking for!
Could you provide links or vendor info?

Thanks
K

Sure, hope this helps...

Crossbars: https://omacshop.com/products/bmw-x5...497e7124&_ss=r

Roof basket: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&psc=1&fpw=alm

Wow the Omacshop people already have a pic of your truck on their website...

I wrote a review for them and they posted the photos. For $85 its really a great product.

For clarity, I am not sponsored or compensated in any way by any of the manufacturers/products that I have mentioned in this thread. Its all my personal preference and everything has been purchased with my own money at retail pricing.

The roof rack looks great. Flush-mounted bars make it look so much better.

After 100 miles of driving I'm pretty happy with this setup. There's definitely some added road noise, and handling took a hit, but I knew what I was signing up for. Zero rubbing. Love the increased ride height.

Might add some spacers in the rear to keep a flush stance.

https://i.imgur.com/q3FmqmT.jpg

** Fender Flares **

With a break over the holiday, I finally had time to get the fender flares installed!

I ended up installing a combination of the factory 4.4is fender trim along with an aftermarket 4.4is fender trim extension kit.

Front
The BMW front fender trim is the same for the 3.0 and the 4.4 and neither has any flare or extension to it. So I used the 4.4 fender trim (because it was in better condition) along with the aftermarket flare extension. This gave the front a similar look to that of the rear.

Rear
The BMW rear fender trim is different between the 3.0 and the 4.4 where the 4.4 has a very nice flare. The rear wheel trim comes in two components, the first portion is in front and above the wheel well and the second portion is behind the wheel well. The challenge is that the 4.4 portion behind the wheel well doesn't match up with the 3.0 under bumper trim because the 4.4 has a different under bumper trim piece (that is often painted body color). I wanted to keep the 3.0 under bumper piece so I installed the 4.4 flare in front and above the wheel well and used the aftermarket flare extension on the 3.0 fender trim behind the wheel well.

I will make a separate post detailing the installation process but in summary the factory pieces were installed using the factory single use trim rivets and the aftermarket pieces were installed using pop-rivets to hold them while they were epoxied to the existing 3.0 fender trim.

The wheels were removed to make it easier to get to all of the fender trim rivets and the side runners had to be removed to replace the 3.0 fender trim with the 4.4 pieces. This means that you end up needing a lot of factory trim rivets so I bought an inexpensive riveter and about 45 aftermarket rivets.

This was my first time attempting a DIY like this so it took me about 2-3 hours per corner or 12 hrs total. As I got experience, the process sped up and the quality of my work improved quite a bit. I could probably do a second X5 in less than half the time now that I know what works best.

The end result achieved exactly what I was hoping. Overall the fender flares make the body and tires look more proportional and give the X5 a nice aggressive overall look.

The quality of the work isn't perfect but it wasn't expected to be. The goal was to see what an average person without a lot of skill could do on their own at a reasonable cost. I am sure that many others could do this job quicker and at a much higher level of quality but I had to learn somewhere and it might as well be here.

And yes, you can see my E36 M3 and Porsche 911SC in the backgrounds! :D

Next step... get out and do some off-roading! But I am already planning for the installation of a rear cargo platform, cargo drawers, and maybe routing some DC power to the rear for lights/charging phone/etc.

Diggin the SC in the garage. :thumbup:

1979 911SC 3.0L Targa 209,000 miles. Engine never touched. Transmission recent full rebuild. All original (including cassette player) except for fully upgraded air conditioning system to keep me cool in the summer. My daily driver. 1000+ mile trips 2-3 times a year.

You did a great job!

Looks fantastic.

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

What's the maximum off-road tire size for a 19x9 factory e53 wheel?

Nice work with the fenders, makes a big difference.

I put 2k miles on my X5 over the last week. 8 mountain passes and a few hundred miles off-road as well as snow and ice let me properly test out the tire setup.

Quite happy with the Wildpeaks. They performed well in the snow and made a HUGE improvement on trails compared to 19s and stock Bridgestones.

I did find the limit of the X5 while off roading though.

A few miles of rough stuff and my car developed a surging idle and I smelled something odd... maybe brakes or torque converter? No idea what else it could be. I had DSC off. After I let her rest for a few hours, the surging idle was gone and it drove perfectly again. But the BMW made it clear to me it prefers to be on pavement or gravel. ;)

It won't go everywhere a Tacoma can, but it's a great trail ride.


https://i.imgur.com/cx1Szkq.jpg

Should be <31" in diameter on stock suspension. 265/55 19 might work.

Glad that you liked the WildPeak's. I think that there are a lot of very good AT tires on the market so its hard to make a bad choice.

Tell us more about your experience of finding the limit of the X5 while off roading. That's got to be a good story!

Well, truth be told it was more MY limit than the car!

I was off-roading across a ranch. The X5 easily tackled rutted trails and had good ground clearance to get over medium rocks. It was particularly good on gravel and snow.

I found the "limit" was when I needed articulation. With no diff lockers the BMW had to work a lot harder in a few places where I've easily cruised through in a Tacoma. That's when I smelled the odd smell coming from it, and decided to turn back. I didn't want to risk any situation where the underbody might get damaged, since I had no skid plates and was out of cell service.

I would never go rock-crawling with this car, but I'm not into wheeling. I trust it on any level surface. As a ski / adventure vehicle that will be on-road 80% of the time, it's perfect for me and the driving experience is much better than a Toyota truck.

How about a 255/60 19? That is 31'' exactly

I have a set of 9x19'' and 10x19'' staggered wheels. Any thoughts on running a 255 60 19 front and rear on this set?

Would the overall size be ok if stretched slightly more on the 10'' rear wheel?

I have a set of style 132 which are 9" front/10" rear. Have been running 255/50/19 all around on the e53 and presently they have a set of winter tires mounted in that size. So, yes, totally doable.

Thanks for your reply! I found a better wheel/tire calculator online (rimsntires.com) which allows for rim width input. It shows that the 9'' and 10'' widths will not change the overall dimension. Should be good to go.

Now, does anyone use a 255/55/19 or 255/60/19 on stock suspension? I believe the 255/60/19 is 31'' which is possibly the maximum limit an E53 can accommodate.

Anyone tried a 255/55/19 or a 255/60/19?

Snow!!!

I drove up to Lake Arrowhead, CA (about 60 miles north east of LA) early this morning where there was 3-5 ft of snow and it was super beautiful!

At first, I was a bit hesitant to use the throttle much but once I got the hang of it, the X5 handled great. The roads were fairly clear in town but there was a lot more snow and ice on them as I got up into the hills. The General Grabber AT/X tires had pretty good grip in the snow since they are Three Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) rated.

Three Peak Mountain Snowflake Explained

Here is some video of the X5 Overland in the snow - you can jump to 1:45 to see where it took me three tries to make it up the hill because I was a bit too timid on the first two tries and then gave it some throttle on the 3rd try and made it easily.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fRadrFntBus" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Video embed doesn't seem to want to work so here is a link:
Spec X5 Overland Lake Arrowhead, CA Jan 2021

That thing was like a mountain goat up the hill. Impressed with the Grabbers too.

That's pretty cool, I'm actually surprised how well the non-xDrive system fairs in all your videos. A testament to the tires as well. . . and maybe a little to the driver.

Thanks for the comments!

Despite its reputation as a family grocery hauler, I am finding that the E53 performs really well in a wide range of conditions despite the lack of advanced tech that came in the later E70/F15/G05 models. It seems that BMW got a lot right with the E53.

I'll have another opportunity to get off road in two weeks. I just got the towing system installed so I'll post up something on that this week.

Tow Hitch/7-Pin Connector/Brake Controller

Generally I like to DIY whatever I can because I like working in my workshop and find it to be a great stress-reliever from my work life.

After looking into DIY'ing a receiver hitch, brake controller, 7-pin connector, and the associated wiring, I decided that it was best and safest to have a professional do the installation. There were too many stories about problems wiring in brake controllers, LED trailer lights, signal multiplexing, etc. and was worried that I'd end up with an install that didn't fully work properly.

So I had a local trailer/hitch shop do the install and they recommended a Teknosha Prodigy P2 brake controller along with a welded/bolted 10,000 lb receiver hitch.

For my first tow, I am renting a U-Haul 6x12 trailer on Friday to get some experience towing something around and so I can start to learn how to back up with a trailer.

Then in two weeks I am renting a 22' Forest River Wolfpup Model 16PF travel trailer (loaded tow weight around 4400 lbs with 400 lb tongue weight) to stay at Buttonwillow Racepark about 140 miles north of LA while I auto race for a 3-day weekend. I will be using the trailer owners weight distributing hitch with sway control.

I am looking forward to see how the E53 tows and handles that kind of weight on the freeway and especially over the Grapevine/Tejon Pass north of LA where Interstate 5 goes from 1,360 ft in San Clarita to 4,120 ft at the top of the pass and then down a fairly steep decent into the Central Valley ending at 1,500 ft.

If all goes well with towing on the trip to the Central Valley, it is highly likely that I will purchase a similar 22'/5000 lb max weight travel trailer to use for traveling around the country to auto race and for camping/hiking. Previously, we've rented various Class C RV's for camping/hiking trips and I would really like to have a rig of our own.

Wow- so you didn’t use the OE Westfalia-made E53-specific hitch? Did you use the OE wiring harness and module ?

Love to see how the hitch is mounted.. the OE hitch is Pretty well engineered.

I'm anxious to hear how the 3.0L does pulling the 4400 lb trailer up the Grapevine. That will be 10,000 lbs trying to go the opposite direction somewhere around Gorman.

I have to second this. My son and I pulled an OE hitch off an E53 parts car we purchased and I was very impressed with the engineering, design and integration.

Thanks for the comments!

I'll have to see about removing the rear bumper cover to take some photos of the hitch mounting points. If I had to guess, I would say that the hitch most likely mounts like the DrawTite aftermarket hitches to the rear subframe bumper mounts.

The portion of the hitch that goes under the car towards the differential is welded to the rear subframe instead of bolting to a rear crossmember like the DrawTite hitch.

The installer did use an OEM 7-pin connector, harness, and electronic module which they interfaced with the external trailer brake controller and added LED trailer light compatibility.

I'm all set to pick up the U-Haul trailer tomorrow to practice driving and backing. Then I'll let you know how it tows the travel trailer in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to the great info in here I'm happy to report Swampy and I will be joining the cool kids club :cool:

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

While we wait I'm hoping to score a decent used set of something in a 265/70/17 size. We'll see if I get lucky

I have a 2001/3.0 and had no problems towing 3 tons (car on deck trailer) over mountain passes with up to 10% gradient at it steepest, without being too much of a PITA to other motorists ;)


I have no supporting upgrades such as air suspension, heavier springs, or equalizer hitch. Just be sure to balance the load properly.


cheers

thStone, great job on the X5 and it looks awesome. I'm in the process of acquiring an electric brake controller and adding it to my X5. I plan to eventually start making the stock looking SUV into one of these more outdoor adventuring ones. I have some nice AT tires on it now and the 7 pin Hitch installed. I want to add the LED light bar or squared light on the roof rack as well as a few more things here and there as time goes on.

Lift spacer
 

Thstone, have you seen this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aELNPl5Qrmw

** Towing Update **

Sorry for the lengthy delay in posting! The biotech business that I run has been super busy and I’ve been car racing a lot.

At this point, I have towed on four separate trips using two different trailers for a total of 1,440 miles. The shortest trip was 230 miles (round trip) and the longest was 750 miles (round trip).

The trailers each weighed around 4400 lbs as towed (including fresh water, food, and gear). Both trailers have empty weights around 3800 lbs and GVWR’s (max weight) around 5,000 lbs. As such, both trailers are well within the X5 tow rating of 6,000 lbs.

Payload weight and hitch (or tongue) weight is also a consideration in towing. The hitch weight of each of the trailers is about 450 lbs which is well within the X5 rating of 600 lbs.

In terms of payload, the X5 carries 450 lbs hitch weight + 190 lbs for me + 110 lbs for my wife + another 100 lbs of gear for a total of 850 lbs. This is well within the X5 payload capacity of 1,345 lbs.

Combining the trailer weight (4400 lbs) with the X5 weight (5240 lbs), there is a total of 9,640 lbs (nearly 5 tons!) that we’re driving around.

With all of that weight, the 3.0L E53 X5 does a pretty good job of accelerating and getting up the hills. On a level road, the engine is working to get up to my typical highway cruising speed of 60-65 mph, but not overly hard. However, the low torque rating for the 3.0L engine becomes obvious as soon as an uphill grade is encountered causing the transmission to downshift a gear to allow the engine maintain an appropriate rpm. A big plus here is that the transmission shifts seamlessly and never hunts back and forth between gears.

Continued next post...

On the steepest hills (6% or more), the transmission will downshift to 3rd and the engine will rev to 5,000 rpm to maintain a speed around 55 mph. Under these conditions, this is all the power there is because the gas pedal is all the way to the floor! Getting up the steepest section of the Grapevine on I-5 north of Los Angeles takes about 15 mins of cumulative time in this regime. I don’t feel that this is too hard or demanding on the engine or transmission since it is not long duration.

However, if I lived or visited mountainous regions where I was climbing steep grades on a regular basis, I might consider moving to the V8 model, but don’t feel that this is an issue for the generally long relatively flat highways and short-term steep hills that I drive in California.

As I mentioned, I tow at 60-65mph. I know that the law in California requires that all vehicles with a trailer are limited to a max speed of 55 mph. But like Sammy Hagar sings, “I Can’t Drive 55”! With that being said, I have had numerous California Highway Patrol cars drive past and they completely ignore me at that speed.

I got the trailer up to a max speed of 75 mph and found that it took much more effort and concentration to keep everything under control. I think that 60-65 mph is the sweet spot.

While driving at 60-65 mph, the X5 gets an average of 8-9 mpg. I have found that using a baseline of 7 mpg to plan fuel stops works best and using a baseline of 60 mph is pretty accurate when estimating distance to go and/or arrival time.

This all equates to a practical range between fuel stops of 26-gals x 7 mpg = 182 miles or (182 miles divided by 60 mph) a fuel stop every 3 hours.

Continued next post...

Overall, the E53 X5 tows and handles the trailer weight very well. Both trailers include the use of a weight distribution hitch (WDH) with anti-sway control. While you can feel the weight of the trailer out back, it never feels like the tail is wagging the dog or that there is any concern for maintaining control even as big rigs pass by. The trailer tracks straight and the driving experience is fairly easy.

I had two experiences towing in winds gusting around 30 mph. I could feel the force of the wind buffeting the trailer but it was easy to control without any white knuckling.

On the longest trip, my wife towed for her first time for about 3 hours on the way there and 3 hours on the way back and she didn’t have any problems or concerns.

I’ve gained some proficiency at backing up the trailers. I am glad that I rented the U-Haul trailer to practice backing up before attempting backing up with a full-size trailer as the practice allowed me to learn the basic maneuvers. While I’m definitely not a pro, I can at least back a trailer into a parking space within a couple of attempts.

I have a Prodigy P2 proportional brake controller installed in the X5. Both trailers that I’ve towed had electric trailer brakes which made a HUGE difference in stopping confidence and distance. After hitching up once, I didn’t get the 7-pin connector fully seated so there was no trailer braking when I stopped at a traffic light. I immediately noticed the lack of stopping power (it would be hard to miss) and pulled over to find the source of the problem. After a quick re-seating of the plug, everything was working normally again.

The E53 3.0L X5 is a very comfortable tow vehicle with a nice ride, good ergonomics, and a great (aftermarket) stereo! The miles pass by easily. Overall, I really enjoy towing with the X5 and already have five more towing trips planned this year. I have found trailer camping to be incredibly convenient and fun.

Continued next post...

Pro Tips for Towing:
#1: Use a weight distribution hitch with anti-sway control
#2: Use side mirror extensions so you can see around the trailer.
#3: Don’t be in a hurry. If you’re used to driving the interstates at 80+ mph (like I am), 65mph will feel like you’re barely moving but I found it best to relax and enjoy the drive.

I haven’t encountered any real problems with the X5 while towing, but I have a concern that that the rear of the X5 sags under the load of the trailers. The sag isn’t extreme but it’s definitely there.

This might be the result of the weight distribution hitches that come with the rental trailers might not be perfectly adjusted specifically for the X5 or it might be that the X5 rear springs are a little soft for the load. There isn’t any rubbing or bottoming out over even the harshest potholes and the handling is fine but it looks a bit wonky.

To address this concern, I am installing a pair of Air Lift 1000 air bags in the rear to better level the X5 while towing. These air bags won’t increase the tow capacity of the X5, but they will allow me to add air to better level the vehicle when towing and release air when not towing.

Air bag install...

Your experience towing sounds pretty much identical to mine -- I tow a 19 foot trailer up a mountain pass up to about 4500 ft. el. several times throughout the summers. I have a manual trans, so I have spent 10-15 minutes at WOT in either third or fourth many, many times. You really feel the elevation when towing a trailer uphill over a mountain pass.



You definitely should have just adjusted the WDH before installing airbags. You should be able to tune all of that sag out using the hitch. It's designed to transfer tongue weight from the back axle to the front axle. However, I suppose with the aftermarket hitch it may have stiffness issues which prevent it from doing that effectively. The stock hitch might have been milled from a single block of solid steel, it's so beefy (and also incredibly heavy).



I typically average around 12-13 mpg while towing though, so I wonder why you are seeing 9. Mine has been pretty consistent around that territory, and I have logged every tank since I bought the car.

8mpg :yikes:

My v10 Ford Excursion got better mileage than that...which is something that I very rarely was able to say

:D:D

My guess is that climbing 4200 vertical feet over Grapevine/Tejon Pass on I-5 (north of LA) is a big hit to the mileage. Next time towing, I'll check the mileage over a long section of flat ground to see how it compares.

Since the trailers and WDH's are rentals, I don't have the flexibility to fully adjust the trailer hitch to perfectly match the X5 - I kind of have to take it "as-is" unless there was a glaring issue.

I am planning to continue renting trailers since the travel trailer market is insane right now (up to 6 months wait for delivery of a new trailer) so I think that the air bags will help for the time being. Then when I buy my own trailer, I can adjust my WDH to eliminate any rear sag and not need to put any air in the bags.

Do the trailer rental companies give you the WDH along with the trailer? I've never heard of renting a trailer before, so I don't know what they require you to do. You should just buy your own WDH if you intend to eventually. You'll probably find that it makes towing much more stable when it's properly adjusted, even on straight/flat roads. It seems odd that the trailer rental company would require you to use their WDH, but let you drive off without adjusting it properly. Though like I said, I know nothing about renting that sort of thing.

Renting a travel trailer these days works a lot like AirBnB: there are national websites where private trailer owners post their trailer for rent and renters (like me) use the website to reserve the desired dates, make payment, get insurance, etc.

RV Share - Rent RVs Direct from Local Owners

Almost all of the trailer owners provide a WDH that comes with the trailer rental. So when I arrive to pick up the trailer, we just insert the WDH into my receiver, couple up the trailer, hook up the chains and 7-pin, do a safety walkaround, and I'm ready to roll out.

There are two parts to a WDH: the portion that has the ball that inserts into the receiver of the tow vehicle and the portion mounts on the trailer frame and provides an attachment for the weight distribution/anti-sway bars. The portion that mounts on the trailer frame is somewhat permanent because it is mounted in a very particular location (according to the hitch manufacturer's directions) and is held on with numerous heavy bolts.

Therefore, its not practical for a renter to bring their own hitch and spend an hour bolting it onto the frame of the rental trailer and then having to spend time removing it when the trailer is returned. Also, the frame heights vary from trailer to trailer so a renter may have to own more than a single set of mounting brackets to be able to mount the portion of the hitch that attaches to the trailer frame to a wide range of trailers. It's much easier for the renter and the owner to simply use the hitch that the trailer owner provides.

Proper adjustment of the WDH often takes multiple tries. Its not as simple as just following the installation instructions and you're done. Usually the WHD is installed according to the hitch manufacturer instructions and then the owner adjusts it until its set just right.

This iterative adjustment process isn't something that most trailer rental owners are willing to spend time doing (if they even know how). Thus, if the trailer looks "pretty good" when its hitched to the tow vehicle, then the expectation is that the renter will use it "as is" and not waste an hour of the owners time trying to adjust it "perfectly".

I use "quotes" because everyone (each renter and each owner) has their own definition of what is "good enough". Thus, what justifies taking additional time to make a hitch adjustment is somewhat arbitrary.

Taking a conciliatory approach seems to avoid any conflict with the trailer owners who might consider a request to make further hitch adjustments to be "nit picking" and upset them.

In practice, this system works pretty well even though it's not optimal. Since the sag on the X5 is minimal and the trailers tow perfectly fine, the baseline hitch settings for the trailers that I have rented seem to be "good enough" for me to use without any concern for safety and provide a very comfortable and confident towing experience.

However, in the instance of the white GeoPro trailer, the trailer owner's hitch was clearly not set up to tow with my X5 and the owner and I both saw this. In this case, the owner readily agreed to take the time to make a hitch adjustment to get it "good enough".

As I said in my earlier post, when I purchase my own trailer and hitch, then I will take the time to adjust the hitch perfectly to dial out any sag. In the meantime, I'll use the air bags to fine tune the rear ride height. Its not a perfect solution but that seems to be one of the trade offs for using rental trailers.

Great Thread
 

Great thread!

I've got a 2002 4.4 e53 that I recently re-inherited from my kids who drove it while they were in the house, and for the 14 years before that it was my wife's daily driver since new. It is now officially my project car, mostly because it's the one I've got in my driveway and I don't see a 911 or 67 Camaro build showing up any time soon with two kids in college.

It seems to be a real unicorn in many ways at this point, so your post, and all the replies, comments, and questions are of very real value to me. Thanks all.

I officially kicked off today what will be a slow motion build by pulling the instrument cluster and DME and sending them off to Fixels, to be replaced with a 4.8 cluster and properly coded DME. Gotta start somewhere...up next on the agenda:
- roof and hood paint. The rest of the car (blue) is in pretty good shape, but the roof and hood are completely shot. Looking at John Deere Blitz Black because its a cheap, easy to spray matte that hot rodders have been using for years and is easy to take care of, unlike other mattes and satins. The two tone blue/matte black should be nice for a while. I have a long term vision of a two tone matt black/british racing green look.
- Wheels/tires. Really like the Cragar Series 342 D window 17x8s, but would need adapters for the 5x4.5 pattern. I might need them anyway to fit the 285/60/17s I would like to run, although I think that might be a 30.5" total, so maybe not? I'm lost at how much "poke" that combo will have so I'd love to pick the collective brain.
- FMU lift if needed to get everything playing nicely together.
- Fix the stupid seat memory controller/steering wheel adjust failure interconnect-goat-rope. Hopefully a used control module off of ebay will do the trick.
- Lots of broken and rotted trim and assorted plastic and rubber to be replaced.
- Aftermarket sound of some sort or the other. Crutchfield seems to think its plug-and-play easy, but almost everything they carry that claim will work is on backorder.
- rack cross bars for the Thule that normally goes on my wife's Grand Cherokee for hurricane evacuations and bird hunting trips to Iowa.
- New subframe bushings all around (I redid all the big ticket suspension pieces on all four corners a few years ago when I had access to a lift, but didn't do the subframe bushings).
- Headliner and door panel work. The panels are shot up front due to my ham-fisting them off and on too many times to fix the stupid windows. My have to go to a custom upholstery shop since the beige panels seem to be harder and harder to come by in better shape than mine.

Finally, the big tix mechanicals...
The tranny is a two year old remanufactured unit I got from Euro Transmission Specialists (including the torque converter). I've been happy with the investment so knock-on-wood no money is needed there. I'm not certain about the transfer case chain and may just replace it for piece of mind after I finally find out how many mile are actually on the car.

The mighty M62 is leaking from every nook and cranny and I'm guessing within a couple years of a serious midlife crisis. A recent compression and leak-down test showed 7 very middle aged cylinders, and 1 cylinder with two feet in the departure lounge potentially. Number 8s performance was pretty far out of whack, so I'm crossing my fingers that it was a large speck of carbon maybe and the motor will last, reliably, until I'm done with college bills. At that point I'm dreaming of engaging Henry Lawrence to build me a bulletproof steel lined 5L M62 monster to drop in.

At the end of the day my goal is to build an overland style X5 that I won't think twice about driving 14 hours to the midwest in with my mutts to bird hunt in the winter.

I'll start posting pics once I figure out how.

Twins
 

We can be twins:rofl:!

Henn28, thanks for the post! Let's see some pic's and keep us updated on your progress.

Emory39, your X looks great! What lightbar did you use and how hard was it to wire up?

This is the one that I purchased, its not hard to wire up.

Nice pup Emory...good breeding program to get those choppers! I've got two knuckle-head Griffons who hunt for 3 months of the year and then lay around the house dreaming of quail and phez the other 9.

What wheels and tire sizes are you running? And did you lift your X5? The front looks like it is up, but I can't tell clearly about the back. Thanks!

Thanks! those are not my pups :dh: just a picture that I use in all the forums that I am at. anyways yes the X5 is lifted and I am running spacers in all four the tires sizes is 265/70/17 the lift is 3" on front and 2.5" on the back

A few "before" pics of my doorstop (no DME or cluster currently).

https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...05-x2-b4-1.jpg

https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...07-x5-b4-2.jpg

https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...06-x5-b4-3.jpg

Nice starting point, I really like the blue, it stands out in a sea of white, black, and grey/silver X5's.

Build activity
 

I heasitate to use the word “build” on my X5 rabbit hole just yet, because what I’ve been doing is mostly deferred maintenance, research, and spending money of course.

I decided to go with 285/75/16 tires and after much angst pulled the trigger on a set of 16x8 Method Racing Wheel model 701s, in bronze of course because all those subaru guys can’t be wrong. They are zero offset wheels with 4.5” backspacing in a very convenient 5x120 bolt pattern and 72.6 bore. Frankly the bolt pattern and hub bore sealed the deal since spacers and adapters seem like they will cause my brain cell undue damage. I’m only a little concerned about brake clearance with the 16” wheels.

The end result will be a tire that is 1.9” taller, .9” farther away from the inside and 2.1” of poke. I think they will fill up the wheel well very nicely, and it remains to be seen if I can run them without a lift. I’m going to try, but will put a lift on the thing if they rub excessively, or if it looks odd. My goal is to keep it daily driveable and retain some decent manners on the highway, while ensuring I have decent odds of not getting stuck in Midwest muck while bird hunting.

My daughter and I have fixed the seat memory, replaced the Original and very opaque headlights, and painted and installed a new trunk lid grip. The instrument cluster has been swapped with a 4.8 car’s cluster and the DME reprogrammed with work with same.

Up next will be a trip to our local Navy base to put it on the lift and do the rear subframe bushings, fuel filter, oil change and air filters. Then I’ll revisit two of the windows for the umpteenth time and replace those absurdly delicate clips.

In the works in a couple weeks is a hood and roof respray by a local hot rod shop in a charcoal/grey (on the flat-ish side), decide on tires and install the new wheels, and install a Kenwood receiver and Sirius receiver units, and run the antennas. I’d like to get a sharkfin from a later model car/aftermarket unit and install it on the trunk spoiler but will need to run the cables end to end somehow. I’m sure this is doable, but like most things BMW will be painful and result in the loss of lots knuckle skin. I’ve got time to research it tho because almost everything at Crutchfield seems to be in back order.

Progress update after my parts all arrive and I get it on the lift.

Brian,

Sounds like great progress! The Method Racing 701's are pretty bad ass and should look and perform great.

I sent some thoughts via PM regarding the lift.

Tom

Can anyone speak on how bad of a hit acceleration took on the 3.0 with the heavier tires?

Just picked up a 2004 3.0 and a set of the Style 131 18"s. Trying to decide if I should go all in on the all-terrain, or light some money on fire and have two sets, daily/camping.

Acceleration will be impacted from two causes: (1) lower (effective) gearing due to the larger diameter tires; (2) increase in unsprung weight of the tires.

In driving on the street around town, I don't really notice much of a difference in acceleration. I am sure that my X5 accelerates slower than it did with stock tires/wheels, but whatever effect it has isn't really noticeable to me because around town I'm just not accelerating that fast to begin with.

But I do notice it on the freeway when trying to accelerate to pass someone. Accelerating from 70mph to 85mph seems to take longer than before. With that being said, the 3.0 was never very "fast" or "quick" to begin with so having slightly slower than originally kind of slow acceleration isn't an issue for me but I do notice it.

Is the slightly slower acceleration worth two sets of tires/wheels? Not to me. But then I'm not racing around in my X (I have a 911 street car and a real race car for that!) so the slightly slower acceleration isn't an issue for me but I understand that it might be a concern for others.

The bottom line:
Does the X accelerate slower with taller, heavier tires? Yes.
Is it noticeable? Around town, maybe a little but not much; on the freeway, yes.
Is it a big enough problem to look for a fix? No, not to me.

Thanks for the reply!

I know the 3.0 isn't the quickest, I have an e92 M3 for having fun :)

The new X is going to be another daily / weekend mountain bike rig. Was just curious if it was "terrible". But sounds like I'll be jumping in with a set of Falkens.
:thumbup:

Dang guys! I love all of your builds! We are just getting back into travel after a harsh covid season. We converted our X5 into a tiny camper so me and my wife could travel safe and sound in luxury =)

The mods we have so far:
2" lift by Fluid MotorUnion
Ceika "Rally" Suspension
33" x 10.5" Falken Wildpeaks
DIY Safari rack with rifle boxes
CB Radio
WeBoost Cell Phone Booster
Dual Battery
On-board Air Compressor
Full sleep platform
Lightbars all around

Im sure there is more but thats enough for now haha.
I look forward to seeing all of your builds develop!

Youtube.com/X5Overland

I have the 4.4 and it's noticeable but no complaints. There's a big increase in road noise, and it's harder to balance the heavy all-terrains so I would take it to a quality tire shop for mounting.

I saw your recent video on the subframe bushings -- did they make any difference in ride comfort? I have a new set waiting to be put in.

Uhh, no lol. It feels pretty similar but at least I have a bit of peace of mind haha

Great Posts thstone,

I've been looking to add a similar set up to my 2001 5Speed Manual as well. Would you mind sharing the link where you got the wheels from?

By the way, I also added the same fender flares, it took some trimming and self anchored screws to make them fit properly specially since I'm running Mud Flappers all around.

Attachment 80331

Dang. Yeah it seems like people either say no difference at all, or night and day.

If changing the rear sub-frame bushes makes a "night and day" difference, you left them too long... ;)

I changed mine at around 200,000kms, as preventative maint. The old ones were still pretty good and the change made zero difference to the ride - as I would expect.

Entering 4runner territory...

https://i.imgur.com/YEHSz3C.jpg

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

Hey X5O, your build and YouTube video's were one of the inspirations for my build and this thread! Thanks for joining us here, I think that you have a lot of experience that can help us all.

Well that hits me right in the feels haha. I'll do my best to answer any questions you guys might have =)

I have a friend who has a house in Lake Arrowhead (about 75 mins north-east of LA) and went up there last Saturday to get out of the city.

I recently suffered a leg injury so we couldn't go hiking (as originally planned) so we did some trail exploration on the north side of the lake in the X. My friend has an AMG G-Wagon that sees more than its fair share of off-road trails.

There were some really nice trails, nothing too hard but challenging enough to make it fun. I am finding that the X5 has a lot more off-road capability than I am usually willing to chance!

Update
 

After a week of full on Sanford and Sons in my driveway, my E53 is back on tires and the sweet smell of a slow drip of coolant on a hot 4.4L motor is evident again.

Its still very much a work in progress, but so far I've
- Replaced the instrument cluster with a 4.8 unit and a reprogrammed DME from Pixels.
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...-work00001.jpg

- Installed new Arnott air springs (found a slow leak on one), new rear subframe bushings and the FMU 1.5" lift. Lots of lessons learned in general and some trial and error since the "instructions" for this kit are a 8 minute YouTube video. A few issues cropped up like the rear shock bolts being about 1/8th too long (a few washers on each fixed this) and it taking me way too long to sort out that I needed to pull the front strut locating pin out so get the lift on the top of the strut. It was late in the day, I was tired, etc.
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...rk00001-01.jpg

I threw the stock wheels back on for a test drive and commenced a lengthy battle with the self leveling rear suspension. Initially it compensated for the lift by dropping about 1.5 inches, so I added a new sensor mount that dropped the sensor by 1.5". Problem solved...not really because now the car is riding about 3/4" high in the back. Either the car came to its senses, or I suspect that my fabrication simply isn't tight enough to accurate move the sensor, given it is measuring angle on a 3" arm. Its good enough for now though since the car is going to paint (hood and roof) this coming week. I'll probably need to get the suspension recalibrated, or figure out which software to use and how to do this myself.

Other than that its riding very nicely with the new subframe bushings. I will note that my initial test drive resulted in a nasty clunk from the left front on every bump, which ended up being the swing support upper bolt that some average mechanic failed to put a final torque on in his driveway.

My average fabrication work below (identical bracket on other side):
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...-work00005.jpg

In retrospect a longer arm would have done the trick more precisely I suspect, except I was worried about crafting a robust enough attachment point(s) on a lower arm which would still allow for free play.

I've got three new wheels and tires ready to go on the car, but there was an issue with the fourth during mounting. Looks like a defective tire, so hopefully Tire Rack will see it that way too.

After the paint job I've got a fuel filter and oil change job to do, two window regulators/clips to fix, a lower radiator hose to install and a Pioneer unit to install, if it ever gets off of backorder at Crutchfield. I also want to get a look at the timing chain guides (camera down the oil filler) and at a minimum put a new tensioner in.

Good job on the fabrication


Sent from my iPhone using Xoutpost.com

that looks awesome!

Overland build update
 

Just got my '02 4.4i back from paint and fitted wheels and tires finally. The Method 701 wheels are 16 inch and happily come in a 5x120, but only 16 inch. Thus the calipers in front were catching the inside of the wheels by a hair. A little judicious angle grinding at the one specific spot on the calipers and the rubbing is almost gone. A bit more tomorrow. The tires are about 31.2" and rub the wells a hair at almost full lock. Some work with a heat gun to reshape the wells where they rub should fix that.

The car is basically back together with some new seals and weather-stripping, but I have some clean-up to do as I chase down squeaks and rattles that were not there before I lifted it and monkied with the ride height, etc. The ride height isn't perfect in the back yet but I'll keep tweaking it.

I've got a right front axle to put in this weekend, a fuel filter and a lower radiator hose, in addition to some new fasteners and stupid window regulator clips to replace failing ones, for the millionth time.

The motor refresh is the big job I've been researching and avoiding. I'm looking for the perfect 4.6 to drop into the car, but will end up settling for one that needs work. My plan is to keep all the 4.4 mechanicals (diffs and tranny) and have my DME remapped to work better with the 4.6. Much more to follow.

After the mechanicals I'll return to the cosmetic. I've got an idea for a spare tire carrier in the back and perhaps a front brush bar. My awesome Kenwood AV receiver is still in the ether, a victim of the chip shortage.

https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...08-1612585.jpg

https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...08-1612308.jpg

Update: I spent the morning angle grinding the high points off the back of the calipers, a few points on the dust shields and the corners of the control arms. They were only hitting the inside of the rims by probably less than a 32nd, but you could definitely hear it. I also took a heat gun to the well wells at 9 and 3 oclock where the tires were rubbing just a bit at the locks and made a deeper well for them to fit into when at the locks.

update
 

Its been a slow couple weeks for my project after getting it back from paint. The heat here in the deep south tends to suck the life-force out of me this time of year.

I did make some mostly overdue maintenance progress on my X5 project including:
- oil change with high mileage synthetic
- aborted fuel filter change, after dropping the protective guard with 4,321 bolts, due to wrong filter received from Pelican
- subframe bushings
- a right front axle
- 4 wheel alignment
- more monkeying with the rear ride height- not perfect, but getting there I hope. There seems to be about .5" to 3/4" of slop in the system from side to side which is driving me nuts. I probably need to suck it up and install ISTA, and learn how to use it.
- a pax side window regulator and new clips on both front windows

I'm holding off on installing a new lower radiator hose and a timing chain tensioner I was planning on putting in because I purchased a 4.6 to swap into my 4.4i. Sort of making it up as I go along because the motor will need work, I don't have a garage and I certainly don't have a lift. I've got some time to think about it while I wait for it to arrive (if it arrives) in several weeks and I see what I'm dealing with.

I still need to get some roof x rails to hold my Thule box at highway speeds, upgrade the factory audio if the chip shortage ever lessens, and work out how to integrate a rear spare tire carrier that looks like it came with the car.

post hood and roof paint.
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...16-x5-july.jpg

Motor will be delivered next Monday and I'm slowly ordering parts, at a rate that won't get my wife's attention hopefully.

Its going to be a slow build on the engine now, given what looks like a hectic fall work schedule, so I plan on buying parts to match the pace. I did grab a long runner intake from Ebay which should be 100% common with the injection and CCV set-up from my 4.4. I'll swap over everything that looks good and replace all the seals and rubber bits. I also bought a coolant accumulator and valley pipes off of ebay as they were dirt cheap and I should be able to clean them up well and get that part assembled, rather than have to pull that junk off my motor after I drop it.

I need to spring for a crank hub and harmonic balancer, once I confirm that the engine doesn't have these pieces on it from the factory. I'll also buy new pulleys for the AC and alternator drives since they are pretty cheap and can be bought pre-assembled. I'd love to buy a fresh alternator since this needs to go in first on the front of them motor, but the one in my 4.4 is about 10 years old and going strong, so the money is probably better spent elsewhere. I may take it to a local rebuild shop for a once-over and new bearings perhaps.

I'm considering pulling the valve covers from the new motor so I can get a fresh dose of assembly grease on all the important bits up top. I'm assuming the stuff that is in there is 15+ years old. If I do that, then I'll get the covers powder coated.

I've mocked up by oil cooler set-up and bought 8' of 10 AN braided hose and the adaptors and fittings required. A clean bracket off the front bumper bar is in work and I've got the plastic cover marked out for the cuts that I will need to make when the time comes.

I've been giving a lot of thought to what DME software would be best, and have gotten some good advice from the e39 forum. Since I'm keeping my 4.4 torque converter and transmission I want to make sure I won't be throwing SES lights and other codes. The good news is that there are guys who have put the 4.6 into 4.4 e39 cars and are running stock 4.4 TCs and gearboxes. One guy in particular is running that combo with a Dinan stage 3 and a tune from DUDMD which makes the whole thing seemless. And he hasn't burnt up his 4.4 TC. My tranny and TC are two years young, so buying a 4.6 unit isn't in the cards if I can find a software solution. I'd rather spend the money elsewhere on the car. So it seems the decision comes down to updating a 4.6 DME software load to work with the 4.6 tranny and TC, or updating my 4.4 DME to optimize the 4.6 motor I'm putting in. It doesn't seem that either choice would be a problem for DUDMD.

In other news...I turned my attention to the oil cooler while I'm waiting for the motor to show up. I had a plan in my head for a bracket that quickly became unworkable and possibly not strong enough, so I roped in my friend with the custom hot rod shop for help. He took a quick look at it and had it solved in 2 minutes.

We hung a bracket that he fabricated from the 10mm bolts that hold the bumper cover on. Everything is accessible from the outside and the arms are very short so movement should be minimal. I need to find wider grommets as the ones I bought wouldn't accommodate the security torx bolts I mounted the cooler with, once they were installed. Or maybe I'll just go with rubber washers.

Bracket:
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...ket-cooler.jpg
Bracket mounted back in my driveway:
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...et-cooler2.jpg
Cooler mounted:
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...19-cooler1.jpg

Waiting for the 10AN lines and fittings from Pegasus to show up, then I can drop the new filter housing in, assemble and run the lines, connect it all and hope for no leaks. The location I went with is good for running the lines directly in and up to the housing. The CSF cooler has male 10 an fittings set at 45 degrees into the side of the cooler already and I'll probably run the lines for a few inches at least out front as they are cool black braided lines. Form and function is my goal.

Thanks KSpark for this posting.

I'm also trying to run the same set up since I'm in need of new tires for the new inspection "coming up". (265/60/18 Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws on style 69s) Funny thing is that I went to a tire shop yesterday and they told me these would not fit, I was even willing to pay for them just to test one tire and they said I would be wasting my money. Can you confirm there is no rubbing at all? I'm may have to try a different shop. I found a nice used set but wanted to confirm they would fit before buying them.

Thanks

The engine arrived today and I got it off the truck, into the garage and unpacked enough to see what I had bought and would be dealing with. I can say with certainty that a motor listed as a "short block" in RealOEM is actually what we would consider a long block here in the us.

Its a brand new, super shiny M62TUB46, which made it over from Germany in one piece as best as I can tell, with a forest of cardboard around it. $120 in shipping expense gets you a flight across the Atlantic on United and a truck from Maryland to New Orleans, in my case. The whole process from order to opening the box was about 2 months.

It includes:
- Heads and valve covers
- Rear main and cover
- crank hub installed (this surprised me because the picture didn't have the hub installed)
- Water pump installed but no pully on it
- Valley pan installed, but no coolant pipes or rear x-pipe/accumulator.
- I think I can feel an E53 oil pan set-up at the bottom of the box.

It comes with a tiny bag of goodies, including the hardware to install the dipstick (which presumably is somewhere in the box) and some locating dowels which I think are to align the transmission on the block.

Beyond that there is one paragraph of instructions in 20 different languages, with helpful hints like "read the instructions", "fill with approved oil", and other tidbits.

Finally, tucked inside is what I think is a build ticket and if Google translate is to be believed, lists the production day (27May2020), the employees and BMW office involved in building it. Based on this, I suspect they build out of production motors, one at a time, to replace inventory, until they run out of parts.

I'm hopeful that all the big ticket fasteners are witness marked, which will allow me to sleep better knowing everything is torqued. I can't imagine that they, for example, install a crank hub or valve cover, but don't torque it fully. Witness marks would make me sleep better.

Winter Ready Checked
 

Winter Ready Checked

Finally got around to install my winter set up wheels and decided to go bigger on tires with 265/60/18 Hankook Dynopro AT M. Happy with the performance and look, zero rubbing with no lift. Surprisingly there is no road noise ;)

https://xoutpost.com/members/francce...1-winter1.jpeg

https://xoutpost.com/members/francce...2-winter2.jpeg

Sorry that I didn't see your message earlier. Yes, zero rubbing whatsoever, even with 4 people in the car or mild off-roading. The Falkens do produce quite a bit of road noise for me though.

I'm amazed you can still buy a new M62 built in 2020. Where did you buy it from? Would love to hear more about how the install goes.

I was surprised too that BMW still offers new M62s for sale, much less the 4.6, which I think was a much lower volume version and used in far fewer cars? I bought it from BMW, via GetBMWParts.com, which I think is actually BMW of Silver Springs MD, cleverly disguised as a discount OEM parts biz. They had the best price on it by far and required no core charge.

Its been slow going for the past few weeks due to the recent storm here in Louisiana, and my work schedule. However, I did get a chance to get to the garage and unpack the motor and get it on a stand. It was my first look at it out of the box and I'm happy to report that aside from the crank hub, water pump and other misc. bits, it also has spark plugs and the oil sensor in the pan installed. The thing was sitting in a couple of quarts of oil (it was packed in a very heavy plastic bag) which I suspect leaked out during shipping and was a preservative they sprayed on/in the motor when BMW assembled it in 2020.

https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...1-engine-1.jpg

My plan is to install the coolant pipes and manifold as soon as the knock sensors arrive that forgot to order. Then I'll turn my attention to the front and get a rebuilt Bosch alternator and possibly a new power steering pump to go with all new belts, hoses, oil separator, etc. I am thinking the only big stuff I'll rob from my 4.4 are the front diff and the entire fuel injection set-up as one unit. I am thinking I can do a pressure test on the coolant system after I install the engine and before I put the manifold and injection back on the valley.
https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...2-engine-2.jpg

On another note, I've spent a little time laying out and understanding the wiring for the Kenwood radio upgrade I'm installing. Fortunately everything is pretty much color coded, and/or Crutchfield's excellent customer support is just a phone call away. I am waiting for the back-up camera I ordered to arrive and a few misc. parts before I start pulling the inside apart to finish running the satellite radio/camera wiring up to the dash.

https://xoutpost.com/members/henn28-...834-wiring.jpg

Wow, that's incredible. Sadly it looks like the N62 is fully discontinued, but sure enough there are brand new M62's available to buy.

Love this thread!

Can someone order sets of Cragars wheels for me and ship them to iceland? :D

https://www.ubuy.is/en/search?q=cragar+rims

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

Sounds like a backwards swap is in order!

For those running bigger tires and wheels than stock, and lifts too if present, I’d be interested to hear about your fuel mileage experiences. I’ve been getting about 13.5 mpg around town here in New Orleans. It’s been several years, but I seem to recall getting around 15 mpg around town on the OEM 18” set up that came on the car. It does have 150k on it, but I’m not sure that matters with fuel economy?

I was planning on jumping into my wiring harness for the stereo upgrade later this week, but my wife’s 2015 Grand Cherokee (80k) decided to develop transfer case issues yesterday. When shifting between P, D, and R a distinct and rattle or knocking is heard from the T-case. It continues at low speed until, I think, lockup happens. I unplugged the electric motor on the transfer case and the noise disappeared. Next step I guess is to remove the motor but leave it plugged in and see what happens. Fingers are crossed that it is only the electric motor.

I get about 1 MPG less with the Falken Wildpeaks on (17.0 MPG mostly highway vs 18.0 on all-seasons).

Surprisingly, refreshing the suspension improved fuel economy quite a bit.

Had a couple hours today so I headed to the garage to install knock sensors and the valley plumbing.

The knock sensors are new but the rear x-manifold and pipes are eBay pieces. I Got some good lessons learned from an E39 guy who built up a new 4.6 motor to swap into his car and used Permatex #85420 on the manifold and block (either side of the gaskets). The manifold cleaned up nicely but it is used so the permatex can’t hurt I think. A liberal amount of mechanics grease on the o-rings helped the pipes pop in and should help with the seal. I’m hopeful I don’t regret buying used parts, I plan on pressure testing the system after I get the motor in and before putting the intake on.

I wasn’t sure what torque to put on the M6 w/washer manifold bolts as I couldn’t find this info anywhere, so I went with 15 to 20 NM as this is close to the torque put on similar gasketted/sealed pieces that attach to the block. It wasn’t an exact science as I have a very nice but way too large for this job electronic torque wrench, and a very old beam type I use for low torque values. I need to bite the bullet and get a quality torque Wrench for low values.

Up next when I have time will be installing an alternator, a power steering pump, oil hoses to block flange and dip-stick tube. Then I’ll put the pulleys and drives on, including the balancer, and it will finally be time to pull the 4.4 out of my X5. Once it’s out I’ll rob the flywheel, starter and right front axle carrier and install them on the 4.6. I’ll get all new hoses, CCV crap and rubber parts on that I can at this point, either in the engine bay or on the motor.

I’m hoping to leave the front diff and left axle in the car and just bolt it back up with new gaskets/o-rings when I put the new motor in. I’m not sure though that there is enough play in it to work the right axle free of the diff so it can come out with the motor. Otherwise I’ll pull it out too and swap it to the 4.6 on the stand. Pulling axles can be a pita, so I’m looking to minimize brain damage.

An update on the oil flange bolts that realOEM doesn’t think exist: I tried a few bolt sizes today and they are definitely M8 and the hole in the block is 25 mm deep. When the flange arrives I’ll measure it and order something that will work. Probably M8x25 or maybe even 30 with washers or flanges, depending on the oil flange depth and shape.

I bought these new style 75 two-piece BBS 19'' for our X5 to do a build, but ended up selling the car. We bought a newer X5 instead.

Will accept any reasonable offer need these gone!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...1970402433204/

Slow going on my build lately, but I installed a Bosch rebuilt alternator yesterday on my 4.6 motor. 10 minute job with new bolts, bit of dielectric grease around the pre-installed water jacket seal and a drop of blue threadlocker on the M6 bolts. I couldn't find a torque value anywhere for those bolts, which seemed odd, so I turned them to about 15 or 20nm with my crappy torque wrench.

Backorder parts and long shipping times are really slowing me down on my engine build. I have some time off in early December that I'm planning on doing the engine swap during, assuming the rest of my parts come in.

I did get a huge box of hoses in, but I'm waiting on a dipstick tube, one hydraulic belt tensioner (the AC came fully assembled, including the bracket, but no tensioner or bracket on my "refresh" kit on the water pump side), a second CCV valve (first was broken from ECS/Turner) and a bunch of bolts and a ton of misc fasteners. I'm still trying to decide if I want to spring for a "new" LUK steering pump, or try to find somewhere to rebuild the pump from the 4.4. I also did receive the ebay secondary air pump tube (to the heads) and gave it to the fabricator who will make blank-off plates from it.

Since I'm in a holding pattern for parts I decided to fully build the long runner intake I bought on ebay. I cleaned and painted (flat black) the intake and ordered a used fuel rail complete with injectors from an ebay seller I've been using. It will be drop shipped to Injector RX in Houston who will clean and test the injectors, and fully clean the rail so I can paint or powder coat it flat black too. I expect to have to buy an injector or two, but hopefully the majority of them will be good and I can save $60+/ each.

I bought some black stainless nuts and bolts to mount the rail and intake as my goal is to leave the cover off the motor. The secondary air pump delete and perhaps some re-routing of other vacuum lines should make for a nice clean look with the flat black intake and rail.

Intake
 

Had some spare time today to assemble the intake for the 4.6. Its a mostly Ebay sourced assembly:
- Long runner intake
- used fuel rail and injectors that I had cleaned and flow tested by InjectorRX in Houston (surprisingly all 8 cleaned up to within factory flow specs)
- New throttle flange and CCV valve
- New gaskets and o-rings
- swapped in hex bolts for the OEM torx
- new black stainless fuel rail bolts and washers

I'm looking to leave the engine cover off so I primed and painted everything major a flat black. If it doesn't hold up then I'll take the rail from my 4.4 that is coming out and have it powder coated flat black. I am also going to hit the hex bolts with some flat black before I install it.

My plan is to install the new motor without the intake so I can pressure test the coolant system.

In other news, I finally got myself squared away with inpa. I had read enough forum posts about how challenging it was to set up, keep running, etc. that I was nervous that an IT rock like me would goon it up. However my homemade rear air spring brackets could only get me “so” close in equally accounting for my roughly 2” lift. Mike’s easy Bmw tools was just that, so easy a caveman like me could do it. After the install, one K DCAN cable later and I was in business. Shockingly easy.

I ended up using the timed suspension adjust function to tweak the rear air springs successfully and both level the car laterally and find a good rear ride height. Next up for the suspension will be Range Rover L322 front spring conversion struts so I can actually gain about 2” suspension travel a do away with the spacer lifts.

Progress
 

The motor is very close to being ready to swap. It's taken too long, but work, etc. intrudes occasionally. Earlier this week I went to the garage with the intention of adding the final few pieces to the new 4.6, short of the few I'm going to rob from my 4.4. I had been waiting for some odd sized fasteners to come in for the AC pulley assembly and the stud for the power steering pump.


These pieces went on and I turned my attention to torquing down the harmonic balancer which I had finger tightened a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately under the light I noticed that the balancer had a small crack in it. Quite the drag since i will now need to wait a week or so for a replacement piece to come from Germany. I will say getbmwparts.com ordered me a new one no questions asked, despite the fact that i had pitched the box a couple weeks ago.
Attachment 81320

Starting to look like a motor
 

A rebuilt power steering pump, intake, rail with injectors, and new everything else. I will end up robbing the oil separator return line, ac compressor bracket, flywheel/flexplate, throttle and coils from my 4.4. I'm not sure if i need the small deflection pulley under the alternator, but I'll rob the bracket if so. I ordered a new pulley just in case my car has it. I can't tell from real oem.

The secondary air pump line is just stuck on so it doesn't get lost. It will be chopped at each end, leaving just enough to weld it shut, and each piece reattached to the heads with new orings. The pump and associated vacuum mess will be deleted physically and from the DME.

Swap Time
 

Its swap time . Monday was a half day devoted to gettign the car positioned, draining fluids, organizing parts, tools, etc. and basic prep. I pulled the cowl, drained the fluids (other then the front diff), labeled and detached lots of plugs and vacuum tubes, pulled the intake track entirely, pulled the splash guard and other subframe covers and dropped the middle exhaust section (headers back). Things went smoothly other than one of the copper header nuts decided to strip. 45 min of surgery with a sawsall paid off and I was able to pound the stud back through/pry off the nut remnants.

Lots of broken and/or very fragile vacuum tubes to sort out and the need for a giant hex bit (22 mm maybe?) to pull the front diff drain plug were my lessons learned for today. (Update...17mm if I recall. I bought a set of huge hex drivers from Northern Tool...less than a pint of oil came out.) Tons of oil all over the bottom end. I suspect the oil pan covers and the rear main for starters. I also think the front diff is leaking from the casing but can’t find a gasket on realoem for it. Anyone done this work?

Four days of prep total and it's finally ready to go...aside from having to pull the axles still. The past two days have been spent finishing the breakdown of the oil soaked and tired 4.4. Today I had time while I wait for an open bay at the garage, I'm a member of (on the lift currently) to start swapping parts, brackets, etc. to the new motor, after a good cleaning. I've never seen a dirtier motor in my life ... layers of oil gook measured in MM in places. The stiffener plate hides all manners of evil. Out of sight out of mind I suppose. Now that I've done it once I think I could do the prep in two long days.

I'll reposition it tomorrow into a spot where I can put it on jack stands which will allow me to pull the axels and then the motor. Short story is that the lift is shared so I decided to use the time I had breaking the 4.4 down completely and pull it out of the top minus the transmission on jackstands, when the lift was needed by other members. Its ready to go, including unbolting the flywheel from the torque converter and pulling the wiring harness, starter, every hose and fluid line, etc. With the cowl out there is a lot of room behind the motor and I think I can even get a wrench on the top transmission torx bolts. I can see them anyway!

My plan is to try to pull the axles, bearing carriers and diff/left axle support as single units since they are just going to get bolted on to the new motor. No sense asking for trouble by pulling the axles out of the hubs and the carrier and diff if I don't need to. Fingers crossed.

I also changed both Giubos while I was under the car and had to order a few hundred bucks worth of parts that were presented trashed after pulling them out. Most notably were bare wires on the camshaft sensors, lots of vacuum tubing and a fuel tank breather valve that looked fine but the car was throwing a code for it and everything associated with the vacuum plumbing for the brakes. The valve and hoses fell apart basically when I looked at them.

My effort to beautify the M62 can only go so far. I'm deleting the SAP and associated crap, and I painted the intake and rail flat black, but the boxes for the wiring harness are butt-ugly and I'm not smart enough, nor do I have enough time to do anything about them. I've seen some very cool pics of other guys efforts in this respect, so perhaps I'll sort this out when I build a "M60B44" from my old motor.

I've got what I hope to be my final parts (for the motor anyway) in route, but the long pole is the harmonic balancer. I don't really want to drop the new motor in without it, but may have to if it doesn't show up by mid-next week. I've decided to use my 4.4 DME to get it running on, then once I have it back home I'll ship that off to get some coding done so it can make the most of the 4.6 motor and 4.4 everything else and get a full delete of the secondary air pump system.

motor is in
 

The motor went in today, not without some drama, but less than I was expecting. A recap of the past week first:

Last Thursday, Friday and today (Monday) we’re spent finishing the prep work on the old motor, pulling the axles with the steering knuckles, hooking up the hoist, supporting and disconnecting the tranny , and finally pulling the motor out of the top. Initially I used a motor hoist but it ran out of throw with the lower oil pan still in the car. I could have lowered the car off the jackstands, but the shop has a forklift which did the trick. Hooked that mister up to the leveling bar, took the weight and disconnected the hoist. A few bolts on the tranny were a real challenge, especially the ones with nuts on them at the UK starter flange. Awful to get to. Having the intake and cowl off allowed for easier top access to the upper tranny bolts. I did have to remove the diff as well because it wouldn’t clear the power steering rack where it connects to the steering shaft.

Monday and Tuesday were spent pulling the engine mounting brackets, compressor, lots of wiring and hose brackets, headers, flywheel and installing all the above after a really good clean. A little logistics shuffle with the forklift, hoist, and engine stand and we were ready to drop it in this morning. I couldn't pull the ball joints for the tension struts after 20 years of hard use, so I took them to a machine shop yesterday that made quick work of them and replaced the axle seals while they were at it.

I spent 2 hours cleaning my engine bay this morning before the new motor went in. The amount of caked on dirt and oil was pretty amazing. Then I spent an hour looking for the 4 right axle pedestal bolts, which must have gotten swept up and thrown out, before realizing that I had a lot of M8x25 bolts on hand as its a common bolt, and I overbought most bolts as a way to play my slice. One other issue I had was with the new exhaust manifold studs (the ones joining the headers to the mid-section). The knurled section is twice as long on the new ones I bought as it was on the original, and I couldn't drive them all the way into the headers. I went as far as I could, and reused one old one that simply refused to get hammered in more than a MM.

Forklift got hooked up mid morning, I put new motor mounts and transmission dowls in, and we hosted the motor into the bay. The headers barely clear the plastic bits surrounding the electronics and brake booster, and some leverage was needed to make sure it didn't clean off the ABS module. BMW's hoist mounts at opposite ends of opposite banks don't help in the sense that the motor needs to go in with an aft tilt of maybe 20 degrees so the flex plate will slip inside transmission housing, and the lower oil pan will clear the subframe. The position of the hoist mounts on the heads makes the motor twist as much as tilt when adjusting the leveler to go for an aft tilt. 30 min of wrangling, assorted jacking of the transmission and one forklift reposit later, and it finally slipped into the tranny housing. It allowed itself to be bolted up to the tranny, so I'm thinking that's a good sign that it mated to the torque converter. another 2 hours of jacking, prying, etc. and I got all the tranny bolts in and tightened down. I witnessed marked the flywheel/flex plate and torque converted before taking the old motor out (before I took the TQ bolts out), so I'll rotate the motor at the crank hub until the witness marks lines up at 6 o'clock.

After that I celebrated with installing all the cooling hoses on the motor side as the radiator will stay out until I someday get the harmonic balancer in my hands and install it.

Hindsight is usually 20/20, but in this case I have no idea if leaving the tranny in the car and pulling the motor out of the top was the best way. This was going to be a monster as PITA no matter which way I chose. I am happy that I didn't have to drain the tranny, buy a jack solution for it or pull the entire front of the car off. That said, perhaps I got lucky and could have run into more significant issues doing it the way I did. The side tranny bolts and having to take the front diff off were the most painful issues I ran into. the UK starter bolts/nuts in particular were awful. 18' of wobble extensions and a flexible head got the job done, 5 degrees at a time!

My idea of pulling the axels with the steering knuckles/hubs as one unit was an abject failure since I ended up having to change the tension strut ball joints anyway. The boots were ripped up and I couldn't get them to budge at all. A local steering and suspension machine shop pulled them out in no time, after pulling the axles out.

Yesterday was a marathon, and very painful. However, my x5 is back on the ground finally. Still lots of work to do, but there is light finally at the end of the tunnel.

The front diff is a nightmare to get back in. It won't come out on the motor with the steering rack in (or I didn't want to risk it as it was hitting the rack on the way up) and I screwed up by not putting it on when the motor was a few inches off the mounts, like it was when I saw the interference and pulled the diff. I ended up having to do the full Bentley manual routine of pulling the motor mount nuts, lifting the motor a few inches and dropping the subframe a few inches until I could work the diff back up into place. Its heavy so a helper is super nice to pop a couple bolts in as you bench press it up into place. 2 hours wasted because I forgot to put it on at the right time in the motor install sequence. The only thing I didn't do per the Bentley manual was pull the (left) motor mount. This is to get the bolt into the diff, because of course BMW puts the one long bolt right where it will hit the mount/subframe. However, if you pop it into the diff while you are working the diff into place and before it interferes with the mount/subframe, you'll be fine. All this while on your back bench pressing a 50lb diff into place.

After I put the motor and subframe back into place, and torqued it all down (again) it was time to finally put the suspension back on. I needed new tension arms and ball joints, so the axles came off a few days ago, despite my initial desire to keep the hubs on. The bushings were shot, as were the ball joints and I needed to have them pressed out by a local suspension shop. Getting the right axle pedestal back on was easy but getting that axle clip to seat was a real PITA, as was driving the axles back on the carriers despite lots of PB blaster and then grease. It finally took a mallet and a short piece of 4x4 to get the nuts in to where they had at least 3 turns and could safely pull the hub onto the axle without fear of stripping. The right axle threads were also stripped for the first several turns (where the staking cutouts are) due to the shop that changed it a couple years ago driving it on to early with an impact I'm guessing. I got the nut to catch finally after lots of struggling.

After that it was relatively smooth sailing to tighten all the suspension bits down and install the wheels. I'll torque everything to spec when I can get back to the car next week hopefully.

I'm a bit unsure how to get to 300 and change foot/lbs for the axle nut. It's at around 150 or 200 now so I could put the wheels on and safely drop the car. Short of buying a monster torque wrench is there a way to get to 300 lb/ft? That is a crazy number.

[emoji106] great job Henn!!

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk

Just get it real tight with a breaker bar, and then pinch the nut to the axle shaft.

:iagree: Always makes me smile seeing an old BMW getting treated right.

Thanks Gents. Labor of love...sometimes!

I'm already thinking of a suitable home for the 4.4 I pulled out of my X5. Years ago I had an E36 M3 sedan, which was a blast with 250ish HP, if I recall correctly. 29 minutes of research on the interweb shows that M6x motor transplants into E36 cars is possible and has been done enough that at least one company makes the new oil pan and modified pump set-up needed to clear the subframe, and the mounts.

Frankly at this point I'd look forward to a motor rebuild I can do from a chair in the evenings! I think guys are getting 350+ HP from "M60B44" motor builds, without the vANOS leaks and complexity, and with a retrofitted double row timing chain in the 4.4 block.

Pic below of the X back on the ground...until I can get back to working on it in a week or two. I've gotten to know the garage member building the "hippity-hoppity" wagon next to my X a bit and have a new appreciation for these builds. The amount of work he's put into that car make my project look like kids play. The engine swap he just did for it was the easiest part of his build. Fun to watch it come together.

Plus I think you'd need a torque wrench that goes to 500+ lbs, in order to get 300 accurately. This one might have to be a bit of guesswork to DIY.

For axel nuts and other ridiculously large TQ figure fasteners I start off with this

portercable.com/products/power-tools/drills-and-drivers/impact-drivers-and-wrenches/75-amp-12-impact-wrench/pce211

And finish with a feel with a 30" breaker bar just to make sure there is no further movement.

BTW, that impact combined with a little bit of a propane torch made quick work of the crank bolt on the M62

When my crank bolt had to come off I purchased a 24" long 3/4" breaker bar and 3/4" drive 27mm socket, which I had to bounce on with all my weight to get it loose (using the special tool to hold the hub).

This same breaker bar is doing duty with a x-over and 1/2" drive 36mm 12pt socket to crack axle nuts loose. Of course the wheel has to be on and the weight of the car on the tire. I support the center point with a piece of wood to prevent slipping off the nut. Tightening it back up is easily achieved, you can feel when the axle stub bottoms out against the hub. I found that using a 1/2" drive breaker flexes far too much to do anything useful for that level of torque and gets frustrating in a hurry.

Highly recommend getting one of the 3/4" tools, I use it to undo stubborn wheel nuts as well.

I didnt have access to the holding tool and didnt need it. The impact action didnt let the crank turn, it just hammered the bolt straight out

Progress has come to a screeching halt due to having to go back to work. My one week swap took up two weeks of vacation and off days. Not surprised however, as no amount of reading was going to make that process go faster the first time.

I was able to send the DME off to Kassel Performance to get flashed with the 4.6 ones and zeros, and the secondary air system fully deleted. Both Kassel and DUDMD were at the top of my list to use, and Kassel said “no problem” on the secondary air sys. It hasn’t worked right for years and I’ve ignored the codes. In fact i can count the number of times I’ve even heard it come on in one hand. Not much cold Wx in SoCal and New Orleans, where the car has spent it’s life. Definitely no testing of any sort in Louisiana either.

My original plan was to live with the 4.4 DME, which according to smart E39 guys on another board who have done this swap, will run the 4.6 just fine, just not optimally. I would live with the SES light for the air pump until I found time to send the DME off. However since I can’t get back to the car until late next week, and have several days of work left to do, I popped it in the mail. I discussed a subtle tune with Kassel as well. Nothing cosmic as I don’t want to find the limits of the 4.4 OEM ZF tranny. It’s the same basic unit as the 4.6is except that the 4.6 has a different stall speed and an extra clutch. The difference in torque is only around 25 lb/ft so im not too concerned that my relatively fresh 4.4 tranny will give out, but I don’t want to push my luck with a big tune. Frankly, I don’t know how much power is even left in the 4.6 that a tune could get to, but I figured since I was paying for DME work anyway a little tweaking couldn’t hurt. I’d actually be even happy with a a bit more V8 lope at idle and crackle when lifting the gas. Probably not possible with the vanos, but a girl can dream.

Third crank pulley has arrived undamaged finally so late next week I’ll install it, run the belts, install the heater hoses and valve/pump, intake (dreading getting those oil return lines on now that the motor is on), radiator and attach the hoses to it, plumb my oil cooler (AN lines) and install the reservoirs and new hoses. Then it’s up on the lift for the power steering banjo bolts (new crush washers all around), torque the suspension bits and install the starter and front drive shaft and fill the diffs with new fluid. My new tranny bolts finally came in so I’ll swap out the easier ones to get to. I’ll leave the stiffener plate off until after I start the car and trouble shoot any leaks.

My spidey sense tells me I will regret not putting a new steering rack in, but I had to draw the line somewhere financially and time wise. Plus, the bonus of having to pull the motor up a few inches and drop the subframe a few inches for the differential nightmare is that I think I could get a new rack installed in a day if needed. My steering is occasionally stiff and I fear the rack is going, but I did thoroughly degrease the u-joint with the motor out and pack it full of grease just in case this is the cause. The whole shaft assembly seemed secure and not worn.

Then it’s time for oil, coolant and power steering fluid and first start. Two days max I’m hoping as I’d like to break the motor in on the way Iowa to bird hunt. Best laid plans….

I’ve agonized over the break in for a new Alusil motor and official BMW guidance seems to be non-existent, so I’m going with the guidance in the owners manual. I may use non-synthetic for the first 1000 miles as I have read that synthetic is too slippery and can impede proper ring seating. No way to pre-lube these motors so my fingers are crossed that there is still lots of assembly lube in the important bits after several years of sitting on a shelf in Munich.

Oil pressure question
 

I got much of the top side heater plumbing hoses in, and swapped the coils over from my old motor. new performance coils would be great, but I figure I’ll save some cash and drive the ones I have to failure. Intake and harness on tomorrow or Sunday, and a final torque of the tension strut nuts at the subframe before back up on the lift.

Regarding the first start, I’m hoping someone can explain the oil plumbing to me. With no way (that I know of) to pre-oil, I am planning on connecting my inpa laptop and monitoring oil pressure in real time on start-up. However, will this realistically tell me if the important bits are getting oil? I.e. does the oil run from he pump to the block and heads and then to the filter housing (and sensor), or from the pump to the housing and then to the block and heads? The former wouldn’t be as useful as the latter for knowing if the rotating stuff is getting oil.

Also, what is a normal idle oil pressure?

Thanks all

I've always pulled the fuel pump fuse to prevent startup to pre-oil before starting a motor after top end work (or anything else that would dry up the top end). Would that not work here?

That would keep fuel out of the equation, but the important bits would still be turning over and causing damage if the oil isn’t circulating properly or under enough pressure. When I think of pre-oiling a new motor I think of how you can drive the oil pump with a drill to circulate oil before first start on some motors. Totally different designs though.

Short of this, I was thinking a real time look at oil pressure is the way to go…assuming the sensor at the filter housing is measuring pressure in the motor, not as the oil exits the pump.

Oh I gotcha. That would be a neat trick.

I've always just relied on my assembly lube (engine honey usually) to provide the startup protection. As long as the pickup is clear and the pump is good, oil should get moved up while cranking at whatever RPM the starter provides. LOL, at least that's how it usually works out.

Chipping away
 

…at putting my X back together. Intake is on finally and it’s looking like a proper X5 again, aside from all the missing bits. I’m planning on doing a write up of lessons I learned during this, my first engine swap. Most came from me thinking I could take a short cut, and others stemmed from some of the steps that have to happen are just difficult and easy to screw up.

I’ve got some cleanup work to do topside before putting the wiring harness back on. I’d like to sort out why I don’t see a transmission breather tube behind the engine by the manifold and I also need to try to figure out where some of the wiring brackets that were laying in the subframe or on the stiffener plate go. This may not be possible, so I bought a lot of zip ties and wiring clips of various sizes and some high temp cable wrap. I also need to put a new brake booster siphon valve and plumbing in (under the loom I think) and figure out where the phantom vacuum line goes that I posted separately about. It runs up the valley on top of the intake I think. Or that’s where it’s disintegrated pieces were.

After that it’s back on jacks or the lift to bolt the flywheel and torque converter together. I witness marked these before pulling the old motor, not sure if it matters as timing is ensured by a dowel that goes in the aft crank hub and only allows the flywheel to go on clocked properly. Then the starter goes back on and I may replace some chewed up tranny bolts with new ones that just showed up (very late). Finally a driveshaft, the exhaust and a final torque on the suspension bits I replaced…and everything else.

I’ve been witness marking everything that i put a final tighten on, mostly for me so I can rest easy that I torqued or tightened everything down.

It actually looks like a pretty clean V8 right now, and I like the way the intake turned out painted black. The ugly wiring loom will not help in any way when it goes on.

New wiper arms too that I put on at a point when I needed to prove to myself I was making progress, of any sort.

Last few days have been spent putting the X back together. The axles were absolutely the most challenging part of this exercise. Far worse than the motor swap. About 33% of the pain was self induced as i thought I ruined one, or both front axles somehow, only to find the one I pulled in perfect shape (aside from a 15 year old boot), after I cut the boots off and picked at the insides. As discussed in another post, it turns out that with the X5 fully in the air and the two axle joints fully deflected, something in one of them binds when the hub is turned to the extent that the motor rocks back and forth when they bind. Could be just an E53 thing, or just a “my e53” thing. Who knows.

I do know that when I finally exhausted every other line of reasoning and put a jack under the hub, I only had to raise it up an inch or two for the hub to rotate normally. New GKN left axle going in tomorrow. Hopefully this one and it’s clip will be better behaved than the last one. Per advice here I plan on wiring brushing the hub splines and using a liberal amount of grease on them.

In the meantime I hooked up all the plumbing and reservoirs, including running my new AN lines to/from the gulf oil filter housing CSF oil cooler. I went down next to the ABS module and up the left brake cooling duct, through a hole I cut with a hole saw. I clipped a few triangles out of the plastic bumper mesh to feed the AN lines out to the cooler. I’d hadn't worked with AN lines and connections but found them very easy to fabricate after watching a few YouTube videos. Of course I may be crying when I the oil pressure comes up on first start! I filled the cooler with oil as the housing port thermostat won’t open up until temp exceeds some preset level. It’s nice and cool now in New Orleans so I wonder if it will open up at all until our terrible summers hit, but maybe the oil coming out of the block will be hot enough to open it.

I went to two shops and neither would touch my front driveshaft. Both said no when I told them it was from a BMW. So I took some measurements and determined what max limger length I could squeeze into the car, cut the driveshaft with a chop saw and a guy at the garage welded it up for me. Problem solved, and I have around a half inch more splines in the Tcase, without pulling it to get the driveshaft on. I think I could have made it even a bit longer without backing the tcase off. That t case is output is quite deep and the new splines go much deeper into it than the OEM ones do. I even remembered to pack the Tcase with a lot of grease.

Tomorrow I will bolt it up with a new guibo, install the two new o2 sensors on the left side exhaust (I screwed up the wires on the 20 year old OEM ones dropping the exhaust), hang the exhaust, install the radiator fill all the fluids, watch for static leaks and be ready to for first start when my DME arrives from Kassel.

I seem to recall reading that I can bleed the coolant system on the aux pump…can someone confirm the procedures for me please? All I can find now are directions on how to do it with the motor running.

It’s nice to watch my pile of parts dwindle (below). The second pic is of the secondary air pump blank off plates I had made from the pipe. They were cut off, caps welded on, leak checked, and i installed them with new o rings.

You can also see in the second photo where I re-routed the cable to the jumper post. It bothered me that BMW just seemed to throw this thing on the valley, which didn't look great to me as I'm leaving the cover off the motor. I ran it up the seam on the strut tower, then up the hood channel and on the cowl over to the post. Its very long so I ended up doing a 180 and connecting it as it was originally. This also allowed me to use the OEM clamp on the cowl. I do need to add some cable clamps along its length as soon as I make sure there are no unforeseen problems with the new route.

Back together…mostly
 

Finished putting the beast back together yesterday, minus the cowl and the washer fluid tank as I’m till waiting for my DME to run the USPS gauntlet.

There wasn’t much left to do beyond:
- hanging the center exhaust section after installing two new O2 sensors on the left side. A pain to get it in by myself, but I worked out a system with floor jacks and wire whereby I fed the header side in above the subframe and sway bar mounts (driveshaft can be in, unlike Bentley’s guidance), got it within an inch or two of the headers, held it in place with wire on each side, jacked up the back end, got it close…rinse and repeat as many times as needed to make the connections. It’s heavy, unwieldy, and unforgiving of misalignment. New copper nuts and anti-seize all around and I plan on a final torque at the headers after a couple of heat cycles.
- installed my OEM radiator after giving it an hours long soak with Prestone cleaner. It was shockingly clean after 20 years, or I would have replaced it. In fact I wonder if I replaced it 10 years ago and have forgotten. I kept good records, but there was a period of neglect when my kids were driving the car. It looks very good for what I thought was an old radiator.
- made all the remaining hose connections to the radiator and tranny cooler, with an ample dose of dielectric grease to help the process along.
- put my OEM fan and several year old clutch back in because the one I bought from rock auto was wrong. So much for saving that buck. The clutch seemed fine and it’s easy to get to if it drops dead soon.
- did a final look at all the hoses and wires, focusing mostly on proximity to headers, etc. Most of the hose clips in the car broke long ago, so zip ties have been my friend. I have kept a mental list and plan on ordering replacement OEM pieces soon. The only hose that worries me is the rubber hose from the coolant reservoir that drops to a swedged, u-shaped hardline around near the steering rack and linkage and then goes aft to the back of the rear coolant manifold. It’s close to the left header and seems to have no clamp or other support, beyond the connections on either end. I was able to tuck it behind a piece of heat shield where it makes the turn to the manifold, but it’s a very tight squeeze to get hands in to add a clamp. I wish I would have seen this with the motor out.
- the hood is back on and the engine harness routed and reclampled in route to the computer box…just waiting for the DME. Wonder how many days overnight shipping will take this time.
- on my final look around I noticed all three bolts that hold the wiper motor assembly onto its bracket under the cowling were very loose so I cranked them back down. I forgot to put Loctite on them so I'll probably re-attack them before putting the cowl back on.
- Final job yesterday was putting the intake track back on minus the piece that goes on top of the radiator and its pipe over to the air filter box. Much easier to see leaks, etc. without this piece on. I realized that I need to put a plug on the intake box to seal off the port that the Secondary Air Pump draws air from. I ordered some large silicone caps of various sizes from amazon and will secure the 3-ish cm one that fits best with a zip tie. A rag stuffed in will do for the initial start-up.

I dumped in 2 gals of 5w30 Mobile 1 synthetic and filled the filter housing half full. It will hold several more liters but the pan is over full right now and needs to get pumped up and out before it will hold more. I added two gals of Zerex G48 through the upper radiator hose and another couple quarts to the reservoir, and will add more to the radiator directly through the upper hose connection when I bring a better funnel for this job. Power steering reservoir is full and the system needs to be exercised and bledfor it to take more.

Pics below are of the 90% solution X5 as of yesterday when I left the garage, the AN line fittings at the new gulf oil cooler (couldn't find black), and the oil cooler and lines run through the brake duct, into the engine bay and up to the cooler. I've got a couple AN line clamps to add once I observe where and how they may be rubbing. Its not the final mounting solution I think as I'll eventually fab a low-key brush bar that incorporates some protection for the cooler and some excellent vintage Hella lights a friend gave me.

It lives
 

My DME arrived on Tuesday so yesterday I spent the day tying up loose ends and popping the computer back in.

The cowl went on after I put some orange loktite on the wiper motor bracket bolts that had backed off so badly over 20 years. The upper piece of the cowl is in pretty rough shape (part that houses the air filter) so I need to find a good used part, or spring for new. The cheap plastic fasteners are mostly broken and the flap that covers the filter is hanging on by a few molecules of plastic.

The washer reservoir went on without drama and I added a zip tie to the narrow hose that passes in front-ish of the crank pulley on its way to the right side of the radiator. There is a bracket there for a hose clamp, but it went awol.

Finally I connected the battery, bled the coolant system via the aux pump, which worked great and took maybe 10 min, and it was time to start. After just enough cranking for me to think it was going to be a long month chasing problems down, she fired up!, ran a bit rough and with lots of clattering for 10 or 20 seconds, then settled into a decent idle. I ran the rpm up to 2k for a few seconds, then shut it off for a good leak inspection. Turns out I had forgotten to tighten the oil pressure/temp sender on the housing…which is much tougher with the reservoir assembly and brackets in place. Hard lesson learned, but it got done eventually after pulling the coolant reservoir up and over.

Other then that self inflicted wound it was clean, although I must have gotten oil or anti-seize on the left header which produced lots of smoke for a while. After a top off of oil (another quart) and steering fluid it fired right up again and I alternated between idle and 2 to 3k rpm for a minute or two. The power steering pump was making a nasty racket until I went lock to lock several times. After this I torqued the exhaust header bolts to the exhaust flanges a bit more as it seemed like I could hear a slight leak and I think they drew a bit tighter. Maybe because they were getting hot. I worry about stripping those copper bolts.

After another fluid top off and leak check it was time to put the stiffener plate on and take it around the block. The motor sounds great and the X5 drives wonderfully after all the new parts I threw at it. The steering feel over bumps is much better, but not OEM nice so in addition to the tension struts I replaced I think new control arms are in order too. The steering wheel makes a pronounced clunk at times when turned, which had been there but seems to be worse. I suspect the double joint or bushings, etc at the firewall.

I drove it home yesterday where it promptly popped the upper hose off the radiator (installer in a rush I guess) and dumped a gallon on my driveway, but other than that did great. My oil cooler was toasty warm after the trip so it’s nice to know that piece is working.

Next week I’ll get it on the lift for a thorough leak and re-torque check and pending any drama, a final close up. I’m planning on 1000 mi on the oil that is in it now, then a change and the shackles are off!

Issues I’m monitoring/working are:
- bolts holding the oil sender into the lower oil pan seem to be weeping oil a very tiny bit so I may put some thread sealant on them if it keeps up.
- SES light and a bunch of codes. A full reset resulted in the light again but only a couple codes, one being related to the “intake flap…” and the other to the secondary air pump valve. No idea what the former is, but the second one should have been taken care of with my reprogrammed DME.
- I sense a very slight vibration around 60 or 70, which could be the driveshaft with the new splines. Or it could be a wheel balance issue, but I don’t feel it in the steering wheel. Very slight so more trouble shooting is in order and some research on where I might be able to get the shaft balanced. The one driveshaft shop left in New Orleans wouldn’t touch a BMW piece.

I’m hopeful that my last parts order of stiffener bolts/nuts and control arms is in sight, before I turn my attention to the speakers, amp, headliner and other interior reconditioning concerns. I also need to get the plug/coil covers cleaned up and painted.

The X5 has been running strong for the last week, after working through an idle issue and an SES light related to the SAP delete I did. I'm starting to turn my attention to the interior and some more modest upgrades to the sound system.

The inability to find idle was probably self-induced by my unplugging the DME a couple times to clean it of oil that had aparently gotten on the wires and migrated down into the connections. This oil could have been the source of the problem, but I'm thinking that the DME was forced to relearn the throttle every time I plugged it back in, I now know that the car doesn't need to be running for the DME to learn the throttle. Nice.

The SES light was getting set by the lack of an electric vacuum valve - the little one that controls the SAP pneumatic valve and sits on the intake. I plugged it back in and voila, no SES light. Kassel Performance later confirmed that they missed this one or zero when they did the delete on my DME. I think I'll eventually measure the resistance and substitute a resistor at the valve electrical plug, rather than loose my DME for another week. Aside from that I'm very happy with the 4.6 tune and SAP delete that Kassel did.

The car is a confirmed gas hog with my first look at MPG coming in at just under 13! and that with a little highway driving mixed in. Thirsty motor and bigger all terrain tires I guess. I know the 4.6s are a bit worse on MPG than the 4.4s anyway, but I'm jonsing for an aux tank. I could make do with a couple jerry cans on the swing out spare tire carrier I'm planning on adding at some point, and/or I keep thinking that an aux tank solution could be fabricated and added to the space where the giant charcoal canister is now. The canister would of course need to be re-fabricated as a smaller piece and mounted elsewhere. Just what size tank could be incorporated would be the determining factor in if it is worth doing. I've seen some pretty cool custom charcoal canisters made by hot-rod guys using compact aluminum cylinders.

I'm starting to acquire black roof trim pieces (cargo hooks, handles, covers, etc.) from Ebay and new. My headliner is shot so I went down to the top upholstery shop in town today and discussed a black Alcantra headliner for the X. The owner took a look at the seats too as I'd like to get the fronts recovered and the bolsters re-stuffed somewhat as well. Long lead times for product, but an easy job for the guy judging by the custom cars and damaged new cars from dealers he had in his shop.

Pics below are of the dinky electric valve keeping the SES light at bay currently, the finished motor...well almost finished. I'm getting the plastic covers painted in the gray I used for the hood, and flat black. The engine bay isn't nearly as clean as I'd like it, but the juice isn't worth the squeeze to re-route/ more stuff for this project. I am taking notes for my next project though. Final pic is of the car as it is today, with the new Thule racks I broke down and bought.


The remaining sound upgrades I want to do include new 2 way speakers for the rear doors and woofer/tweeter components for the front, as well as an amp and a small powered sub in the back. Nothing cosmic, but enough to allow the Kenwood head unit to shine.

I don't know why (other than local laws) you can't do your aux tank integrated into your roof rack like the bedouins do here in the empty quarter. They plumb the down roof line into the filler neck if permanent if not it's just a drop line into the filler.

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